Las Cruces, NM to Roswell, NM

I left Las Cruces this morning bright and early headed east on US70.  The first stop was the White Sands Missile Range, where the US developed virtually all its military-specific missiles from the time during World War II until the present day.  There is a museum that is open to the public, but unfortunately only six days a week.  Nevertheless, I was allowed to view the missile displays and they are quite impressive.

Here is a shot of White Sands Missile Range from the top of a pass on US70:

You can see the main complex in the center of the picture.

This is another shot of the area from the same spot:

You can see how remote the area is.

The missile display was quite impressive.  Every one of these missiles was developed, at least in part, at White Sands:

Some you would recognize include the Patriot Missile, star of Desert Storm and the SCUD-killer:

This is the Redstone missile, which was used to launch a number of satellites (and one monkey) early in the Space Race:

And this is the Pershing II, an ICBM that was first deployed in 1982 and was so accurate, it forced the Soviet Union into seeking the Treaty on Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear missiles, including the Pershing II.  The treaty was signed in 1988 and all such missiles were destroyed or deactivated by 1991.

Next stop was the White Sands National Monument, about 20 miles west of Alamogordo, NM.  I had planned to only take a very brief stop here, but the area was just beautiful.  The sand is like powder and is the brightest white I've ever seen.  It is formed from water dissolving gypsum out of the local rock formations in the area and has the consistency of powdered sugar. Here are a few shots:

This next one was taken from the top of one of the sand dunes:

And...proof I was there:

My final stop of the day was the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo.  It was interesting, but I think geared a little more toward educating kids.  Here are a couple pics:

This is called the "Daisy Track".  From about 1947 to 1985 or so, a man would be strapped in the seat on the "sled" and accelerated to some high speed and then quickly decelerated to test the effects of rapid acceleration and deceleration on the human body.  I remember seeing films of this when I was a kid in the 1950's:

Following WWII, the US brought a number of German rocket scientists over to drive development of our space and missile program, the most famous being Werner von Braun.  We also brought over a number of captured German V-2 rockets to test fly them and to study their operation.  A number of these were fired at White Sands Missile Range, and these are the remains of one such flight:

Here is a shot of the town of Alamogordo from the hill where the Space HOF is located.  Seems like a nice place to live, if you don't mind scrub brush and brutally-hot weather:

Alamogordo was also deeply involved in the development of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan in 1945, bringing an end to WWII.  The bombs were actually assembled near here, and Trinity Site, where the first test-firing took place, is about 30 miles north of the town.  Unfortunately, there isn't much (I couldn't find anything) in Alamogordo that discusses the important work that was done here 70 years ago, and Trinity Site is only open to the public twice a year, on April 1st and October 1st.  That would be an interesting tour.

I left Alamogordo headed east to Roswell, home to our extra-terrestrial aliens and the like.  Seems like a nice town, too, but the UFO tourist-traps are pretty dirty and worn.

Tomorrow, I'm headed north to Clayton, NM to visit family friends Al and Karen Brown, and then on Tuesday I'll be heading east through Oklahoma.

Miles today:  258
Total:  6,559