The fiery side of a launch building, just is it began to rain.

Atlas Ditch

The blast pit carried the smoke and flame from the rocket motor away from the other base buildings.


The middle missile launcher, as seen from the roof of its neighbor.

The Cold Front

Knowing that a tornado just passed nearby is less distressing when you’re surrounded by nuclear-attack-hardened buildings.

Missile Arm (Fomapan 100)

The metallic arms of the missile erector, which would stand rockets over the blast pit in the launch position. Medium Format film–cheap but excellent Fomapan 100 in a Pentax 67.

Blast Path

The lower door is where the rocket exhaust would flow into the blast pit during initial launch. The upper doors would vent the rocket so the erector and other equipment in the building would not be (as) damaged.

Coffin Quarantine


Atlas Stared

“Man has set for himself the goal of conquering the world but in the processes loses his soul.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and historian.




Taken several years before the tornado story when the weather, and the condition of the buildings, were nice.