Minuteman launch keys!?

[PhoneMan]

Ok, so I was reading about old missile silos and thinking how cool it would be to own a decommissioned one and turn it into a house, when I started thinking "what kind of locks and keys did they use to launch the nukes?". Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find, even though most of these systems are obsolete, but find it I did!

Here's the first image that gave me some clues:

minutelock.jpeg

Found on the web, it's a picture of one of the keyswitches. On first glance, it looks like a crappy wafer lock, but not quite. Then I noticed the patent number! (3035433) It's an Eagle lock, one of the combo sidewinder/wafer ones!

And this just about made me fall over!:

minutekey.jpg

A freaking missile key in a souvenir keychain that someone photographed at the National Park Service's Minuteman National Park site in South Dakota! If I ever go to SD, I know where I'm stopping, and what I'm buying! Sadly, I can't find any of these on ebay, or any mention of them at all, other than that picture.

Now, whether it's an actual missile key, or something made just as a souvenir by Eagle is unknown, but I at least know what the keys looked like that they used to start a global thermonuclear war. Glad it wasn't just a freaking Chicago wafer lock...

Edit: Looks like Squelchtone found the same info, minus the souvenir, and posted it on LP101

[HT4]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZFZcdQIUVY

[PhoneMan]

Cool!

[Random]

:cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZFZcdQIUVY

You cease to amaze me Harry lol

[escher7]

Here is the Minuteman shop site, but no key!

http://www.eparks.com/store/search.asp

And here is the S.D. site, including the address, so maybe send them the picture and ask about the key:

https://www.nps.gov/mimi/planyourvisit/vc-exhibits.htm

[darrellnicholas]

:cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZFZcdQIUVY

I agree. I love his YouTube channel. LPL knows his stuff. Keep up the great work.