Space and technology-related attractions in the Sierra County area
see mileage between sites on the map above
see the statewide Space Trails map
Mission Control
Sierra County New Mexico
New Mexico has a long history of Indigenous culture and European settlement, but the state has also been a leader in the development of the Aerospace and Technology industries. The trend continues with the construction of Spaceport America, right here in our back yard.
There are more than 300 hotel rooms in the Elephant Butte / Truth or Consequences area, and over 30 in the outer county. For more info on accommodations, see our Lodging page or the accommodations pages in our Meeting Planner section.
ORBIT ONE
Preview Tour of Spaceport America
see our Spaceport America page for tour and ticket information
Round Trip: 60 miles
Time to allot: 3 hours
The world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport, located on 18000 acres next to the White Sands Missile Range, has been designed to accommodate almost any aircraft in the world, meeting the specific needs of returning launch vehicles, fly-back rocket boosters and other space launch and training vehicles.
Paid tours of the Spaceport site are designed to highlight New Mexico history spanning from Spanish conquistadores and pioneer rocket research to the new commercial space industry.
Tours begin in Truth or Consequences and travel past the expansive concrete monolith of Elephant Butte Dam, after which the route coincides with the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail - the Spanish 'Royal Road' - that connected this region to Mexico City during much of the colonial period. Tour guests will learn fascinating stories about the some of area’s more colorful characters like Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate, American frontiersman Kit Carson, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Billy The Kid, and Sheriff Pat Garrett, all of whom are linked to the El Camino Real Trail.
At the Spaceport, guests will learn about the different components of the Spaceport America infrastructure currently under construction, including the airfield, air rescue and fire fighting facility, fuel storage complex, and the iconic terminal hangar facility. The vehicle will then traverse the site to the vertical launch area to see existing space launch facilities and vertical mission control building on the eastern range. Watch out for livestock and wild animals as the group rides through two working cattle ranches that peacefully coexist with the spaceport. With cameras at the ready, tours have even encountered cows jumping over our lunar lander pads!
Additionally, guests will learn about what it takes to make a successful spaceport and why New Mexico is so ideally suited for space access. A long New Mexico tradition of being first when it comes to space is highlighted through the exploits of local aerospace pioneers, such as Robert Goddard, Wernher von Braun, Col. John Stapp, and Capt. Joseph Kittinger.
Finally, the tour will include the latest updates on major players and trends in the emerging commercial space industry. Guests will hear the stories of Virgin Galactic, Armadillo Aerospace, XCOR Aerospace, UP Aerospace, and more, along with predictions for new game-changing technologies like point-to-point transportation and space-based solar power. With so much happening in space every day both on-site and around the world, no two tours will be quite the same!
ORBIT TWO
The New Mexico Museum of Space History
via Interstate 25 South to exit 6 onto US Hwy 70
http://www.nmspacemuseum.org
877 333 6589
575 437 2840
Round Trip: 284 miles
Time to allot: 8-10 hours
The Space History Museum in Alamogordo is home to the International Space Hall of Fame and is the designated repository for Spaceport America.
Attractions include the Clyde W. Tombaugh IMAX Dome Theater and Planetarium, the John P. Stapp Air / Space Park, Astronaut Memorial Garden, the Shuttle Camp Program, and the outdoor display of the restored Daisy Track, once used to test the human body's tolerance to G-forces.
The Museum is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Days.
Directions: while driving through Alamogordo on Highway 54/70, look for the New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped. Turn toward the mountains on Indian Wells Road and drive to the end of the road. At the T-intersection, turn left on Scenic Drive. The entrance to the New Mexico Museum of Space History is just on your right.
Space and Technology-Related Attractions along the way:
Space Murals Museum in Organ
The murals depict the progress of the US Space Program from the early flights of the X-15 to the fatal accident of the Challenger Space Shuttle.
12450 US Hwy 70 East
Organ, NM 88052
Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-6pm
(Call to verify)
575 382 0977
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/23793
Directions: 12 miles after you've turned onto Highway 70, exit onto Nasa Road, bear left, then immediately turn right at the Space Murals Museum sign (just before the ramp back onto US Hwy 70).
White Sands National Monument
White Sands, one of the world's natural wonders, is open year-round, offering 275 square miles of great glistening wavelike dunes to explore. 
Stay in your car for the 8-mile scenic drive, or get out and play on the gypsum sand, then check out the Visitors Center and browse the gift shops. Ranger-guided walks and moonlight tours are available in summer.
575 679 2599
www.nps.gov/whsa
The White Sands Missile Range Museum
At the White Sands Missile Range Museum you can trace the origin of America's missile and space activity, find out how the atomic age began, and learn about scientists like Dr. Wernher von Braun and Dr. Clyde Tombaugh. Missile Range Park is next to the Museum and contains numerous missiles and rockets.
Location: 25 miles east on US 70 from Interstate 25, then (between markers 160 and 170) 3 miles south
575 678 8824
www.wsmr-history.org
The Sunspot Solar Observatory
The Sunspot Solar Observatory includes a Visitor Center, maps for self-guided tours, and upon arrangement, guided tours.
Location: 17 miles south of Cloudcroft via the Sunspot National Scenic Byway
575 434 7000
http://nsosp.nso.edu/
http://nsosp.nso.edu/pr/tours.html
ORBIT THREE
The Very Large Array National Radio Astronomy Observatory
via Interstate 25 north to Socorro, then west on Highway 60
575 835 7000
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/
http://www.nrao.edu
Round Trip: 246 miles
Time to allot: 6-8 hours
The VLA, located on the Plains of San Agustin, is open every day from 8:30am to sunset for free, self-guided tours of the VLA and the VLA Visitor Center. The VLA Gift Shop is open daily from 9am-4pm. The Gift Shop is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.
FIRST SATURDAY TOURS OF THE VLA: the VLA's Program Directory has recently created a lineup of special guided tours to be held on the first Saturday of every month, from 11am-4pm. No reservations are required. Planned topics for 2011:
February: Galaxies!
March: Black Holes
April: Meet the VLA Staff and Learn How the Facility Operates
May: "Our Star - The Sun" & Solar Radio Astronomy
June: Our Solar System and Solar Radio Astronomy
July: The Next Generation of Radio Astronomers: Interns Take the Helm!
August: Movie Stars - Films Featuring / About the VLA
September: Supernovas
October: Meet the VLA Staff and Learn How the Facility Operates
November: The Early Universe
December: Gamma Ray Bursts
Space and Technology-Related Attractions along the way:
Frank T. Etscorn Observatory on Socorro's New Mexico Tech campus.
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~astro/etscorn.html
Directions: Take either Socorro exit from Interstate 25. The business loop is California Street. Turn west from California onto Bullock, which becomes Olive. Take Olive to Canyon Road. Turn on Canyon Road heading west past the golf course. Make a right on Buck Wolfe Drive (1st stop sign; before campus police) and veer left at the fork in the road.
Highway 380 West (through San Antonio) to the Trinity Site Historical Marker
On July 16, 1945, Manhattan Project scientists detonated the world's first atomic bomb in the Jornada del Muerto desert. The Trinity Site, as it was named, is closed to the public except for two open houses each year, on the first Saturdays of April and October, when you can drive there and walk around unescorted, or join a caravan from Alamogordo (approximately 145 miles round trip). Either way you'll want to get an early start; the gates close at 2pm.
You'll find directions to the site on the White Sands website, or check SierraCountyEvents.com for more info.
Mileage below is based on driving to all sites from Elephant Butte & Truth or Consequences / via the I-25 / Highway 70 routes suggested above. Other routes are available but may involve mountainous roads or etc; consult your maps!
|
Alamogordo | Cloudcroft | Las Cruces | Organ | Socorro | Spaceport |
Sunspot |
Trinity Site | VLA | White Sands |
|
| EB / TorC |
142 | 162 | 75 | 90 | 72 | 30 | 179 | 117 | 123 | 124 | |
| Alamogordo | 142 | 20 | 67 | 52 | 214 | 172 | 37 | 259 | 251 | 18 | |
| Cloudcroft | 162 | 20 | 87 | 72 | 234 | 192 | 17 | 279 | 285 | 38 | |
| Las Cruces | 75 | 67 | 87 | 15 | 147 | 105 | 104 | 192 | 198 | 49 | |
| Organ | 90 | 52 | 72 | 15 | 162 | 120 | 89 | 207 | 213 | 34 | |
| Socorro | 72 | 214 | 234 | 147 | 162 | 102 | 251 | 45 | 51 | 196 | |
| Spaceport | 30 | 172 | 192 | 105 | 130 | 102 | 209 | 147 | 153 | 155 | |
| Sunspot | 179 | 37 | 17 | 104 | 89 | 251 | 209 | 296 | 302 | 55 | |
| Trinity Site | 117 | 259 | 279 | 192 | 207 | 45 | 147 | 296 | 96 | 241 | |
| VLA | 123 | 251 | 285 | 198 | 213 | 51 | 153 | 302 | 96 | 231 | |
| White Sands | 124 | 18 | 38 | 49 | 34 | 196 | 155 | 55 | 241 | 231 |
download a 3.5M pdf of the map below from the New Mexico Museum of Space History website
