Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Sabah, Malaysia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to SMM:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- SMM Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about SMM
- 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 SMM
- List of Nearest Airports to SMM
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMM
- List of Furthest Airports from SMM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Semporna Airport (SMM), Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,372 miles (or 15,083 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 Semporna 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 Semporna 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: | SMM / WBKA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Sabah, Malaysia |
GPS Coordinates: | 4°26'58"N by 118°35'47"E |
Area Served: | Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia |
Operator/Owner: | Malaysia Airports Berhad |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 60 feet (18 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SMM |
More Information: | SMM 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.
- The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
- For many years WFF was home to the NSIP Sub-SEM and SEM projects.
- Since 2001, engineers at NASA Wallops Flight Facility have been developing new range technologies, systems and approaches to improve the cost and responsiveness of launch and flight test activities, within the constraints of available funding and program schedules.
- 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.
- There have been over 16,000 launches from the rocket testing range at Wallops since its founding in 1945 in the quest for information on the flight characteristics of airplanes, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the environment of outer space.
- 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 first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
Facts about Semporna Airport (SMM):
- The furthest airport from Semporna Airport (SMM) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Semporna Airport (meaning Semporna Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,316 miles (19,820 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
- Because of Semporna Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Semporna 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.
- Semporna Airport (SMM) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Semporna Airport (SMM) is Tawau Airport (TWU), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) WSW of SMM.
- In addition to being known as "Semporna Airport", another name for SMM is "Lapangan Terbang Semporna".