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Thule Air Base
Pituffik Space Base ( ; ; ), formerly Thule Air Base (), is a United States Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark under a defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. 150 United States guardians serve there, after the United States significantly reduced its presence from 6000 personnel during the Cold War. Denmark was a founding member of NATO in 1949, and the 1951 Greenland Defense Agreement allowed the United States to operate the base under a NATO framework, as long as both Denmark and the United States remain NATO members. Under the agreement, the Danish national flag must be flown at the base to recognize that the base is on Danish territory, but the United States is allowed to fly its own flag alongside the Danish flag on the facilities it operates. It is the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, north of the Arctic Circle and from the North Pole. Pituffik's Arctic environment includes icebergs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq (), formerly known as New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The town has a population of 646 as of 2020. The population was forcibly relocated from its former, traditional home, which was expropriated for the construction of a United States Air Force base (Thule Air Base, now Pituffik Space Base) in 1953. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the local Inuktun language and many also speak Kalaallisut and Danish. Qaanaaq is one of the northernmost towns in the world. Within Greenland, it is the northernmost major town and the third northernmost public settlement, after nearby Qeqertat and Siorapaluk. 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 BCE by Paleo-Eskimos migrating from the Canadian Arctic. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is . The organization's strategic concepts include Deterrence theory, deterrence. NATO headquarters, NATO's main headquarter ... [...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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conventional weapon, Conventional, Chemical weapon, chemical, and Biological agent, biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The Nuclear weapons of the United States, United States, Russia and weapons of mass destruction, Russia, China and weapons of mass destruction, China, France and weapons of mass destruction, France, India and weapons of mass destruction, India, the United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction, United Kingdom, Nuclear weapons and Israel, Israel, and North Korea and weapons of ... [...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). It was replaced by the Solid State Phased Array Radar System in 2001. 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 U ... [...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 Pituffik Space 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 M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a Combined operations, 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, Colorado, El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex has the Alternate Command Center. The Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD commander and deputy commander are, respectively, a General (United States), United States four-star general or equivalent and a Lieutenant-general (Canada), Canadian lieutenant-general or equivalent. Command NORAD is headed by its Commander of NORAD, commander, who is a Four-star rank, four-star General (United States), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Delta 2
Mission Delta 2 (MD2) is the United States Space Force's space domain awareness delta, headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Mission Delta 2 tracks and monitors all human made objects from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit and further out to deep space. It also partners with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide weather satellite observation for the U.S. Armed Forces. It consists of the 15th Space Surveillance Squadron, 18th Space Defense Squadron, 19th Space Defense Squadron, and 20th Space Surveillance Squadron. Mission Delta 2 was originally established on 1 February 1942 as the 21st Bombardment Group (21 BG), flying the B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder in antisubmarine patrols during World War II. After the 21 BG inactivated in 1943, the 21st Fighter Group (21 FG) was activated in 1943 in Hawaii, flying the P-39 Airacobra, P-38 Lightning, and P-51 Mustang during the Battle of Iwo Jima and escorting bombers during air raids o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Delta 4
Mission Delta 4 (MD4) is a United States Space Force unit responsible for providing strategic and theater missile warning and tracking to the United States and its international partners. It operates three constellations of Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) satellites and two types of Ground-Based Radars (GBRs) for the purpose of conducting strategic and theater missile warning and tracking. Additionally, DEL 4 provides tipping and cueing to missile defense forces, battlespace awareness to combatant commanders and technical intelligence for further analysis and manages weapon system architectures and ensures operations are intelligence-led, cyber-resilient, and driven by innovation, while postured to operate in a contested, degraded, and operationally-limited environment. Activated on 24 July 2020, the delta is headquartered at Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado. On 31 October 2024 it was redesignated Mission Delta 4 and gained sustainment responsibilities, along with organic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolstenholme Fjord
Wolstenholme Fjord () is a fjord in Avannaata municipality, Northwest Greenland. The United States' Pituffik Space Base and the abandoned Inuit settlement of Narsaarsuk are on the coast of the fjord. The area was contaminated in 1968 with plutonium and other radioactive elements following a B-52 bomber crash. Geography Wolstenholme Fjord is located in the stretch of coast between Cape York and Cape Alexander. Together with the Inglefield Gulf it is one of the two main indentations in the area.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute,'' p. 77 Saunders Island, Wolstenholme Island and Bylot Sound lie at the mouth of the fjord, off North Star Bay. Further to the west on the northern shore lies the Granville Fjord. The fjord's waters are fed by four large glaciers: the Salisbury Glacier, the Chamberlin Glacier, the Knud Rasmussen Glacier, and the Harald Moltke Glacier. See also *List of fjords of Greenland This is a list of the most importa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolstenholme Island
Wolstenholme Island () 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. It is smaller than the latter and made of gneiss. History Under Commander James Saunders 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 it finally became trapped by ice off the coast of northwestern Greenland in North Star Bay. A pap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Star Bay
North Star Bay (), also known as Thule Harbor and Wolstenholme Bay, is at the mouth of Wolstenholme Fjord in north-west Greenland. The Dundas Peninsula, terminating in the mesa-like Mount Dundas, is at the north-eastern end of the bay. Two large islands are off the bay, Saunders Island, Greenland, Saunders Island and Wolstenholme Island. Bylot Sound is the strait to the south, between the islands and the mainland. The Inughuit settlements of Narsaarsuk and Pituffik were once on the shore of the bay. Knud Rasmussen established a trading post and mission called "Thule" at the north-eastern end in 1910. The United States started building defense facilities on the bay from 1943 and the Inughuit had to leave in 1953. The U.S. Pituffik Space Base is now the only inhabited place on the bay. History The bay is named after HMS North Star (1824), HMS ''North Star'', which was trapped by ice and wintered in the bay in 1849–50. ''North Star'' under Commander James Saunders (naval commande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
