White Sands Missile Range, NM, Oct. 14, 2009

White Sands Missile Range

On our way to White Sands National Monument we stopped at the Museum and Missile Park just west of Las Cruces on Fort Bliss, New Mexico.

Established in 1945, White Sands Missile Range is America's largest overland military test range. At White Sands the world entered the Atomic Age when the first atomic bomb was tested at Trinity Site on July 16, 1945.

In 1949, the world entered the Space Age from White Sands, when Bumper, an early two-stage rocket roared beyond the earth's atmosphere. In 1950, bumper went on to become the first missile launched from Cape Canaveral.

At the close of WWII, White Sands proving Ground was established to test the emerging rocket technology. Since 1945 the missile range has conducted more than 42,000 missile and rocket firings. The range also conducts purely scientific research. Rocket payloads from NASA are regularly launched to collect information about the sun and stars or conduct microgravity experiments.

Today, White Sands continues to test the most advanced technologies. Many missiles like the THAAD don't have explosive warheads anymore-they must actually strike the target to destroy it. The military shares the range with a huge assortment of plants and animals in almost pristine conditions. Recently, wildlife biologists studied mountain lions found in the White Sand mountains. Other scientists are currently conducting research on one of the world's largest herds of African oryx which freely roams the missile range.