The Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site will host Rocket Day for Children from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Rocket Day will provide children the opportunity to learn about rocket science as they conduct experiments that demonstrate Newton's Laws of Motion. Children are asked to bring a clean 2-liter or 20-ounce pop bottle to use for building a water rocket, which they will then get to launch.
Additional hands-on activities will teach children about the Minuteman Missile system in North Dakota and the Air Force personnel who served here. Free tours of the Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility will be offered to participating children and their parents. The event is open to children of all ages and refreshments will be served.
For more information, call (701) 797-3691 or e-mail msundlov@nd.gov .
Oscar-Zero's hours of operations are: through Oct. 31, it will be open Mondays and Thursdays-Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m., closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Located on the front lines of the Cold War, the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site preserves and interprets the story of the Minuteman missile system as well as the people working in and living around the missile sites. Visitors will see a new exhibit providing an overview of the Cold War and the Oscar-Zero site. A small theater has also been installed to show a brief orientation video as visitors begin their tour, as well as a museum store. At the nearby November 33 Launch Facility, the unstaffed portion of the site, eight new outdoor panels tell the story of its mission.
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The site is managed by the state's history agency, the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The most contemporary of the state historic sites managed by the SHSND, the Minuteman Missile Site was operational until 1997, when it was deactivated by the U.S. Air Force as a condition of the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction (START) Treaty.
Oscar-Zero is located about four miles north of Cooperstown on N.D. Highway 45, and November-33 is two miles east of Cooperstown on N.D. Highway 200. The sites are about six miles apart. Oscar-Zero and November-33 are the military designation names of these facilities.
Admission to the Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility is $10 per adult, ages 16 and over, $3 per child, ages 6-15, and children 5 and under are admitted free.
There is no charge to visit the November-33 Launch Facility, which is available for viewing year-round.
