Fuel for Thought
Titan Missile Museum
To be completely honest, I don't really know too much about the Cold War, other than what I have read online. I didn't experience many of the things that my parents may have, growing up during this time. When it ended in 1991, I was barely 7 years old. I was too busy playing with Barbie dolls to comprehend what was going on.
We have been on the trip between Tucson, AZ, and Nogales, Az a few times. We always see the signs for The Titan Missile Museum, but never have had time to stop. Two weeks ago, after we dropped, we made our way up to Sahuarita, AZ, which about 20 miles south of Tucson. When you get there you see a building, which is the museum, and a few random "sand" colored pieces of equipment, and that's about it. It blends into its surroundings rather well, which at that time was imperative. It is free to enter the museum. They also have lots of different kinds of tours. Since my mouth was hurting, and we were going to the dentist, we opted for the $9, one hour tour.
The Titan II Missile, still remains in the silo, in which it would have been launched. The only difference between this missile, and the ones that were previously there, is that this one never had any of the propellants loaded into it, therefore, it is completely safe to be on display.
You begin the tour in a little room, where a short video is played that explains some of the things that you will see on your tour. Afterwards, you are escorted outside where you are shown the stage one, and stage two engines of the missile. Then you are taken some 50 feet below the ground into the corridors of the facility. 
After a maze of hallways, and doors, you are in the control room. It is quite high tech for being completed in the early 1960's. They explain to you that the only two keys to launch the missile are in a safe, and both people who are to launch it, must enter seperate combinations, in order to open it. They must simultaneously turn the keys in the panel, and hit launch, along with a few more technical things in between. 
From the time the key is turned, until the doors of the silo open, the fuels mix together, and the missile is launched, only takes 58 seconds. The initial Atlas and Titan I missiles took over 30 minutes to be launched, which the estimated travel time from The Soviet Union to the U.S. at that time, was 35 minutes. They also explained the process of how the silo filled and circulated water while the missile was launched in order to keep it from creating such large shock waves that the facility would implode on itself. You also get to view the missile itself through glass above and below ground. 
There is a lot that I learned while we were there, but it would take a long time to write, and I need to head to bed, as we are on a load. If you are ever in the area, take the time to stop, the one hour tour is well worth it. http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/
Jenny Marcu
Leased to Load1