Minot launch control center

Two lieutenants man a launch control center in August 2006, safely underground at Minot AFB's Missile Alert Facility B-1, one of 15 such facilities located in northwest North Dakota. The underground center, housed in concrete and steel, also is suspended among giant shock absorbers for further protection from incoming nuclear attack.

In 2006, Minot launch control centers began to get Internet access in a first for underground ICBM crew members. Needless to say, the Internet-connected PCs are separate from the missile control systems.