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You may wish to visit the WSMR Museum and Missile Park or to sign up for the annual public visit to the Trinity site. Army, WSMR has supported and continues to support essential defense and space exploration programs for all branches of the military services and NASA, as well as other forms of scientific research. The testing of the first atomic bomb took place in 1945 at the Trinity site on WSMR, 65 miles north of White Sands National Monument.Īfter World War II, White Sands Missile Range became home of some of the German scientists, including Werner Von Braun, who were instrumental in the conception and development of the V-2 rocket. We are DoDs largest, fully-instrumented, open air range, which provides Americas Armed Forces, allies, partners, and defense technology innovators with the. White Sands Missile Range was also one of the key locations of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb during World War II. military established a permanent presence in the Tularosa Basin during World War II, creating White Sands Proving Grounds, which is now called White Sands Missile Range, as well as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, known today as Holloman Air Force Base. Home Categories Theatre Theatre Programs G9 integrates and delivers Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs and services enabling readiness and resilience for a globally-responsive Army. This caused the United States Government to respond.
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The bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II took place on December 7 th, 1941. The Army also plans to re-station one HBCT from Germany to White Sands Missile Range by the end of 2013.White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), our next-door neighbor, has had a historic past and an impressive mission for today’s security. This represents an increase of 4,063 from fiscal year 2003. However, The White Sands Missile Range once again returned to the Naval Sea. The Soldier and Government Civilian population at White Sands Missile Range is expected to grow to 6,340. With a force of 84000 civilian, military and contract support personnel. White Sands is also home to the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF), the most comprehensive site in the United States capable of supporting directed energy technologies for the Department of Defense, other government agencies, industry, and academia. The White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss are the two largest military installations in the United States, together occupying nearly 5,000 square miles. The range includes bombing ranges, the third largest solar furnace in the U.S., a thermal nuclear blast facility that tests the effects of a nuclear blast, and even a simulated third-world village where Special Forces often train. More than 43,000 missile firings have been conducted at White Sands through the years, but White Sands is much more than missile testing. With the cancellation of the shuttle program, the strip was decommissioned. The strip, renamed the White Sands Space Harbor, was used as the primary training site for shuttle pilots to practice approaches and mock landings in the shuttle trainer aircraft. The orbiter Columbia landed there on March 30th, 1982. This did not come to pass, but Northrup Strip at White Sands was selected as a shuttle alternate landing site. White Sands was considered as a shuttle launch site in the early 1970’s (altitude would have provided payload advantage). Because of this, WSMR is sometimes known as the “Birthplace of the Race to Space”. WSMR is a physically large (>4000 square miles) and technically distributed test and simulation environment. Pioneering research in rocket technology shortly after World War II at WSMR helped propel the U.S. US Army White Sands Missile Range (WSMR).
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This strip of New Mexico desert has been in use since the 40’s to test practically every weapon system in the U.S.
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White Sands Missile Range is located in the Tularosa Basin of south-central New Mexico, between the Organ Mountains and the Sacramento Mountains. Formerly known as White Sands Proving Ground, it is one of the largest military facilities in the United States, with over 6,500 employees and covering an area of about 4,000 square miles. Army, Navy, Air Force, NASA, and other government agencies and private industry. Established in 1945, White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a test range whose primary function is to support missile development and test programs for the U.S.
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