AlbinoFlea
04/29/06 11:54 AM
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90% of Grand Turk island is in high res, but I'll be *@#! if I can locate this tracking station.  I read in one source that it was located on the western side of the island.
From http://spacecovers.com/articles/gtk_trasta_01.htm:
Quote:
Grand Turk tracking station has supported practically all of the minor and major missile and rocket systems, from the now obsolete air breathing missiles like the Snark, Bomarc and the Matador to the mighty Saturn rocket that carried men to the Moon. Grand Turk also played important roles in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) programs first with the installation of a Minitrack NASA site to track Vanguard satellites and later installations were constructed for the manned space projects. While other tracking stations on Antigua and Ascension have had seperate NASA manned space flight tracking installations operating independently from the AFETR stations this was not the case at Grand Turk and this station should not be considered a NASA station. Special NASA equipment was installed at a few of the Eastern Test Range stations, like Grand Turk, to support the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. However in these programs Grand Turk was considered a "satellite" station of Cape Canaveral, Forida with all data and information being relayed to the Cape Canaveral Mission Control Center for dissemination. Thus the importance of Grand Turk was often overshadowed by the activities and reports emanating from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The island is located here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=e...143778,0.346069
And more info can be found here:
http://spacecovers.com/articles/gtk_trasta_01.htm
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romulusnr
05/02/06 07:39 PM
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It was shut down in 1984; presumably it may have been dismantled?
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kjfitz
05/02/06 08:48 PM
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Maybe it is in the low res area at the souther tip. I'd expect it to be on the northern or southern tip.
kjfitz
Virtual Globetrotting Moderator
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AlbinoFlea
05/02/06 09:26 PM
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From http://www.turksandcaicos.tc/grandturk/index.htm
Quote:
A lighthouse and the remains of a United States Navy Base are located on the northeast point of the island. The remains of a U.S. Air Force Base are on the west coast. This Grand Turk U.S. Air Force tracking station which began in the early 1950s until it closed in 1984.
You can clearly make out some of the Naval base at the northern tip, just south of the lighthouse.
The description's use of the word "remains" makes me think that there should be something left...
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AlbinoFlea
05/02/06 09:51 PM
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I think kjfitz is right; it is at least partly obscured by the low res on the southern end of the island.
From http://spacecovers.com/articles/gtk_trasta_02.htm:
Quote:
Unfortunately, I do not have a map of the island but my recollection is that our camp was on the leeward west side, with the airstrip running NW-SE between the camp and the town. I believe the town was about two miles north of our camp.
The Island is only 6 miles long, and Cockburn town is in the middle, so that pretty much pushes it pretty far south.
Then there's this map: http://www.diveatlas.com/travel/maps/GrandTurk.jpg, which lists a "North Base" and a "South Base". The south base is bounded by the west coast and two lakes, which translates to right about here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=e...015499,0.042744.
[sigh]
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kjfitz
06/11/06 05:51 PM
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It is in high res in GE now.
21.433434, -71.144468
kjfitz
Virtual Globetrotting Moderator
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