Is there a runway on Easter Island?
The runway starts just inland from the island’s southeast coast at Mataveri, and nearly reaches the west coast, almost separating the mountain of Rano Kau from the rest of the island. The airport is the main point of entry for visitors to Easter Island.
Why is runway so long on Easter Island?
The island’s Mataveri Airport runway was lengthened by 1,387 feet to 11,000 feet, the minimum distance needed for a space shuttle to land. The longer runway allows wide-bodied jumbo jets to land and could lead airlines to include an Easter Island stopover on flights across the Pacific.
How long is the Easter Island runway?
10,885-feet
Like almost everything on Easter Island, its airport has an unusual story. There’s a single runway, which is 10,885-feet long (the exact length of one of LAX’s four runways)—it was lengthened under the Reagan administration at the request of NASA after it was designated a remote shuttle abort site.
What runway did the space shuttle land on at Edwards?
Landings also occurred at Edwards Air Force Base in California, and one took place at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. No Space Shuttle landed on a dry lakebed runway after 1991….White Sands.
| Runway | Surface material | Missions landed |
|---|---|---|
| Runway 17 | Dry lakebed | STS-3 |
How large is Easter Island?
63.17 mi²
Easter Island/Area
What is the most remote airport in the world?
Mataveri
A whopping 2,336 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Chile, Mataveri is the most remote airport in the world.
Which is the world’s most isolated airport?
What language is spoken on Easter Island?
Ever since Chile annexed Easter Island more than a century ago, the Spanish language has been chipping away at the Polynesian-based language called Rapa Nui. But these tourists, fuelling the island’s economy, are also diluting the culture they came to see.
Where did the SpaceX shuttle land?
Under a quartet of parachutes, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down softly in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola, Fla., at 10:33 p.m. after undocking from the orbiting laboratory more than eight hours earlier..
Where is NASA’s runway?
| Shuttle Landing Facility | |
|---|---|
| Owner | NASA |
| Operator | NASA (1976–2015) Space Florida (2015–present) |
| Location | Merritt Island, Florida |
| Opened | 1976 |
Who owns Easter Island?
Chile
Chile annexed Easter Island in 1888. In 1966, the Rapa Nui were granted Chilean citizenship. In 2007 the island gained the constitutional status of “special territory” (Spanish: territorio especial). Administratively, it belongs to the Valparaíso Region, constituting a single commune of the Province Isla de Pascua.
Are there still rats on Easter Island?
Anthropologist Terry Hunt and colleagues say that introduced Polynesian rats may have caused the deforestation of the island’s 16 million palm trees which were key to sustaining Easter’s human population. Virtually no animals besides rats inhabited the island and the natives lacked sea-worthy boats.
How tall is the runway on Easter Island?
U.S. Embassy officials in Santiago said the NASA project involves lengthening the runway at Mataveri, the island’s airport, by 1,420 feet to the 11,055 feet required for a shuttle landing and its eventual piggy-back retrieval by a Boeing 747.
Where does the Space Shuttle land on Easter Island?
A final feature (difficult to see) is the very long runway (Chile’s longest) near Rana Kao. The airport serves as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle. For additional information visit the Easter Island Home Page.
Is there an emergency landing on Easter Island?
The Vandenberg launches, planned at four a year, require an emergency landing site in the South Pacific in case of an engine failure, and Easter Island is ideally positioned.
How big is the island of Easter Island?
The island is less than 15 miles long and, until now, has been a photographic challenge for astronauts on space missions. Although not visible here, Easter Island is perhaps most famous for the giant stone monoliths, known as Moai, that have been placed along the coastline.