Editing Tonopah Test Range (section)

==History==
[[File:Wfm area51 map en.png|thumb|left|Map showing Tonopah Test Range and related federal lands in southern Nevada]]
In the early 20th century, the region was used primarily for mining and some grazing.  Early maps from the 1930s indicated a roadway connecting the towns of [[Caliente, Nevada|Caliente]] and [[Tonopah, Nevada|Tonopah]] via [[Rachel, Nevada|Rachel]], which ascended Cedar Pass and crossed through the northern part of the future Tonopah Test Range.<ref>{{cite web |title=Regional Aeronautical Chart 11M, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |publisher=NOAA Historical Charts |url=http://www.historicalcharts.noaa.gov }}</ref>  In 1940, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] directed the establishment of a US Army Air Corps training range in this area.  During the 1950s, weapons design research had been conducted largely at the [[Salton Sea]] testing base, but haze problems forced the Department of Energy to seek another location.<ref name="sandia2003" />  The Tonopah Test Range was withdrawn from public use in 1956, and testing began in 1957 for [[United States Department of Energy]] weapons programs.  For most of its life, the range was administered by [[Sandia National Laboratories]].  In 2008, the National Nuclear Security Administration proposed to move its facilities on the Tonopah Test Range to [[White Sands Missile Range]],<ref>[http://www.lvrj.com/news/17044931.html Plan to close Tonopah Test Range criticized], Las Vegas Review Journal, March 27, 2008.</ref> a move that local and state politicians say would cost the area jobs and lost revenue.

===Constant Peg===
From 1979 to 1988, Tonopah hosted a [[Mikoyan|MiG]] air combat training program code named Constant Peg.  The brainchild of Colonel [[Gail Peck]], the program was run by the [[4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron]], "Red Eagles", and allowed American aircrews the opportunity to fly &ndash; and to fly against &ndash; the fighter aircraft of their [[Cold War]] rivals.  Constant Peg was formally declassified on November 15, 2006, though it had been discussed by name in various media since the mid-1980s.  At the height of the operation, the Red Eagles flew 14 [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21]]s and 9 [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23]]s (with additional airframes of both types available for cannibalization), and had also operated the [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17]] until 1982, when the type proved too dangerous to continue flying.<ref name="RedEagles">{{cite book |title=Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs |last=Davies |first=Steve |year=1988 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-84603-378-0 |url=http://www.constantpeg.com }}</ref>  Between July 1979 and its final sortie in March 1988, 5,930 aircrew were exposed to Constant Peg.<ref name="RedEagles"/>

===Stealth===
{{Further|topic=F-117 operations at the Tonopah Test Range|Tonopah Test Range Airport|Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk }}
[[F-117]]s of the [[4450th Tactical Group]] operated from Tonopah in secret from 1982 through 1989 while the program was still classified.  During this period Mancamp was connected to the airfield by shuttle bus service, while the airfield in turn was connected to [[Nellis Air Force Base]] by between five and twenty [[Key Air]] [[Boeing 727]] and/or [[Boeing 737]] flights per day from Nellis to Tonopah.<ref>{{cite news | title = Six F-117As Flown in Panama Invasion | work = [[Aviation Week & Space Technology]] | pages = 30  | publisher = McGraw Hill | date = March 5, 1990}}</ref>  The airfield was also serviced by one or two [[Janet (airline)|Janet]] [[Boeing 737]] flights daily, which were presumably from [[McCarran International Airport]] and served [[Sandia National Laboratories]] employees.  In early 1991, Key Air lost the contract and the service was taken over by [[American Trans Air]] Boeing 727 aircraft. Key Air departed directly from Nellis, AFB, and did not utilize McCarren International, as it was too far a distance from the base, and impractical.

===Contamination===
It was revealed in 2007 that during the 1980s a contractor had dumped up to 1,000 pounds of [[urea]] at a pond on the TTR, resulting in the die-off of 61 horses in 1988.<ref>[http://www.lvrj.com/news/11783161.html CONTAMINATION PROBE: 61 horses died in '88 at test site], Las Vegas Review Journal, Nov. 24, 2007.</ref>  The fluid had been used as a de-icing agent.  The [[Bureau of Land Management]] investigated in November 1988, and imposed remedial actions and assessed a $15,000 fine.  In 2007 over concerns that the chemical was infiltrating groundwater, a whistleblower unsuccessfully attempted to get the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] to intervene, leading to an August 2007 inquiry with the [[Department of the Interior]] by Senator [[Harry Reid]].

===S-300PS SAM testing===
The TTR has also been the site of US testing of foreign-made surface-to-air missile systems. Satellite imagery confirms the US secretly acquiring the Russian made [[S-300 (missile)#Land-based S-300P .28SA-10.29|S-300PS surface-to-air missile system]] from an unknown supplier in order to test UAVs as well as other advanced aircraft based at nearby airbases. According to [[OSGEOINT]], these bases include Creech Air Force Base, the Yucca Lake UAV testing facility, and Nellis Air Force Base, operating the [[General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper|MQ-9 Reaper]], [[Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel|RQ-170]], and the [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F-35 Joint Strike Fighter]] in addition to other aircraft. The testing of aircraft is executed under the direction of the 53rd Wing Test and Evaluation Group based at Nellis.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://osgeoint.blogspot.com/2011/12/us-acquires-russian-s-300-sam-system-to.html|title = US Acquired Russian S-300PS SAM System to Test UAVs |publisher = Osgeoint.blogspot.com |date = 11 December 2011}}</ref>