Nonstop flight route between Mountain View, California, United States and Asau, Samoa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States and Asau Airport (AAU), Asau, Samoa would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,809 miles (or 7,739 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 Moffett Federal Airfield and Asau Airport, 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 Moffett Federal Airfield and Asau Airport. 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 Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• On 1 July 1994, NAS Moffett Field was closed as a naval air station and turned over to the NASA Ames Research Center.
• As an aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy wanted to use the airship hangars at Moffett for blimp operations along with Pacific Coast.
• Moffett Field's Hangars Two and Three were built at the beginning of WWII for a program of coastal defense.
• The adjacent NASA Ames Research Center is also home to several wind tunnels, including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex.
• At its peak in the 1990s, NAS Moffett Field was the U.S.
• The airship hangar's interior is so large that fog sometimes forms near the ceiling.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Asau Airport (AAU):

• In 2003, a cyclone swept past Samoa and most of the South Pacific.
• This is a domestic airport which only serves flights in and out of Maota Airport, the main airstrip on Savai'i at the east end of the island, and Faleolo International Airport on the main island Upolu.
• The small tarmac can only fit two Twin Otter planes, with an aircraft parking shed located near the tarmac.
• The closest airport to Asau Airport (AAU) is Maota (Salelologa) Airport (MXS), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) ESE of AAU.
• The furthest airport from Asau Airport (AAU) is Maradi Airport (MFQ), which is nearly antipodal to Asau Airport (meaning Asau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maradi Airport), and is located 12,419 miles (19,987 kilometers) away in Maradi, Niger.
• Only Twin Otter and Britten-Norman Islander planes can land and take off this small airport, generally because the runway and tarmac cannot handle any other larger and heavier aircraft.
• Since then, the airport terminal was rebuilt and a new paved runway was installed.