'60 Minutes' gets rare look inside nuclear arsenal

Some of the world's most dangerous tools sit beneath the Wyoming countryside. "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl got an up-close look at the nation's nuclear arsenal.

[daytonglitch]

I really hope they continue to allow absolutely zero access to the internet.

[mattwatson]

I love the way he tells her "once there gone there gone "

[AceSeptre]

I think it's important to note that the inability to deactivate a missile after launch is part of the nuclear deterrent.

[MiguelLuna]

If the USA is using 8-inch floppy disks, North Korea surely is using punched cards.

[dixfer]

My Great grandfather dated Lesley Stahl in 1923 during their senior year in high school and he says she looks hotter now then when she was 17. Lesley's half life is at least par with the uranium warheads in those minutemen silos.

[wiliamkaster]

8 inch floppy disk...
Guys you're clear to launch:

A:>LAUNCHNK.BAT

General Error reading drive A:
(A)bort, (R)etry or (F)ail ? _

[PXLMX]

Her: “The most powerful weapon in the planet”
Putin: hold my vodka

[albertvonschultz]

I live in Cheyenne Wyoming and they surround this whole area. Early in the morning you can hear on play reverly at 10 at night you can hear the base play Taps. I joke around that we don't have a police helicopter but we got the military helicopter that flies around town all the time. And I have to agree I'm glad they are there and let's hope we can keep them underground

[LordDelakar]

If you watch closely she hits her head on the tunnel junction at 2:20.

[jimwest]

I served in the Minuteman Missile Silos like the ones shown in the 1970's....they are very safe and there are several procedures and fail--safe redundancies built into the system to prevent an unauthorized launch. It takes more than just the crew on duty to launch. The Air Force also has a very strict Personal reliability program in place that monitors each crew to make sure they are mentally fit to be able to do the "unthinkable" if the time ever came. Every missile system the U.S. has ever had since the early 60's has served as a DETERRANT to any rogue nation that would even think about launching an attack. There is a name for it...and that is MAD....Mutually Assured Destruction....So, look upon the Minuteman missile system as the "Tip of the Spear"....and with the missiles in those silo's we were victors in THE COLD WAR.

[tbjylud]

2:21 She cracks her head. Now all that we need to do is add in the Star Wars soundtrack of the storm trooper hitting his head and we're all good.

[geraldboykin]

Keep it that way! Old skool is the best!

[grahamschofield]

" Once their gone..their gone "...blood curdling words...

[SquareInsider]

all the 'old' computer hardware you see is strictly for show. these systems are protected with technology that is at least 40 years ahead of civilian hardware/software, 100% closed and secure. unless you're physically there in person, you're not accessing the weapon. the nation's strategic nuclear reserve is secure. source: personal experience.

[fredharvey]

There's a farm of about 40 of them on the Pawnee National Grassland just across the border in Colorado.

[maxed]

it's totally okay to show and describe the place of a nuclear silo
totally okay

[ljdean]

The most powerful Russian ICBM, NATO code named SS-18 Satan, has a single 25 megaton warhead in the mod 2 version. Back in 1961, the Soviet era Russians detonated a 25 megaton test blast and one of over 50 megatons. These warheads are so destructive that they have no real military value. They were more for psychological warfare than anything else. To compare, our most powerful ICBM, the Titan-II, had a single 9 megaton warhead. Titan-II was officially retired in 1987.

[SIRXNZ]

"Once they're gone they're gone"

[ImyurZero]

Nice way to scare the shit out of people who don't really understand what they are looking at.

[thethYearSeniors]

Imagine all the energy and resources spent on both sides for these weapons that are only useful if they aren't used.