"The fall of a thermonuclear warhead after it was accidentally blown off the top of a missile in a western South Dakota underground silo is described in this page from an Air Force report on the 1964 accident. U.S. Air Force"
"The fall of a thermonuclear warhead after it was accidentally blown off the top of a missile in a western South Dakota underground silo is described in this page from an Air Force report on the 1964 accident. U.S. Air Force"
A very interesting but long read about the days of old.
Well, I guess the standard "A**holes and elbows" would have been a little, um, less than proper.
Didn’t something similar happen to a missile silo near Damascus, Arkansas in the 1970s, and I remember an explosion at a New Mexico missile silo near Roswell back in the 1960s.
Then there were the B-52 collisions over Greenland and Spain in the 1960s.
I know of incident in the 50’s where a guard fired his rifle in a nuclear warhead area. Have not seen that incident reported yet. However, I do not believe it comes close to this history.
Minute man 3’s are unfortunitely have been downloaded from 3 to 1 warhead. Russia is violating and cheating on the number of their warheads on missiles.
upload more now before its to late.
Thanks so much for the interesting read!
bump for later
Here are a few details of the missile accident years later near Peetz CO that is referenced in this article:
http://www.denverpost.com/2016/01/22/mishap-at-colorado-silo-damaged-nuclear-missile/
Big brass ones; surprised the boy can walk :) Bravo Zulu, Airman Hicks.
Love, Lt. Ripley
Fifty-five years of democrat mayors accomplished the same thing, but with less radioactivity.
There was a much more famous incident that happened in Arkansas, in which a dropped socket wrench fell 80 feet down the silo (between the missile and the silo's inner wall), at which point it struck something which deflected it toward the missile.
That was a Titan missile, not a Minuteman.
It went right through the missile's skin like it was nothing. Inside was thousands of gallons Aerozine-50 rocket fuel, which is a 50-50 mixture of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, two of the nastiest, most dangerous chemicals anyone ever synthesized. Above them was another tank filled with thousands of gallons of nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer, another incredibly noxious, dangerous, explosive, corrosive, poisonous brew.
The two didn't mix immediately, but the fuel tank drained out, dumping fuel down the silo where it pooled in the depths.
Eventually, the missile collapsed. At that point, first-stage fuel and oxidizer made contact, causing an enormous explosion that killed one airman and injured about two dozen others. The missile was destroyed, and eventually the entire missile launch facility was written off.
The nine-megaton thermonuclear warhead was thrown 100 feet and landed near the launch site's gate.
Here's a more thorough description of the incident.
Man, this story takes me back...
This is the final piece of the puzzle for ICBM development.
How NOT to have it detonate.
This event and one at Johnston Island would have been bad if the warhead was not designed correctly.
Thanks for posting this - fascinating stuff for a space and rocket geek like me!!