The Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport in the US state of Wyoming, although sounds fantastic, is actually a disappointing dirt landing strip located about 7 km south of the central business district of Green River, on a mountain known locally as South Hill. The so called ‘spaceport’ is equipped with a solitary runway, 1,700 meter long and 40 meters wide. Its dirt and gravel surface is covered by deep ruts from vehicular traffic. The runway is unattended and there are no buildings or facilities nearby. The only movement here is from a lone substandard windsock that gets picked up by the occasional gust of wind.
For decades, the runway was known as Green River 48U. Then in 1994, the Green River City Council adopted the spaceport moniker as a tourism stunt. The idea was to welcome inhabitants of Jupiter who might wish to take sanctuary in Green River, when their planet was threatened by collision from Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. Surprisingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the name change.
Read more »© Amusing Planet, 2015.
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