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Lunar Landing Research Facility

Apollo programBuildings and structures in Hampton, VirginiaGovernment buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in VirginiaMissions to the MoonNational Historic Landmarks in Virginia
National Register of Historic Places in Hampton, VirginiaUse mdy dates from August 2023
Drop Test at Lunar Landing Research Facility GPN 2000 001287
Drop Test at Lunar Landing Research Facility GPN 2000 001287

The Lunar Landing Research Facility was an area at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia that was used to simulate Apollo Moon landings with a mock Lunar Module powered by a small rocket motor suspended from a crane over a simulated lunar landscape. Completed in 1965 at a cost of $3.5 million, the facility was used by 24 astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, to practice solving piloting problems they would encounter in the last 150 feet (46 m) of descent to the surface of the Moon.The structure was used to facilitate "flying" a full-scale Lunar Excursion Module Simulator (LEMS). The LEMS was suspended from a 200-foot (61 m)-tall, 400-foot (120 m)-long A-frame gantry by an overhead bridge crane. The LEMS is now on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Lunar Landing Research Facility (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Lunar Landing Research Facility
Wythe Landing Loop, Hampton

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N 37.102222222222 ° E -76.389722222222 °
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Wythe Landing Loop

Wythe Landing Loop
23681 Hampton
Virginia, United States
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Drop Test at Lunar Landing Research Facility GPN 2000 001287
Drop Test at Lunar Landing Research Facility GPN 2000 001287
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Langley Speedway (Virginia)
Langley Speedway (Virginia)

Langley Speedway is a race track located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Langley Speedway is a paved short track measuring 4/10 mile in length. It is one of the flattest tracks in the region with only six degrees of banking in the corners and two degrees of banking on the straights. In November 1970, it became the site of the last NASCAR Grand National Series race before the series was renamed the Winston Cup. The track is located in front of NASA's Langley Research Center on Commander Sheppherd Boulevard. The track is NASCAR sanctioned and participates in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, which determines a national champion for the NASCAR sanctioned local tracks. The track hosts 12 divisions that alternate running during their Saturday night program: Late models, Modifieds, Virginia Racers, legends cars, Super Streets, Enduros, Grand Stocks, Super Trucks, UCARS, Pro Six, Bandoleros, and HRKC Pro Winged Champ Karts. Pre race ceremonies for the regular Saturday night events begin at approximately 7:00 PM with the first race of the night beginning about 15 minutes later. Langley also hosts Hampton Roads Kart Club races on most Sundays and some Fridays during the season, Wacky Wednesday which allows anyone with a helmet and a street legal car to participate in the time attack, burnout competition, and one on one drag races on most Wednesday nights during the season, the Langley Drift Club which helped bring drifting to the Hampton Roads’ area, and starting in 2023 Old-Dominion Region-SCCA Autocross events.

Virginia Peninsula
Virginia Peninsula

The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the Lower Peninsula to distinguish it from two other peninsulas to the north, the Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck. It is the site of historic Jamestown, founded in 1607 as the first English settlement in North America. Geographically located at the northwestern reaches, Charles City and New Kent counties are part of the Virginia Peninsula. In the 21st century, they are also considered part of the Richmond–Petersburg region. The rest of the Virginia Peninsula is all part of the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC MSA (metropolitan statistical area) with a population of about 1.8 million. The Hampton Roads MSA is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name. It is the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the Southeast and the 32nd largest in the United States. The land portion of Hampton Roads has been historically divided into two regions, the Virginia Peninsula or Peninsula on the north side, and South Hampton Roads on the south side. (Locally, South Hampton Roads is commonly called "the Southside", but this is not to be confused with "Southside Virginia", a separate region of the south central portion of Virginia located farther inland.) More recently, the boundaries of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area have expanded to include the two southernmost counties of the Middle Peninsula (Gloucester and Matthews), across the York River from the Virginia Peninsula.

Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel

The Battle of Big Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War. It took place on the Virginia Peninsula, near Newport News, on June 10, 1861. Virginia's decision to secede from the Union had been ratified by popular vote on May 23, and Confederate Col. (later Maj. Gen.) John B. Magruder was sent down the peninsula to deter any advance on the state capital Richmond by Union troops based at the well-defended post of Fort Monroe. This garrison was commanded by Maj Gen. Benjamin Butler, a former Massachusetts lawyer and politician, who established a new camp at nearby Hampton and another at Newport News. Magruder had also established two camps, within range of the Union lines, at Big Bethel and Little Bethel, as a lure to draw his opponent into a premature action. Butler took the bait, when he and an aide, Maj. Theodore Winthrop, devised a plan for a night march, followed by a dawn attack to drive the Confederates back from their bases. Butler chose not to lead the force in person, for which he was later criticized. The plan proved too complex for his poorly-trained subordinates to carry out, especially at night, and his staff had also omitted to communicate the passwords. They were trying to advance without knowledge of the layout or strength of the Confederate positions, when a friendly fire incident gave away their own. The commander in the field, Massachusetts militia Gen. Ebenezer Peirce, received most of the blame for the failed operation. The Union forces suffered 76 casualties, with 18 killed, including Maj. Winthrop and Lt. John T. Greble, the first regular army officer killed in the war. The Confederates suffered only eight casualties, with one killed. Although Magruder subsequently withdrew to Yorktown and his defensive line along the Warwick River, he had won a propaganda victory and local Union forces attempted no further significant advance until the Peninsula Campaign of 1862. While small in comparison to many later battles, Big Bethel attracted exaggerated importance because of the general feeling that the war would soon be over. The engagement was also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel.