![]() ![]() ![]() 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.Įl Paso International Airport is the nearest airport with regularly scheduled commercial flights. New Mexico State Road 213 enters the range from the south from Chaparral, New Mexico and terminates at U.S. White Sands National Park and the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge are federally-protected natural areas contained within the borders of WSMR. ![]() WSMR is located between Las Cruces, New Mexico to the west, Alamogordo, New Mexico to the east, and Chaparral, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas to the south. Holloman Air Force Base borders WSMR to the east and WSMR borders the 600,000-acre (2,400 km 2) McGregor Range Complex at Fort Bliss to the south (southeast Tularosa Basin and on Otero Mesa) making them contiguous areas for military testing. This was the only time that NASA used WSMR as a landing site for the space shuttle.įor the geography and ecology of the WSMR area, see White Sands, New Mexico and Basin and Range Province.Īs the largest military installation in the United States, WSMR encompasses almost 3,200 sq mi (8,300 km 2) including parts of Doña Ana, Otero, Socorro, Sierra, and Lincoln counties in southern New Mexico. NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia landed on the Northrop Strip at WSMR on 30 March 1982 as the conclusion to mission STS-3.(This was followed by the testing of American rockets, which continues to this day, along with testing other technologies.) Of these, 67 were test-fired between 19 from the White Sands V-2 Launching Site. After the conclusion of World War II, 100 long-range German V-2 rockets that were captured by U.S.The first atomic bomb (code named Trinity) was test detonated at Trinity Site near the northern boundary of the range on 16 July 1945, seven days after the White Sands Proving Ground was established.White Sands National Park is located within the range. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9 July 1945. White Sands Missile Range ( WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |