White Sands Space Harbor - wikipedia White Sands Space Harbor For Launch Complex 96 that fires toward White Sands, see Fort Wingate. White Sands Space Harbor IATA : none ICAO : none Summary Airport type Military Owner US Air Force Operator NASA Serves White Sands Test Facility Location White Sands Missile Range Elevation AMSL 3,913 ft / 1,192 m Coordinates 32 ° 56 ′ 35.67 '' N 106 ° 25 ′ 10.31 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 32.9432417 ° N 106.4195306 ° W ﻿ / 32.9432417 ; - 106.4195306 Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 17 / 35 35,000 10,700 Dry Lakebed 5 / 23 35,000 10,700 Dry Lakebed 2 / 20 12,800 3,900 Dry Lakebed White Sands Space Harbor ( WSSH ) was a Space Shuttle runway, a test site for rocket research, and the primary training area used by NASA for Space Shuttle pilots practicing approaches and landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft and T - 38 Talon aircraft. With its runways, navigational aids, runway lighting, and control facilities, it also served as a backup Shuttle landing site. WSSH is a part of the White Sands Test Facility, and is located approximately 30 miles ( 50 kilometers ) west of Alamogordo, New Mexico, within the boundaries of the White Sands Missile Range. Runway facilities In 1976, NASA selected Northrup Strip as the site for shuttle pilot training. A second runway was added crossing the original north - south landing strip, and in 1979 both lakebed runways were lengthened to 35,000 ft ( 10,668 m ), which includes 15,000 ft ( 4,572 m ) usable runway with 10,000 ft ( 3048 m ) extensions on either end, to allow the White Sands Space Harbor ( WSSH ) to serve as shuttle backup landing facility. While the Space Harbor was activated as a backup landing site for STS - 116 due to poor weather conditions at both Edwards Air Force Base ( high cross-winds ) and Kennedy Space Center ( clouds and rain ), White Sands was only used for one landing of the space shuttle, that of the Space Shuttle Columbia on 30 March 1982 for STS - 3. Launch Complex The McDonnell Douglas DC - X of the USAF Single Stage Rocket Technology ( SSRT ) program was launched 1993 - 96 at the harbor. References Jump up ^ `` White Sands Space Harbor ''. NASA. Jump up ^ `` White Sands Space Harbor - Capabilities ''. NASA. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2012 - 12 - 28. Retrieved 2013 - 01 - 04. Jump up ^ Delta - Clipper - 1993 - White - Sands - Xenon. mov on YouTube Coordinates : 32 ° 56 ′ 35.67 '' N 106 ° 25 ′ 10.31 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 32.9432417 ° N 106.4195306 ° W ﻿ / 32.9432417 ; - 106.4195306 NASA Space Shuttle ( STS ) Space Shuttle Programs Missions Crews Parts Orbiter Vehicle ( OV ) Solid Rocket Booster ( SRB ) External Tank ( ET ) Main Engine ( SSME ) Orbital Maneuvering System ( OMS ) Reaction control system ( RCS ) Thermal protection system Booster separation motor Orbiters Enterprise Columbia Challenger Discovery Atlantis Endeavour Add - ons Spacelab ( ESA ) RMS ( CSA ) Extended Duration Orbiter Remote Controlled Orbiter Spacehab MPLM Sites Kennedy Space Center LC - 39 Vandenberg SLC - 6 Landing sites ( Abort Landing Sites ) Operations Missions ( canceled ) Crews Mission timeline Rollbacks Abort modes Rendezvous pitch maneuver Testing Pathfinder ( simulator ) MPTA MPTA - ET Approach and Landing Tests Disasters Challenger disaster ( report ) Columbia disaster ( report ) Support Crawler - transporter Mate - Demate Device Mobile Launcher Platform NASA recovery ship Orbiter Processing Facility Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory ( SAIL ) Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Shuttle Training Aircraft Special Deutschland - 1 Getaway Special Teacher in Space Project Shuttle - Mir Hitchhiker Derivatives Saturn - Shuttle ( canceled ) Shuttle - Derived Launch Vehicle ( SDLV ) Shuttle - Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle ( HLLV ) Jupiter Shuttle - C Ares Space Launch System ( SLS ) Replicas Inspiration Independence Related Space Shuttle design process Inertial Upper Stage Payload Assist Module ISS Space Shuttle retirement Conroy Virtus Criticism of the Space Shuttle program Space Shuttle America Rendezvous : A Space Shuttle Simulation Space Shuttle Project Shuttle Space Shuttle : A Journey into Space Space Shuttle Mission 2007 Orbiter Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_Sands_Space_Harbor&oldid=799928350 '' Categories : Launch complexes of the United States Air Force Spaceports in the United States White Sands Missile Range Talk About Wikipedia Čeština فارسی Magyar Тоҷикӣ Edit links This page was last edited on 10 September 2017, at 17 : 24. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did the space shuttle land at white sands
Answer: 30 March 1982