LGM-25C Titan II

Who knows the ins and outs? So we got to go places that we probably weren't going to go.

If you watch the show, we got into the only remaining Titan II missile base with an employee who worked there when he was 19 as his first job.

So we got to go access points that you'd never get to see otherwise.

And oftentimes, if you go on a solo tour with your family, you might become a solo statistic of how you get towed out, how you got stuck.

I'm George Engel.

The alarm is over around Damascus, Arkansas, and the people who live near the Titan missile site have gone home again with assurance that everything's under control after last night's fire and fuel explosion.

The Air Force says no damage to the warhead, but ABC's John McWethy has learned it was close at best.

ABC News has learned that not only was there a five-megaton nuclear warhead atop the Titan missile that caught fire last night, but that when the fuel in the missile exploded, that warhead was catapulted right out of the silo onto the ground nearby.

Emergency Air Force teams determined that there was no radioactivity around the warhead, and it was then moved out of the missile site to an unknown location for further examination.

John McWethy, ABC News, The Pentagon.

What really happened at that missile silo? I'm Keith Burman.

About one thousand residents evacuated from the area of, uh, Damascus, Arkansas, are now returning home.

It would make use of the newly developed Titan missile, which was already being mass-produced.

The Gemini launch vehicle was a two-stage booster derived from the Titan II missile.

Its toxic hypergolic fuel was well-suited for use in a weapon because it could be stored at ambient temperatures for long periods.

But for launching a human crew, it was less than ideal.

The Titan's second stage engine discharged through a single engine bell optimized for the vacuum of space.

The rocket's inertial guidance unit was contained in this stage.

The Titan II's heavy lift capability and the minimal development time required to adapt it for manned space flight made it a logical choice for the Gemini project.

John F. Hawk and our Rick Capcom.

Later, several different methods would be devised for protecting nuclear weapons and preserving retaliatory or second strike capability.

For example, later long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, like the American LGM-25C Titan II and LGM-39 Minuteman and the Soviet R-36 were based in hardened underground silos capable of surviving all but a direct hit by a thermonuclear warhead.

And in the late 1950s, the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command, or SAC, launched a series of continuous airborne alert missions, including Operation Chrome Dome.

This kept up to 12 nuclear-armed B-52 bombers in the air at all times, flying long-range routes from bases in the United States to patrol stations over Alaska, Greenland, and the Mediterranean, close to the borders of the Soviet Union.

About 1,000 residents evacuated from the area of Damascus, Arkansas, are now returning home.

Leaking fuel from a Titan II missile exploded in its underground silo overnight, injuring 22 Air Force personnel.

ABC News has learned that when the explosion occurred, the nuclear warhead on top was catapulted out of the silo onto the ground nearby.

Then it was determined that no radiation had escaped.

I'm Keith Berman.

The 1,000 residents evacuated from their homes in Damascus, Arkansas, are home again.

They're still talking about that overnight fire and explosion that rocked the Titan II missile silo, injuring 22 Air Force personnel.

No radiation escaped, we're told.