MX photograph collection

MX photograph collection, 1985

Overview of the Collection

Title: MX photograph collection
Dates: 1985 (inclusive)
19851985
Quantity: 0.209 linear feet, (1 box) : 40 Photographic Prints
Collection Number: P0505
Summary: The MX photograph collection contains photographs of mock-ups and concept art for the MX Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) being developed by the U. S. Air Force. The collection also includes photographs of local protestors to the MX plan.
Repository: University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions: Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Languages: English, English

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection is relevant to citizens of Utah in the 1980s when the U.S. government was looking for sites to house the politically sensitive MX missile. Included in the collection are technical photographs of the missile and proposed missile housing procedures. Also included are images of local protestors to the MX plan.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Collection is arranged topically.

Processing Note

Processed by Ashley Arave in 2004.

Separated Materials

Manuscript materials were transferred to the MX Information Center records (MS 0527) located in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.

Audio-visual materials were transferred to the MX Information Center audio-visual collection (A0275).

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Technical Information, Protests and MiscellaneousReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
1	1	Technical Information 1: MX ICBM: This is a full scale mockup of the new MX Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) being developed by the U. S. Air Force. Major MX contractors include: Thiokol Corporation (Stage 1), Aerojet General Corporation (Stage 2), Hercules, Inc. (Stage 3), Rockwell International Corporation (Stage 4, flight computer, guidance and control system integrator) and Martin-Marietta Corporation (Assembly, Test and systems support). First MX flight test will be in 1983 with initial operational capability (ten missiles) in 1986 and full operational capability (200 missiles) in 1989. 2: MX Road Vehicle: Artist's conception of the transporter-erector-launcher road vehicle and a hardened horizontal shelter for the MX missile being developed by the U. S. Air Force. The cutaway shows a mobile shield which straddles the missiles during transit, thus denying potential enemies any certainty of the exact missiles location when it is being moved of when it is in a shelter. The MX system will consist of approximately 200 missiles and 4,600 shelters located in the southwest United States. The MX will be part of the U. S. strategic deterrent force, the Triad of missiles, bombers, and sea-launched ballistic missiles. 3: U.S./U.S.S.R. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (projected through fifth generation) This illustration shows both the present and projected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) inventories of both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. While the U.S. has favored smaller, more accurate ICBM's, the U.S.S.R. had emphasized larger missies with heavier payloads with less accuracy. However, as the Soviet ICBM's become more accurate their capability to destroy our ICBM's will increase. 4: MX Basing Mode: this is an artist's concept of the horizontal basing mode for the mobile MX missile being developed by the U.S. Air Force. The key feature of the basing mode is survivability which will be achieved by moving approximately 200 missiles among 4,600 hardened horizontal structures without revealing actual missile locations. This basing mode will consist of approximately 200 closed loops, each having 23 shelters about 1-2 miles apart, and one transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) carrying only on missile. MX will be part of the U.S. strategic force, the Triad of missiles, bombers, and sea-launched ballistic missiles. 5: MX Basing Complex: This is an artist's concept of the horizontal basing complex for the MX missile being developed by the U.S. Air Force. The buildings (left) are the assembly area for the MX missiles which will move into the closed loops (roadways) by rail. At the end of the railway a single MX will be placed on a mobile transporter-erector-launcher road vehicle which will move among the 23 shelters around each loop to insure survivability by denying potential enemies any certainty of its exact location. Current plans call for one missile and 23 shelters and 4,600 shelters. MX will be part of the U.S. strategic deterrent force, the Triad of missiles, bombers, and sea-launched ballistic missiles. 6: MX Road Vehicle: Artist's conception of the transporter-erector-launcher road vehicle and a hardened horizontal shelter for the MX missile being developed by the U. S. Air Force. The cuaway shows a mobile shield which straddles the missiles during transit, thus denying potential enemies any certainty of the exact missiles location when it is being moved of when it is in a shelter. The MX system will consist of approximately 200 missiles and 4,600 shelters located in the southwest United States. The MX will be part of the U. S. strategic deterrent force, the Triad of missiles, bombers, and sea-launched ballistic missiles. 7: This is an artist's concept of a hardened shelter for the MX missile being developed by the U. S. Air Force. The four ports open comply with verification requirements of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. The MX system will consist of approximately 200 missiles among 4,600 shelters. Each shelter will be surrounded by a 2 2 acre fenced area. The area outside the fence will be available for ranching, farming, hunting, mining and other public use. MX will be part of the U.S. strategic deterrent force, the Triad of missiles, bombers, and sea-launched ballistic missiles.
1	2	Protest 1: Polaroid of an altered stop sign: "STOP...MX" 2: Group of protestors 3: Protestors in front of the Federal Building in Salt Lake City 4: Unidentified group of people 5-10: Protestors
1	3	Miscellaneous 1-10: Unidentified woman 11: Unidentified reverend 12: R. Thayne Robson 13: 'A mushroom cloud rises from the desert floor at the Nevada test site. The nuclear test, name DeBaca, was a balloon fired in October 1958. Since July 1962, all NTS weapons test have been underground.' 14: MX Protestors 15-16: Unidentified reverends 17: Cruise Missile in the air 18: Firing a missile 19-20: Unidentified 21: Hard Mobile Launcher Concepts 22: Artist's Concept of new small ICBM 23: Unidentified group

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Intercontinental ballistic missiles
MX (Weapons system)
Nevada Test Site (Nev.)
Protests (Negotiable instruments)

Corporate Names

Aerojet-General Corporation
Hercules Incorporated
United States. Air Force

Geographical Names

Salt Lake City (Utah)

Form or Genre Terms

Photographs

Archives West Finding Aid

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