Titan 1 Operational System Test Facility

The first Titan 1 missile launched from this location at Vandenberg AFB in 1960 – in the early phases of the Titan 1 Program. The site was destroyed on December 3, 1960, when the elevator failed while lowering a fully-fueled missile back into the silo. The cause was a control valve in the silo launch platform hydraulic elevator system.

The tunnel still remains, yet is badly damaged by the massive explosion. Water seeps freely through the tunnel, and in the case of one junction box, a cascade of seepage falls onto the rusting plated steel below.

Special thanks to Aaron and Scott for assistance with the lighting here.

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Uploaded: December 26, 2009
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16 comments

Peter Gnas wrote...
this is awesome! I love how the green looks like it is seeping in..

Andrew Bisset wrote...
win. epic win. glad we gave you the Titan bug. is this where you ran off to last time i was in SF?

Gino maccanti wrote...
what a place!!!, lightning is awesome, looks like one of the first Alien films

Mitchell Ryan Smith wrote...
How do you get into these places? Awesome photos!

amy heiden wrote...
T-Bug this turned out sweeeeet!

G. J. wrote...
I like the composition in this wonderful shot.

Jonathan Haeber wrote...
@andrew : Yeah, that's where we were when you visited. It was a harrowing experience. I'll write about it soon. Thanks everyone else for your comments. Good to hear that the GeLz gave a nice pop. I generally am not partial to them, but this is one of those instances that just called for it.