Titan Missile Museum

Titan Missile Silo Museum - darkometer rating : 8 - The only surviving Titan II ICBM missile silo open to the public, complete with a deactivated missile, its launch control centre and all other support equipment still in situ. The site, near Tuscon Arizona, has been preserved as a "museum" to serve as a reminder of what was once the USA 's most powerful component of its land-based nuclear deterrent. It's a unique site illustrating the superpowers' frightening MAD readiness for all-out nuclear Armageddon during the Cold War era. As such it is one of the prime sites worldwide for nuclear tourism – or for any dark tourist with an interest in this most disturbing side of contemporary history. Guided tours include a simulated launch sequence – i.e. a simulated start of the nuclear apocalypse that would have been World War Three . It's both mega cool and mega scary at the same time. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: Titan was an ICBM design of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the main Titan II version was deployed in 1963 and saw service for over 20 years as part of the USA 's nuclear deterrent during the most scary phases of the Cold War. The deterrent apparently worked, though, as the Cold War was indeed prevented from turning "hot". So Titan's contribution to America's arsenal has to be counted as a success, even though, no, because none were actually ever fired as weapons (only in tests). Titan rockets were also used in "civilian" space programmes, most famously in lifting the Gemini capsules into space in the mid-1960s, with which the USA caught up with the USSR in the "Space Race". Gemini can be seen as the precursor to the later Apollo moon landing programme.