We finally made it to the Delta 01 launch control facility tour. First the tour was closed because of Covid. Then we didn't know how hard it was to schedule a tour. So this year, scheduling that tour was one of the first things we did when we arrived in the area.
The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is actually three locations along I-90, just east of Wall, SD. If you're headed east on I-90, be aware that the visitor center is the last stop. The first stop is the missile silo with a training missile in the silo. The next stop is the ever-so-hard-to-get-a tour launch control facility, 11 miles further east. Finally, you hit the visitor center at the same exit as the eastern end of the Badlands National Park loop road.
The first two stops do not have interstate signage. The parking lots are small, and they don't want the sites overwhelmed. If you're headed east, just be aware so you don't have to retrace your steps.
Another thing to watch is the hours. We learned the hard way that the visitor center is closed two days a week. I had just assumed that they'd be open daily during the summer tourist season. They aren't.
The launch control facility only takes 6 people on the tour. The Ronald Reagan site in Cooperstown, ND, and the Quebec 1 site in Chugwater, WY, both handle more people and are far easier to tour. So we asked why that was. It's the elevator. Delta 01 was one of the first sites built and the generator was above ground. The later sites moved the generator below ground and thus had a larger elevator.
Remember Domino Pizza's "30 minutes or less or it's free" delivery promise? Well, the Minuteman Missile missileers knew that promise and had a sense of humor. Their blast door is now famous. The story goes that the missileers received a large envelope from Domino's. Concerned it may be a "cease and desist" warning, they were pleasantly surprised with Domino's swag and coupons.
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