Nonstop flight route between São Nicolau, Cape Verde and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Preguiça Airport (SNE), São Nicolau, Cape Verde and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,421 miles (or 5,505 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 Preguiça Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Preguiça Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Preguiça Airport (SNE):

• Because of Preguiça Airport's relatively low elevation of 669 feet, planes can take off or land at Preguiça 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.
• Preguiça Airport (SNE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Preguiça Airport (SNE) is Misima Airport (MIS), which is located 11,986 miles (19,289 kilometers) away in Misima Island, Papua New Guinea.
• The closest airport to Preguiça Airport (SNE) is Cesária Évora International Airport (VXE), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) WNW of SNE.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site.
• The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility 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.
• In 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.