I feel compelled to post some images of inertial guidance systems. Most of these parts are from the Minuteman 1 although there are some earlier and later guidance system components.
The white backplane and the gyroscopes are Minuteman 1 parts.
BTW you can see some of these at the Air and Space Museum in DC, and a smaller set at the Computer Science Museum in ... Palo Alto? Mountain View? (that area)
My thinking is we are focused on making circuits too small. We need big circuits that make big but simple decisions. I was collecting pre-microprocessor computing artifacts for a while. I now need to get sit down and figure out what I have.
In the meantime I use them as reference idea to feed my development of a 100 year computer.
>The MGS is an inertial guidance system which directs the flight of the missile. The guidance system operates continuously while the missile is in alert status, thus enabling the missile to be launched in less than one minute.
I wonder how often the missile is in alert status? Presumably regular testing?
For those just skimming the guidance system info (for Minuteman III) starts on page 49. Looks like they miniaturized it some and that giant moon lander backplane seems to be substantially reduced?
Apart from regular testing, I would imagine anything at or above DEFCON 3 would put missiles in alert status. That level requires the USAF to be ready to go in 15 minutes.
> I wonder how often the missile is in alert status?
In 1972-74 when I was a Minuteman I launch officer (DMCCC) our 10 missiles were /always/ on alert. You would expect to see 10 green "Strategic Alert" lights across the crew commander's (MCCC's) console unless something was wrong (requiring maintenance or a brief calibration).
IIRC we were in a perpetual state of DEFCON 4 in those days.
As a Minuteman launch officer, I'd be curious what are your thoughts on the incursion accounts of launch officers Robert Salas & David Schindele? (I understand there were comparable reports going into the 1970s as well but I'm not as familiar with those)
I was gonna say, they were always on alert. It's in the book. The inertial platforms at least were always spinning because it took a long time (minutes) to spin them up, or down.
This has more detail than I would have expected, but I see there’s virtually nothing about the reentry bus. From what I’ve read, that’s where most of the secret sauce involving accuracy comes into play.
It's bizarre that this type of information is made publicly available due to freedom of information legislation. What is the benefit? Or is it merely an acceptable side effect of the greater good that FoIA delivers?
The difference is that in 1948, the other side couldn't do anything about it even if it wanted to.
The other difference is that literally everything has changed in the past 76 years. But sure, maybe if we dig up Truman, Stalin, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao, and Churchill, and put them and their cabinets back in charge, it might work out.
It's lacking in information of real military value, e.g. accuracy, failure rate, effectiveness of countermeasures, precise alloys used, etc. It's basically a description of a rocket, which probably isn't a surprise to other nations who are themselves building rockets.
South Dakota is home to a preserved missile site. I'd highly recommend stopping by if you're ever in the area. It was fascinating to see the control room as the tour guides talked through the launch protocol.
Back in high school ~17 years ago I came across a website talking about it, then a couple months later on a road trip, I remembered it as we were driving though South Dakota. We were about 7 miles away when I remembered, and it was well worth stopping.
who passed early atomic weapon design information to the USSR.
The irony of a family exercising pivotal roles on both sides of a global power-shaping conflict. The 2nd Wikipedia article's cited background, from The Nation:
60 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 135 ms ] threadGosh I really wish this WASN'T of general interest these days, but in the immortal punchline of Dave Chappelle - "I understand"
The white backplane and the gyroscopes are Minuteman 1 parts.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0YG4TcsmGWIVSf
BTW you can see some of these at the Air and Space Museum in DC, and a smaller set at the Computer Science Museum in ... Palo Alto? Mountain View? (that area)
https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10268625...
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0Y59UlCqNHCjx
https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/memory-storage/8/...
This computer earned listing for this innovation.
https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/memory-storage/8/...
Which puts into context.
I also included the story of it's previous life.
My thinking is we are focused on making circuits too small. We need big circuits that make big but simple decisions. I was collecting pre-microprocessor computing artifacts for a while. I now need to get sit down and figure out what I have.
In the meantime I use them as reference idea to feed my development of a 100 year computer.
I wonder how often the missile is in alert status? Presumably regular testing?
For those just skimming the guidance system info (for Minuteman III) starts on page 49. Looks like they miniaturized it some and that giant moon lander backplane seems to be substantially reduced?
Amazing pics, thanks for sharing!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
In 1972-74 when I was a Minuteman I launch officer (DMCCC) our 10 missiles were /always/ on alert. You would expect to see 10 green "Strategic Alert" lights across the crew commander's (MCCC's) console unless something was wrong (requiring maintenance or a brief calibration).
IIRC we were in a perpetual state of DEFCON 4 in those days.
As a Minuteman launch officer, I'd be curious what are your thoughts on the incursion accounts of launch officers Robert Salas & David Schindele? (I understand there were comparable reports going into the 1970s as well but I'm not as familiar with those)
Salas @ Malmstrom https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-air-force-personnel-ufos-dea...
Schindele @ Minot: https://www.minotdailynews.com/news/local-news/2023/06/forme...
Ground-based launchers are not survivable and must be ready to fire promptly after attack warning.
Thank you.
My favorite fact is that the hard drive also acted as the clock. Each rotation grabbed the program codes from the disk to execute them.
Not that my curiosity isn't triggered, but...
Funnily enough I’m just reading a book on Draper Labs and there’s a huge amount of detail on old inertial guidance systems.
I was hugely disappointed by Blind Man's Bluff despite all the praise for it as it was written for a lay-audience.
Hot Spot of Innovation about Doc Draper and inertial guidance isn't academic but it does go into quite a bit of technical detail.
Sticking to our principles
Also what kind of a deterrence is this if the enemy doesn’t know about it?
We have been in this very position before, in 1948, when we were the only people with nukes. We didn't first strike then.
The other difference is that literally everything has changed in the past 76 years. But sure, maybe if we dig up Truman, Stalin, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao, and Churchill, and put them and their cabinets back in charge, it might work out.
Not exactly a new system, surely has been inspected many times by all major nuclear powers over the years.
Great book.
The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner by Daniel Ellsberg
Back in high school ~17 years ago I came across a website talking about it, then a couple months later on a road trip, I remembered it as we were driving though South Dakota. We were about 7 miles away when I remembered, and it was well worth stopping.
https://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_N._Hall
had a brother in the Manhattan Project, Theodore Hall,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Hall
who passed early atomic weapon design information to the USSR.
The irony of a family exercising pivotal roles on both sides of a global power-shaping conflict. The 2nd Wikipedia article's cited background, from The Nation:
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/ted-hall-espionage-f...