Alamogordo, NM

When John Paul Stapp strapped himself to a rocket sled on Dec. 10, 1954, and shot 632 miles per hour across the New Mexico desert, he had no idea what the resulting 43 Gs might do to his body and mind. Although he suffered effects such as temporary blindness, Stapp survived this and 28 other tests and lived to be 89.

Stapp was one of the many lesser known heroes drawn to Alamogordo, New Mexico’s “Rocket Town,” by the missile and space program. A rocket park at the town’s New Mexico Museum of Space History is named for Stapp.

Geography and climate made the Tularosa Basin a center for space and military research and testing. During World War II, the nearby Army air base, now Holloman Air Force Base, trained bomber and fighter pilots. The basin’s high elevation and climate allow more than 350 days of flying time per year, perfect for training, says Mark Santiago, director of the New Mexico Museum of Space History.

And the White Sands Missile Range served as a joint training and testing ground for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Its most famous test occurred in 1945, when the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity Site.

Today, White Sands is a first alternate landing site for the space shuttle. Shuttle pilots train there.

The space and rocket influence can be felt in daily life in Alamogardo (pop. 35,582). Susan Moss, a resident since 1996, says the town is sophisticated, with residents who embrace technology and have traveled extensively.

“We have a tri-cultural makeup—Anglo, Hispanic, and German—and a neighborly approach to how unique we are,” Moss says. The German Air Force Training Center at Holloman trains pilots, and the more than 600 German Air Force personnel and their families who live at Holloman opened their own school last year. “They were able to design lessons and a schedule that more closely matched German schools,” Moss says.

The families’ Oktoberfest is a sellout every fall.

Mary Anne Brown, a teacher at Mountain View Middle School, moved to Alamogordo from a neighboring town in 1993. She enjoys the educational opportunities offered by the museum and space industry.

“I think this had a big effect on our kids. We take them on lots of field trips to the museum and White Sands,’’ she says.

The museum displays include a space shuttle simulator that lets visitors test their piloting skills, the air and space park that’s named for Stapp, an IMAX theater, and moon rocks.

The Space Center’s Shuttle Camp each summer offers more than 700 students from the United States, Canada, and Europe the chance to learn about space exploration through hands-on adventures.

The White Sands National Monument, adjacent to the missile range, is part of the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Families hike the nearby sand dunes year-round and a trip down Dunes Drive, an eight-mile scenic loop, shows how gusting winds shift the dunes.

Helen Dickey, a retiree and Alamogordo visitors’ center volunteer, is a fan of evening visits to the sand dunes.

“It’s actually wonderful out there in the dark,’’ she says.

Evidence of ancient history lies nearby at Three Rivers Petroglyphs or the Valley of Fires, site of a volcanic eruption about 1,500 years ago. More than 20,000 petroglyphs by early inhabitants who lived there between A.D. 950 and 1150 remain.

Several local and state groups are promoting White Sands as a full spaceport, says G. Dwight Harp, a volunteer member of the Southwest Space Task Force.

Whether that happens or not, Santiago and Harp are confident the area’s role in the development of defense and space programs will continue for years to come.

Teresa Norris is a freelance writer living in central New Mexico.

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