Nonstop flight route between Atar, Mauritania and Lompoc, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Atar Airport (ATR), Atar, Mauritania and Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,346 miles (or 10,213 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 Atar Airport and Vandenberg Air Force Base, 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 Atar Airport and Vandenberg Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Atar Airport (ATR):

• Atar Airport (ATR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Atar Airport (ATR) is Maré Airport (MEE), which is nearly antipodal to Atar Airport (meaning Atar Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maré Airport), and is located 12,340 miles (19,859 kilometers) away in Maré, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia.
• Because of Atar Airport's relatively low elevation of 758 feet, planes can take off or land at Atar 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.
• The closest airport to Atar Airport (ATR) is Akjoujt Airport (AJJ), which is located 102 miles (164 kilometers) WSW of ATR.

Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):

• 30th Operations Group
• 576th Flight Test Squadron
• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• The host unit at Vandenberg AFB is the 30th Space Wing.
• Vandenberg AFB is a Department of Defense space and missile testing base, with a mission of placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast, using expendable boosters.
• The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
• General Cooke was a cavalry officer whose military career spanned almost half a century, beginning with his graduation from West Point in 1827 to his retirement in 1873.