Decades Old Nuclear Missiles Finally Launched As Orbital Rockets 

"It goes supersonic in something like 15 seconds" - so the standard KSP ascent profile

I keep thinking, "Store in a cool, dry place." for the retired boosters.

This channel is such an oasis. No politics, no controversy, no begging for Likes and Subscriptions, just straight up quality content and production. Thanks Scott, you're a class act.

"The only space vehicle I can think of launched from under water" definitely sounds like it needs its own video if it doesnt already have one.

"Fly safe" on top of a repurposed nuclear ICBM.

There's even an Orion stage? They need to stop naming space things Orion; it's getting too confusing!

*Launches Rocket* “We took out the nuclear payload, right?” “Uh oh...” The launch was truly spectacular, and I can only imagine how loud that rocket is!

Imagine how excited those rockets are to be finally going into space ... I always think of them as early versions of the bomb from Dark Star

It was shocking when they called Mach 2 and about 10 seconds later called out Mach 3. These things are quick.

“I find it fascinating that these rockets have sat around in storage for decades and they’re pretty much still ready to go at a moment’s notice.” I think that’s a primary design criteria for ICBMs. 😀 Any idea whether the launch data feeds back into the USAF to help maintain the current ICBM arsenal?

The thing about Atlas and Titan is that they were such good launch vehicles, and so inadequate as alert-worthy weapons, that they actually stayed in production as launchers long after they were retired as weapons. These solid fuel jobs, on the other hand, are really optimized as weapons, designed to sit in storage for years, like cartridges in a rifle magazine, and then work simply and reliably if fired in anger. They will get warheads to the other side of the planet very quickly, but they aren't as efficient as liquid fueled launchers, can't lift as much mass for a rocket of their size, and their high accelerations, desired in a weapon, can be rough on more delicate payloads. But it's good that they've found a niche launch market.

This Rocket: "FIIIIIIIINAAAAAAALLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

11:55 That was part of the design requirements for the booster: sit in a silo for years, but still able to fire within a minute or two of being activated. Probably they had some sort of stabilizers mixed in with the fuel grain, so that it wouldn't degrade much over time.

I really like that you can see the supersonic shock forming exactly as Scott says the word "Supersonic". Good planning!

Sitting unused for decades, and then being ready to launch at a moment's notice with high reliability, _was_ kind of the main design consideration when they drew these things up. Hence 'modern' ICBMs being (almost) all solid-fueled, with very stable propellant formulations. It sounds startling, but it is kinda obvious if you think about what they were made for.

The Minotaur series of rockets is probably my favorite series of launch vehicles currently in operation. Also, as far as i know the Minuteman I and C are both still planned to fly, though they don't have any launches currently scheduled i think. also, the 3 is also in active development still i think. not sure why, but meh. The 6 *very much is* in active development still iirc. either way, they're just my favorite launches to watch. they just get off the pad so fast, it's so cool. Solid rocket boosters my beloved

I Lost it when the *"Launched a frog into internet fame"* was mentioned 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 9:20

I mean, better than finally using them as nukes :D

"Repurposed ICBM, you say?" *Zefram Cochrane wants to know your location*

Fly safe, say that to the frog. 🐸 it’s funny you mention this when talking about using nuclear delivery devices!

Thanks; I always wondered how fin-less solid rockets were guided, as the instructions for my solid model rockets were very stern about having them go straight via fins and launch rod. The liquid-injection thrust-modulation technique is very clever. Way back, I remember reading that MIRVs used "strong springs" to separate and receive their final guidance to individual targets. I guess calculating ballistic re-entries is that simple??

“I’m Scott Manley” [ad] “Fly safe” Why, RU-vid?

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." And they said we were dreamers in CND.

Imagine how happy those old rockets must be : they finally get to fly, and they don't even need to end mankind to do it.

Yes, My uncle headed up Texas Instruments missile division that oversaw some of these missiles. He once told me that after every single living organism on the planet was dead the missiles would continue to explode for another 30 minutes. I think he would’ve been proud to see some of his work being used for something more civilized.

My favorite RU-vid channel, hands down. CLOSELY followed by Tim Dodd "The Everyday Astronaut". Scott Manley, you're awesome!

It is impressive that they still can just be hoisted up the stand and launched, but then on the other hand that was part of the design criteria when they build these and I got a feeling the people who build these knew what they where doing.

Fascinating! Would be cool to see altitude and velocity vs. time graphs as compared to the Falcon 9. Also would like to see where Max-Q would be on those graphs.

Welcome to Mercury 2: Mercury Harder (only 60 years late)

Elon Musk in like 2001: did somebody say purchase Russian ICBM launch? Elon Musk in 2002: ok nvm i'm doing it myself

FYI - Thiokol, Hercules, and Alliant Techsystems became a part of ATK then Orbital ATK then Northrop Grumman

I actually maintain the Minuteman III for a living! It's good to see these weapons being used for non-weapon needs!

"due to a supplier that forged test data". Where have I heard that before. Seems to be a pattern.

I remember the the blasted frog. I was able to see that nightime launch from Wallops Island from my home in Silver Spring Maryland. I love the night launches from Wallops.

Titan II was also a ballistic missile and it was modified by adding strap on solids to be a satellite launcher called the Titan IIIC. At McDonnell Douglas we built the payload Fairing for the Titan IIIC. We also created a new aft end of the Titan IIIC payload fairing to create a 10 ft diameter payload fairing for Delta II. Those fairings were expensive and took a long time to build and were replaced by the 10ft Composite fairings when we had a lot of commercial Iridium and Globalstar launches. Composite fairings cut costs and production time. The cheaper fairings also made the launches much more profitable.

"you remember when alliance changed this thingy, right?" Me on every SM video "oh yeah sure of course"

At 9:23 there is a flying frog 😂

I did not know about this. I thought it odd. I knew we had lots of old solid propellant boosters left over from various programs. I worked on C-3 Poseidon in the Navy. I was thinking just a few weeks ago that someone should be able to use them for small, low earth orbital launches.

The longevity and reliability of these vehicles is a proper tip of the hat the engineering and production skill that went into them

Early in my career, in the dark days of the Cold War, I worked on the Peacekeeper (or as I knew it at the time "MX") and Small ICBM (SICBM) missile systems. I eventually moved away from this to work on human spaceflight in part because I found it difficult to work on something I never wanted to see used. It's gratifying to see Peacekeeper being used for more peaceful pursuits. SICBM, by the way, was an early user of graphite wound solid rocket motors very similar in design to the Pegasus solid motors.

would be interesting to hear more on how icbms keep orientation and such a high accuracy aim independently and over long flight. solutions used for managing solid boosters also very interesting

i'm Scott Manley, f... (ad break)... ly safe.

I love these historical videos that take some subject and collects information about it and contextualizes it and makes sense of it. Yet another "thumbs up" for Scott Manley!

Thank you, Scott. Excellent presentation as always!

Is it really surprising that they still work after sitting in storage for so long? After all, they were designed to sit in launchbays for years to be launched at a moments noticed in case nuclear war broke out.

Speaking of rockets with absurd acceleration it would be great if you did a video about the Sprint missile.

Great video, Scott! Thanks!

Scott, I appreciate how you keep coming up with videos of obscure but highly interesting parts of the history of rockets and space exploration. Thank you for your great work.

Is the high TWR a problem for satellites? How can a satellite be adapted to these structural loads and vibrations?

6:53 I like that 80s graphic design, like an ad for a toy rocket. "Get the new Peacekeeper Nuclear Missile by Hasbro! You and your friends will have hours of enjoyment posturing, threatening, and even nuking each other!"

Thanks for the awesome video Scott. Cheers!

Mr. Manley.... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE your videos! Please keep going! I honestly look forward to your uploads!

You should do the R-36/SS-18 family of ICBM/Launch Vehicle. Fascinating technology fascinating history.

I’d rather see a nuke go off in 8k resolution. Not killing anyone of coarse :p

Your research is fantastic Scott!

Really interesting video Scott, thanks!

Peacekeepers are mind-boggling machines. I remember standing in the missile garden at the US Air Force museum and thinking that there is enough nuclear firepower in this room to kill every person on earth. That really puts things into perspective for a person, but I love seeing these engineering marvels go back to work as orbital launch vehicles! Edit: I know that statistically speaking 10 missiles probably can’t vaporize the entire human population. It’s just very hard to comprehend the power of these weapons, and it only gets harder when you stand next to a booster and a warhead. Also, nobody’s ever turned the launch key on a peacekeeper, but I suspect that if they did, the nuclear fallout would be one of the most deveststing events in human history.

The rockets became supersonic in seconds because they were happy to be going to space decades after their creation

Got to see one launch here in Florida. It was a iv for ORS5 ,night launch, Pretty spectacular to watch with how fast it accelerates and how quickly it drops stages.

You certainly do research into areas that are relavent and interesting. Thanks Scott.

Excellent, interesting topic scott. Thanks for teaching me about rocket science and orbital mechanics. ps - A "limited edition run" of Outer Wilds is available right now! but there is only a few days left to get it! I know you love that game so I figured id give you a heads up!

1:46 An ICBM blowing a smoke ring, you have to appreciate the little things...

Great video. I am always checking my feed for new Scott Manley videos.

Star-Trek Fun Fact: Zefram Cochrane, born in 2030, used a Titan II to build the worlds first warp-capable space ship. It launched in 2063 and at this time Zefram already looked like he was 70 years old, even though he was just 33. All the engineering problems, trying to invent the impossible, gave him grey hairs. ;)

9:21 oh no poor boi

Makes sense we’d be launching the old ICBMs since we’re upgrading to new ones lol

I learn something new every time I watch one of your videos.

Hey Scott, been watching some streamers playing the RSS mod for KSP and running into the problem of not having a Ullage motor! You should do a video about their importance in the rockets we all know and love!

Ever since Star Trek First Contact, I've wondered why we didn't hear about ICBMs being converted from missiles to rockets.

hey scott, ive got an interesting idea that id like some feedback on. So ive been rewatching some older videos of some other youtubers and saw them using peltier units as coolers. apply voltage and it makes a hot side and a cold side. these can be used in reverse so cool one side and heat another to create voltage. now my idea is for low power satalites. using the special paint that is absolute black and absorbs 99% of all light energy, paint one side of the peltier so it gets hot. the other side will stay cool and generate power. do you think this would be a viable alternative to solar panels in space or do you think it wouldnt work as effectively?

The LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM was designed to carry up to 11 or 12 MIRVs (depending on the version of RV and warhead used) but I never heard of any fitted with more than 10 W87 warheads. The rest of the room was used for PENAIDS.

I saw the NROL 129 launch and it was my first! I LOVED IT!!!!!

9:21 Poor froggy...

This time "Fly safe" has a but more to it, innit?

I grew up in the cold war being born in 1961 I saw it all and getting to finally see these things put to good use and not dropping nukes every were is a blessing

Thanks Great Video !!

Swords into plowshares, of a modern sort?

9:26 frog In picture

Nice to hear these old weapons are being used for a less destructive purpose

Makes sense now . I was hoping you would add this to your list of things to speak of .. I watched that launch the other day and I was saying wow that bad boy got moving in a hurry

Nice to see those swords used as plowshares.

casual flex. Our stuff works, China. Even our old stuff.

Great video Scott - any chance of a more detailed look at the SS-18/Dnepr if only for its amazing silo-launch!

Cool stuff. Whatever gets us closer to low-cost, daily launches is highly welcomed.

2020 needs more good space news

I have never been so early

I began my career working at TRW Ballistic Missiles Division (TRW/BMD), the System Engineering & Technical Assistance contractor for the Air Force Ballistic Missiles Office (AF/BMO) at Norton Air Force Base in California. We had just begun (in 1980) Full Scale Engineering Development of the Peacekeeper (nee MX) ICBM. I became TRW's Stage IV Development Engineer, but my goal in life was developing commercial space launch vehicles. It turned out that the manager of the engineering division of TRW/BMD was a former NASA person who shared my passion for commercial space, Dr. John Thole. He had brought one of his former NASA colleagues, Bill Schindler, into BMD. Bill was known as the father of the Delta launch vehicle, having managed the program from its first launch through the year NASA told him to shut it down so that it wouldn't compete with Shuttle. The three of us schemed to get TRW into the commercial space launch business, using ICBM technology. A fortuitous reorganization put us TRW/BMD into the Space & Technology Group, under the management of VP Dan Goldin. He ultimately became our champion, and we developed on paper a family of launch vehicles based on the Castor 120 and another Thiokol upper stage, vehicles which would have significantly reduced the cost of space launch. As a bonus, one of the AF/BMO Colonels that we knew, Ted Kehl, retired from the Air Force and took a job as heading up the launch vehicle procurement organization for Motorola's upcoming IRIDIUM satellite phone constellation. We were the only company who bid both constellation launch and maintenance for IRIDIUM, and were told after the fact that had we only submitted our proposal, we would have won the whole thing. I don't know if that's true, but we never got the chance. Dan Goldin was tapped to become the Administrator of NASA, and the company shut down the TRW Launch Services Organization one week later. I won't go into the subsequent theft of intellectual property too deeply, but someone else did use our technology to launch two spacecraft. One of them, Clementine, went to the Moon. Bill Schindler passed away before TRW shut us down, and John Thole went to Orbital Sciences. I started my own attempted launch company, Kelly Space & Technology. Thiokol was bought by ATK, and ATK was acquired by Orbital Sciences. TRW was bought out by Northrop-Grumman, and the whole shootin' match of Orbital ATK Thiokol TRW is now Northrop Grumman. The use of ICBM and ICBM-derived stages thus has a long history (I have left a lot out), longer than this video captured. But it was a really good video. Scott Manley does an excellent job.

This is the best thing I ever saw.

Firrrssssttt

Cheers Scott :)

Very good video keep going man

Great video! You always have very high quality content - Thanks for sharing :-)

Interesting as always 👍 Thanks for sharing 👍😀

Love the smoke ring that comes out of the solo when launched. (Sans warhead, of course!)😂

I love how KSP this is. „Yeah, let‘s take this existing SRB and just stick this other existing one on top, that will surely get us to space“ :D

Pretty cool to see old hardware used for purposes other than strategic deterrence or glassing the surface of the planet.

Taurus actually used the Peacekeeper SR-118 first stage on it's first three flights before switching over the Castor 120s. Minotaur I and Minotaur II are the only vehicles that use the Minuteman II hardware. I got to work on all the Minotaur vehicles (4 launches in total) and that was one of the best jobs I ever had.

Well put together video Scott...zero to supersonic in 15 seconds...Wow that is motoring...like the name Peacekeeper...a bit like Orwells Ministry of Peace dealing with all things related to war👉🇬🇧👉👉💎👉🎬👍

Clever, nothing is wasted

My grand father was one of the lead electrical engineers for Martin Marietta when they were making both of these rockets. He did work on the voyager,Viking ,mariner, titan LV and a bunch of other stuff. Your legacy lives on Gramps. Semper Fi Marine.