LGM-25C Titan II

The first is arazine-50.

It's the rocket fuel used to power the Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile, the fuel for long-range nuclear missiles.

It's probably pretty difficult to find that stuff in New York City, but I guess you never know.

She raised a second finger.

But below the ground, directly beneath the concrete slab at the center of the enclosure, a cavernous silo plunges 150 feet into the earth.

Sheathed within it is the Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile, the most powerful nuclear projectile ever built by the United States.

Right now, two Air Force technicians are making their way underground, passing through an intricate series of gates and secure metal access doors, descending deeper and deeper into the silo.

[door clanks] 21-year-old Dave Powell and 19-year-old Jeff Plum have been dispatched here to carry out some routine maintenance work on the missile.

These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations, people suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

In this episode, we meet Airman Greg Devlin, a 21-year-old fuel technician in the US military.

Stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, it's the job of Greg and his fellow fuel techs to sort out any fuel-related issues on board the military fleet of Titan II missiles stored in silos throughout central Arkansas.

On September the 18th, 1980, Greg receives an emergency call from his commanding officer informing him of a potentially catastrophic fuel leak at one of the missile sites just outside the town of Damascus.

About 1,000 residents evacuated from the area at 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.

Borman's answer, "We have debris up here.

This is an actual sighting." And then he confirms, "We also have the booster in sight." So the booster that they're referring to is the Titan II upper stage, which separates from the capsule when they're in space.

But Borman confirmed that what they were seeing was not the booster, 'cause he's like, "I see the booster right here, and this bogey is just posted up right next to it." Now, Borman described the object as having hundreds of small particles drifting past it three or four miles out.

He says, quote, "It's a brilliant body in the sun against a black background with trillions of particles on it.

In his 20 years of service, he was a radio operator in the Army Air Force during World War II.

He flew 43 combat missions as a navigator over Korea and spent the 1960s working on some of the most classified ballistic missile programs in the American arsenal: the Jupiter, the Titan I, and the Titan II.

He knows missiles, and he knows them better than almost anyone alive.

He was also due for some R&R.

Old 8820 John Deere header.

Uh, 88- 8820 Titan II.

This would be-

Titan II.

I mean, it, it's in Gympie in New South Wales, but this would be another one that would suit our man, the Tangy Drifter.

Mm.

After a few years of waiting, Gemini 1 was launched in April of 1964.

The intercontinental ballistic missile adapted by NASA for Gemini capsule launches was called the Titan II.

Titan II was over 100 feet tall and weighed around 340,000 pounds.

Attached to the rocket was a test Gemini capsule, though it was uncrewed for this mission.

NASA aimed to validate the structure, mechanical systems, communication systems, and ground crew operations that were to be used for future missions.