White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) operates the White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH), the primary training area for space shuttle pilots flying practice approaches and landings in the shuttle-training aircraft (STA) and T-38 chase aircraft. The STA is a Gulfstream II aircraft modified to mimic the flight characteristics and instrumentation on the shuttle and provides a realistic simulation of the shuttle's landing from high altitudes to touchdown. WSSH is located approximately 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Alamogordo, NM, on the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range.

Shuttle Training Aircraft and Chase Aircraft Practicing Approaches

The WSSH runway facilities are located in Akalai Flats, a site formerly known as Northup Strip. In 1976, NASA selected Northrup Strip as the site for pilot training. A second runway was added, and in 1979 both lakebed runways were lengthened, allowing WSSH to serve as a shuttle backup landing facility. The facility was used during the landing of STS-3 in March 1982. After the STS-3 landing, WSSH became an emergency landing site, and the U.S. Congress designated the facility as the "White Sands Space Harbor."

Space Shuttle Columbia Landing at WSSH, 1982

For additional information contact Robert Mitchell, (505) 524-5774.

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