White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range is a United States Army military testing area of almost 3200sqmi in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR and the 600000acre McGregor Range Complex at Fort Bliss to the south are contiguous areas for military testing.On 9 July 1945, the White Sands Proving Ground was established for testing German and American long range rockets. Just seven days later, the first atomic bomb test, code named Trinity was exploded at Trinity Site, near the north boundary of the range.National Historic LandmarksDesignated historic sites on WSMR land include: Trinity Site: Selected in November 1944 for the Trinity nuclear test conducted on 16 July 1945 (National Historic Landmark district on 21 December 1965, NRHP on 15 October 1966). White Sands V-2 Launching Site: A V-2 static test firing was 15 March 1946, and the first US V-2 launch was 16 April 1946 (landmark designation 3 October 1985).