h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If you paste the coordinates into a regular Google search window and then click on 'Maps' it will take you to a map of the area. Then you can then click on 'Satellite' and get the same view that Google Earth gives you.

46 58 06 N 97 47 02 W
47 02 21 N 97 47 38 W
46 56 12 N 97 41 53 W

Here's three that are right in my neighborhood. All of these have been deactivated by now. Not much to see above ground, even when they were fully operational. Just a fence and a small, drab concrete structure.

LL&P
RtC


(Oh, and thanks for that one in the Western part of the state.)

OK so they are missile silos.

defending the area from what (or alternatively threatening retaliation to what)? Since they are fairly centrally located in the US it would appear that they are to defend North Dakota from the other states. Or Canada!

Surely locating them round the rim of a land mass would reduce the required range in order to defend or attack an aggressor (unles it was Minnesota or Manitoba).

Aware that I an exposing my ignorance of the use of the minuteman.

PP

among other reasons, ICBM emplacements were considered prime targets for nuclear attack during the Cold War. Since the coasts of the U.S. are generally heavily populated, it made sense (as much as anything did during the Cold War) to locate such targets in the relatively unpopulated areas of the country.

OK thanks.

(I still think that Canada poses a threat.)

PP

(darn right we do!)

Actually, one of the biggest reasons for the location of so many missles in North Dakota was this: 48 10 00N 100 10 00W. It's the geographic center of the US. That means we can launch missles in any direction easily and quickly. A small amount of reprogramming and we could retarget in moments. And yes, it did make about as much sense as anything did during the Cold War did.

By the way, the monument for the geographic center of the US is located at 48 21 15.5N 99 59 41.4W on the highway at Rugby, ND. If you notice, it's about 15 miles away. The actual geographic center is located in a slough and there isn't anything but farmland around it. Rugby is a better location for the tourist trade.

LL&P
RtC

Hah! Ta for that - I'm back home now so I can use Google Earth anyway, but I didn't notice that "Satellite" button on Google Maps (I'd been on there as well!)
Thanks guys.

So, Canada a threat? I'll take note.

And just in case anyone ever did launch any of those things, here is a good place to go (albeit very quickly) - this is the (no longer) secret entrance to the underground bunker where the chiefs of Hull City Council would have gone in the event of a nuclear war.

Although it isn't really much to look at - it's underground...

53 49 05.73N 0 20 38.03W

Canada was never considered a threat. But the quickest way from America to Russia is over Canada.

The also 'no longer secret bunker' that was built in Somerset for Margaret Thatcher back in the 80's (now disused).

51 13 52.06 N 2 29 32.77 W

Just found part of the Sandbanks ferry!

50 40 57.88 N 1 56 56.52 W

(Zoom in close)

Here's another stealth train:
52 13 36.51 N 0 09 30.90E
Even the railtracks it's coming from disappear shortly up the line.

The Milton Maize Maze is cute:
52 14 58.03 N 0 09 26.55 E

There is an Air Canada plane parked in Bourne End:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Bourne+End,+Buckinghamshire+SL8,+United+Kingdom&layer=&ie=UTF8&sll=53.098145,-2.443696&sspn=11.149649,29.091797&z=18&ll=51.577016,-0.696645&spn=0.001407,0.003551&t=k&om=1

This is interesting, though the resolution is awful.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6543185.stm

"The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC has teamed up with Google's internet mapping service, Google Earth, to try to halt what they see as genocide.

By combining the museum's Darfur database with clickable images on the ground, they aim to create a "community of conscience" among internet users.

From now, anyone logging into Google Earth will see a welcome screen with a marker highlighting the Darfur area.

If they then zoom in, flame-shaped icons will lead them to satellite images of destroyed villages, where blackened rings show where burnt-out mud and straw huts once stood. "

Is GE playing up tonight

PP

Seems fine to me

Can anyone tell me what this geological feature is?

13°33'58.61"N 24°17'39.55"E

Looks to me like part of the Jebbel Marrah, an area of old volcanic calderas.

Thanks Anhaga

Spent ages looking for an oil rig, but this is the best I can do!

56° 8'47.48"N 2°59'18.59"W

It's not even out at sea properly.