White Sands Missile Range
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| White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) at nearly 4,000 square miles, is one of the largest military facilities in the country. It is primarily a test range with the main function of supporting missile development and test programs for the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), other government agencies and private industry. Like most large military installations in the West, White Sands was created during World War II. It was officially established on July 9, 1945, one week before the world's first nuclear explosion, the Trinity test, was performed at its northern end. Over the years, most of the missile systems in the U.S. arsenal were tested at WSMR, including the V-2, Nike, Viking, Corporal, Lance and Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. The range has developed launch facilities in other areas of New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho for long-range testing. In such tests, missiles from these locations fly over the countryside and impact on White Sands. White Sands also provides an alternate landing site for the space shuttle program. In 1982 the orbiter Columbia landed on the range's Northrop Strip after its third flight into space. The WSMR employs 8,800 people, and is under operational control of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (TECOM), located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. |
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Headquarters, 20 miles E of Las Cruces
(POINT(-106.47861242294 32.3858325851))
(show on map)
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| White Sands Missile Range NM, 88002 |
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| Headquarters for the WSMR is located 20 miles east of Las Cruces, off of US Highway 70. There is a missile park and a small museum located near the gate at the range Headquarters. |
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http://www.wsmr-history.org/
http://www.wsmr.army.mil/
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Military, Training / Testing / Bombing Range
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