Nonstop flight route between Mountain View, California, United States and Desroches Island, Seychelles:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from NUQ to DES:
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- About this route
- NUQ Airport Information
- DES Airport Information
- Facts about NUQ
- Facts about DES
- Map of Nearest Airports to NUQ
- List of Nearest Airports to NUQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from NUQ
- List of Furthest Airports from NUQ
- Map of Nearest Airports to DES
- List of Nearest Airports to DES
- Map of Furthest Airports from DES
- List of Furthest Airports from DES
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States and Desroches Island Airport (DES), Desroches Island, Seychelles would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,228 miles (or 16,461 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 Desroches Island 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 Desroches Island Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | DES / FSDR |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Desroches Island, Seychelles |
| GPS Coordinates: | 5°41'41"S by 53°39'1"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Island Deveoplment Company (IDC) |
| Airport Type: | Private |
| Elevation: | 10 feet (3 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from DES |
| More Information: | DES Maps & Info |
Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):
- 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.
- 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.
- The US Navy is evaluating options for remediating the PCBs, lead and asbestos, and NASA is evaluating options for reuse of the hangar.
- 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.
- By far the most famous and visible sites are Hangars #1, #2, and #3, which dwarf the surrounding buildings.
- Post-Cold War defense cutbacks and related Base Realignment and Closure actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure.
- In 1940, the US Navy proposed to the US Congress the development of a lighter-than-air station program for anti-submarine patrolling of the coast and harbors.
- Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
Facts about Desroches Island Airport (DES):
- The furthest airport from Desroches Island Airport (DES) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,058 miles (17,796 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
- The closest airport to Desroches Island Airport (DES) is Seychelles International Airport (SEZ), which is located 147 miles (236 kilometers) ENE of DES.
- Desroches Island Airport (DES) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Desroches Island Airport", another name for DES is "Desroches Island".
- Because of Desroches Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Desroches Island 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.
