White Sands Missile Range
Encyclopedia
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a rocket range of almost 3200 square miles (8,288 km²) in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico
. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the Oscura Range and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range. WSMR and the 600000 acres (2,428.1 km²) McGregor Range Complex at Fort Bliss
to the south, form a contiguous swath of territory for military testing.
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the Oscura Range and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range. WSMR and the 600000 acres (2,428.1 km²) McGregor Range Complex at Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
to the south, form a contiguous swath of territory for military testing.
Current operations
- At White Sands Test FacilityWhite Sands Test FacilityWhite Sands Test Facility is a U.S. government rocket engine test facility and a resource for testing and evaluating potentially hazardous materials, space flight components, and rocket propulsion systems. NASA established WSTF on the White Sands Missile Range in 1963...
(WSTF), Ground Support for the Tracking and Data Relay SatelliteTracking and Data Relay SatelliteA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite is a type of communications satellite that forms part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communications to and from independent "User Platforms" such as satellites, balloons, aircraft,...
(TDRS) network of communications satellites - At WSTFWhite Sands Test FacilityWhite Sands Test Facility is a U.S. government rocket engine test facility and a resource for testing and evaluating potentially hazardous materials, space flight components, and rocket propulsion systems. NASA established WSTF on the White Sands Missile Range in 1963...
, Solar Dynamics ObservatorySolar Dynamics ObservatoryThe Solar Dynamics Observatory is a NASA mission which will observe the Sun for over five years. Launched on February 11, 2010, the observatory is part of the Living With a Star program...
- SDO ground station consists of two dedicated (redundant) 18 metres (59 ft) radio antennas at White Sands. - Orion ProjectOrion (spacecraft)Orion is a spacecraft designed by Lockheed Martin for NASA, the space agency of the United States. Orion development began in 2005 as part of the Constellation program, where Orion would fulfill the function of a Crew Exploration Vehicle....
Launch AbortLaunch escape systemA Launch Escape System is a top-mounted rocket connected to the crew module of a crewed spacecraft and used to quickly separate the crew module from the rest of the rocket in case of emergency. Since the escape rockets are above the crew module, an LES typically uses separate nozzles which are...
Flight Test Complex - Missile testing and range recovery operations
Chronology
- 1941 April 13: Alamogordo Army Airfield established.
- 1941 December: Public land grazing leases were canceled on the newly formed Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range.
- 1942 July: Robert Goddard transferred his rocket research group from Roswell, New MexicoRoswell, New MexicoRoswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,366 at the 2010 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also...
to Annapolis, MarylandAnnapolis, MarylandAnnapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
. - 1944 February: Major General Gladeon M Barnes, chief of the Technical Division of the Office of Chief of OrdnanceOrdnance CorpsThe United States Army Ordnance Corps is a Sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia.-Mission Statement:The U.S...
in Washington, sent teams of the War Department and the Ordnance Department of the Corps of EngineersUnited States Army Corps of EngineersThe United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
to look for a US site for missile research. - 1944 November: Trinity (nuclear test) site was selected.
- 1945 February 20: The Secretary of War approved the establishment of White Sands Proving Ground.
- 1945 Spring: Private FPrivate (missile)The Private was the first U.S. step rocket, combining a Tiny Tim rocket and a 30AS-1000C JATO unit. Tsien Hsue-shen was the JPL section leader who directed research for the Private A....
test firing - 1945 June 25: Drilling of water wells began construction of WSPG facilities.
- 1945 July 16: The first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity test site.
- 1945 July: The first of 300 railroad cars of V-2 rocketV-2 rocketThe V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
components began to arrive at Las Cruces, New MexicoLas Cruces, New MexicoLas Cruces, also known as "The City of the Crosses", is the county seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 97,618 in 2010 according to the 2010 Census, making it the second largest city in the state....
for transfer to WSPG. - 1945 September: Launch Area 1 Army blockhouse (Launch Complex 33) was completed.
- 1945 September 26-October 25: First test firing of the WAC-Corporal at WSPG.
- 1945 November: General Electric employees began to identify, sort, and reassemble V-2 rocket components in Building 1538, designated as Assembly Building 1.
- 1946 January: German rocket scientists of Operation PaperclipOperation PaperclipOperation Paperclip was the Office of Strategic Services program used to recruit the scientists of Nazi Germany for employment by the United States in the aftermath of World War II...
arrived at Fort BlissFort BlissFort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
to assist V-2 rocket testing program. - 1946: Hermes projectHermes projectThe Hermes project was an United States Army Ordnance Corps rocket program ....
testing of V-2 rockets - 1948 January 14: Alamogordo Army Airfield officially renamed Holloman Air Force Base.
- 1949: German rocket scientists transferred from Fort BlissFort BlissFort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
to Redstone ArsenalRedstone ArsenalRedstone Arsenal is a United States Army base and a census-designated place adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area...
. - 1953 June: USS Desert Ship (LLS-1)USS Desert Ship (LLS-1)USS Desert Ship is a concrete blockhouse providing assembly and launch facilities simulating shipboard conditions for Navy surface-to-air weapons testing at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division - White Sands.-Origin:...
(Launch Complex 35) was built to test the Navy RIM-8 TalosRIM-8 TalosThe Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile, and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semiactive radar homing for terminal guidance...
missile. - 1958 May 1: White Sands Proving Ground officially renamed White Sands Missile Range.
- 1959: ShavetailShavetailShavetail was an experimental American rocket developed during the 1950s. Used to evalulate the rapidly-developing technology of rocketry, eleven Shavetail rockets were fired during 1959.-Design and development:...
rocket tested. - 1963-1966: Little Joe IILittle Joe IILittle Joe II was an American space launch vehicle used for five unmanned tests of the launch escape system and to verify the performance of the command module parachutes for the Apollo spacecraft from 1963–66...
Apollo program launch escape systemLaunch escape systemA Launch Escape System is a top-mounted rocket connected to the crew module of a crewed spacecraft and used to quickly separate the crew module from the rest of the rocket in case of emergency. Since the escape rockets are above the crew module, an LES typically uses separate nozzles which are...
tests at WSMR Launch Complex 36 - 1965 December 21: Trinity Site was declared a National Historic LandmarkNational Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
district, - 1966 October 15: Trinity test site was listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. - 1982: Space shuttle STS-3STS-3STS-3 was NASA's third Space Shuttle mission, and was the third mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia. It was the first shuttle launch with an unpainted external tank, and the only mission to land at the White Sands Space Harbor near Las Cruces, New Mexico.-Crew:-Backup crew:-Mission...
landed at WSMR - 1983-1993: The SimtelSimtelSimtel is an Internet-based archive of shareware for various operating systems, particularly Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS. The Simtel archive has been available on the public Internet since 1993, when its older ARPANET host was shut down....
shareware archive was hosted at WSMR on ARPANETARPANETThe Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet... - 1985 October 3: White Sands V-2 Launching Site (Launch Complex 33) designated a National Historic Landmark.
- 2004: The American Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsThe American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
named the WSPG a Historic Aerospace Site. - 2004 May: Refurbished MittelwerkMittelwerkCentral Works was a World War II factory that used Mittelbau-Dora forced labor in 2 main tunnels in the Kohnstein. The underground facility produced V-2 rockets, V-1 flying bombs, and other Nazi weapons.-Mittelwerk GmbH:...
V-2 rocket #FZ04/20919 returned to the WSMR Museum after being taken to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space CenterKansas Cosmosphere and Space CenterThe Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is a museum and educational facility in Hutchinson, Kansas that is best known for the display and restoration of spaceflight artifacts and educational camps...
in September 2002 for restoration. - 2007 November 14: NASA and a handful of community representatives broke ground at the Launch Complex-32 site for the Orion Abort Flight TestOrion Abort Test BoosterThe Orion Abort Test Booster is a small solid rocket launcher which will be developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation under contract by U.S...
Launch Complex.