White Sands Missile Range

The White Sands National Monument is surrounded on all sides by the White Sands Missile Range, on which captured German missiles were tested during the Second World War. On July 16th 1945 the very first atomic bomb was exploded on the remote Trinity Site. Some 25mi/40km east of Las Cruces is the military headquarters of the test site, which can be visited (pass required). At the Visitor Center (small museum) a number of missiles are on show.