As a change of pace, I’m going to focus on the three S’s – Sand, Space, and Sun. Our base camp is in a nicely situated state park, just outside Alamogordo, between the edge of the desert and the Sacramento Mountains. Alamogordo was established in 1898 as a railroad town for the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad. Today’s economy is dependent on nearby Holloman Air Force Base and tourism generated by the White Sands National Monument. It is also noteworthy for being the closest city to Trinity – ground zero for the first atomic bomb explosion in 1945.
Given the high winds and dust that were engulfing the whole town, we decided to stay indoors and visit the Museum of Space History. It is dedicated to describing the history of rocketing and space travel, and has several interesting displays –from Goddard, to Von Braun’s V2 rocket, all the way to the International Space Station. We braved the high winds and dust to see the Aerobee rocket on display in the outside gallery. While in school I developed and built an instrument that was launched on an Aerobee into the Aurora Borealis. The indoor museum is very good, but somewhat dated. Most of the displays represent the status prior to 2012. They are undergoing a major update to bring space history current. It is scheduled to complete next year.
Museum of Space History
Aerobee Rocket
A stroll on the Moon!
The Hall of Fame, which lists all the key international participants in the space age, including all the astronauts, is up to date. The 2015 inductee focus was on individuals who made major contributions in the space-film industry. Walt Disney and George Lucas were two of the five inductees.
Visiting White Sands Monument
The following day, the abated winds gave us a short window to visit White Sands National Monument. This 275 square mile field of gypsum sits in the Chihuahuan desert, next to the San Andres Mountains, on the eastern edge of the desert. White Sands is the result of rain water dissolving the gypsum in this mountain range, then flowing into semi-dry lakes. Winds blowing over the drying lake beds pick up the gypsum flakes, thus creating the downwind sand dunes. It is wonderful to see… especially at sunset. Very surreal… as if we were on another planet. The size of the sand dune field is continuing to grow in the direction of Alamogordo. I asked the ranger, “How long would it be before the city was engulfed?” His answer: Beyond our lifetime. Gee! A real science guy.
White Sand dunes and flowing clouds
Marcel on top of a sand dune
Roselie in the dunes
White Sands was designated as a monument by President Herbert Hoover in 1933 to preserve its unique beauty and to stop the gypsum mining. While mining is no longer an issue, the fact that it is completely surrounded by military installations (White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base) creates continuing tension. On days when they run missile and weapons tests, the road to White Sands is closed for several hours. As recently as 2008, an attempt to designate the Monument as a World Heritage Site was blocked by Congress based on fear that restrictions would be imposed on Air Force Base and the White Sands Missile activities by the international body.
White Sands at dusk
Sunset at White Sands
Time to call it a day
The sun has set, the shadows come forth
On our third and final day, the winds were gone and the sky was that deep, bright blue we had experienced on earlier trips. We drove up a beautiful canyon into the Sacramento Mountains to the little town of Cloudcroft – a little summer retreat and ski town. We were in a fir and pine forest- a welcomed contrast to all the desert and arid plains. We discovered another Shiny Object – the National Solar Observatory, just eight miles away, and higher in the mountains. A beautiful mountain drive that included a turn-out where we could get a view of White Sands – a whole new perspective. You can see the eastern edge ready to lurch and engulf little Alamogordo!
View of White Sands National Monument, on our way to the National Solar Observatory
When we arrived, we discovered that the facility and visitors’ center were closed (only two weeks a year, and we hit it!), but a pamphlet and a self-guided walking tour was open. The National Solar Observatory chose this site for its isolation from major sources of air pollution, and lots of sunshine. It first opened in 1952. It is a large complex with more than a dozen buildings, including the Hilltop Dome (now closed due to maintenance costs and more advanced technology), the Grain Bin Dome (last updated in 1995 with a night-time telescope), the Evans Solar Facility, which includes a 16” and a 12” telescope, used to look at the corona and investigate solar flares and filaments; and the Dunn Solar Telescope. The Dunn Solar Telescope contains two guidance mirrors on top of a 136-foot tower, which beams the sunlight down a tube to the primary, 64-inch mirror, 188 feet below ground. It is the main platform for today’s sun research.
Sun dial at the Observatory
The above ground tower of the Dunn Solar Telescope
The ‘Sun’ bubble, explaining the structure inside the Sun
Marcel and I getting to the core of the ‘sun’
It appears that the days are numbered for this observatory. Many of the scientists are moving to a new solar center in Boulder, Colorado or to Hawaii. The NSO is constructing an Advanced Technology Solar Telescope on the summit of Haleakala mountain, on Maui. The 4-meter telescope will be the largest solar telescope in the world, with advanced abilities to view solar details. It is scheduled to be completed in 2018.
This stop on our journey didn’t provide opportunities for talking with local people.
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