Mission and Missiles

We drove to the Mission San Xavier del Bac that is lovingly referred to as the "White Dove of the Desert." This active Franciscan mission is located on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. San Xavier Mission is acclaimed to be the finest example of mission architecture in the United States. The mission is currently going through restoration to clean, repair and preserve as much of the church as they can. The outside of the church is going through even more restoration.

The church is a series of arches and domes. The interior is absolutely breathtaking. The area behind the altar just glitters with an array of color.

This is a partial view of some of the ceiling work.

After more than 200 years the Franciscans are still serving their parish. The church primarily serves the Tohono O'odham but is open to all.

This is a view of the fields of the reservation from the hill near the mission.

If you would like more information on the mission, here is a link to their website Mission San Xavier del Bac.

We decided to drive on down to the Titan Missile Museum as we weren't that far from the museum.

The missile was deactivated in 1983 as part of the agreement with the Soviets to deactivate ICBMs. This missile site is the only silo that escaped destruction.

Here is a shot of the decommissioned missile.

After walking down 56 stairs into the Control Room. It was very interesting to hear what their 24 hour shifts were like as they sat waiting and praying that they would never have to act on the instructions from the President of the United States.

This is one of many of the isolators within the room that would protect the Control Room from the shock of a nuclear attack.

Silo closure door that has been blocked from ever opening.
Here is a rocket engine that was made by Aerojet.

The tour was very interesting and worth seeing as a reminder of "peace through deterrence". For more information, here is a link Titan Missile Museum.

Another nice day here in Tucson.