Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Bole, Xinjiang, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Bole Alashankou Airport (BPL), Bole, Xinjiang, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,548 miles (or 10,538 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Bole Alashankou 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Bole Alashankou 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of 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.
• 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 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.
• Wallops Flight Facility, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for N.A.S.A.
• The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.

Facts about Bole Alashankou Airport (BPL):

• In addition to being known as "Bole Alashankou Airport", other names for BPL include "博乐阿拉山口机场" and "Bólè Ālāshānkǒu Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Bole Alashankou Airport (BPL) is Gamboa Airport (WCA), which is located 11,234 miles (18,080 kilometers) away in Castro, Chile.
• The closest airport to Bole Alashankou Airport (BPL) is Yining Airport (YIN), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) SW of BPL.