White Sands
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NASA
Melissa John Champions Environmental Stewardship at White Sands
For Melissa John, protecting the environment is her way of contributing to space exploration while preserving the Earth we call home. As the sustainability program lead at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, John manages efforts to reduce waste, prevent pollution, and promote eco-conscious practices. Over the past 13 years, she has helped shape a workplace…
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NASA
From FIRST Robotics to NASA Rockets: Angel Saenz’s Journey to White Sands
Long before joining NASA’s Test and Evaluation Support Team contract in October 2024, Angel Saenz was already an engineer at heart. A STEM education program at his high school helped unlock that passion, setting him on a path that would eventually lead to NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Angel Saenz poses in front of a…
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NASA
Soil Remediation at White Sands Test Facility
Origins of the 600 Area Off-Site Pile The NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) is crucial for supporting space exploration and technology development. Located in New Mexico, it provides a controlled environment for testing and evaluating spacecraft, propulsion systems, and other aerospace technologies. The facility is instrumental in conducting critical tests such as engine firings, thermal and environmental testing, and…
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NASA
White Sands Test Facility Encourages Locals to Leave Their Footprint on the Space Industry
At the edge of Las Cruces, New Mexico, surrounded by miles of sunbaked earth, NASA’s White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) is quietly shaping the future. There is no flash, no fanfare — the self-contained facility operates as it has since 1962, humbly and in relative obscurity. Yet as New Mexico’s space industry skyrockets amid intensifying commercial spaceflight efforts across the…
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NASA
Launching Into Action: White Sands Firefighters on the Frontlines of New Mexico’s Wildfire Crisis
Ruidoso, New Mexico lay in an unusual hush on June 20, 2024. During any normal summer day, the village in the southern part of the state lives up to the Spanish translation of its name — noisy. But the bustle of this vacation hotspot, which attracts nearly 2 million visitors each year, was stifled by a mandatory evacuation order issued…
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