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Thule Air Force Base
Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north of the Arctic Circle and from the North Pole on the northwest coast of the island of Greenland. Thule's arctic environment includes icebergs in North Star Bay, two islands ( Saunders Island and Wolstenholme Island), a polar ice sheet, and Wolstenholme Fjord – the only place on Earth where four active glaciers join together. The base is home to a substantial portion of the global network of missile warning sensors of Space Delta 4, and space surveillance and space control sensors of Space Delta 2, providing space awareness and advanced missile detection capabilities to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the United States Space Force, and joint partners. Thule Air Base is also home to the 821st Air Base Group and is responsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq (), formerly known as Thule or New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of the northernmost cities and towns, northernmost towns in the world. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the local Inuktun language and many also speak Greenlandic language, Kalaallisut and Danish language, Danish. The town has a population of 646 as of 2020. Geography Qaanaaq is located in the northern entrance of the Inglefield Fjord. The village of Qeqertat is located in the Harvard Islands, near the head of the fjord. History The Qaanaaq area in northern Greenland was first settled around 2000 BC by the Paleo-Eskimo migrating from the Canadian Arctic. In 1818, Sir John Ross (Royal Navy officer), John Ross's expedition made first contact with nomadic Inuktun (Polar Eskimos) in the area. James Saunders (naval commander), James Saunders's expedition aboard HMS North Star (1824), HMS ''North Star'' was marooned in North St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolstenholme Island
Wolstenholme Island ( kl, Qeqertarssuaq) is an island in Baffin Bay, in Avannaata municipality, off northwestern Greenland. The island lies west of the Bylot Sound off Cape Atholl in the southern shore of the mouth of Wolstenholme Fjord, south of Saunders Island, Greenland, Saunders Island. It is smaller than the latter and made of gneiss. History Under Commander James Saunders (naval commander), James Saunders HMS North Star (1824), HMS ''North Star'' sailed to the Arctic in 1849 in the spring on a venture to search and resupply Captain Sir James Clark Ross' expedition, who in turn had sailed in 1848 trying to locate the whereabouts of Sir John Franklin's expedition. Failing to find Franklin or Ross, Saunders's mission aboard the ''North Star'' consisted in depositing stores along several named areas of the Canadian Arctic coast and returning to England before the onset of winter. However, James Saunders's ship's progress was hindered by large amounts of ice in Melville Bay and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camp TUTO
Camp TUTO ("Thule Take-Off") was a major U.S. Army operated research camp at the foot of the Greenland ice cap, east of Thule Air Base. It operated from 1954 to 1966, with revisits for follow-up research. History In the 1950s, Army research units became interested in building structures inside permanent ice for protection, survival, and concealment. Close to the Air Force's new base at Thule and within its associated joint Danish-American Defense Area, the Army Corps of Engineers was able to create an extensive infrastructure to try out these ideas. Initially, from 1952, the Army Transportation Corps participated in cross-icecap supply trains using tracked vehicle convoys, eventually reaching as far as Station Nord on the east coast of Greenland. As the take-off point for the ice cap, the Army Corps of Engineers then built Camp Tuto for its Polar Research and Development Center (PRDC), and the site was used by the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment (SIPRE) and its su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camp Century
Camp Century was an Arctic United States military scientific research base in Greenland. situated 240 km (150 miles) east of Thule Air Base. When built, Camp Century was publicized as a demonstration for affordable ice-cap military outposts and a base for scientific research. Camp Century was a preliminary camp for Project Iceworm whose end goal was to install a vast network of nuclear missile launch sites that could survive a first strike. This was according to documents declassified in 1996. The missiles were never fielded and necessary consent from the Danish Government to do so was never broached. The camp operated from 1959 until 1967. It consisted of 21 tunnels with a total length of , and was powered by a nuclear reactor. Project Iceworm was aborted after it was realized that the ice sheet was not as stable as originally assessed, and that the missile basing concept would not be feasible. The reactor was removed and Camp Century later abandoned. However, hazardo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LORAN
LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range up to with an accuracy of tens of miles. It was first used for ship convoys crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and then by long-range patrol aircraft, but found its main use on the ships and aircraft operating in the Pacific theater during World War II. LORAN, in its original form, was an expensive system to implement, requiring a cathode ray tube (CRT) display. This limited use to the military and large commercial users. Automated receivers became available in the 1950s, but the same improved electronics also opened the possibility of new systems with higher accuracy. The U.S. Navy began development of Loran-B, which offered accuracy on the order of a few tens of feet, but ran into significant technical problems. The U.S. Air Force worked on a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Atholl
Cape Atholl ( da, Kap Atholl), also known as Kangaarasuk, is a headland in Northwest Greenland, Avannaata municipality. This cape was named by Commander James Saunders, after Atholl, the class to which his ship HMS ''North Star'' belonged, during the winter 1849–50 in which he was frozen in the bay to the north and named landmarks in the area. History ''Cape Atholl'' was a United States Coast Guard LORAN station in Northwest Greenland, south of Thule Air Base. It was established in 1954 and disestablished in 1975. The station was located at Quaratit, about southeast of Cape Atholl proper. *Latitude: 76°18'56.62"N *Longitude: 69°21'21.03"W Geography Cape Atholl is located in the mainland, in the eastern shore of Bylot Sound, Baffin Bay. It rises at the southern end of the mouth of Wolstenholme Fjord and opposite the eastern end of Wolstenholme Island.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 85 References External linksGreenland Pilot - Dani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Delta 6
Space Delta 6 (DEL 6) is a United States Space Force unit which assures access to space through the $6.8 billion Satellite Control Network and defensive cyberspace capabilities for space mission systems. Activated on 24 July 2020, the delta is headquartered at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. It replaced the 50th Network Operations Group, which had been part of the former 50th Space Wing. On 23 June 2021, the 614th Air and Space Communications Squadron, previously under Space Delta 5, was redesignated as the 65th Cyber Squadron and transferred into Space Delta 6. Structure By the end of fiscal year 2022, SpOC intends to establish the Space Cyber Center and 645th Cyberspace Squadron.https://media.defense.gov/2022/Mar/11/2002955216/-1/-1/1/COMMANDER'S%20STRATEGIC%20PLAN%202022%20R10.PDF Commander References Deltas of the United States Space Force {{US-mil-unit-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
23rd Space Operations Squadron
The 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23 SOPS) is a satellite control unit of the United States Space Force. It is part of Space Delta 6 and is located at New Boston Space Force Station, New Hampshire. Prior to July 2020, part of the 50th Network Operations Group, itself a part of the 50th Space Wing. History 23rd Airways Detachment (1942–1943) The 23rd Space Operations Squadron was originally activated on 25 July 1942 as the 23rd Airways Detachment. The squadron served in India and China during World War II, earning campaign streamers for India-Burma (1942–1945) and the China Defensive (1942–1945) before disbanding on 1 December 1943. Air Force Space Command (1991–2019) On 1 November 1991, the Air Force reconstituted the 23rd Airways Detachment and designated it the 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23rd SOPS). Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) activated the unit at New Boston Air Force Station in New Hampshire. The squadron assumed responsibility for the operation of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. Russia, the United States, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Early ICBMs had limited precision, which made them suitable for use only against the largest targets, such as cities. They were seen as a "safe" basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack. Attacks against military targets (especially hardened ones) still demanded th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS, "474L System", Project 474L) was a United States Air Force Cold War early warning radar, computer, and communications system, for ballistic missile detection. The network of twelve radars, which was constructed beginning in 1958 and became operational in 1961, was built to detect a "mass ballistic missile attack launched on northern approaches or15 to 25 minutes' warning time" also provided Project Space Track satellite data (e.g., about one-quarter of SPADATS observations). Background The Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) was a radar system built by the United States (with the cooperation of Canada and Denmark on whose territory some of the radars were sited) during the Cold War to give early warning of a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) nuclear strike, to allow time for US bombers to get off the ground and land-based US ICBMs to be launched, to reduce the chances that a preemptive str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
12th Space Warning Squadron
The 12th Space Warning Squadron is a United States Space Force ground-based radar used for missile warning, missile defense, and space situation awareness, stationed at Thule Air Base, Greenland. Overview The primary mission of the 12th SWS is to provide critical, real-time missile warning, defense, and space surveillance to the President of the United States, Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, NORAD, and unified commands by operating a phased-array radar—which continuously provides warning of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and intercontinental ballistic missile attacks against North America—and detect, track, and identify earth-orbiting objects in support of USSTRATCOM's space control mission, thus "knitting a blanket of freedom". The 12th Space Warning Squadron is a unit of the Space Delta 4 which is under Air Force Space Command. To accomplish its mission, the squadron operates the solid-state phased-array radar located at the Ballistic Missil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Canada and the continental United States. Headquarters for NORAD and the NORAD/ United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) center are located at Peterson Space Force Base in El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex has the Alternate Command Center. The NORAD commander and deputy commander (CINCNORAD) are, respectively, a United States four-star general or equivalent and a Canadian lieutenant-general or equivalent. Organization CINCNORAD maintains the NORAD headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center at Peterson SFB serves as a central collection and coordination facility for a worldwide system of sensors desig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
