Deep inside a cave, a military base in Colorado's Cheyenne Mountain plays a critical role in the mission to protect America and its allies in outer space.

It is said the Colorado's Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station acts like the human brain stem, reports CBS News correspondent Bianna Golodryga. The survival bunker pulls in information, makes sense of it, and passes it along to the brain – or our country's decision-makers. There's also good reason Cheyenne Mountain is known as America's fortress.

"It is the nerve center for the blanket of defense for the U.S.," said Col. Robert Moose, who commands the 721st Mission Support Group at Cheyenne Mountain. 

Inside the "unblinking eye" tasked with defending America in space 

That nerve center is here in Colorado Springs, an impenetrable fortress beneath 2,000 feet of granite.
 
"We provide 24/7 global watch on all ballistic missile threats," Moose said. "The sensors that are global are feeding data into Cheyenne Mountain to send process and disseminate it to the national leaders."