Misty Castle: High-Explosive Nuclear Effects Simulations at White Sands Missile Range

Once military officials began to understand the many hazards and variables that accompany a nuclear blast, such as intense heat, radiation and fallout, and the explosion itself, they initiated programs designed to protect their own forces and citizens. Protective personal equipment, hardened shelters, and radiation-resistant armored vehicles became a standard part of a military unit’s table of equipment. However, in order to ensure that this equipment is actually able to do what it is designed for, rigorous testing is required.

White Sands Missile Range Archaeologist Wins Top Army Award for Preserving History in Complex Installation Environment

At White Sands Missile Range – the birthplace of America’s rocket program, playing a significant role in our nation’s history, and continuing to be a significant military installation today – Bill Godby has stood out as a champion of historic preservation within a complex environment of both archaeological sites and historic structures. Godby, an archaeologist with the Environmental Division at WSMR, was selected as the recipient of the 2023 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for his achievements in cultural resource management.

White Sands Missile Range Museum to Reopen 4 May

Since the museum’s closure in June 2020 due to the coronavirus quarantine, we have continued to be closed as we installed a new permanent exhibit. However, we are excited to announce that the WSMR Museum will be reopening to the public on Thursday, 4 May 2023. The opening ceremony will begin at 9am at theContinue reading “White Sands Missile Range Museum to Reopen 4 May”

The Corporal Family of Rockets and Missiles

On the surface, the Corporal family was a collection of early American-developed ballistic missiles that initially weren’t very militarily significant. However, it was the vehicle on which various management and subcontracting philosophies could be tried and training of personnel from procurement through field operations could be conducted.

WSMR Historical Foundation Publishes Quarterly Newsletter – August 2022

By Jenn Jett, Museum Specialist The White Sands Missile Range Historical Foundation has published its quarterly “Hands Across History” newsletter for August 2022. The newsletter contains the following articles: Work on the Museum’s New Exhibit Hall is Marching OnJim Eckles, Editor Two Belt Buckles Available for a DonationWSMR Historical Foundation In Memoriam – A TributeContinue reading “WSMR Historical Foundation Publishes Quarterly Newsletter – August 2022”

Sleeping Beauty Awakens

LASL’s Sleeping Beauty was an experiment on the design of an alpha-n initiator – the first in a series of such tests. Equipment was located in an underground bunker at Trinity Site in the New Mexico desert, some 250 miles south of Los Alamos – and only 1,600 feet from ground zero of a spectacular success, the world’s first nuclear explosion. But Sleeping Beauty did not involve the use of fissionable material – and she was an embarrassing failure.