Mayaguana Military Point of Landing

This site near the Mayaguana Airport in Abrahams Bay was once the home of a U.S. military base and former tracking station built in the 1950s along with a 10,000 foot runway. The tracking station was used to help keep astronauts on course at the beginning of the U.S. space program. It has been closed for many years and all that remains are abandoned buildings that keep company with rusted old DC3s that crashed or were abandoned. Much of the runway is overgrown, but 5,300 feet is still usable and now functions as the islands only airport. A small monument commemorates the landing of the nose cone from a Thor missile, one of the early rockets sent into space in 1959. It was successful in its mission to capture the first color photographs of the earth from outer space. The data capsule containing the camera was recovered on a beach in Mayaguana, approximately 1,700 miles from its takeoff point. Following are the particulars: * Launch Date: December 1, 1959 * Launch Location: Cape Canaveral, Florida * Retrieval Date: February 16, 1960 * Retrieval Location: Mayaguana Island, Bahamas * Model Designation: Thor DMISA * Program: 10C * Vehicle Serial number: 254