Mojave Air and Space Port

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Mojave Airport & Spaceport
Aerial photo courtesy of NASA World Wind
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorKern County
ServesMojave, California
Elevation AMSL2,791 ft / 851 m
Coordinates35°03′34″N 118°09′06″W / 35.05944°N 118.15167°W / 35.05944; -118.15167
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 9,502 2,896 Asphalt/Concrete
08/26 7,050 2,149 Asphalt
04/22 4,743 1,446 Asphalt
File:Mojave spaceport.jpg
Mojave spaceport
administration offices, restaurant and old tower
Mojave Airport, storage location for commercial airliners.
SpaceShipOne landing at Mojave after June 21, 2004 space flight

The Mojave Airport & Spaceport (IATA: MHV, ICAO: KMHV), also known as the Civilian Aerospace Test Center, is located in Mojave, California, at an elevation of Template:Convert/ft.[1] It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a spaceport by the Federal Aviation Administration on June 17 2004. It is the only spaceport from which there have been privately-funded human spaceflights.

Activities

Besides being a general-use public airport, Mojave has three main areas of activity: flight testing, space industry development, and aircraft heavy maintenance and storage.

Flight testing

Flight testing activities have been centered at Mojave since the early 1970s, due to the lack of populated areas surrounding the airport. It is also favored for this purpose due to its proximity to the Edwards Air Force Base, where the airspace is restricted from ground level to an unlimited height, and where there is a supersonic corridor. Mojave is also the home of the National Test Pilot School

Space industry development

Beginning with the Rotary Rocket program, Mojave became a focus for small companies seeking a place to develop space access technologies. Mojave Spaceport has been a test site for several teams in the Ansari X Prize, most notably SpaceShipOne, which conducted the first privately funded human sub-orbital flight on June 21, 2004. Other groups based at the Mojave Spaceport include XCOR Aerospace, Masten Space Systems, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Interorbital Systems.

On December 6, 2007, the Antelope Valley Press reported that Mojave Spaceport was in danger of losing the "spaceport" designation by the end of 2007. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave notice to spaceport officials of its intention to suspend or revoke the space launch site operator's license on December 31. The FAA's actions are a result of concerns of the Office of Commercial Space Transportation regarding the storage and handling of the related chemicals and explosives at the airport.[2]

Aircraft heavy maintenance and storage

The Mojave airport is also known as a storage location for commercial airliners. Numerous large Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, and Airbus aircraft owned by major airlines are stored at Mojave. Some aircraft reach the end of their useful lifetime and are scrapped at Mojave, while others are refurbished and returned to active service.

History

The Mojave Airport was first opened in 1935 as a small, rural airfield serving the local gold and silver mining industry.

In July, 1942, the U.S. Marine Corps took over the field and vastly expanded it as the Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station (MCAAS) Mojave. Many of the Corps' World War II aces received their gunnery training at Mojave. With the end of World War II, MCAAS was disestablished in 1946, and became instead a U.S. Navy airfield. At the end of 1953, the USMC reopened MCAAS Mojave as an auxiliary field to MCAS El Toro.

In 1961, after the USMC transferred operations to MCAS El Centro, Kern County obtained title to the airport. In February, 1972, the East Kern Airport District was formed to administer the airport; EKAD maintains the airport to this day. To a great extent EKAD was the brainchild of Dan Sabovich who heavily lobbied the state for the airport district's creation and ran EKAD until 2002.

First flights and significant events

Notable flight test programs to use the Civilian Aerospace Test Center

World records set at Mojave

  • FAI Class C-1, unlimited weight
  • FAI Class C-1a, Landplanes: take off weight 300 to 500 kg
  • FAI Class C-1b, Landplanes: take off weight 500 to 1000 kg
    • Group 1, internal combustion engine
    • Group 4, Rocket engine
  • FAI Class C-1c, Landplanes: take off weight 1000 to 1750 kg
    • Group 1, internal combustion engine
      • Speed over a closed circuit of 2,000 km without payload. Rutan Catbird N187RA piloted by Mike Melvill, 413.78 km/h, March 2, 1994.[22]
  • FAI Class C-1d, Landplanes: take off weight 1750 to 3000 kg
    • Group 1, internal combustion engine
    • Group 4, rocket engine
      • Altitude Gain, Airplane Launched from a Carrier Aircraft: 85,743 meters, SpaceShipOne piloted by Mike Melvill, June 21 2004.[19]
  • FAI Class C-1e, Landplanes: take off weight 3,000 to 6,000 kg
    • Group 2, turbojet
      • Altitude: Scaled Composites Proteus N281PR, piloted by Mike Melvill and Robert Waldmiller, 19,277 m, October 25 2000.[24]
      • Altitude in horizontal flight: Scaled Composites Proteus N281PR, piloted by Mike Melvill and Robert Waldmiller, 19,015 m, October 25 2000.[24]
      • Altitude with 1,000 kg payload: Scaled Composites Proteus N281PR, piloted by Mike Melvill and Robert Waldmiller, 17,067 m, October 27 2000.[24]

Notable pilots and engineers based at Mojave

Movie/television location credits

Due to the Mojave Spaceport's unique location and facilities, a number of movies, TV shows and commercials have been filmed on location here. The Airport Administration actively promotes the facility as a set. The airport has facilities dedicated for filming, a large supply of aircraft to use as props and two large film pads that can be flooded for water scenes. Action movies and car commercials make up the bulk of the filming at the airport.

Movie credits include:

TV Show credits include:

Other credits:

References

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mojave Airport & Spaceport.
  1. ^ "Mojave Airport". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "Mojave Air and Space Port in danger of losing designation", Antelope Valley Press, December 6, 2007
  3. ^ a b c Hansen, Cathy (1996). Mojave: A Rich History of Rails, Flight, Mining. Kern-Antelope Historical Society. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Edward Shaw - VMF-213". Retrieved 2006-11-16.
  5. ^ "AIRCRAFT WRECKS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA". Retrieved 2006-11-16.
  6. ^ "Mojave Airport: Voyager". Mojave Virtual Museum. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
  7. ^ a b c d "First Flights - XCOR Aerospace". Mojave Virtual Museum. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  8. ^ a b "Mojave First Flights". Mojave Virtual Museum. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  9. ^ "Virgin's GlobalFlyer Makes Successful First Flight!". Mojave Airport Weblog. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
  10. ^ a b Deaver, Bill (2005-12-22). "XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity". Mojave Desert News. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ "Third person dies in Mojave Airport explosion, names released". KGET. July 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ MD-90-30 flight test at The Mojave Virtual Museum Photo Library, Mojave Airport, Flight Test and Development
  13. ^ "Orenda Recip Engines performs final air tractor tests", Aerotech News and Review, 2001-01-26
  14. ^ "SinoSwearingen Tests SJ30-2 at Mojave". Retrieved 2006-11-21.
  15. ^ Scott, William B, "Morphing Wings", Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2006-11-27
  16. ^ Scott, William B, "White Knight Back in Action", Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2006-11-27
  17. ^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
  18. ^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed July 30, 2008
  19. ^ a b c d FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
  20. ^ a b c FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
  21. ^ a b FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
  22. ^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed July 30, 2008
  23. ^ FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
  24. ^ a b c FAI world aviation records database, accessed August 30, 2008
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