Kangerlussuaq
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Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in west Greenland at the head of a fjord of the same name. Kangerlussuaq is the Greenlandic word for 'Big Fjord' and is sometimes known by its Danish name of Søndre Strømfjord. Kangerlussuaq was also known as Bluie West Eight during its time as an American military base.
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[edit] History
Permanent settlement of the site at the east end of Kangerlussuaq fjord commenced in 1941. Following the fall of Denmark to Germany in World War II, responsibility for the security of Greenland passed to the American military. Military leaders responded by building several bases in Greenland, the largest of which were Blue West One in Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Blue West Eight at the Kangerlussuaq fjord. These two sites remain Greenland's best equipped airports. Kangerlussuaq became an important stopover point for cargo bound from the United States to Europe. The base returned briefly to Danish control in 1950 but, following mounting concerns about the Cold War threat, a renewed agreement saw the United States retake control of the base in 1951. It served as an early warning base and a supply station for similar early warning facilities. Following the fall of the Soviet Union the usefulness of the base was greatly diminished and the last American soldier left the base on September 30, 1992. The base subsequently came under Greenlandic Home Rule control and was renamed Kangerlussuaq. Almost all of the permanent structures in the town were built during the American occupation of the site.
[edit] Kangerlussuaq today
As the only airport in Greenland to be large enough to support jumbo jets, Kangerlussuaq Airport is Greenland's most important transport hub. Six flights weekly arrive from Copenhagen and connect to internal flights operated by Air Greenland to the capital Nuuk and Ilulissat amongst other locations. In May 2007, Air Greenland will opearete the first non-stop flights to the United States between Baltimore-Washington Internationl Airport (BWI) in Maryland and Kangerlussuaq. The Kangerlussuaq area is also home to Greenland's most diverse land-based wildlife (such as musk oxen, caribou and Gyrfalcons). The combination of these two factors has made Kangerlussauq a significant tourist centre for most of the year. The settlement's economy and population of 500 is now almost completely reliant on the airport and tourist industry. Access to several research camps on Greenland's ice cap, including the Danish field camp North GRIP and the American Summit Camp, is handled through Kangerlussuaq via the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard.
In 2000 a testing track is being built for the testing company Nausta, which runs a testing site in northern Sweden. In the spring of 2000 the Swedish construction group Skanska's Greenlandic subsidiary completed six month's work in establishing a 30-kilometer-long road through the glacial valley from Kangerlussuaq to the edge of the permanent inland ice. They have now begun to lay a road that will stretch 150 kilometers on the inland ice to the site Nausta has chosen for its testing facility. At that location, Skanska will build a compound and testing grounds. The compound will contain a hotel with a cafeteria and other facilities to accommodate around 40 employees who will live there for six months at a time. A 900-square-meter workshop also will be constructed, along with testing ground which will cover and area about 50 kilometers in diameter.
Nausta is building the facility to complement the winter testing done by Volkswagen in northern Sweden and Finland. It's always winter on the ice cap, but the site at Kangerlussuaq will primarily be used in the summer half of the year, from April through October. The Government of Greenland has given Nausta a 10-year operating permit, and that period may be extended.
This project was abandoned and in 2006 the road leading to the edge of the ice cap is maintained for tourist purposes only, though an access to the last segment of the road is limited. Ice activity has demolished the inland ice segment of the road.
TELE Greenland A/S is installing the advanced communications system that will link the facility with Volkswagen's development departments at Wolfsburg, Mladá Boleslav, Barcelona and Ingolstadt. The entire testing ground must be ready for use by April 2001, when the first batch of cars will arrive to face a trial of strength in extreme cold and conditions of near-zero friction. The cars will be flown from Europe to Kangerlussuaq, and then driven to the proving grounds after last-minute checks.
[edit] Scientific Research
There is an Ionospheric and Atmospheric research facility known as the Sondrestrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility, situated at about 15 km west of Kangerlussuaq. It is commonly known around the town as Kellyville. It is operated by the SRI International for the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Danish Meteorological Institute. This facility is host to more than 20 instruments, the majority of which provide unique and complementary information about the arctic upper atmosphere. The centerpiece instrument of the facility is an L-band incoherent scatter (IS) radar with a 32 m fully steerable antenna. It has been operational since the ionospheric radar was transported from Alaska to Kangerlussuaq in 1983 and it continues to be in high demand by the scientific communities [1].
Kangerlussuaq is also going to host the Greenland Space Science Symposium in May 2007 [2]. The selection of Greenland as a place for the symposium will celebrate the rich history of Greenland in using scientific instruments to provide a window into the geospace system.
[edit] Rocket launches
Since 1971, rockets such as the Nike Apache, Petrel, Nike Tomahawk, Black Brant, Terrier Malemute, Taurus Orion, Terrier Malemute and Taurus Nike Tomahawk TNT have been launched for a site close to Kangerlussuaq (specifically, at ) for examinations of the upper atmosphere.
[edit] Launch List
| Date | Vehicle | Mission | Results |
| 22 Aug 1971 | Nike-Apache | (DK) | S (225 km) |
| 24 Aug 1971 | Nike-Apache | (DK) | S (225 km) |
| 10 Dec 1972 | Nike-Tomahawk | (DK) | S (300 km) |
| 02 Jul 1974 | Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 18.156IE/UE | S (235 km) |
| 08 Jul 1974 | Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 18.157IE/UE | S (235 km) |
| 17 Dec 1974 | Black Brant IV | (GER) MPI | S (595 km) |
| 17 Dec 1974 | Petrel | (UK) P86G | S (175 km) |
| 17 Dec 1974 | Petrel | (UK) P87G | S (170 km) |
| 18 Dec 1974 | Black Brant IV | (GER) MPI | S (550 km) |
| 18 Dec 1974 | Nike-Tomahawk | (DK) | E (20 km) |
| 18 Dec 1974 | Petrel | (UK) P166G | S (170 km) |
| 18 Dec 1974 | Petrel | (UK) P167G | S (170 km) |
| 11 Jan 1975 | Black Brant IV | (GER) MPI | S (610 km) |
| 22 Aug 1976 | Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 18.209IE CUSP II | S |
| 27 Aug 1976 | Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 18.210IE SEC II | S |
| 23 Jan 1985 | Terrier-Malemute | NASA 29.023UE | S |
| 23 Jan 1985 | Black Brant X | NASA 35.009UE | S |
| 10 Feb 1985 | Terrier-Malemute | NASA 29.015UE | S |
| 10 Feb 1985 | Black Brant X | NASA 35.012UE TOPAZ | S |
| 05 Mar 1985 | Taurus-Orion | NASA 33.044UE | S |
| 15 Mar 1985 | Black Brant IX | AFGL A21.426 | |
| 20 Mar 1985 | Taurus-Tomahawk | NASA 34.006UE | S |
| 20 Mar 1985 | Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 18.219UE | S |
| 26 Feb 1987 | Terrier-Malemute | NASA 29.025UE | S |
| 26 Feb 1987 | Black Brant IX | AFGL A21.628 | |
| 05 Mar 1987 | Terrier-Malemute | NASA 29.026UE | S |
| 05 Mar 1987 | Taurus-Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 38.012UE | S |
| 21 Mar 1987 | Taurus-Tomahawk | NASA 34.014UE | S |
| 21 Mar 1987 | Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 18.220UE | S |
| 21 Mar 1987 | Black Brant VIII?IX | AFGL A19.426 | |
| 31 Mar 1987 | Black Brant IX | NASA 36.014UE COPE II | S (436 km) |
| 31 Mar 1987 | Taurus-Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 38.010UE COPE II | S (467 km) |
| 31 Mar 1987 | Taurus-Nike-Tomahawk | NASA 38.011UE COPE II | S (441 km) |
