White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH) was used as one of the primary training areas for space shuttle pilots flying practice approaches and landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA), modified to mimic the flight characteristics and instrumentation on the shuttle. The STA provided a very realistic simulation of the shuttle landing from an altitude of about 35,000 ft. through touchdown. Set in dry gypsum lake beds, laser‐leveled runways prepared shuttle astronauts for final approaches and landings.
Located on the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), northeast of the NASA White Sands Test Facility, WSSH was originally called Northrup Strip and was chosen as a backup landing site in case of inclement weather at Edwards Air Force Base, California. On March 30, 1982, it was used as a landing site for Space Shuttle Columbia as it returned from its third orbital test flight. After that landing, former Apollo astronaut and New Mexico Senator Jack Schmitt introduced legislation in Congress to change the name from Northrup Strip to White Sands Space Harbor. The space harbor runways, navigational aids, and control facilities continuously stood ready providing contingency landing support for every shuttle mission. After the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, WSSH was mothballed and in the summer of 2012 released the use of the property to WSMR.
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White Sands Space Harbor
