Minuteman Missile

During the Cold War, a vast arsenal of nuclear missiles was placed in the Great Plains. Hidden in plain sight, for thirty years 1,000 missiles were kept on constant alert, and hundreds remain today. The Minuteman Missile remains an iconic weapon in the American nuclear arsenal, holding the power to destroy civilization but intended as a nuclear deterrent to maintain peace and prevent war. In the western South Dakota area where Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is located, rapid weather changes are common, seasonal and yearly variations are great, summers are hot and dry, winters are bitterly cold, and constant Great Plains winds often exceed 50 mph, with winter winds from the north-northwest sometimes causing wind chills below -40 degrees.

South Dakota · United States