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White Sands Missile Range

February 16, 2024

White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, where the Trinity test site lay at the northern end of the Range, in Socorro County near the towns of Carrizozo and San Antonio. It then became the White Sands Proving Ground on 9 July 1945.

White Sands Missile Range (1960)[1]
New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range (1947)
White Sands Proving Ground (1945)
Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range (1941)[2]
Part of United States Army Test and Evaluation Command
Located in the San Andres Mountains, the Oscura Mountains, the San Augustin Mountains, the Tularosa Basin, and the Chupadera Mesa in New Mexico
Most of the northern Tularosa Basin (blue) is used for the WSMR (area within dashed perimeter), which encloses numerous areas that are not military land (e.g., the NPS's White Sands National Park), as well as United States Air Force facilities.
WSMR location
Coordinates32°20′08″N 106°24′21″W / 32.33556°N 106.40583°W / 32.33556; -106.40583[3] Condron Army Airfield near the southernmost WSMR point
Site information
Controlled byUnited States Army
Websitewww.wsmr.army.mil
Site history
Built1948-07-09 cantonment completed[4]
1957-02: Launch Complex 37 completed
Built byOrdnance Corps[4]
Garrison information
Current
commander		BG Eric D. Little (2021–present)[5]
Past
commanders
  • BG David C. Trybula (2019–2021)
  • BG Gregory J. Brady (2018–2019)
  • BG Eric L. Sanchez (2016–2018)
  • BG Timothy R. Coffin (2014–2016)
  • MG Gwen Bingham (2012–2014)[6]
  • BG John G. Ferrari (2011–2012)
  • BG David L. Mann (2008–2009)
  • BG Richard L. McCabe (2007–2008)

White Sands National Park founded in the 1930s is located within the range.

Significant events edit

  • The missile range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range.
  • On 16 July 1945, the first atomic bomb (code named Trinity) was test detonated at Trinity Site near the northern boundary of the range, seven days after the White Sands Proving Ground was officially established,[7] near the towns of Carrizozo and San Antonio. (33°40.636′N 106°28.525′W / 33.677267°N 106.475417°W / 33.677267; -106.475417).[8]
  • After the conclusion of World War II, 100 long-range German V-2 rockets that were captured by U.S. military troops were brought to WSMR. Of these, 67 were test-fired between 1946 and 1951 from the White Sands V-2 Launching Site. (This was followed by the testing of American rockets, which continues to this day, along with testing other technologies.)
  • On 15 May, 1947, a V-2 rocket fired from WSMR veered off course and landed 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Alamogordo, New Mexico.[9]
  • Exactly two weeks later, on May 29, 1947, a modified V-2 sounding rocket veered off course and crashed on top of a rocky knoll about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of the Juárez business district, leaving a 24 feet (7.3 m) deep by 50 feet (15 m) wide crater.[9][10]
  • On 11 July 1970, the United States Air Force launched an Athena sounding rocket, equipped with re-entry vehicle V-123-D, from the Green River Launch Complex in Utah. While its intended target was inside of WSMR, the rocket instead flew south and impacted 180–200 miles (290–320 km) south of the Mexican border in the Mapimi Desert in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Durango.[11]
  • On 30 March 1982 NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia landed on the Northrop Strip at WSMR as the conclusion to mission STS-3.[12] This was the only time that NASA used WSMR as a landing site for the space shuttle.
 
The site of the 1945 Trinity explosion became part of WSMR.

Geography edit

For the geography and ecology of the WSMR area, see White Sands, New Mexico and Basin and Range Province.

As the largest military installation in the United States, WSMR encompasses almost 3,200 sq mi (8,300 km2) including parts of Doña Ana, Otero, Socorro, Sierra, and Lincoln counties in southern New Mexico.

Nearby military bases edit

Holloman Air Force Base borders WSMR to the east; and WSMR borders the 600,000-acre (2,400 km2) McGregor Range Complex at Fort Bliss to the south (southeast Tularosa Basin and on Otero Mesa) making them contiguous areas for military testing.[13][14]

Nearby cities edit

WSMR is located between Las Cruces, New Mexico to the west, Alamogordo, New Mexico 40 miles to the east, and Chaparral, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas to the south.

National park and wildlife refuge edit

White Sands National Park and the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge are federally-protected natural areas contained within the borders of WSMR.

Transportation edit

Major highways edit

New Mexico State Road 213 enters the range from the south from Chaparral, New Mexico and terminates at U.S. Highway 70, which traverses the southern part of the range in a west-northeast direction and is subject to periodic road closures during test firings at the range.

Nearby airports edit

El Paso International Airport is the nearest airport with regularly scheduled commercial flights. There have been no regularly scheduled commercial passenger flights from Las Cruces International Airport since 25 July 2005, when Westward Airways ceased operations; general aviation, New Mexico Army National Guard (4 UH-72 Lakota Helicopters), private charters and CAP, among others, still use the airport.

National Historic Landmarks edit

On 21 December 1965, the Trinity Site, selected in November 1944 for the Trinity nuclear test conducted on 16 July 1945[15], was designated a National Historic Landmark district,[16][17] and added to the National Register of Historic Places on 15 October 1966.[18]

Current operations edit

 
Ground-based electro-optical deep-space surveillance telescopes performing space surveillance mission.

The White Sands Test Center, headquartered at the WSMR post area, has branches for manned tactical systems and electromagnetic radiation, and conducts missile testing and range recovery operations.[20] "WSMR Main Post" includes several smaller areas such as the housing area, golf course, "Navy Area", and "Technical Area"[21] The WSMR Museum offers tours and exhibits including a V-2 rocket returned in May 2004 after restoration. The White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame inducts members such as the first range commander, Colonel Harold Turner (1945–1947), in 1980.[22] A recreational shooting range just inside the "El Paso gate" on the south is outside of the Post Area.

The 1972 DoD Centers for Countermeasures (CCM) evaluates precision guided munitions and other devices in electronic counter- and counter-countermeasures environments.[23] Other operations on WSMR land include the Launch Abort Flight Test Complex for the Pad Abort-1, the White Sands Launch Complex 37 built for Nike Hercules tests, the White Sands Launch Complex 38 built for Nike Zeus tests with Launch Control Building now used for Patriot missile firings, the North Oscura Peak facility of the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate, and the 1963 NASA White Sands Test Facility's ground station for Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, and the SDO ground station with two 18 m (59 ft) antennas.

Chronology edit

  • 1930: Robert Goddard began rocket testing in New Mexico.
  • 1941-04-13: US World War II preparations established[15] the Army Air Base, Alamogordo[24]
  • 1942: Biggs Army Airfield construction began near El Paso (1947 Biggs AFB, 1973 Biggs AAF)--the region's nearby Deming Army Air Field, Ft Sumner Army Air Field, and South Aux Fid #1 transferred to "Army Div Engrs" in 1946.[25]
  • 1940s: When the range was formed, ranchers' land was leased and eventually condemned by eminent domain
  • In the 1970s, more land was taken permanently to expand the area available for testing.[26]

USAAF ranges edit

White Sands Proving Ground edit

For additional events (e.g., USAF launches) at sites not on WSPG but that later became part of WSMR, see Air Force Missile Development Center.
  • 1945-02-20: The Secretary of War approved establishment of WSPG.[29]: 246 [28]
  • 1945-04-01: The first Private F launch[30] was at WSPG. (Not Fort Bliss's Antiaircraft and Guided Missile Center, which was established 6 July 1946.)[31]
  • 1945-06-25: WSPG construction began with drilling of water wells.[15]
  • 1945-07: First of 300 railroad cars of German V-2 components began to arrive at Las Cruces, New Mexico.[29]: 246 
  • 1945-09: The blockhouse at Army Launch Area 1 (later Launch Complex 33) was completed.[15]
  • 1945-09-16: First WAC Corporal test firing.[29]: 253 
  • 1945-11: GE contractors began to identify, sort, and reassemble V-2 components in Building 1538 (Assembly Building 1).
  • 1946: 35 of the Operation Paperclip scientists from Germany were working at WSPG.[32]
  • 1946-05-29: The 4th U.S. V-2 launch was tracked by two White Sands based AN/MPQ-2 stations.[33]
  • 1946 summer: New WSPG quarters were completed and the Medical Detachment and 3 batteries moved from Ft Bliss.[34]
  • 1946-09: First static firing of a Nike missile was at WSPG.[35]

New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range edit

  • 1947 (late): AMC shifted Army Air Force guided missile programs to Alamogordo in March 1947 and established inter-service New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range at the end of the year[36]
  • 1947-11-14: The USAF's Alamogordo Guided Missile Test Base (AGMTB) had its first ramjet-configured GAPA missile launch (39th for GAPA).[37]
  • 1948–05-13 to 1949-04-21: First six flight attempts for the Project Bumper two-stage V-2 SRBM/WAC Corporal two-stage research vehicles as the world's first "high-speed" multistage rockets to be launched.[38]
  • 1948-07: USAF Project MX–774 commenced with the first RTV-A-2 Hiroc launch (from Launch Complex 33)[39]
  • 1949-03: Holloman's 2754th Air Force Base unit gained "control of [the WSPG] support airfield, Condron Field…from Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss."[15]
  • 1949: German scientists transferred from New Mexico to Alabama (Ernst Steinhoff transferred from WSPG to Holloman's Air Development Center.) 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  • 1949-07: The range's Four Bits Peak Instrumentation Annex was assigned to the air force base (disposed on 30 September 1960).[25]
  • 1951-07: The AGMTB became a sub-base of Florida's Air Force Missile Test Center until 31 August 1952.[40]
  • 1951-08-22: Broomstick Scientists in a unit of the 9393 Technical Service Unit conducted their first launch: the "TF-1" V-2 rocket.[41][42] (Broomstick Sweepings publication ended after a 22 January 1952 general order transferred "1st Ord. GMS Bn." soldiers to Detachment No. 1, Station Complement.)[43]
  • 1952-05-27: An aggregated 2,394,384 acres (4,680 sq miles) was set aside for the "Alamogordo bombing range, White Sands proving ground, and the Fort Bliss antiaircraft range".[44]
  • 1952-09-01: Merger of Holloman bombing range and smaller White Sands Proving Grounds (WSPG) into WSPG[45][36]
  • 1952-11: The range's Red Butte Instrumentation Annex was assigned to Holloman AFB (disposed on 22 November 1963).[25]
  • 1953-06: USS Desert Ship (LLS-1) (Launch Complex 35) was built to test the Navy RIM-8 Talos missile.[15]
  • 1957-02: The 9393rd Technical Unit, Ordnance, became the U.S. Army Garrison.[46]
  • 1957-03-13: Nike Hercules satisfactory launch from White Sands[47][48]

White Sands Missile Range edit

External media
Images
  1945 WSPG
Video
  196x Big Picture: Tularosa Frontier
  Short Notice Annual Practice (minute 16:50)
  Countdown at White Sands
 
1982 Space Shuttle Columbia landing at Northrop Strip

Education edit

Las Cruces Public Schools operates White Sands School on the missile range property.[68]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ White Sands Administrative History (Report). National Park Service. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Chapter Four: Global War at White Sands 1940–1945". White Sands Administrative History. National Park Service. Retrieved 26 November 2022. Executive Order No. 9029
  3. ^ "Condron Army Airfield (2444053)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 28 May 2014. (Doña Ana county—entered in the GNIS on 20 March 2011)
  4. ^ a b (PDF). Army Ballistic Missile Agency. April 1961. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009.
  5. ^ "Leadership White Sands Missile Range". U.S. Army. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  6. ^ "LTG Gwen Bingham". Association of the United States Army. 28 March 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  7. ^ "White Sands Missile Range". Astronautix.com. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  8. ^ . White Sands Missile Range. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007. GPS Coordinates for obelisk (exact GZ) = N33.40.636 W106.28.525
  9. ^ a b Jim Eckles (15 May 2022) Two crashes in two weeks: In 1947, rockets launched from White Sands landed in Alamogordo, Juárez
  10. ^ "Remember the time we bombed Mexico with German rockets?". Gizmodo. 11 May 2012.
  11. ^ Barclay, Michael (13 July 2015). "USAF Accidentally Launched Rocket into Mexico's Mapimi Desert 45 Years Ago". Unredacted. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  12. ^ "STS-3 Columbia Lands at the White Sands Missile Range, NM". NASA. 30 March 1982. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  13. ^ Rubenson, David; Robert Everson; Jorge Munoz; Robert Weissler (1998). McGregor Renewal and the Current Air Defense Mission. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-8330-2669-9. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  14. ^ "U.S. Army Fort Bliss Training Center" (PDF). Western Regional Partnership. 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g (PDF). New Mexico State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  16. ^ Greenwood, Richard (14 January 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Trinity Site". National Park Service. Retrieved 21 June 2009. and Accompanying 10 photos, from 1974. (3.37 MB)
  17. ^ . National Historic Landmarks. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  18. ^ "National Register Information System – Trinity Site (#66000493)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 23 January 2007.
  19. ^ (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  20. ^ . 29 June 1962. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009.
  21. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  22. ^ "White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame". White Sands Missile Range Museum. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Center for Countermeasures". Archived from the original on 6 April 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  24. ^ "A Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground, 1941-1965". WSMR Museum. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  25. ^ a b c d e Mueller (1982). "Holloman Air Force Base". Air Force Bases as of 1982 (Report).
  26. ^ Gibbs, Jason (19 July 2014). . Las Cruces Sun-News. The Las Cruces Sun-News. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  27. ^ "Executive Order 9029: Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department as a General Bombing Range; New Mexico". National Archives. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  28. ^ a b Ordway, Frederick I III; Sharpe, Mitchell R (1979). The Rocket Team. Apogee Books Space Series. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. pp. 290, 389. ISBN 1-894959-00-0.
  29. ^ a b c Ley, Willy (1958) [1944]. Rockets, Missiles and Space Travel (revised ed.). New York: The Viking Press. pp. 246, 253.
  30. ^ Bluth, John. "Von Karman, Malina laid the groundwork for the future JPL". JPL.
  31. ^ Hamilton, John A. Blazing skies: Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss, 1940-2009 ("Google eBook" of Government Printing Office document). Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160869495. Retrieved 29 May 2014. Special Orders No. 143, Headquarters, Army Ground Forces, dated 6 July 1946, [established] the Antiaircraft and Guided Missile Center [from] the remnants of the Antiaircraft Artillery School, the Antiaircraft Replacement Training Center, Army Ground Forces Board No. 4,13 1st AAA Guided Missile Battalion, the 1852nd Area Service Unit, and remaining antiaircraft units, including three automatic weapons battalions and one gun battalion placed in the Army General Reserve.
  32. ^ McCleskey, C.; D. Christensen. (PDF). p. 35. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  33. ^ Upper Air Rocket Summary: V-2 Number 4 (PDF) (Report). Defense Technical Information Center. 29 May 1946. p. 332. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  34. ^ Hamilton, John A. Blazing skies: Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss, 1940-2009. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160869495. three officers and fifty-five enlisted men...worked closely with the German rocket scientists who were located in a six-acre ordnance area on the north side of the Fort Bliss cantonment. [The military unit went to WSPG] to provide the manpower to build the [V-2] missiles and erect them on test stands.
  35. ^ Fort Bliss Main Post Early Cold War BASOPS Building Inventory and Evaluation, 1951-63 (PDF) (Report). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. December 2006. p. 37. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  36. ^ a b Mueller (1982). "Holloman Air Force Base" (PDF). Air Force Bases as of 1982 (Report). USAF Office of Air Force History. p. 248. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  37. ^ Bushnell, David (25 August 1986). GAPA: Holloman's First Missile Program (Scribd.com image) (Report). Air Force Missile Development Center: Historical Branch. IRIS 00169113. Retrieved 11 August 2013. [1st ramjet GAPA] "was launched 14 November 1947 and the initial liquid-fuel variety 12 March 1948.8... The last of the GAPAs, number 114, was launched 15 August 1950, and the project officially terminated at Holloman the following month.11
  38. ^ . White Sands History – Fact Sheets and Articles. US Army. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
  39. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  40. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014. test installation
  41. ^ Kennedy, Gregory P. (1983). Vengeance Weapon 2: The V-2 Guided Missile. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 62.
  42. ^ Egermeier, Robert P. (September 2001). "Former "Broomstick Scientist"". Aerospace America: 7.
  43. ^ Koppenshaver, James T. (30 January 1951). "Broomstick Sweepings" (PDF). Wind and Sand. pp. 1, 6. Retrieved 27 May 2014. late 1950…Fort White Sands…early in 1951
  44. ^ "Public Land Order 833" (PDF). Federal Register (Report). 27 May 1952. p. 4822. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  45. ^ Integration of the Holloman-White Sands Ranges, 1947-1952 (2nd Edition, 1957)
  46. ^ "W S P G Military Units Have New Designations" (PDF). Wind and Sand. 8 February 1957. Retrieved 27 January 2022 – via www.wsmrhistoric.com.
  47. ^ "Nike Hercules". Astronautix.com. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  48. ^ Leonard, Barry (c. 1986). (PDF). p. 308. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  49. ^ Piland, Doyle. "Way Back When..." (PDF). WSMR newsletter. Retrieved 11 April 2014. Launch Complex 38...Site preparation for the TTR [Target Tracking Radar] began in July 1959.... Site preparation for the Discrimination Radar was started in January 1961.
  50. ^ Site Plan: Nike Zeus Facilities ALA 5 (Map). reproduced in WSMR newsletter: Federal Government of the United States.
  51. ^ "New Device Will Plot All Planes". Alton Evening Telegraph. 20 August 1959. p. 29. Iconorama shows almost instantly the positions of aircraft thousands of miles away… Traces made by the planes being tracked are scribed on a coated slide by a moving stylus. … The slide plot measures only one inch square, yet overall error of the projected display is said to be about one part in 1,000. … Iconorama units already have been installed and operated at the Pacific Missile Range, Point Mugu Calififornia; the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; the Atlantic Missile Range at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Naval Research Laboratory
  52. ^ Conduct of Redstone Annual Service Practice at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico, Fort Sill: Headquarters, United States Army Artillery And Missile Center (the Artillery and Missile Center at Ft Sill was redesignated the Field Artillery Center in 1969.)
  53. ^ "Nike R&D at White Sands, Multi-Function Array Radar, 1954-1970 (page 16)". Nike Historical Society. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  54. ^ "Remarks Upon Arrival at the Missile Range, White Sands, New Mexico". The American Presidency Project. 5 June 1963. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  55. ^ Townsend, Neil A (March 1973). "Little Joe Test Program" (PDF). Apollo Experience Report - Launch Escape Propulsion Subsystem (Report). NASA. p. 14. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  56. ^ "Local Men Visit Zeus at White Sands". Wilmington News-Journal. 27 November 1963. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  57. ^ . Archived from the original (transcript at AlternateWars.com) on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  58. ^ Mark Paine. "Sprint". Nuclearabms.info. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  59. ^ "Public Law 90-110-October 21, 1967" (PDF). U.S. Congressional Record. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  60. ^ Hoihjelle, Donald L. (February 1972). AN/FPS-16(AX) Radar Modeling and Computer Simulation (Report). WSMR Instrumentation Directorate. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  61. ^ . Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  62. ^ "82nd Aerial Target Squadron QF-106 Drone Pacer Six". F-106 Delta Dart Association. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  63. ^ "White Sands Missile Range AIAA Historic Aerospace Site". the Historical Marker Database. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  64. ^ "NASA Building Test Pad at White Sands for New Spacecraft". RedOrbit. 3 February 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  65. ^ "NASA Constellation Mission Project, Research, and Test Sites Overview". NASA. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  66. ^ "Orion Pad Abort 1 Test a Spectacular Success". NASA. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  67. ^ Romero, Leah (25 May 2022). "Starliner lands on 'bull's-eye' at White Sands Missile Range". Las Cruces Sun News.
  68. ^ "White Sands School Homepage". White Sands School. Retrieved 26 November 2022. #1 Viking St White Sands Missile Range, NM 88002

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to White Sands Missile Range.
  • White Sands Missile Range Museum 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  • Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NM-1, "White Sands Missile Range, White Sands, Dona Ana County, NM", 128 data pages
  • HAER No. NM-1-A, "White Sands Missile Range, Trinity Site", 106 photos, 11 measured drawings, 116 data pages, 8 photo caption pages
  • HAER No. NM-1-B, "White Sands Missile Range, V-2 Rocket Facilities", 72 photos, 6 measured drawings, 117 data pages, 5 photo caption pages


February 16, 2024
white, sands, missile, range, wsmr, united, states, army, military, testing, area, firing, range, located, state, mexico, range, originally, established, 1941, alamogordo, bombing, gunnery, range, where, trinity, test, site, northern, range, socorro, county, n. White Sands Missile Range WSMR is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range where the Trinity test site lay at the northern end of the Range in Socorro County near the towns of Carrizozo and San Antonio It then became the White Sands Proving Ground on 9 July 1945 White Sands Missile Range 1960 1 New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range 1947 White Sands Proving Ground 1945 Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range 1941 2 Part of United States Army Test and Evaluation CommandLocated in the San Andres Mountains the Oscura Mountains the San Augustin Mountains the Tularosa Basin and the Chupadera Mesa in New MexicoMost of the northern Tularosa Basin blue is used for the WSMR area within dashed perimeter which encloses numerous areas that are not military land e g the NPS s White Sands National Park as well as United States Air Force facilities WSMR locationCoordinates32 20 08 N 106 24 21 W 32 33556 N 106 40583 W 32 33556 106 40583 3 Condron Army Airfield near the southernmost WSMR pointSite informationControlled byUnited States ArmyWebsitewww wbr wsmr wbr army wbr milSite historyBuilt1948 07 09 cantonment completed 4 1957 02 Launch Complex 37 completedBuilt byOrdnance Corps 4 Garrison informationCurrentcommanderBG Eric D Little 2021 present 5 PastcommandersBG David C Trybula 2019 2021 BG Gregory J Brady 2018 2019 BG Eric L Sanchez 2016 2018 BG Timothy R Coffin 2014 2016 MG Gwen Bingham 2012 2014 6 BG John G Ferrari 2011 2012 BG David L Mann 2008 2009 BG Richard L McCabe 2007 2008 White Sands National Park founded in the 1930s is located within the range Contents 1 Significant events 2 Geography 2 1 Nearby military bases 2 2 Nearby cities 2 3 National park and wildlife refuge 3 Transportation 3 1 Major highways 3 2 Nearby airports 4 National Historic Landmarks 5 Current operations 6 Chronology 6 1 USAAF ranges 6 2 White Sands Proving Ground 6 3 New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range 6 4 White Sands Missile Range 7 Education 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksSignificant events editThe missile range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range On 16 July 1945 the first atomic bomb code named Trinity was test detonated at Trinity Site near the northern boundary of the range seven days after the White Sands Proving Ground was officially established 7 near the towns of Carrizozo and San Antonio 33 40 636 N 106 28 525 W 33 677267 N 106 475417 W 33 677267 106 475417 8 After the conclusion of World War II 100 long range German V 2 rockets that were captured by U S military troops were brought to WSMR Of these 67 were test fired between 1946 and 1951 from the White Sands V 2 Launching Site This was followed by the testing of American rockets which continues to this day along with testing other technologies On 15 May 1947 a V 2 rocket fired from WSMR veered off course and landed 4 miles 6 4 km northeast of Alamogordo New Mexico 9 Exactly two weeks later on May 29 1947 a modified V 2 sounding rocket veered off course and crashed on top of a rocky knoll about 3 5 miles 5 6 km south of the Juarez business district leaving a 24 feet 7 3 m deep by 50 feet 15 m wide crater 9 10 On 11 July 1970 the United States Air Force launched an Athena sounding rocket equipped with re entry vehicle V 123 D from the Green River Launch Complex in Utah While its intended target was inside of WSMR the rocket instead flew south and impacted 180 200 miles 290 320 km south of the Mexican border in the Mapimi Desert in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Durango 11 On 30 March 1982 NASA s Space Shuttle Columbia landed on the Northrop Strip at WSMR as the conclusion to mission STS 3 12 This was the only time that NASA used WSMR as a landing site for the space shuttle nbsp The site of the 1945 Trinity explosion became part of WSMR Geography editFor the geography and ecology of the WSMR area see White Sands New Mexico and Basin and Range Province As the largest military installation in the United States WSMR encompasses almost 3 200 sq mi 8 300 km2 including parts of Dona Ana Otero Socorro Sierra and Lincoln counties in southern New Mexico Nearby military bases edit Holloman Air Force Base borders WSMR to the east and WSMR borders the 600 000 acre 2 400 km2 McGregor Range Complex at Fort Bliss to the south southeast Tularosa Basin and on Otero Mesa making them contiguous areas for military testing 13 14 Nearby cities edit WSMR is located between Las Cruces New Mexico to the west Alamogordo New Mexico 40 miles to the east and Chaparral New Mexico and El Paso Texas to the south National park and wildlife refuge edit White Sands National Park and the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge are federally protected natural areas contained within the borders of WSMR Transportation editMajor highways edit New Mexico State Road 213 enters the range from the south from Chaparral New Mexico and terminates at U S Highway 70 which traverses the southern part of the range in a west northeast direction and is subject to periodic road closures during test firings at the range Nearby airports edit El Paso International Airport is the nearest airport with regularly scheduled commercial flights There have been no regularly scheduled commercial passenger flights from Las Cruces International Airport since 25 July 2005 when Westward Airways ceased operations general aviation New Mexico Army National Guard 4 UH 72 Lakota Helicopters private charters and CAP among others still use the airport National Historic Landmarks editOn 21 December 1965 the Trinity Site selected in November 1944 for the Trinity nuclear test conducted on 16 July 1945 15 was designated a National Historic Landmark district 16 17 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on 15 October 1966 18 The White Sands V 2 Launching Site used for a V 2 static test firing on 15 March 1946 and for the first US V 2 launch on 16 April 1946 received landmark designation on 3 October 1985 19 Current operations edit nbsp Ground based electro optical deep space surveillance telescopes performing space surveillance mission The White Sands Test Center headquartered at the WSMR post area has branches for manned tactical systems and electromagnetic radiation and conducts missile testing and range recovery operations 20 WSMR Main Post includes several smaller areas such as the housing area golf course Navy Area and Technical Area 21 The WSMR Museum offers tours and exhibits including a V 2 rocket returned in May 2004 after restoration The White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame inducts members such as the first range commander Colonel Harold Turner 1945 1947 in 1980 22 A recreational shooting range just inside the El Paso gate on the south is outside of the Post Area The 1972 DoD Centers for Countermeasures CCM evaluates precision guided munitions and other devices in electronic counter and counter countermeasures environments 23 Other operations on WSMR land include the Launch Abort Flight Test Complex for the Pad Abort 1 the White Sands Launch Complex 37 built for Nike Hercules tests the White Sands Launch Complex 38 built for Nike Zeus tests with Launch Control Building now used for Patriot missile firings the North Oscura Peak facility of the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate and the 1963 NASA White Sands Test Facility s ground station for Tracking and Data Relay Satellites and the SDO ground station with two 18 m 59 ft antennas Chronology edit1930 Robert Goddard began rocket testing in New Mexico 1941 04 13 US World War II preparations established 15 the Army Air Base Alamogordo 24 1942 Biggs Army Airfield construction began near El Paso 1947 Biggs AFB 1973 Biggs AAF the region s nearby Deming Army Air Field Ft Sumner Army Air Field and South Aux Fid 1 transferred to Army Div Engrs in 1946 25 1940s When the range was formed ranchers land was leased and eventually condemned by eminent domain In the 1970s more land was taken permanently to expand the area available for testing 26 USAAF ranges edit 1941 12 Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range established near the West Texas Bombardier Triangle 1941 12 Executive Order No 9029 canceled grazing leases on the newly established Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range 2 27 1942 07 Goddard s rocket research group moved from Roswell New Mexico to Annapolis Maryland 1944 02 War Department and the Corps of Engineers Ordnance Department teams looked for a US missile test site 28 1945 07 13 McDonald Ranch House Manhattan Project location for the final assembly of the prototype Fat Man plutonium bomb 1945 07 16 Trinity test of the plutonium bomb the first nuclear weapon tested in the world White Sands Proving Ground edit For additional events e g USAF launches at sites not on WSPG but that later became part of WSMR see Air Force Missile Development Center 1945 02 20 The Secretary of War approved establishment of WSPG 29 246 28 1945 04 01 The first Private F launch 30 was at WSPG Not Fort Bliss s Antiaircraft and Guided Missile Center which was established 6 July 1946 31 1945 06 25 WSPG construction began with drilling of water wells 15 1945 07 First of 300 railroad cars of German V 2 components began to arrive at Las Cruces New Mexico 29 246 1945 09 The blockhouse at Army Launch Area 1 later Launch Complex 33 was completed 15 1945 09 16 First WAC Corporal test firing 29 253 1945 11 GE contractors began to identify sort and reassemble V 2 components in Building 1538 Assembly Building 1 1946 35 of the Operation Paperclip scientists from Germany were working at WSPG 32 1946 05 29 The 4th U S V 2 launch was tracked by two White Sands based AN MPQ 2 stations 33 1946 summer New WSPG quarters were completed and the Medical Detachment and 3 batteries moved from Ft Bliss 34 1946 09 First static firing of a Nike missile was at WSPG 35 New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range edit 1947 late AMC shifted Army Air Force guided missile programs to Alamogordo in March 1947 and established inter service New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range at the end of the year 36 1947 11 14 The USAF s Alamogordo Guided Missile Test Base AGMTB had its first ramjet configured GAPA missile launch 39th for GAPA 37 1948 05 13 to 1949 04 21 First six flight attempts for the Project Bumper two stage V 2 SRBM WAC Corporal two stage research vehicles as the world s first high speed multistage rockets to be launched 38 1948 07 USAF Project MX 774 commenced with the first RTV A 2 Hiroc launch from Launch Complex 33 39 1949 03 Holloman s 2754th Air Force Base unit gained control of the WSPG support airfield Condron Field from Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss 15 1949 German scientists transferred from New Mexico to Alabama Ernst Steinhoff transferred from WSPG to Holloman s Air Development Center Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine 1949 07 The range s Four Bits Peak Instrumentation Annex was assigned to the air force base disposed on 30 September 1960 25 1951 07 The AGMTB became a sub base of Florida s Air Force Missile Test Center until 31 August 1952 40 1951 08 22 Broomstick Scientists in a unit of the 9393 Technical Service Unit conducted their first launch the TF 1 V 2 rocket 41 42 Broomstick Sweepings publication ended after a 22 January 1952 general order transferred 1st Ord GMS Bn soldiers to Detachment No 1 Station Complement 43 1952 05 27 An aggregated 2 394 384 acres 4 680 sq miles was set aside for the Alamogordo bombing range White Sands proving ground and the Fort Bliss antiaircraft range 44 1952 09 01 Merger of Holloman bombing range and smaller White Sands Proving Grounds WSPG into WSPG 45 36 1952 11 The range s Red Butte Instrumentation Annex was assigned to Holloman AFB disposed on 22 November 1963 25 1953 06 USS Desert Ship LLS 1 Launch Complex 35 was built to test the Navy RIM 8 Talos missile 15 1957 02 The 9393rd Technical Unit Ordnance became the U S Army Garrison 46 1957 03 13 Nike Hercules satisfactory launch from White Sands 47 48 White Sands Missile Range edit External mediaImages nbsp 1945 WSPGVideo nbsp 196x Big Picture Tularosa Frontier nbsp Short Notice Annual Practice minute 16 50 nbsp Countdown at White Sands nbsp 1982 Space Shuttle Columbia landing at Northrop Strip1958 05 01 The test range was designated White Sands Missile Range 15 1958 09 02 The Gold Hill Instrumentation Annex was assigned to Holloman Air Force Base disposed on 30 September 1960 25 1958 10 Zeus Acquisition Radar site construction at the planned Launch Complex 38 began 49 near an airstrip 50 c 1959 The long range GE AN FPS 17 Fixed Ground Radar at the Laredo Test Site tracked its first WSMR rocket 1959 Shavetail rocket tested where 1959 An Iconorama large screen display as used for Pentagon C2 was installed at WSMR 51 1962 03 Annual Service Practice was being conducted for Redstone missile crews 52 1963 03 Site preparation began for the Multi function Array Radar 53 1963 06 05 President John F Kennedy visited for the MEWS Missile Exercise White Sands 54 1963 08 28 Apollo program Launch Escape System tests with the Little Joe II began at White Sands Launch Complex 36 ended 1966 55 1963 11 The Loma assigned December 1952 Rose Park 5 February 1950 and Twin Buttes December 1949 instrumentation annexes transferred from Holloman Air Force Base to the Army 25 1963 11 Cincinnati Ohio area civic leaders visit White Sands Nike Zeus site as part of Operation Understanding 56 1964 07 08 The first successful Athena ABRES test missile was fired from Utah into WSMR 57 1965 11 first Sprint missile launch 58 1967 10 21 Public Law 90 110 authorized 4 781 000 for WSMR construction 59 1972 WSMR had 3 RCA AN FPS 16 Instrumentation Radars 60 1983 thru 30 September 1993 WSMR hosted the Simtel collection the largest collection of free software and freeware available to the public on the ARPANET and Internet It began as a copy of an MIT collection of CP M software and expanded to collect free software for other operating systems as well 61 1991 late Convair QF 106 Delta Dart drones based at Holloman Air Force Base began operating as Full Scale Aerial Targets over WSMR 62 1993 08 18 The first McDonnell Douglas DC X flight was from the White Sands Space Harbor 2005 AIAA named the WSPG a Historic Aerospace Site 63 2007 11 14 Launch Complex 32 groundbreaking for the Orion Abort Test Booster 64 65 2010 05 06 Successful test of Orion Pad Abort System at Launch Complex 32 66 2022 05 25 CST 100 Starliner spacecraft traveling from the International Space Station landed successfully at White Sands Space Harbor toward the northern portion of White Sands Missile Range 67 Education editLas Cruces Public Schools operates White Sands School on the missile range property 68 See also editMcDonald Ranch House location of the final assembly of the world s first nuclear weapon Kapustin Yar the Soviet analog of WSMR Peenemunde Army Research Center WWII German rocket center Jornada del Muerto desert where White Sands Missile Range is locatedReferences edit White Sands Administrative History Report National Park Service Retrieved 26 November 2022 a b Chapter Four Global War at White Sands 1940 1945 White Sands Administrative History National Park Service Retrieved 26 November 2022 Executive Order No 9029 Condron Army Airfield 2444053 Geographic Names Information System United States Geological Survey United States Department of the Interior Retrieved 28 May 2014 Dona Ana county entered in the GNIS on 20 March 2011 a b Development of the Corporal the embryo of the army missile program PDF Army Ballistic Missile Agency April 1961 Archived from the original PDF on 27 March 2009 Leadership White Sands Missile Range U S Army Retrieved 26 November 2022 LTG Gwen Bingham Association of the United States Army 28 March 2017 Retrieved 26 November 2022 White Sands Missile Range Astronautix com Retrieved 26 November 2022 Trinity Site White Sands Missile Range Archived from the original on 6 August 2007 Retrieved 16 July 2007 GPS Coordinates for obelisk exact GZ N33 40 636 W106 28 525 a b Jim Eckles 15 May 2022 Two crashes in two weeks In 1947 rockets launched from White Sands landed in Alamogordo Juarez Remember the time we bombed Mexico with German rockets Gizmodo 11 May 2012 Barclay Michael 13 July 2015 USAF Accidentally Launched Rocket into Mexico s Mapimi Desert 45 Years Ago Unredacted Retrieved 26 November 2022 STS 3 Columbia Lands at the White Sands Missile Range NM NASA 30 March 1982 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Rubenson David Robert Everson Jorge Munoz Robert Weissler 1998 McGregor Renewal and the Current Air Defense Mission p 77 ISBN 978 0 8330 2669 9 Retrieved 26 November 2022 U S Army Fort Bliss Training Center PDF Western Regional Partnership 2016 Retrieved 26 November 2022 a b c d e f g A Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground 1941 1965 PDF New Mexico State University Archived from the original PDF on 28 October 2014 Retrieved 19 August 2010 Greenwood Richard 14 January 1975 National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Trinity Site National Park Service Retrieved 21 June 2009 and Accompanying 10 photos from 1974 3 37 MB Trinity Site National Historic Landmarks National Park Service Archived from the original on 15 February 2008 Retrieved 28 January 2008 National Register Information System Trinity Site 66000493 National Register of Historic Places National Park Service 23 January 2007 White Sands Missile Range Fact Sheet PDF NASA Archived from the original PDF on 24 February 2017 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Time Magazine Recovery at White Sands 29 June 1962 Archived from the original on 3 February 2009 Welcome to WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE WSMR PDF Archived from the original PDF on 9 March 2013 Retrieved 29 May 2014 White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame White Sands Missile Range Museum 28 January 2021 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Center for Countermeasures Archived from the original on 6 April 2001 Retrieved 16 February 2022 A Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground 1941 1965 WSMR Museum 21 September 2020 Retrieved 26 November 2022 a b c d e Mueller 1982 Holloman Air Force Base Air Force Bases as of 1982 Report Gibbs Jason 19 July 2014 WSMR DOD may take control of range s Northern Extension Area Las Cruces Sun News The Las Cruces Sun News Archived from the original on 8 August 2014 Retrieved 30 July 2014 Executive Order 9029 Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department as a General Bombing Range New Mexico National Archives 15 August 2016 Retrieved 26 November 2022 a b Ordway Frederick I III Sharpe Mitchell R 1979 The Rocket Team Apogee Books Space Series New York Thomas Y Crowell pp 290 389 ISBN 1 894959 00 0 a b c Ley Willy 1958 1944 Rockets Missiles and Space Travel revised ed New York The Viking Press pp 246 253 Bluth John Von Karman Malina laid the groundwork for the future JPL JPL Hamilton John A Blazing skies Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss 1940 2009 Google eBook of Government Printing Office document Government Printing Office ISBN 9780160869495 Retrieved 29 May 2014 Special Orders No 143 Headquarters Army Ground Forces dated 6 July 1946 established the Antiaircraft and Guided Missile Center from the remnants of the Antiaircraft Artillery School the Antiaircraft Replacement Training Center Army Ground Forces Board No 4 13 1st AAA Guided Missile Battalion the 1852nd Area Service Unit and remaining antiaircraft units including three automatic weapons battalions and one gun battalion placed in the Army General Reserve McCleskey C D Christensen Dr Kurt H Debus Launching a Vision PDF p 35 Archived from the original PDF on 17 September 2008 Retrieved 7 October 2008 Upper Air Rocket Summary V 2 Number 4 PDF Report Defense Technical Information Center 29 May 1946 p 332 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Hamilton John A Blazing skies Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss 1940 2009 Government Printing Office ISBN 9780160869495 three officers and fifty five enlisted men worked closely with the German rocket scientists who were located in a six acre ordnance area on the north side of the Fort Bliss cantonment The military unit went to WSPG to provide the manpower to build the V 2 missiles and erect them on test stands Fort Bliss Main Post Early Cold War BASOPS Building Inventory and Evaluation 1951 63 PDF Report U S Army Corps of Engineers December 2006 p 37 Retrieved 26 November 2022 a b Mueller 1982 Holloman Air Force Base PDF Air Force Bases as of 1982 Report USAF Office of Air Force History p 248 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Bushnell David 25 August 1986 GAPA Holloman s First Missile Program Scribd com image Report Air Force Missile Development Center Historical Branch IRIS 00169113 Retrieved 11 August 2013 1st ramjet GAPA was launched 14 November 1947 and the initial liquid fuel variety 12 March 1948 8 The last of the GAPAs number 114 was launched 15 August 1950 and the project officially terminated at Holloman the following month 11 Bumper Project White Sands History Fact Sheets and Articles US Army Archived from the original on 10 January 2008 Retrieved 2 December 2007 A Brief History of White Sands Proving Grounds 1941 1965 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 28 October 2014 Retrieved 19 August 2010 History of Holloman Air Force Base Space Biology PDF Archived from the original PDF on 18 May 2014 Retrieved 18 May 2014 test installation Kennedy Gregory P 1983 Vengeance Weapon 2 The V 2 Guided Missile Washington DC Smithsonian Institution Press p 62 Egermeier Robert P September 2001 Former Broomstick Scientist Aerospace America 7 Koppenshaver James T 30 January 1951 Broomstick Sweepings PDF Wind and Sand pp 1 6 Retrieved 27 May 2014 late 1950 Fort White Sands early in 1951 Public Land Order 833 PDF Federal Register Report 27 May 1952 p 4822 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Integration of the Holloman White Sands Ranges 1947 1952 2nd Edition 1957 W S P G Military Units Have New Designations PDF Wind and Sand 8 February 1957 Retrieved 27 January 2022 via www wsmrhistoric com Nike Hercules Astronautix com Retrieved 26 November 2022 Leonard Barry c 1986 History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense Volume II 1956 1972 PDF p 308 Archived from the original PDF on 16 December 2019 Retrieved 1 September 2012 Piland Doyle Way Back When PDF WSMR newsletter Retrieved 11 April 2014 Launch Complex 38 Site preparation for the TTR Target Tracking Radar began in July 1959 Site preparation for the Discrimination Radar was started in January 1961 Site Plan Nike Zeus Facilities ALA 5 Map reproduced in WSMR newsletter Federal Government of the United States New Device Will Plot All Planes Alton Evening Telegraph 20 August 1959 p 29 Iconorama shows almost instantly the positions of aircraft thousands of miles away Traces made by the planes being tracked are scribed on a coated slide by a moving stylus The slide plot measures only one inch square yet overall error of the projected display is said to be about one part in 1 000 Iconorama units already have been installed and operated at the Pacific Missile Range Point Mugu Calififornia the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico the Atlantic Missile Range at Cape Canaveral Florida and the Naval Research Laboratory Conduct of Redstone Annual Service Practice at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico Fort Sill Headquarters United States Army Artillery And Missile Center the Artillery and Missile Center at Ft Sill was redesignated the Field Artillery Center in 1969 Nike R amp D at White Sands Multi Function Array Radar 1954 1970 page 16 Nike Historical Society Retrieved 26 November 2022 Remarks Upon Arrival at the Missile Range White Sands New Mexico The American Presidency Project 5 June 1963 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Townsend Neil A March 1973 Little Joe Test Program PDF Apollo Experience Report Launch Escape Propulsion Subsystem Report NASA p 14 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Local Men Visit Zeus at White Sands Wilmington News Journal 27 November 1963 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Part I History of ABM Development Archived from the original transcript at AlternateWars com on 16 April 2014 Retrieved 11 April 2014 Mark Paine Sprint Nuclearabms info Retrieved 28 August 2022 Public Law 90 110 October 21 1967 PDF U S Congressional Record Retrieved 26 November 2022 Hoihjelle Donald L February 1972 AN FPS 16 AX Radar Modeling and Computer Simulation Report WSMR Instrumentation Directorate Retrieved 26 November 2022 The Story of SIMTEL20 Archived from the original on 11 January 2011 Retrieved 29 October 2014 82nd Aerial Target Squadron QF 106 Drone Pacer Six F 106 Delta Dart Association Retrieved 26 November 2022 White Sands Missile Range AIAA Historic Aerospace Site the Historical Marker Database 6 October 2019 Retrieved 26 November 2022 NASA Building Test Pad at White Sands for New Spacecraft RedOrbit 3 February 2008 Retrieved 26 November 2022 NASA Constellation Mission Project Research and Test Sites Overview NASA Retrieved 26 November 2022 Orion Pad Abort 1 Test a Spectacular Success NASA 6 May 2010 Retrieved 26 November 2022 Romero Leah 25 May 2022 Starliner lands on bull s eye at White Sands Missile Range Las Cruces Sun News White Sands School Homepage White Sands School Retrieved 26 November 2022 1 Viking St White Sands Missile Range NM 88002External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range Museum Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Historic American Engineering Record HAER No NM 1 White Sands Missile Range White Sands Dona Ana County NM 128 data pages HAER No NM 1 A White Sands Missile Range Trinity Site 106 photos 11 measured drawings 116 data pages 8 photo caption pages HAER No NM 1 B White Sands Missile Range V 2 Rocket Facilities 72 photos 6 measured drawings 117 data pages 5 photo caption pages Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title White Sands Missile Range amp oldid 1206419045, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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