Travel

By JIM WEAVER
Travel Correspondent

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – Look, up in the air! It’s a bird …it’s a plane … it’s a rocket launch?

Space launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida have been commonplace for several decades, but what’s this with Virginia?

The Wallops Flight Facility is located just a few miles west of Chincoteague, Va., on the Atlantic shore. It’s NASA’s premier site for suborbital and small orbital flight projects, earth science research, technology development, and home to NASA’s only owned and operated launch range. Established in 1945, Wallops is one of the oldest launch sites in the world.

Each year, NASA launches numerous rockets from Wallops and each event draws a group of interested and enthusiastic spectators. A launch schedule is available on the Wallops Web site at www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops or by calling 757-824-2050. The best site for viewing rocket launches and aircraft activities at Wallops is from the observation deck at the visitor center.

The center is located on Route 175 near the west end of the causeway to Chincoteague. It’s adjacent to the marsh where spectators can get a clear view of Wallops Island. From this site, visitors can keep up to date of launch schedules and countdowns.

Television monitors in the center also give visitors a look of activities on the launch pad. Launches can also be viewed from locations at nearby Chicoteague and Assateague Islands.

Travel plans should not be based solely on launch schedules. Times and dates can change due to weather and other factors.

With more than 50 years experience conducting suborbital projects, Wallops staff members are experts. They are highly skilled in engineering, radar, project management, mobile campaigns and more. Staff includes scientists, photographers, pilots, project managers and technicians. Whether operating its onsite instrumentation or traveling the world with our unique mobile facilities, it supports researchers wherever the science takes them.

Wallops supports NASA’s sounding rocket and high altitude balloon programs. It also tracks the Mir space station and NASA’s space shuttle missions using its communications, telemetry and radar facilities. It also offers a wide array of launch vehicle trajectory options.

Wallops welcomes researchers from universities, business corporations, and government agencies. Two commercial launch pads provide support to commercial clients through the Virginia Space Flight Center at Wallops and the research airport (opposite from the Visitors Center) supports aircraft-launched rockets. Wallops expects an increase in commercial launch activity in the very near future.

The Wallops launch range includes six launch pads, three blockhouses for launch control and assembly buildings that support the preparation and launching of suborbital and orbital launch systems. It also has the capability to support launch operations worldwide with mobile range instrumentation and equipment.

The NASA Visitor Center provides an educational and fun experience for visitors of all ages. Its museum exhibits and theater presentations offer a glimpse into projects conducted at Wallops down through the years to the present. Here you can learn about sounding rockets, scientific balloon projects, orbital tracking and more.

March 2008 marked the beginning of the annual model rocket season at Wallops Visitor Center. For nearly 25 years, the center’s staff has been routinely launching an assortment of low power model rockets for public viewing.

Center hours are 10 am.-4 p.m. Thursday-Monday. Admission is free. For information call 757- 824-2298 or 757-824-1344.

There are numerous scientific projects under way at Wallops. NASA’s airborne study of Arctic atmosphere and air pollution is the most extensive field campaign ever to investigate the chemistry of the Arctic’s lower atmosphere.

NASA Wallops and the National Science Foundation recently established a new record in conducting scientific observations from balloons, by launching and operating three long-duration flights within a single Antarctic summer. In addition, the NASA P-3 Orion aircraft with a compliment of scientists and support staff has spent several weeks in Greenland this year in an effort to observe the current state of the Greenland ice-sheet. Meanwhile, working with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, NASA Wallops recently opened a new chapter in the world of hurricane observation by making the first unmanned flight into Hurricane Noel.

The Space Flight Adventure Camp, geared for teenagers, offers insight to how and why rockets and spaceships fly, the science of aerodynamics and how astronauts are trained. Also, micro gravity, robotics, rocket launching, extraterrestrial travel and the roles of radar and weather are explored.

For information call toll free at 866-757-7223 or e-mail ed@vaspaceflightacademy.org.

Visit www.chincoteaguechamber.com for more information on Wallops Island’s accommodations.

SHOOTING FOR SPACE: With a rocket standing ready, the launch site at Wallops Island, Va., has been utilized by NASA for several decades for suborbital and small orbital flight projects.
(Courtesy Photo)