Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Nouakchott, Mauritania:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to NKC:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- NKC Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about NKC
- Map of Nearest Airports to WAL
- List of Nearest Airports to WAL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WAL
- List of Furthest Airports from WAL
- Map of Nearest Airports to NKC
- List of Nearest Airports to NKC
- Map of Furthest Airports from NKC
- List of Furthest Airports from NKC
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Nouakchott International Airport (NKC), Nouakchott, Mauritania would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,811 miles (or 6,134 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 Nouakchott International 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 Nouakchott International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WAL / KWAL |
Airport Name: | Wallops Flight Facility Airport |
Location: | Wallops Island, Virginia, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°56'24"N by 75°27'59"W |
Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from WAL |
More Information: | WAL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NKC / GQNN |
Airport Name: | Nouakchott International Airport |
Location: | Nouakchott, Mauritania |
GPS Coordinates: | 18°5'52"N by 15°56'52"W |
Area Served: | Nouakchott |
Operator/Owner: | Government\ASECNA"African air traffic management organisation" |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 7 feet (2 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from NKC |
More Information: | NKC Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (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 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.
- 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.
- AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
- In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
- Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
- 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.
Facts about Nouakchott International Airport (NKC):
- The closest airport to Nouakchott International Airport (NKC) is Boutilimit Airport (OTL), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) ESE of NKC.
- Nouakchott International Airport handled 209,932 passengers last year.
- Nouakchott International Airport (NKC) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Nouakchott International Airport (NKC) is Île des Pins Airport (BMY), which is nearly antipodal to Nouakchott International Airport (meaning Nouakchott International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Île des Pins Airport), and is located 12,322 miles (19,830 kilometers) away in Waala, Belep Islands, New Caledonia.
- Because of Nouakchott International Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Nouakchott International 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.