White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), formerly known as the White Sands Proving Grounds, is located in Otero County, New Mexico, mostly in the Tularosa Basin, a valley between the Organ Mountains, San Andres Mountains and the Sacramento Mountains of the U.S. state of New Mexico, it includes the northern reaches of the Jornada del Muerto. The area of the range is approximately the same as that of the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island put together. The story of the last annexation of territory by the base was the background for Edward Abbey's novel, Fire on the Mountain. Otero County is a county located in the state of New Mexico. ... The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the basin and range area east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, mostly in Otero County. ... Fljótsdalur in East Iceland, a rather flat valley Mt. ... View of Organ Needle, the highest of the Organ Mountains at 8990 feet (2766 m). ... The San Andres Mountains is a mountain range in the state of New Mexico of the United States, in the counties of Socorro, Sierra, and Doña Ana. ... Sacramento Mountains an eastern extension of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern New Mexico into West Texas. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries â€¢ Politics Portal      A state of the United States is any one of the fifty subnational entities referred to... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... The Jornada del Muerto (journey of the deadman in Spanish) was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to the 1660s route northward from New Spain, or Mexico. ...

The Range gets its name from the white sands that are spread over many miles in the area. These sands are composed of gypsum crystals, which have leached out of the surrounding mountains. A distinctive ecology survives in this desert. Adjacent to the Range, but not part of its active perimeter, is the White Sands National Monument. The swath of white sands extends from WSMR, through White Sands National Monument, and into nearby Holloman Air Force Base. This large expanse of bright sand is clearly visible from earth orbit, especially since the area is rarely clouded over. Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. // Heating gypsum to between 100°C and 150°C (302°F) partially dehydrates the mineral by driving off exactly 75% of the water contained in its chemical structure. ... A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ... Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ... Erg Chebbi, Morocco In geography, a desert is a landscape form or region that receives very little precipitation. ... White Sands National Monument is well-known for its fields of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. ... Holloman Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base in Otero County, New Mexico. ...

The WSMR and its surrounding areas are home to many species of animals, including mule deer and even a few exotic animal species, such as the oryx, which have been introduced into the vast high desert environment over the years. As one might expect from the topography and climate, the missile range is also home to many species of small game, including the jackrabbit and coyote. Binomial name Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque, 1817) The Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of North America. ... Species Oryx beisa Oryx dammah Oryx gazella Oryx leucoryx An Oryx is one of three or four large antelope species of the genus Oryx, typically having long straight nearly upright horns. ... It has been suggested that Jackrabbits be merged into this article or section. ... Binomial name Canis latrans Say, 1823 The coyote (Canis latrans, meaning barking dog) also prairie wolf [2]) is a member of the Canidae (dog) family and a relative of the domestic dog. ...

On July 16, 1945 the world's first test of an atomic weapon was conducted at what is now called Trinity site, within what was then the boundaries of the range, and part of the Jornada del Muerto. After the V-2 rockets of Peenemünde were captured in World War II, the rockets and the rocket scientists were taken to WSMR for reverse engineering. Today, seventy miles to the south, the US Army Air Defense Center, in Fort Bliss, Texas and WSMR form a contiguous swath of territory devoted to the art. Fort Bliss has an outdoor museum display of rocket-propelled missiles. July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... An early stage in the Trinity fireball. ... The Jornada del Muerto (journey of the deadman in Spanish) was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to the 1660s route northward from New Spain, or Mexico. ... The A4 (Aggregat 4) alias V-2 rocket or Vergeltungswaffe 2 (Reprisal weapon 2) was an early ballistic missile used by the German Army against mostly Belgian and British targets during the later stages of World War II. The V2 rocket became the first man-made object launched into space... Peenemündes position in Germany Peenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German island of Usedom. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of taking something (a device, an electrical component, a software program, etc. ... Fort Bliss is a census-designated place and United States Army post in El Paso County, Texas, United States. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program The traditional definition of a rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving fluid from within a rocket engine. ...

The German connection lives on as well, in El Paso Deutsche Schule, and Alamogordo Deutsche Schule, established to teach the German children of the soldiers who would later return to Germany after their tours of duty in New Mexico and Texas. Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... Texas is the gayest motherfucking state out there they can suck my big black balls. ...

At Change of Command ceremonies on November 30, 2005, a civilian, Tom Berard, was named director of WSMR upon the retirement of Brig. Gen. Robert J. Reese from the Army, after 35 years of service. Brig. Gen. Michael J. Combest, Commander of the U.S. Army Developmental Test Command emphasized that Tom Berard is in charge of WSMR.^[1] There have been 6 general officers in command at WSMR since 1994; Reese's tenure has been the longest, at 28 months, during that period. Berard had been the highest-ranking civilian at the Range. Officials at the Department of the Army have said that as soon as the Army can get enough generals to staff all the command positions, the Army will appoint a general officer to lead WSMR. The appointment is expected to take at least six months and could take longer. November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Space Shuttle Columbia lands at Northrop Strip.

WSMR is located on U.S. 70 between Alamogordo and Las Cruces; the highway is sometimes closed for safety reasons while tests are conducted on the missile range. NASA Photo ID: S82-28839 Program: Shuttle Mission: STS-3 Date Taken: March 31, 1982 Film Type: 70mm Title: Air-to-air coverage of orbiter inspection during its descent Description: Columbia is shown seconds from touchdown with two T-38 chase planes following it in to the landing strip. ... NASA Photo ID: S82-28839 Program: Shuttle Mission: STS-3 Date Taken: March 31, 1982 Film Type: 70mm Title: Air-to-air coverage of orbiter inspection during its descent Description: Columbia is shown seconds from touchdown with two T-38 chase planes following it in to the landing strip. ... Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first spaceworthy space shuttle in NASAs orbital fleet (Enterprise preceded Columbia, but Enterprise was a non-spaceworthy test article intended for later conversion to a flightworthy vehicle). ... United States Highway 70 is an east-west United States highway that runs for 2,385 miles (3,838 km) from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. ... Alamogordo is a city located in Otero County, New Mexico, United States of America. ... Las Cruces is a city in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. ...

On just one occasion, STS-3, the NASA space shuttle made a landing at Northrop Strip, 45 miles due north of WSMR Headquarters, when both Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Edwards Air Force Base in California were unable to accommodate a landing due to weather. In the movie SpaceCamp, the shuttle is depicted as landing here after missing a chance to land at Edwards. STS-3 was the third space shuttle mission, and was the third mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia. ... Merritt Island and Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) at Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. ... Edwards Air Force Base is a USAF airbase located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County, California in the Antelope Valley, 7 miles (11 km) due East of Rosamond, USA at 34°57′ N 117°52′ W. An airbase since 1933, Edwards has long been a home... Space Camp is a 1986 movie based on a book by Patrick Bailey and Larry B. Williams and inspired by the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. ...

Espionage

There have been a number of spies at White Sands over the years, and not all of them were caught. For example, the true identity of the post-World War II Soviet spy code-named Perseus is still unknown.^{[citation needed]} Espionage is the practice of obtaining information about an organization or a society that is considered secret or confidential (spying) without the permission of the holder of the information. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Russian: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital (and largest city) Moscow None; Russian de facto Government Federation of Soviet Republics  - Last President Mikhail Gorbachev  - Last Premier Ivan Silayev Establishment October Revolution   - Declared... Perseus was the codename of a possible Soviet spy at Los Alamos during the Manhattan project. ...

Simtel archive

An important early archive of software called "Simtel" was hosted at White Sands from 1983 to 1993. Simtel is an Internet-based archive of shareware for various operating systems, particularly Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS. The Simtel archive has been available on the public Internet since 1993, when its older ARPANET host was shut down. ...

It was available to any Internet user via anonymous FTP at wsmr-simtel20.army.mil on a machine running the TOPS-20 operating system. Anonymous FTP is a FTP server, which does not require user authorization. ... The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC was the second proprietary OS for the PDP-10. ...

References

1. ^ Steve Ramirez, Las Cruces Sun-News reprinted as "Director now leads missile range", in the El Paso Times, December 1, 2005 p.6A.

External links

• WSMR (US Army)
• WSMR Museum
• Works by White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs Office at Project Gutenberg