Onizuka Air Force Station
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Onizuka Air Force Station is a US Air Force installation in Sunnyvale, California. It is a large, blue, windowless, concrete building, known locally as the Blue Cube, with an array of parabolic dish antennas used for control of military satellites.
Built in 1960 on land near Moffett Field, purchased from Lockheed Martin (then Lockheed), the station was originally known as the Air Force Satellite Test Center. It was later renamed the Air Force Satellite Control Facility, and Sunnyvale Air Force Station. In 1986, the base was renamed in honor of LtCol Ellison Onizuka, one of the astronauts who, in January 28, 1986, died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.
Onizuka Air Force Base is still quite active, although virtually all of its activities are undisclosed, perhaps even classified. Notably, it served as control center for the Pathfinder mission in 1996-1997.
On May 13 2005, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recommended closing the Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale as part of a fifth round of military base closures and re-sizing.
External links
- Onizuka Air Force Station (http://www.onizuka.af.mil/)
- BRAC 2005: Closings, Realignments to Reshape Infrastructure (http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2005/20050513_1081.html)