From 1945 to 1991, the United States built the bombs, launched the rockets, and dug the silos that defined the second half of the 20th century. These ten sites — most declassified within the last 30 years — let you visit the hardware in person.
No. 01 · Merritt Island, Florida
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
The actual launch pads for Apollo and the Space Shuttle.
Atlantis up close, a Saturn V on its side, and bus tours to the Vehicle Assembly Building — the largest single-storey building in the world.
Tip · Time a visit for a SpaceX or NASA launch; viewing tickets sell out instantly but the regular complex is open.
No. 02 · Washington, DC
National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian flagship; Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, Apollo 11 command module.
The Milestones of Flight gallery in one room: the most consequential aircraft and spacecraft in human history.
Tip · Major renovation ongoing through 2026; check which galleries are open. Udvar-Hazy in Virginia holds the Discovery shuttle.
No. 03 · Sahuarita, Arizona
Titan Missile Museum
The only preserved Titan II ICBM silo, deactivated in 1984.
Descend into the launch control room and stand under a real 9-megaton thermonuclear missile in its silo. Sobering and unforgettable.
Tip · Reserve the Top to Bottom Tour; standard tour skips the silo level.
No. 04 · Wall, South Dakota
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Cold War launch facility and Delta-09 silo on I-90 in the Badlands.
The only place in the world you can tour a still-intact Minuteman launch control center and a missile silo at the same site.
Tip · Free, but launch control facility tours require reservations 90 days ahead; the silo and visitor center are walk-in.
No. 05 · White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
Trinity Site
Ground Zero of the first atomic bomb test, 16 July 1945.
Open to the public only twice a year (first Saturdays of April and October); a small obelisk marks the actual blast crater.
Tip · Free; check the Missile Range website for current open-house dates and security requirements.
No. 06 · Los Alamos, New Mexico
Bradbury Science Museum
The Manhattan Project's hometown museum, with full-scale replicas of Little Boy and Fat Man.
Combined with the Manhattan Project National Historical Park (Oppenheimer's office is open by reservation), the best Manhattan Project experience anywhere.
Tip · Free; combine with Bandelier National Monument 12 miles away.
No. 07 · San Francisco / Alameda, California
USS Pampanito & USS Hornet
WWII submarine and Apollo-recovery aircraft carrier, both open for self-guided tours.
USS Hornet recovered Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 astronauts; the quarantine trailer used by the Apollo 11 crew is preserved on board.
Tip · Hornet hosts overnight 'Live Aboard' programs — sleep in the original sailors' bunks.
No. 08 · Las Vegas, Nevada
National Atomic Testing Museum
Smithsonian-affiliated museum dedicated to the Nevada Test Site.
Pieces of Bikini Atoll, a Ground Zero theater, and the only public source for declassified Nevada Test Site information.
Tip · If you can get on a Nevada Test Site tour from here (12 a year, year-long waitlist), do.
No. 09 · White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Greenbrier Bunker
Secret 112,000-square-foot Congressional fallout shelter, declassified 1992.
Carved into a mountain beneath the Greenbrier Resort; meant to house all of Congress in case of nuclear war.
Tip · $50 90-minute tour; no phones, no cameras. Easily combined with a Greenbrier resort stay.
No. 10 · Houston, Texas
Space Center Houston (Johnson Space Center)
Mission Control, Saturn V Park, and the actual Apollo 17 command module.
Tram tour onto the JSC working campus, including Historic Mission Control — restored to its 1969 Apollo 11 condition.
Tip · Level 9 VIP tour adds astronaut training facility and the Neutral Buoyancy Lab pool — pricey but unmatched.
Florida and Houston cover the human spaceflight story; New Mexico and the Dakotas cover the nuclear one. Two separate week-long trips, not one — they are 1,500 miles apart and tell different halves of the same century.