Nonstop flight route between Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Mountain View, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SPN to NUQ:
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- About this route
- SPN Airport Information
- NUQ Airport Information
- Facts about SPN
- Facts about NUQ
- Map of Nearest Airports to SPN
- List of Nearest Airports to SPN
- Map of Furthest Airports from SPN
- List of Furthest Airports from SPN
- Map of Nearest Airports to NUQ
- List of Nearest Airports to NUQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from NUQ
- List of Furthest Airports from NUQ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,707 miles (or 9,185 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Saipan International Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Saipan International Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SPN / PGSN |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 15°7'8"N by 145°43'45"E |
Operator/Owner: | Commonwealth Ports Authority |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 215 feet (66 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SPN |
More Information: | SPN Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NUQ / KNUQ |
Airport Name: | Moffett Federal Airfield |
Location: | Mountain View, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°24'53"N by 122°2'53"W |
Operator/Owner: | NASA Ames Research Center |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 32 feet (10 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from NUQ |
More Information: | NUQ Maps & Info |
Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):
- Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
- Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- After several months of disappointing high level bombing attacks from Isely, General Curtis LeMay, Commander of Twentieth Air Force issued a new directive that the high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime, being followed up with high explosive bombs once the targets were set ablaze.
- The airfield was liberated by the United States Army 27th Infantry Division on June 18, 1944 during the Battle of Saipan.
- The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
- Saipan International Airport covers an area of 734 acres which contains one paved runway measuring 8,700 x 200 ft.
- The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
- A Star Marianas plane crashed during takeoff on November 17, 2012 on its return from Tinian.
- SPN was a sugarcane field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933.
Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):
- The naval air station was authorized by an Act of Congress, signed by President Herbert Hoover on 12 February 1931.
- Because of Moffett Federal Airfield's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Moffett Federal Airfield at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- In September 2008, NASA indicated that it was still urging the Navy to restore the hangar, but that it is willing to help save the structure.
- The closest airport to Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of NUQ.
- Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- On 1 July 1994, NAS Moffett Field was closed as a naval air station and turned over to the NASA Ames Research Center.