Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located in an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

part of Santa Clara County, California, United States, between northern Mountain View and northern

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...

. On November 10, 2014, NASA announced that it would be leasing of the airfield property to Google for 60 years. The airport is near the south end of San Francisco Bay, northwest of San Jose. Formerly a US Navy facility, the former naval air station is now owned and operated by the NASA Ames Research Center. Tenant military activities include the

129th Rescue Wing The 129th Rescue Wing (129 RQW) is a unit of the California Air National Guard, stationed at Moffett Federal Airfield in Sunnyvale, California. The wing is equipped with the HC-130J Combat King II and the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter. If activat ...

of the

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...

, operating the

HC-130J The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue (SAR)/combat search and rescue (CSAR) version of the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, with two different versions operated by two separate services in the U.S. armed forc ...

Combat King II and

HH-60G The Sikorsky MH-60G/HH-60G Pave Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It is a derivative of the UH-60 Black Hawk and incorporates the US Air Force PAVE electronic systems ...

Pave Hawk aircraft, as well as the adjacent Headquarters for the 7th Psychological Operations Group of the

US Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020, ...

. Until 28 July 2010, the US Air Force's

21st Space Operations Squadron The 21st Space Operations Squadron (21 SOPS) is a satellite control unit of the Space Delta 6 of the United States Space Force, located at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Prior to July 2020, it was part of the 50th Network Operations Gr ...

was also a tenant command at Moffett Field, occupying the former

Onizuka Air Force Station Onizuka Air Force Station or Onizuka AFS was a United States Air Force installation in Sunnyvale, California, at the intersection of State Route 237 and North Mathilda Avenue. It was operational from 1960 to 2010. Its distinguishing feature was B ...

. In addition to these military activities, NASA also operates several of its own aircraft from Moffett. Hangars One, Two, and Three, and the adjacent Shenandoah Plaza are collectively designated as a National Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hangar One is one of the world's largest freestanding structures, covering . The hangar was constructed in 1931. Hangar One is a Naval Historical Monument, Historic American Engineering Record CA-335, State of California Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks. In May 2008,

The National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

listed Hangar One on their list of

America's Most Endangered Places America's 11 Most Endangered Places or America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is a list of places in the United States that the National Trust for Historic Preservation considers the most endangered. It aims to inspire Americans to preserve ex ...

. Hangar Two and Hangar Three are some of the world's largest freestanding wood structures. The hangars were constructed when the US Navy established ten

lighter-than-air A lifting gas or lighter-than-air gas is a gas that has a density lower than normal atmospheric gases and rises above them as a result. It is required for aerostats to create buoyancy, particularly in lighter-than-air aircraft, which include free ...

bases across the United States during World War II as part of the coastal defense plan. Seven of the original seventeen of these wooden hangars still exist: two at Moffett Field, two at Tustin, California, one at

Tillamook, Oregon The city of Tillamook is the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 5,231 at the 2020 census. History The city is named for the ...

, and two at

Lakehurst, New Jersey Lakehurst is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 2,654,wind tunnels, including the

Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, located at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View, California, United States, is a research facility used extensively to design and test new generations of aircraft, both commercial ...

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

), and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex.

History

Sunnyvale operations

In 1930, the city of

acquired a parcel of farmland bordering San Francisco Bay, paid for with nearly raised by the citizens of Santa Clara County, then "sold" the parcel for $1 to the US government as a home base for the Navy

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

USS ''Macon''. The location proved to be ideal for an airport, since the area is often clear while other parts of the San Francisco Bay are covered in fog. This is due to the Coast Range to the west, which blocks the cold oceanic air that is the cause of

San Francisco fog Fog is a common weather phenomenon in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as along the entire coastline of California extending south to the northwest coast of the Baja California Peninsula. The frequency of fog and low-lying stratus clouds is ...

Naval operations

The naval air station (NAS) was authorized by an Act of Congress, signed by President Herbert Hoover on 12 February 1931. Construction of the original facilities was begun 8 July 1931. The base was originally named Airbase Sunnyvale CAL as it was thought that calling it Mountain View would cause officials to fear airships colliding with mountainsides. Daniel DeBolt, "Moffett Field's serendipitous 75th anniversary," ''Mountain View Voice'', Nov. 28, 2008, p. 6 The original station was commissioned on 12 April 1933 and dedicated NAS Sunnyvale. After the death of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regard ...

William A. Moffett William Adger Moffett (October 31, 1869 – April 4, 1933) was an American admiral and Medal of Honor recipient known as the architect of naval aviation in the United States Navy. Biography Born October 31, 1869 in Charleston, South Carolina, ...

, who is credited with the creation of the airfield, in the loss of the USS ''Akron'' on 4 April 1933, the airfield at NAS Sunnyvale was renamed NAS Moffett Field on 1 September 1933. After the ''Macon'' crashed in the Pacific Ocean on 12 February 1935, the Navy considered closing Moffett Field due to its high cost of operations. Also, in San Diego, the Army and Navy were having jurisdictional issues over

Naval Air Station North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

in San Diego harbor, which had both

NAS San Diego Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

as well as the Army's Rockwell Field dividing the island. The Navy wanted the Army out of North Island as it needed to expand NAS San Diego as a training airfield for its growing number of aircraft carrier pilots. The Army resisted strongly, as Rockwell Field was a major training airfield for flight cadets, and had been using the field for flight training since 1912. With the subtle assistance of

President Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, a former assistant secretary of the Navy, a complex arrangement of facilities realignment was made by the War Department which transferred Moffett to Army jurisdiction and Rockwell Field to the Navy in October 1935, becoming

NAS North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

.Forgotten Air Pioneers: The Army’s Rockwell Field at North Island
/ref> Upon taking jurisdiction of Moffett Field, the Army took on the high cost of Hangar One's maintenance and wanted to inactivate the facility. However, President Roosevelt would not allow the closure of the facility, and the Army assigned Moffett to its

Western Flying Training Command Flying Division, Air Training Command, was a training formation of the United States Air Force. The unit was established in 1926 as the Air Corps Training Center to be the primary pilot training center for the Air Corps. It was reorganized int ...

as headquarters for pilot and aircrew flight training west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. Also in 1939, Moffett saw the establishment of the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory.Historic California Posts Naval Air Station, Moffett Field
/ref> As an aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy wanted to use the airship hangars at Moffett for blimp operations along with Pacific Coast. However, the Army, still stinging about having to transfer Rockwell Field to the Navy, resisted strongly. Again the inter-service rivalry was overruled by the War Department, citing the Navy's need for coastal defense a priority and ordered the Army to move its training headquarters to Hamilton Field in Marin County, north of San Francisco. Aerial View of the NASA Ames Research Center - GPN-2000-001560

Aerial View of the NASA Ames Research Center - GPN-2000-001560

On April 16, 1942, control of the facility was returned to the Navy and it was recommissioned as NAS Sunnyvale. Four days later it was again renamed Naval Air Station Moffett Field. From the end of World War II until its closure, NAS Moffett Field saw the development and use of several generations of land-based anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol aircraft, including the Lockheed P2V Neptune and Lockheed P-3 Orion. Until the demise of the USSR and for some time thereafter, daily

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

, maritime reconnaissance, Fleet support, and various training sorties flew out from NAS Moffett Field to patrol along the Pacific coastline, while Moffett's other squadrons and aircraft periodically deployed to other Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf bases for periods of up to six months. The onset of the Korean War brought a restructuring of the Navy's disposition of air forces, resulting in several squadrons being transferred to the Moffett Field as well as

Naval Air Station Alameda Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower were ...

. During the 1950s the Moffett served as the fighter base, with Alameda hosting attack aircraft. Naval aircraft home based in Moffett included the F9F Panther and FJ-3 Fury. By the end of the 1950s however, the Navy was looking to consolidate assets as the majority of carrier based aircraft had transitioned to larger jet powered aircraft, needing longer runways. The majority of squadrons based at Moffett transferred to

Naval Air Station Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the av ...

when they transitioned to the F-8 Crusader; while attack aircraft from Alameda were relocated to the newly opened

Naval Air Station Lemoore Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County and Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, a census-designated place, is located inside the base's borders. NAS Lemoore is the Na ...

. By 1961, the last fighter aircraft had left Moffett Field.VF-154 History
/ref> In 1960, the nearby

Air Force Satellite Test Center Onizuka Air Force Station or Onizuka AFS was a United States Air Force installation in Sunnyvale, California, at the intersection of State Route 237 and North Mathilda Avenue. It was operational from 1960 to 2010. Its distinguishing feature was ...

(STC), was created adjacent to (on the SE corner of) NAS Moffett Field. Often referred to as "the Blue Cube," it was operational until 2010 as

, now part of the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN). In August 1986 during the ''NAS Moffett Field Airshow'', the Italian demonstration team,

Frecce Tricolori The ''Frecce Tricolori'' (; literally "Tricolour Arrows"), officially known as the ''313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) Frecce Tricolori'' ("313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frec ...

, and the German Navy's F-104 flight demonstration team, the Vikings, performed in front of the crowd. At its peak in the 1990s, NAS Moffett Field was the U.S. Navy's principal Pacific Fleet base for the P-3C operations. In addition to headquarters staffs for Commander, U.S. Patrol Wings Pacific Fleet (COMPATWINGSPAC); Commander, Patrol Wing 10 (COMPATWING 10); and Commander, Reserve Patrol Wing Pacific / Patrol Wing 4 (COMRESPATWINGPAC/COMPATWING 4), the air station also hosted

Patrol Squadron THIRTY-ONE (VP-31) (This article is about the 1960s-90s training squadron not the 1940s VPB-31 anti-submarine patrol squadron which operated from Key West) VP-31, Patrol Squadron 31 was a maritime patrol squadron of the United States Navy. It was established on 30 ...

...the west coast P-3C Fleet Replacement Squadron, six additional active duty P-3C squadrons and a Naval Air Reserve P-3C squadron in addition to NASA and

aviation activities.

Ames Research Center operations

Post- Cold War defense cutbacks and related

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...

(BRAC) actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure. The west coast Fleet Replacement Squadron, Patrol Squadron 31 (

VP-31 (This article is about the 1960s-90s training squadron not the 1940s VPB-31 anti-submarine patrol squadron which operated from Key West) VP-31, Patrol Squadron 31 was a maritime patrol squadron of the United States Navy. It was established on 30 ...

), was deactivated and its functions combined with its east coast counterpart, Patrol Squadron 30 (VP-30) at

NAS Jacksonville Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 Location NAS Jack ...

, Florida. Several active duty P-3C squadrons, the Naval Air Reserve P-3C squadron and COMRESPATWINGPAC/COMPATWING 4 were also deactivated, while COMPATWINGSPAC and COMPATWING 10 (redesignated COMPATRECONWING 10) transferred to

NAS Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington. The main portion of the base, Ault Field, is about ...

, Washington and the remaining patrol squadrons transferred to

, Washington or

NAS Barbers Point Naval Air Station Barbers Point , on O'ahu, also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport), is a former United States Navy airfield closed in 1999, and renamed Kalaeloa Airport. Parts of the former air station ...

, Hawaii until the latter's BRAC-directed closure in 1999, at which time the Barbers Point squadrons moved to Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. On 1 July 1994, NAS Moffett Field was closed as a naval air station and turned over to the NASA

Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) labor ...

. NASA Ames now operates the facility as Moffett Federal Airfield. Since being decommissioned as a primary military installation, part of Moffett has been made accessible to the public, including a cordoned portion of the interior of the massive Hangar One. There were once balloon rides given on show days. And micro-weather still occurs in the cavernous space. Moffett Federal Airfield has occasional air traffic, with an average of 5-10 flights landing per day. Moffett is regularly used by the California

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

, NASA, Lockheed Martin Space Systems (commercial satellite manufacturer), the Google founders for their private planes, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department for their helicopter STAR 1, and

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircr ...

during presidential visits to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gove ...

In 2008, the Ames Research Center leased 42 acres around the field to Google. In 2013 Google began building a 1.1 million square foot office complex consisting of nine buildings overlooking San Francisco Bay dubbed "Bay View." The buildings are to be the new headquarters for Google and will be part of the nearby Googleplex.

Hangar One

Moffett Field's " Hangar One" (built during the Depression era for the USS ''Macon'') and the row of World War II

blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hyd ...

hangars are still some of the largest unsupported structures in the country. The

airship hangar Airship hangars (also known as airship sheds) are large specialized buildings that are used for sheltering airships during construction, maintenance and storage. Rigid airships always needed to be based in airship hangars because weathering was a s ...

is constructed on a network of steel girders sheathed with galvanized steel. It rests firmly upon a reinforced pad anchored to concrete pilings. The floor covers eight acres (32,000 m²) and can accommodate six (360 feet x 160 feet) football fields. The airship hangar itself, measures long and wide. The building has aerodynamic architecture. Its walls curve upward and inward, to form an elongated dome high. The clam-shell doors were designed to reduce turbulence when the ''Macon'' moved in and out on windy days. The "orange peel" doors, weighing 500

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s (511.88 tonnes) each, are moved by their own 150

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

motors operated via an electrical control panel. The airship hangar's interior is so large that

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

sometimes forms near the ceiling. A person unaccustomed to its vastness is susceptible to optical disorientation. Looking across its deck, planes and tractors look like toys. Along its length maintenance shops, inspection laboratories and offices help keep the hangar busy. Looking up, a network of catwalks for access to all parts of the structure can be seen. Two elevators meet near the top, allowing maintenance personnel to get to the top quickly and easily. Narrow gauge tracks run through the length of the hangar. During the period of lighter-than-air dirigibles and non-rigid aircraft, the rails extended across the apron and into the fields at each end of the hangar. This tramway facilitated the transportation of an

on the mooring mast to the airship hangar interior or to the flight position. During the brief period that the ''Macon'' was based at Moffett, Hangar One accommodated not only the giant airship but several smaller non-rigid lighter-than-air craft simultaneously. In 2003 plans to convert Hangar One to a space and science center were put on hold with the discovery that the structure was leaking toxic chemicals into the sediment in wetlands bordering San Francisco Bay. The chemicals originated in the lead paint and toxic materials, including

polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

s (PCBs), used to coat the hangar. Options under debate included tearing down the hangar and reusing the land, and cleaning the toxic waste from the site and refurbishing the hangar for future preservation. The US Navy evaluated options for remediating the PCBs, lead and asbestos, and NASA evaluated options for reuse of the hangar. Some historic and nonprofit groups wanted the hangar preserved as a historic landmark, as the hangar is a major Bay Area landmark and historic site. In 2006, an offer to clean the hangar and coat its outsides with solar panels to recoup the costs of cleaning was floated by a private company, but the plan never saw fruition because it was too costly. In August 2008, the Navy proposed simply stripping the toxic coating from the hangar and leaving the skeleton after spraying it with a preservative. The Navy claimed that to reclad the structure would cost another $15 million and that this was NASA's responsibility. This was regarded as a partial victory by campaigners. In September 2008, NASA indicated that it was still urging the Navy to restore the hangar, but that it was willing to help save the structure; in particular, NASA was in favor of re-covering the structure at the same time that it was stripped. Moffett Federal Airfield Hangar 1 skeleton

Moffett Federal Airfield Hangar 1 skeleton

In April 2011, the exterior panels began coming down, starting at the top.

Restoration

On April 21, 2011, crews began stripping the PCB-laced exterior panels of Hangar One. In November 2014, Planetary Ventures LLC, a Google subsidiary, signed a $1.16 billion, 60-year lease. This would "save NASA approximately $6.3 million annually in maintenance and operation costs". Google planned to invest an additional $200 million to renovate and restore the structure.

Hangars 2 & 3

Moffett Field's Hangars Two and Three were built at the beginning of World War II for a program of coastal defense. The Hangars are still some of the largest unsupported wooden structures in the country. In 1940, the US Navy proposed to the US Congress the development of a lighter-than-air station program for anti-submarine patrolling of the coast and harbors. This program proposed the construction of new stations in addition to the expansion at NAS Lakehurst. The original contract was for steel hangars, long, wide and , helium storage and service, barracks for 228 men, a power plant, landing mat, and a mobile mooring mast. The Second Deficiency Appropriation Bill for 1941, passed July 3, 1941, changed the authorization to the construction of 8 facilities to accommodate a total of 48 airships (as requested in 1940), but due to steel rations, a total of 17 large wooden hangars were built among 10 LTA bases. As finally developed in 1943, LTA facilities in addition to

NAS Lakehurst Lakehurst Maxfield Field, formerly known as Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst (NAES Lakehurst), is the naval component of Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst (JB MDL), a United States Air Force-managed joint base headquartered approximate ...

(2) and

NAS Moffett Field Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County, California, United States, between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale. On November 10 ...

(2), included NAS South Weymouth (1), NAS Weeksville (1), NAS Glynco (2), NAS Richmond (3), NAS Houma (1), NAS Hitchcock (1), NAS Santa Ana (2) and NAS Tillamook (2). In the initial program, accommodations were provided for six airships at each station. This was later increased to twelve at seven of the stations and to eighteen at NAS Richmond as a result of an increase in the authorized strength to 200 airships. Seven of the original 17 of the wooden hangars still exist: Moffett Field (2), Tustin, California (2), Tillamook, Oregon (1), and Lakehurst, New Jersey (2). An episode of the Discovery Channel TV show '' MythBusters'' used one of the hangars to disprove the myth that it is not possible to fold a sheet of paper in half more than seven times. The sheet of paper covered nearly the full width of the airship hangar. Other''Mythbusters'' episodes have utilized the hangar to test myths such as "Inflating a football with helium allows longer kick distances" and "Airworthy aircraft can be constructed of concrete."

Facilities

Despite its closure as an active military base, Moffett Field still has many active facilities and residents. Active military families still live on Moffett Community Housing, and the former base has several lodges which primarily house academics and students associated with the

. Moffett Field's facilities available to residents include a Commissary, post office, golf course, and tennis courts.

Status of former military buildings

Many of the buildings at Moffett Field which once supported its active military presence have been abandoned and left standing due to asbestos contamination within the structures .

Airfield

Moffett Field is an active

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

, and has two active

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, ...

s: *Runway 14L/32R: , surface: concrete *Runway 14R/32L: , surface: asphalt effective April 22, 2021

University facilities

Moffett Field also hosts three university branch campuses-- San Jose State University's (SJSU) Metropolitan Technology Center,

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley is a degree-granting branch campus of Carnegie Mellon University located in the heart of Silicon Valley in Mountain View, California. It was established in 2002 at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field. ...

UC Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

, and Singularity University. These are within the base primarily to support the academic and research collaboration between these institutions and NASA Ames.

Private aircraft

Moffett Airfield is home to H211, LLC, owned by Google founders

Larry Page Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. Page was the chief executive officer of Google from 1997 until ...

and Sergey Brin. Through the LLC they pay $1.3 million a year to NASA to park their

Boeing 767-200 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified o ...

and Gulfstream V jets. The airplanes have also had scientific equipment installed by NASA to allow experiments to be run in flight. Lockheed Martin and Jon Stark, a helicopter operator, also have use of the airfield. In October 2008 the first Zeppelin airship to offer private flights in the United States since 1937's Hindenburg disaster became available for tours of the Bay Area and beyond. The craft, operated by

Airship Ventures Airship Ventures Inc. was a private company that offered sight-seeing rides (which the company called "flightseeing") in a 12-passenger Zeppelin NT out of a World War II United States Navy hangar at Moffett Federal Airfield near Mountain View, ...

, was housed in Hangar Two, was built in Germany and was the fourth modern airship constructed and the third to be put in public service. It was dedicated and given the name ''Eureka'' at the celebration of Moffett Field's 75th anniversary. Zeppelin flights ended in November 2012, and Airship Ventures ceased business. ''Eureka'' was disassembled and returned to Germany. Strong community opposition to the use of the airfield by

FedEx Express FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2020, it is one of the world's largest airlines in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the nam ...

and UPS Airlines blocked the transition of the airfield to public use in the 1990s.

United States Geological Survey (USGS)

In 2016, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) announced plans to relocate its West Coast science center from nearby Menlo Park to the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The relocation is expected to take five years and will begin in 2017 with 175 of the USGS employees moving to Moffett.

Motor racing

On August 16, 1953, the airfield was used for a meeting organised by the Sports Car Club of America. A 5.6 km circuit was created using one of the main runways and adjacent taxiways.

Assigned units

* 63rd Regional Readiness Command Headquarters, United States Army Reserve * 7th Psychological Operations Group Headquarters, United States Army Reserve * 341st Military Police Company (Combat Support), U.S. Army Reserve * 341st MP CO, U.S. Army Reserve *351st Civil Affairs Command, U.S. Army Reserve *

Marine Corps Recruiting Station San Francisco Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

Marine Corps Recruiting Command The Marine Corps Recruiting Command is a command of the United States Marine Corps responsible for military recruitment of civilians into the Corps. In addition to finding volunteers to join, it is also responsible for preparing them for United S ...

Accidents and incidents at or near NUQ

*On April 11, 1968, a

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

Lockheed P-3C Orion burst into flames when the undercarriage collapsed on landing during pre-delivery acceptance trials. There were no fatalities. *On May 26, 1972, a United States Navy Lockheed P-3C Orion went missing during a routine training flight off the coast of California. All eight crew were presumed dead. *On April 12, 1973, a NASA Convair CV-990 Coronado (Reg.#N711NA) on a nearby training flight and a US Navy Lockheed P-3C Orion (Reg.#157332) also on a nearby training flight collided on final approach 1 km (0.6 miles) S of Moffett Field NAS and both aircraft crashed onto Sunnyvale Municipal Golf Course, half a mile short of the runway. All 11 occupants on the Convair 990 Coronado and five of the six crew on board the Lockheed P-3C were killed in the accident. A total of 16 perished on both aircraft with one survivor.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * (Public domain)

External links

Moffett Field
page at ''GlobalSecurity.org''
NASA Ames Research Center

129th Rescue Wing

Moffett Field Historical Society Museum

Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
*
Moffett Field Wine Festival
* https://sites.google.com/a/pv-nuq.com/nuq/ {{Authority control NASA facilities Historic districts in California History of Silicon Valley * Moffett Field Transportation in Sunnyvale, California Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California Airports in Santa Clara County, California Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California Installations of the United States Air National Guard Military Superfund sites Superfund sites in California Military facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area Airports established in 1933 1933 establishments in California