Nonstop flight route between Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,721 miles (or 5,988 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 Vitoria-Gasteiz 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 Vitoria-Gasteiz 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 Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT):

• Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT) is Bilbao Airport (BIO), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) NNW of VIT.
• The furthest airport from Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (meaning Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,280 miles (19,763 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.

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 Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists.
• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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 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.
• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.