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White Sands Missile Range

Coordinates:32°20′08″N106°24′21″W/ 32.33556°N 106.40583°W/32.33556; -106.40583[3]Condron Army Airfield
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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 ofUnited States Army Test and Evaluation Command
Located in theSan Andres Mountains,theOscura Mountains,theSan Augustin Mountains,theTularosa Basin,and theChupadera MesainNew Mexico
Most of the northernTularosa Basin(blue) is used for the WSMR (area within dashed perimeter), which encloses numerous areas that are not military land (e.g., theNPS'sWhite Sands National Park), as well asUnited States Air Forcefacilities.
WSMR location
Coordinates32°20′08″N106°24′21″W/ 32.33556°N 106.40583°W/32.33556; -106.40583[3]Condron Army Airfieldnear 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		BGEric 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)
  • BGTimothy R. Coffin(2014–2016)
  • MGGwen Bingham(2012–2014)[6]
  • BG John G. Ferrari (2011–2012)
  • BG David L. Mann (2008–2009)
  • BG Richard L. McCabe (2007–2008)

White Sands Missile Range(WSMR) is aUnited States Armymilitary testing area and firing range located in the US state ofNew Mexico.The range was originally established in 1941 as theAlamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range,where theTrinitytest site lay at the northern end of the Range, inSocorro Countynear the towns ofCarrizozoandSan Antonio.It then became theWhite Sands Proving Groundon 9July 1945.

White Sands National Parkfounded 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 firstatomic bomb(code namedTrinity) 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 ofCarrizozoandSan Antonio.(33°40.636′N106°28.525′W/ 33.677267°N 106.475417°W/33.677267; -106.475417).[8]
  • After the conclusion ofWorld War II,100 long-range GermanV-2 rocketsthat were captured by U.S. military troops were brought to WSMR. Of these, 67 were test-fired between 1946 and 1951 from theWhite 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 modifiedV-2 sounding rocketveered off course and crashed on top of a rocky knoll about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of theJuárezbusiness district, leaving a 24 feet (7.3 m) deep by 50 feet (15 m) wide crater.[9][10]
  • On 11 July 1970, theUnited States Air Forcelaunched an Athena sounding rocket, equipped with re-entry vehicle V-123-D, from theGreen River Launch ComplexinUtah.While its intended target was inside of WSMR, the rocket instead flew south and impacted 180–200 miles (290–320 km) south of theMexicanborder in theMapimi Desertin the northeastern corner of the Mexican state ofDurango.[11]
  • On 30 March 1982NASA'sSpace Shuttle Columbialanded on the Northrop Strip at WSMR as the conclusion to missionSTS-3.[12]This was the only time that NASA used WSMR as a landing site for the space shuttle.
The site of the 1945Trinity explosionbecame part of WSMR.

Geography[edit]

For the geography and ecology of the WSMR area, seeWhite Sands, New MexicoandBasin and Range Province.

As the largest military installation in theUnited States,WSMR encompasses almost 3,200 sq mi (8,300 km2) including parts ofDoña Ana,Otero,Socorro,Sierra,andLincolncounties in southernNew Mexico.

Nearby military bases[edit]

Holloman Air Force Baseborders WSMR to the east; and WSMR borders the 600,000-acre (2,400 km2)McGregor Range ComplexatFort Blissto the south (southeastTularosa Basinand onOtero Mesa) making them contiguous areas for military testing.[13][14]

Nearby cities[edit]

WSMR is located betweenLas Cruces, New Mexicoto the west,Alamogordo, New Mexico40 miles to the east, andChaparral, New MexicoandEl Paso, Texasto the south.

National park and wildlife refuge[edit]

White Sands National Parkand theSan Andres National Wildlife Refugeare federally-protected natural areas contained within the borders of WSMR.

Transportation[edit]

Major highways[edit]

New Mexico State Road 213enters the range from the south fromChaparral, New Mexicoand terminates atU.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.U.S. Highway 380runs east-west along the northern edge of WSMR betweenSan AntonioandCarrizozo,and is also subject to periodic closures during test firings.New Mexico State Road 525provides access from U.S. Highway 380 to the north end of WSMR nearStallion Army Airfield.

Nearby airports[edit]

El Paso International Airportis the nearest airport with regularly scheduled commercial flights. There have been no regularly scheduled commercial passenger flights fromLas Cruces International Airportsince 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. Regularly scheduled commercial flights are also available at theAlbuquerque International Sunport,which is located 200 miles north of White Sands Missile Range's main base, but is closer to the northern test ranges than El Paso.

National Historic Landmarks[edit]

On 21 December 1965, theTrinity Site,selected in November 1944 for theTrinity nuclear testconducted on 16 July 1945[15],was designated aNational Historic Landmarkdistrict,[16][17]and added to theNational Register of Historic Placeson 15 October 1966.[18]

Current operations[edit]

Ground-based electro-optical deep-space surveillance telescopes performingspace surveillancemission.

TheWhite 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]TheWSMR Museumoffers 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]Arecreational shooting rangejust 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 inelectronic counter-andcounter-countermeasuresenvironments.[23]Other operations on WSMR land include theLaunch AbortFlight Test Complex for thePad Abort-1,theWhite Sands Launch Complex 37built forNike Herculestests, theWhite Sands Launch Complex 38built forNike Zeustests with Launch Control Building now used forPatriot missilefirings, theNorth Oscura Peakfacility of theAir Force Research LaboratoryDirected Energy Directorate, and the 1963 NASAWhite Sands Test Facility's ground station forTracking and Data Relay Satellites,and theSDOground station with two 18 m (59 ft) antennas.

Chronology[edit]

  • 1930:Robert Goddardbegan rocket testing in New Mexico.
  • 1941-04-13: US World War II preparations established[15]theArmy Air Base, Alamogordo[24]
  • 1942:Biggs Army Airfieldconstruction 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 byeminent 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, seeAir Force Missile Development Center.

New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range[edit]

White Sands Missile Range[edit]

External media
Images
image icon1945 WSPG
Video
video icon196x Big Picture: Tularosa Frontier
video iconShort Notice Annual Practice (minute 16:50)
video iconCountdown at White Sands
1982 Space ShuttleColumbialanding atNorthrop Strip

Education[edit]

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

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^White Sands Administrative History(Report). National Park Service.Retrieved26 November2022.
  2. ^ab"Chapter Four: Global War at White Sands 1940–1945".White Sands Administrative History.National Park Service.Retrieved26 November2022.Executive Order No. 9029
  3. ^"Condron Army Airfield (2444053)".Geographic Names Information System.United States Geological Survey,United States Department of the Interior.Retrieved28 May2014.(Doña Ana county—entered in the GNIS on 20 March 2011)
  4. ^ab"Development of the Corporal: the embryo of the army missile program"(PDF).Army Ballistic Missile Agency. April 1961. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 27 March 2009.
  5. ^"Leadership White Sands Missile Range".U.S. Army.Retrieved26 November2022.
  6. ^"LTG Gwen Bingham".Association of the United States Army.28 March 2017.Retrieved26 November2022.
  7. ^"White Sands Missile Range".Astronautix.Retrieved26 November2022.
  8. ^"Trinity Site".White Sands Missile Range. Archived fromthe originalon 6 August 2007.Retrieved16 July2007.GPS Coordinates for obelisk (exact GZ) = N33.40.636 W106.28.525
  9. ^abJim 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.Retrieved26 November2022.
  12. ^"STS-3 Columbia Lands at the White Sands Missile Range, NM".NASA. 30 March 1982.Retrieved26 November2022.
  13. ^Rubenson, David; Robert Everson; Jorge Munoz; Robert Weissler (1998).McGregor Renewal and the Current Air Defense Mission.p. 77.ISBN978-0-8330-2669-9.Retrieved26 November2022.
  14. ^"U.S. Army Fort Bliss Training Center"(PDF).Western Regional Partnership. 2016.Retrieved26 November2022.
  15. ^abcdefg"A Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground 1941–1965"(PDF).New Mexico State University. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 28 October 2014.Retrieved19 August2010.
  16. ^Greenwood, Richard (14 January 1975)."National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Trinity Site".National Park Service.Retrieved21 June2009.andAccompanying 10 photos, from 1974.(3.37 MB)
  17. ^"Trinity Site".National Historic Landmarks.National Park Service. Archived fromthe originalon 15 February 2008.Retrieved28 January2008.
  18. ^"National Register Information System – Trinity Site (#66000493)".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.23 January 2007.
  19. ^"White Sands Missile Range Fact Sheet"(PDF).NASA. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 February 2017.Retrieved26 November2022.
  20. ^"Time Magazine," Recovery at White Sands "".29 June 1962. Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2009.
  21. ^"Welcome to WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE WSMR"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 9 March 2013.Retrieved29 May2014.
  22. ^"White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame".White Sands Missile Range Museum. 28 January 2021.Retrieved26 November2022.
  23. ^"Center for Countermeasures".Archived fromthe originalon 6 April 2001.Retrieved16 February2022.
  24. ^"A Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground, 1941-1965".WSMR Museum. 21 September 2020.Retrieved26 November2022.
  25. ^abcdeMueller (1982). "Holloman Air Force Base". Air Force Bases as of 1982 (Report).
  26. ^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 fromthe originalon 8 August 2014.Retrieved30 July2014.
  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.Retrieved26 November2022.
  28. ^abOrdway, Frederick I III;Sharpe, Mitchell R (1979).The Rocket Team.Apogee Books Space Series. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. pp. 290, 389.ISBN1-894959-00-0.
  29. ^abcLey, 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"ofGovernment Printing Officedocument).Government Printing Office.ISBN9780160869495.Retrieved29 May2014.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. 4,131st 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."Dr. Kurt H. Debus: Launching a Vision"(PDF).p. 35. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 17 September 2008.Retrieved7 October2008.
  33. ^Upper Air Rocket Summary: V-2 Number 4(PDF)(Report). Defense Technical Information Center. 29 May 1946. p. 332.Retrieved26 November2022.
  34. ^Hamilton, John A.Blazing skies: Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss, 1940-2009.Government Printing Office.ISBN9780160869495.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. [Themilitary unitwent 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.Retrieved26 November2022.
  36. ^abMueller (1982)."Holloman Air Force Base"(PDF).Air Force Bases as of 1982 (Report). USAF Office of Air Force History. p. 248.Retrieved26 November2022.
  37. ^Bushnell, David (25 August 1986).GAPA: Holloman's First Missile Program(Scribd image)(Report). Air Force Missile Development Center: Historical Branch. IRIS 00169113.Retrieved11 August2013.[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. ^"Bumper Project".White Sands History – Fact Sheets and Articles.US Army. Archived fromthe originalon 10 January 2008.Retrieved2 December2007.
  39. ^"A Brief History of White Sands Proving Grounds 1941-1965"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 28 October 2014.Retrieved19 August2010.
  40. ^"History of Holloman Air Force Base Space Biology"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 18 May 2014.Retrieved18 May2014.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.Retrieved27 May2014.late 1950…Fort White Sands…early in 1951
  44. ^"Public Land Order 833"(PDF).Federal Register (Report). 27 May 1952. p. 4822.Retrieved26 November2022.
  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.Retrieved27 January2022– via wsmrhistoric.
  47. ^"Nike Hercules".Astronautix.Retrieved26 November2022.
  48. ^Leonard, Barry (c. 1986).History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense: Volume II: 1956-1972(PDF).p. 308. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 16 December 2019.Retrieved1 September2012.
  49. ^Piland, Doyle."Way Back When..."(PDF).WSMR newsletter.Retrieved11 April2014.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.Iconoramashows 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 thePacific Missile Range,Point Mugu Calififornia; the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; theAtlantic Missile RangeatCape Canaveral,Florida, and theNaval 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 Sillwas 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.Retrieved26 November2022.
  54. ^"Remarks Upon Arrival at the Missile Range, White Sands, New Mexico".The American Presidency Project. 5 June 1963.Retrieved26 November2022.
  55. ^Townsend, Neil A (March 1973)."Little Joe Test Program"(PDF).Apollo Experience Report - Launch Escape Propulsion Subsystem (Report). NASA. p. 14.Retrieved26 November2022.
  56. ^"Local Men Visit Zeus at White Sands".Wilmington News-Journal. 27 November 1963.Retrieved26 November2022.
  57. ^"Part I. History of ABM Development".Archived fromthe original(transcript at AlternateWars )on 16 April 2014.Retrieved11 April2014.
  58. ^Mark Paine."Sprint".Nuclearabms.info.Retrieved28 August2022.
  59. ^"Public Law 90-110-October 21, 1967"(PDF).U.S. Congressional Record.Retrieved26 November2022.
  60. ^Hoihjelle, Donald L. (February 1972).AN/FPS-16(AX) Radar Modeling and Computer Simulation(Report). WSMR Instrumentation Directorate.Retrieved26 November2022.
  61. ^"The Story of SIMTEL20".Archived fromthe originalon 11 January 2011.Retrieved29 October2014.
  62. ^"82nd Aerial Target Squadron QF-106 Drone Pacer Six".F-106 Delta Dart Association.Retrieved26 November2022.
  63. ^"White Sands Missile Range AIAA Historic Aerospace Site".the Historical Marker Database. 6 October 2019.Retrieved26 November2022.
  64. ^"NASA Building Test Pad at White Sands for New Spacecraft".RedOrbit. 3 February 2008.Retrieved26 November2022.
  65. ^"NASA Constellation Mission Project, Research, and Test Sites Overview".NASA.Retrieved26 November2022.
  66. ^"Orion Pad Abort 1 Test a Spectacular Success".NASA. 6 May 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2020.Retrieved26 November2022.
  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.Retrieved26 November2022.#1 Viking St White Sands Missile Range, NM 88002

External links[edit]

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