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— CH. 1 · ORIGINS AND ESTABLISHMENT —

White Sands Missile Range

~3 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
6 sections

  • The Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range opened its gates in December 1941. This new facility emerged from Executive Order No. 9029 which canceled existing grazing leases on the land. Ranchers who had worked these arid plains for decades found their rights extinguished by eminent domain proceedings. The Army Air Base at Alamogordo stood ready to train pilots for World War II missions. By July 1942, Robert Goddard's rocket research group moved away from Roswell to Maryland. The War Department and Corps of Engineers teams searched for a suitable missile test site throughout early 1944. They needed vast open spaces where dangerous experiments could proceed without endangering populated areas.

  • the 16th of July 1945 marked the detonation of the first atomic bomb ever tested. Code named Trinity, this explosion occurred near the northern boundary of the range. The McDonald Ranch House served as the Manhattan Project location for final assembly of the prototype Fat Man plutonium bomb. Seven days after White Sands Proving Ground officially established itself, the test took place. Carrizozo and San Antonio towns lay nearby witnesses to history. The Trinity Site later became a National Historic Landmark district designated on the 21st of December 1965. It also appeared on the National Register of Historic Places starting the 15th of October 1966. The explosion transformed the desert landscape forever.

  • One hundred long-range German V-2 rockets arrived at White Sands after World War II ended. Sixty-seven of these captured weapons were test-fired between 1946 and 1951 from the White Sands V-2 Launching Site. Operation Paperclip brought thirty-five German scientists to work at the proving ground during 1946. Building 1538 housed GE contractors who identified, sorted, and reassembled V-2 components. A static firing occurred on the 15th of March 1946 while the first United States launch happened April 16 that same year. Two crashes in two weeks shocked observers when the 15th of May 1947 saw a rocket veer northeast of Alamogordo. Another crash landed south of Juárez business district exactly two weeks later creating a deep crater.

  • NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia touched down on the Northrop Strip at WSMR on the 30th of March 1982. This landing concluded mission STS-3 and remains the only time NASA used this facility as a shuttle landing site. Apollo program Launch Escape System tests with Little Joe II began at White Sands Launch Complex 36 in August 1963. President John F. Kennedy visited for MEWS missile exercises on the 5th of June 1963. The CST-100 Starliner spacecraft traveled from the International Space Station and landed successfully at White Sands Space Harbor on the 25th of May 2022. The range hosted the Simtel collection between 1983 and the 30th of September 1993 containing free software available to the public.

  • White Sands Missile Range encompasses almost four million acres across five New Mexico counties. Doña Ana, Otero, Socorro, Sierra, and Lincoln counties all contain parts of this massive installation. Holloman Air Force Base borders the range to the east while McGregor Range Complex sits to the south. Las Cruces lies west of the facility and Alamogordo stands forty miles to the east. Chaparral and El Paso, Texas appear to the south. White Sands National Park founded in the 1930s exists within the range boundaries alongside San Andres National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Highway 70 traverses the southern part subject to periodic road closures during test firings.

  • The White Sands Test Center headquarters operates branches for tactical systems and electromagnetic radiation today. Missile testing and range recovery operations continue as core functions of the facility. Launch Complex 32 supports Storm-2 and Hera programs while Launch Complex 33 handles multiple rocket types including V-2 and Nike variants. The 1972 DoD Centers for Countermeasures evaluates precision guided munitions in electronic counter environments. Ground-based electro-optical deep-space surveillance telescopes perform space surveillance missions from the site. The White Sands Museum offers tours featuring a V-2 rocket returned in May 2004 after restoration efforts. Colonel Harold Turner served as first range commander between 1945 and 1947 before induction into the Hall of Fame in 1980.

Common questions

When did the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range open its gates?

The Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range opened its gates in December 1941. This facility emerged from Executive Order No. 9029 which canceled existing grazing leases on the land.

What date marked the detonation of the first atomic bomb ever tested at White Sands Missile Range?

The 16th of July 1945 marked the detonation of the first atomic bomb ever tested. Code named Trinity, this explosion occurred near the northern boundary of the range.

How many German V-2 rockets were test-fired between 1946 and 1951 at White Sands Missile Range?

Sixty-seven captured weapons were test-fired between 1946 and 1951 from the White Sands V-2 Launching Site. Operation Paperclip brought thirty-five German scientists to work at the proving ground during 1946.

Which NASA mission concluded with a landing on the Northrop Strip at White Sands Missile Range on the 30th of March 1982?

Mission STS-3 concluded when the Space Shuttle Columbia touched down on the Northrop Strip at White Sands Missile Range on the 30th of March 1982. This remains the only time NASA used this facility as a shuttle landing site.

In which five New Mexico counties does White Sands Missile Range encompass almost four million acres?

White Sands Missile Range encompasses almost four million acres across Doña Ana, Otero, Socorro, Sierra, and Lincoln counties. Las Cruces lies west of the facility and Alamogordo stands forty miles to the east.

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All sources

75 references cited across the entry

  1. 1reportWhite Sands Administrative HistoryNational Park Service
  2. 2webLeadership White Sands Missile RangeU.S. Army
  3. 3webLTG Gwen Bingham28 March 2017
  4. 4webWhite Sands Missile RangeAstronautix.com
  5. 5webTrinity SiteWhite Sands Missile Range
  6. 6inlineJim Eckles (15 May 2022) Two crashes in two weeks: In 1947, rockets launched from White Sands landed in Alamogordo, Juárez
  7. 7webRemember the time we bombed Mexico with German rockets?11 May 2012
  8. 8newsUSAF Accidentally Launched Rocket into Mexico's Mapimi Desert 45 Years AgoMichael Barclay — Unredacted — July 13, 2015
  9. 9webSTS-3 Columbia Lands at the White Sands Missile Range, NMNASA — 30 March 1982
  10. 10webU.S. Army Fort Bliss Training CenterWestern Regional Partnership — 2016
  11. 11webNational Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Trinity SiteRichard Greenwood — National Park Service — 14 January 1975
  12. 12webTrinity SiteNational Park Service
  13. 13webWhite Sands Missile Range Fact SheetNASA
  14. 14newsTime Magazine, "Recovery at White Sands"29 June 1962
  15. 15webWelcome to WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE WSMR
  16. 16webWhite Sands Missile Range Hall of FameWhite Sands Missile Range Museum — 28 January 2021
  17. 17webCenter for Countermeasures
  18. 18webA Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground, 1941-1965WSMR Museum — September 21, 2020
  19. 19newsWSMR, DOD may take control of range's Northern Extension AreaJason Gibbs — The Las Cruces Sun-News — 19 July 2014
  20. 20webExecutive Order 9029: Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department as a General Bombing Range; New MexicoNational Archives — 15 August 2016
  21. 21bookThe Rocket TeamFrederick I III Ordway — Thomas Y. Crowell — 1979
  22. 22bookRockets, Missiles and Space TravelWilly Ley — The Viking Press — 1958
  23. 23webVon Karman, Malina laid the groundwork for the future JPLJohn Bluth — JPL
  24. 24bookBlazing skies: Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss, 1940-2009John A Hamilton — Government Printing Office
  25. 25webDr. Kurt H. Debus: Launching a VisionC. McCleskey
  26. 26reportUpper Air Rocket Summary: V-2 Number 4Defense Technical Information Center — 29 May 1946
  27. 27bookBlazing skies: Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss, 1940-2009John A. Hamilton — Government Printing Office
  28. 28reportFort Bliss Main Post Early Cold War BASOPS Building Inventory and Evaluation, 1951-63U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — December 2006
  29. 29reportAir Force Bases as of 1982Mueller — USAF Office of Air Force History — 1982
  30. 30reportGAPA: Holloman's First Missile ProgramDavid Bushnell — Air Force Missile Development Center: Historical Branch — 1986-08-25
  31. 31webBumper ProjectUS Army
  32. 32webHistory of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics at the Air Force Missile Development Center Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico 1946-1958
  33. 33bookVengeance Weapon 2: The V-2 Guided MissileGregory P. Kennedy — Smithsonian Institution Press — 1983
  34. 34journalFormer "Broomstick Scientist"Robert P. Egermeier — September 2001
  35. 35newsBroomstick SweepingsJames T. Koppenshaver — 30 January 1951
  36. 36reportFederal RegisterMay 27, 1952
  37. 37newsW S P G Military Units Have New Designations8 February 1957
  38. 38webNike HerculesAstronautix.com
  39. 39bookHistory of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense: Volume II: 1956-1972Barry Leonard — c. 1986
  40. 40newsWay Back When.....Doyle Piland
  41. 41mapSite Plan: Nike Zeus Facilities ALA 5Federal Government of the United States
  42. 42newsNew Device Will Plot All Planes20 August 1959
  43. 43citationConduct of Redstone Annual Service Practice at White Sands Missile Range New MexicoFort Sill: Headquarters, United States Army Artillery And Missile Center
  44. 44webNike R&D at White Sands, Multi-Function Array Radar, 1954-1970 (page 16)Nike Historical Society
  45. 45webRemarks Upon Arrival at the Missile Range, White Sands, New Mexico.The American Presidency Project — June 5, 1963
  46. 46reportApollo Experience Report - Launch Escape Propulsion SubsystemNeil A Townsend — NASA — March 1973
  47. 47reportAir Force Bases as of 1982Mueller — 1982
  48. 48newsLocal Men Visit Zeus at White SandsWilmington News-Journal — 27 Nov 1963
  49. 49webPart I. History of ABM Development
  50. 50webSprintMark Paine — Nuclearabms.info
  51. 51webPublic Law 90-110-October 21, 1967U.S. Congressional Record
  52. 52reportAN/FPS-16(AX) Radar Modeling and Computer SimulationDonald L. Hoihjelle — WSMR Instrumentation Directorate — February 1972
  53. 53webThe Story of SIMTEL20
  54. 54web82nd Aerial Target Squadron QF-106 Drone Pacer SixF-106 Delta Dart Association
  55. 55webWhite Sands Missile Range AIAA Historic Aerospace Sitethe Historical Marker Database — 6 October 2019
  56. 56webNASA Building Test Pad at White Sands for New SpacecraftRedOrbit — 3 February 2008
  57. 57webNASA Constellation Mission Project, Research, and Test Sites OverviewNASA
  58. 58newsOrion Pad Abort 1 Test a Spectacular SuccessNASA — May 6, 2010
  59. 59newsStarliner lands on 'bull's-eye' at White Sands Missile RangeLeah Romero — Las Cruces Sun News — May 25, 2022
  60. 60webWhite Sands LC32
  61. 61webWhite Sands LC33
  62. 62webWhite Sands LC35
  63. 63webWhite Sands LC36
  64. 64webWhite Sands LC37
  65. 65webWhite Sands LC38
  66. 66webWhite Sands LC39
  67. 67webWhite Sands LC50
  68. 68webWhite Sands LC94
  69. 69webWhite Sands SULF
  70. 70webWhite Sands WSSH
  71. 71webWhite Sands School HomepageWhite Sands School
  72. 72webDevelopment of the Corporal: the embryo of the army missile programArmy Ballistic Missile Agency — April 1961
  73. 73webA Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground 1941–1965New Mexico State University
  74. 74webChapter Four: Global War at White Sands 1940–1945National Park Service
  75. 75bookMcGregor Renewal and the Current Air Defense MissionDavid Rubenson — 1998