White Sands Missile Range Museum

12/24/2025

Preparing for countdown here at WSMR!

12/22/2025

12/10/2025

White Sands Missile Range is now accepting nominations from all sources until the end of March for its Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame was established in 1980 to honor members of the WSMR workforce, military and civilian, who made singularly significant contributions to the mission on the Range. It is the highest award the missile range can bestow on one of its own. There have been 59 individuals inducted since 1980. You can see the current honorees at the WSMR museum’s website.

The Hall of Fame contains both men and women, civilian and military personnel, government and contractor employees and a huge mix of professions – everything from chaplain to missile flight safety to public affairs to professional engineer to equal employment opportunity to “movers and shakers.” It is the embodiment of “Team WSMR,” the phrase missile range leaders have espoused for decades.

For information on nomination procedures or to request an updated copy of the White Sands Hall of Fame Guide, email Jim Eckles at [email protected]

White Sands Missile Range is now accepting nominations from all sources until the end of March for its Hall of Fame.

11/23/2025

The world's first full scale nuclear reactor, Oak Ridge's X-10 Graphite Reactor, went critical over 82 years ago this month, on November 4, 1943. Plutonium created within the reactor was shipped to Los Alamos, New Mexico for research into creating the atomic bomb Fat Man.

The X-10 Graphite Reactor is not currently open to the public, but you can visit virtually on our website at https://go.nps.gov/7srqsz

Image Credit: US Department of Energy/Ed Westcott

11/18/2025

We're glad to be back!

11/14/2025

The WSMR Museum will resume normal open hours, 9am-4pm, on Monday, 17 November 2025. The Museum will be closed later this month on Thursday, 27 November 2025, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

10/01/2025

09/10/2025

Enjoy!

09/07/2025

On this day in WSMR history: 6 September 1985

The High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) becomes operational with the first Lethality and Target Hardening (LTH-1) program test for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO).

HELSTF was originally established to support the test and evaluation of high energy laser systems and to conduct damage and vulnerability tests on a wide range of materials under different conditions. The Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser, or MIRACL, was installed at HELSTF as part of an $800 million investment. MIRACL is a continuous wave deuterium fluoride chemical laser operating at a wavelength of 3.8 microns.

Since then, HELSTF has undergone several modular upgrades that have advanced the test facility's capabilities. These include the Full Aperture Upgrade, Beam Transfer Area, Effects Test Area, and Large Vacuum Chamber.

09/03/2025

Explore the fascinating history and innovation at U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range. Visitors can tour the museum and missile park, where exhibits showcase decades of rocket and missile testing that shaped space exploration and defense technology.

📸: on Instagram

09/01/2025

On this day in WSMR history: 31 August 1959

The 1,000th Honest John surface-to-surface nuclear-capable free-flight rocket is fired at White Sands Missile Range.

The Honest John had a range in excess of 15 miles and its warheads could be conventional high explosive, chemical, or nuclear. Beginning in 1954, the US Army began deploying Honest John to Europe. From 1951-1977, around 1,711 Honest Johns were fired at White Sands. After 1962, most Honest Johns were used to test different types of warheads. In 1982, the Honest John was declared obsolete.

08/30/2025