Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: New Mexico: Alamagordo area

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:

New Mexico: Alamogordo area

Alamo Midway Airport (revised 6/17/08) - Northrup Strip / White Sands Space Harbor (revised 6/16/08)

Oscura AAF (revised 6/16/08)

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Northrup Strip / White Sands Space Harbor, White Sands, NM

32.94 North / 106.42 West (North of El Paso, TX)

Northrup Strip, as depicted on the December 1968 Albuquerque Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

The airfield known as Northrup Strip is located in a salt/gypsum area called Alkali Flats.

This area was first used as an airfield in the late 1940s,

when Northrop Aviation Corporation used the natural landing area for target drone projects.

The strip was unofficially called "Northrop Strip" through association with the contractor.

The Northrop Strip area became part of the Army's White Sands Missile Range in 1952.

An early press release contained a typographical error, misspelling Northrop as "Northrup".

The error was reproduced in subsequent releases,

and later signs, route markers and official Army maps carried the name "Northrup Strip", making it quasi official.

The earliest depiction of Northrup Strip which has been located

was on the December 1968 Albuquerque Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It depicted the field as having a 3,200' unpaved runway (less than 1/10^th its eventual length!).

Northrup Strip's original (primary) runway is oriented north-northeast/south-southwest.

Northrup Strip, as depicted on the 1971 USGS topo map (courtesy of David Brooks).

In the early 1970s, NASA began looking at possible launch & landing sites

for the forthcoming Space Shuttle Program.

In the early stages, Northrup Strip was considered a candidate for both categories.

NASA officials finally decided upon Kennedy Space Center as the launch site,

and Edwards AFB as the early mission landing site

(routine landings would eventually be made at Kennedy).

In 1976, NASA selected Northrup Strip as the site for shuttle pilot training.

A second runway was added, oriented east-northeast/west-southwest.

The primary (north-northeast/south-southwest) runway is configured to simulate the runway at Kennedy Space Center,

while the second (east-northeast/west-southwest) runway simulates the lakebed runway at Edwards AFB.

Northrup Strip has served as the initial training point for shuttle astronauts since October 1978,

with the first landing practice taking place on August 13, 1978.

Since then practice landing missions at the strip have averaged about nine sorties a week

to include both day- and night-time missions.

A Grumman Gulfstream II jet aircraft, modified to react similarly to the shuttle, is used for astronaut training.

It was this training assignment which paved the way to White Sands

being named & outfitted as an orbiter landing site.

Two runways of White Sands Space Harbor were depicted on the 1978 USGS topo map (courtesy of David Brooks),

but they were only labeled as "Landing Strip".

Northrup Strip was not given a Space Shuttle landing site role until 1979,

when both lakebed runways were lengthened to 35,000' total length,

which includes 15,000' usable runway with 10,000' extensions on either end.

These hard packed gypsum strips provided what the Space Shuttle needed in the early landings - a long, forgiving runway.

Northrup Strip is virtually unobstructed, can be seen from space,

and is blessed with excellent weather 90% of the time.

The first space flight of the Space Shuttle, mission STS-1 using the orbiter Columbia,

was launched from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, April 12, 1981.

Northrup Strip was designated the primary Abort-Once-Around (AOA)

and contingency End-of-Mission (EOM) landing site.

Despite several weeks of exhausting work by WSMR personnel making Northrup Strip & the range ready,

the Columbia ended its three-day flight at Edwards AFB as planned.

After several delays, the Columbia's second flight launched from Kennedy on Saturday, November 12, 1981.

Sands Missile Range had anticipated a lesser chance of a landing,

having been designated contingency AOA & contingency EOM landing site.

However, Columbia carried out a normal landing at Edwards AFB on November 14, 1981.

Five days prior to the scheduled launch of the third shuttle space flight, mission STS-3,

NASA announced Northrup Strip as the primary EOM landing site.

WSMR & Northrup Strip personnel had spent many weeks in preparation,

but the End Of Mission Landing Site announcement still came as a surprise.

Soggy runways at Edwards had forced NASA officials to make the EOM decision for Northrup

where, aside from some predictable March winds, the weather was spring-like & balmy.

The Columbia launched on schedule on March 22, 1982,

and drifted through an almost uneventful planned seven-day flight.

On the planned landing day, March 29, White Sands Missile Range

experienced one of the worst wind & sand storms in more than 25 years.

A public viewing site had been set up about seven miles northwest of the landing strip,

where an estimated 7,000 spectators had accumulated on Monday when the storm occurred.

A March 1982 NASA photo of the landing of Space Shuttle mission STS-3 at White Sands.

A March 1982 NASA photo of the landing of Space Shuttle mission STS-3 at White Sands,

along with T-38 chase aircraft.

The STS-3 mission was extended one day,

and then landed on White Sands' Runway 17 at 9:05 AM on March 30, 1982.

Jack Lousma & Gordon Fullerton flew the landing,

which involved a rollout of 13,732' over 83 seconds.

Some 4,000 spectators were present for the landing.

Astronauts Lousma & Fullerton were applauded at the press area

where they were greeted by New Mexico's Governor Bruce King,

WSMR's Commander Major General Alan A. Nord and New Mexico U. S. Senator Harrison "Jack" Schmitt.

However, some brake damage upon landing

and a subsequent dust storm caused extensive contamination of the orbiter.

A 1982 NASA photo of the Space Shuttle being mounted back on its 747 carrier aircraft following its landing at White Sands.

Another 90,000 spectators later saw the shuttle at Northrup Strip

during its preparation for return to Kennedy Space Center.

A factor weighing heavily in NASA's decision for a landing at other than

Edwards AFB was the placement of a huge crane called the Stiffleg Derrick at Northrup Strip.

This derrick, assisted by a large conventional mobile crane,

hoists the shuttle aboard NASA's modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for transport back to Kennedy.

For the STS-3 landing at Northrup, NASA moved some 350 personnel

and two trains of 23 & 21 cars each from Edwards to Northrup.

Preparations to send the Columbia back to Kennedy were accomplished in only seven days.

On April 6, 1982, the Columbia, firmly attached to the back of the 747,

lifted off from Northrup Strip.

Six hours later, including a refueling stop at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana,

the Columbia arrived at Kennedy Space Center,

where it underwent inspection & was prepared for another space flight.

Shortly after the Columbia landed at White Sands Missile Range,

Congress passed a bill introduced by Senator Schmitt & signed by President Ronald Reagan on May 11, 1982,

renaming Northrup Strip as "White Sands Space Harbor."

On September 15, 1982, in accordance with Army Regulation 1-33,

Major General Nord, designated the area where astronauts Lousma & Fullerton

rejoined their families after the landing of STS-3 as "Columbia Site".

This site is marked by a permanent survey marker at the south end of White Sands Space Harbor

near the location where NASA officials had their temporary operations facility.

Most subsequent Shuttle flights have landed on the shorter, concrete runways at Kennedy & Edwards.

During the lapse in Shuttle flights following Challenger,

the Space Harbor runways were laser-leveled, widened to 900 feet,

and a new concrete mating/deservice area & towway were built

to move any future operations out of areas with blowing gypsum sand.

The original crane was removed,

and current plans are to use two, rented mobile cranes from mating operations in the event of a landing.

Also, a full set of convoy equipment specially designed to safe the Shuttle after landing is kept at the Space Harbor.

The runways include all landing aids necessary for a Shuttle landing,

including the Microwave Scan Beam Landing System (MSBLS).

Crash & rescue emergency personnel are provided for practice sessions

and for any landings by nearby Holloman AFB.

The runways at the Space Harbor are completely lit with Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) lights,

distance-to-go lights, strobe lights; reflectors, and xenon spotlights that total more than 11 billion candlepower.

In 1989, a third, narrower & shorter practice runway was constructed (located to the northwest of the others)

to allow pilots to simulate transatlantic abort (TAL) landings.

The runway is a duplicate in size of the TAL landing site at Ben Guerir, Morocco.

It is also used to simulate landings at two other contingency landing sties: Moron, Spain & Banjul, The Gambia.

USGS aerial photo 1996 (courtesy of David Brooks).

A closeup of the runway intersection from the 1996 USGS aerial photo (courtesy of David Brooks).

As seen in the above 1996 USGS aerial photos,

there do not appear to be any hangars or other buildings intended to support the basing of aircraft at White Sands.

The only buildings at the site consist of a control tower (as depicted on the topo maps),

southwest of the runway intersection.

An undated NASA diagram of the runway layout of White Sands Space Harbor.

An undated NASA photo of White Sands' Runway 17.

An undated NASA photo of a UH-1 helicopter & other emergency vehicles on a White Sands runway.

As of 2004, WSSH is one of three designated "Abort Once Around" landing facilities.

It is the primary facility for high inclination launches (greater than 51.6 degrees)

and secondary for International Space Station missions (51.6 degrees).

All three runways are groomed continually for training missions,

and the north/south & east/west runways are laser leveled to a tolerance of ± 1 in / 1,000 ft

to maintain readiness for shuttle landing.

The long runways are certified yearly to support the weight of the shuttle aircraft

by using a large specially designed load cart.

NASA's White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) operates the White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH),

the primary training area for space shuttle pilots flying practice approaches & landings

in the shuttle-training aircraft & T-38 chase aircraft.

The STA is a Gulfstream II aircraft modified to mimic the flight characteristics & instrumentation on the shuttle

and provides a realistic simulation of the shuttle's landing from high altitudes to touchdown.

Ironically, these practice approaches by the STA aircraft do not terminate in actual landings at the White Sands airfield,

and the STA aircraft are based at NASA facilities at the El Paso International Airport.

Serviced & housed at the NASA hangar are two aircraft.

Also there is the NASA Super Guppy, a modified Boeing C-97 Air Force tanker

designed to carry extremely large cargos,

and a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a Boeing 747 modified to carry the shuttle.

Although STS-3 has been the only shuttle mission, to date, to land at White Sands,

the missile range continues to support on-going shuttle missions.

This support includes preparation for a possible AOA landing on launch day.

Likewise, should NASA list White Sands Space Harbor as an EOM landing site again,

the missile range will be ready.

During any mission, the range is prepared to accept a landing of the shuttle on a contingency basis

with as little as three-hour notification.

Preparations during these times include monitoring the shuttle during flight via tracking & telemetry systems.

In addition, all systems at the harbor are turned on & brought up to full operation.

Throughout the entire shuttle mission,

the missile range keeps NASA abreast of the harbor's weather conditions in case it is needed for a landing site.

Ironically, in spite of its continued use by NASA,

the massive runways at Northrup Strip have not been depicted at all on aeronautical charts

(not on the Albuquerque Sectional Chart from 1968-2004, according to David Brooks),

and have not been listed at all in the FAA's Airport/Facility Directory (not even as a restricted government airfield).

How strange is it that an airfield with some of the world's longest runways

is not even depicted at all on aeronautical charts?

A circa 2006 aerial view looking north along White Sands' Runway 35.

The White Sands Space Harbor is located 15 miles northwest of Route 70.

Thanks to David Brooks for pointing out this airfield.