Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Botopasi, Suriname:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Botopasi Airstrip (BTO), Botopasi, Suriname would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,650 miles (or 4,264 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 Botopasi Airstrip, 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 Botopasi Airstrip. 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):

• 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 mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• The WFF mobile range assets have been used to support rocket launches from locations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and at sea.
• 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
• 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 NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with a number of organizations important to its mission and future growth.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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.

Facts about Botopasi Airstrip (BTO):

• In addition to being known as "Botopasi Airstrip", another name for BTO is "SMBO".
• The closest airport to Botopasi Airstrip (BTO) is Laduani Airstrip (LDO), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNE of BTO.
• The furthest airport from Botopasi Airstrip (BTO) is Haluoleo Airport (WMA) (KDI), which is nearly antipodal to Botopasi Airstrip (meaning Botopasi Airstrip is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Haluoleo Airport (WMA)), and is located 12,290 miles (19,778 kilometers) away in Kendari, Indonesia.