Information about Kwajalein
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Kwajalein Atoll - NASA NLT Landsat 7 (Visible Color) Satellite Image
The atoll lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles (3900 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii at .
Geography
Kwajalein is one of the world's largest coral atolls as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islets, it has a land area of 16.4 km², and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world, with an area of 2174 km².Kwajalein Island is the southernmost, and the largest, of the islands in the Kwajalein atoll. The northernmost, and second largest, island is Roi-Namur.
The population of Kwajalein island is approximately 2,500, mostly Americans and a small number of Marshall Islanders and other nationals, all of whom have express permission from the U.S. Army to live there.
The primary mode of personal transportation is the bicycle and housing is free for most personnel, depending on contract or tour of duty.[1]
Current Use By US Military
These are the two main islands used by the U.S. personnel and their families are accommodated in trailers or hard housing. Most unaccompanied personnel live in apartment style housing.Since 1944, when American forces captured the atoll from the Japanese in the Battle of Kwajalein, it has been used for military purposes by the U.S., while escaping the fates of the nearby atolls of Bikini, Rongelap and Enewetak as the atoll has never been a site for nuclear detonations or covered with any significant nuclear fallout from the tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy during the 1940s and 1950s. It was, however, the main support site for this weapons-testing program, namely Operation Crossroads.
Testing Sites
Eleven of the 97 islands are leased by the United States and are part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS), formerly known as Kwajalein Missile Range. RTS includes radar installations, optics, telemetry, and communications equipment which are used for ballistic missile and missile interceptor testing and space operations support. Kwajalein hosts one of three ground antennas (others are on Diego Garcia and Ascension Island) that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system.SpaceX
More recently, the extensive infrastructure has attracted SpaceX, which built a commercial launch site on Omelek Island for its Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets.History prior to 1944
Prior to 1944, Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll had always been an important site of great cultural significance to the Marshallese people of the Ralik chain. In Marshall Islander cosmology, Kwajalein islet was the site of an abundant flowering utilomar tree from which great blessings flowed, and people from all over would come to gather the "fruits" of this tree. This, explain many elders, is a Marshallese metaphor that describes the past century of colonialism and serves to explain why Kwajalein is still so precious to foreign interests. This story was also the origin of the name Kuwajleen, which apparently derives from Ri-ruk-jan-leen, "the people who harvest the flowers."[2]Trading hub
However, even immediately prior to militarization, the islands of Kwajalein, and particularly the main island, served as a rural copra trading outpost administered by Japanese civilians under the Japanese Mandated "South Seas" Islands of Micronesia (the Nan'yo Gunto) for nearly thirty years. The earliest known Japanese record of Kwajalein and the Marshall Islands appears in the writings of Suzuki Keikun, who was dispatched to the Marshall Islands in 1885 to investigate a Japanese shipwreck. And though this visit was followed by two decades of German colonial rule in the Marshalls, in 1914, Japan peacefully took control of the islands from Germany and established administrative control in 1922 under a League of Nations Mandate.[3]Early Japanese influence
Japanese settlers were few in Kwajalein Atoll, known in Japanese as Kuezerin Kansho, comprising mostly traders and their families who worked at local branches of shops headquartered at nearby Jaluit Atoll. There were also local administrative staff, and with the establishment of Kwajalein's public school in 1935, schoolteachers were also sent to the island from Japan. Most Marshall Islanders who recall those times describe a peaceful time of cooperation and development between Japanese and Marshallese.[4][5]Japanese militarism
In the late 1930s, Japan began to centralize military power in Micronesia in line with its expansionism. Japanese civilian engineers and conscripted Korean and Japanese laborers worked together with Marshallese to build fortifications throughout the atoll, although archaeological evidence and testimonies from Japanese and Marshallese sources indicates that this project would not likely have begun until the 1940s and was not even complete at the time of the American invasion in 1944. A second wave of Japanese naval and ground forces was dispatched to Kwajalein in early 1943 from the Manchurian front, most of whom were between the ages of 18-21 and had no experience in the tropics.[6]Forced resettlement
When the first runway was built on Kwajalein islet by mostly Korean laborers, the Japanese public school and all civil administration was shifted to Namu Atoll, and Islanders were forcibly moved to live on some of the smaller islets in the atoll. The trauma of this experience, together with the influx of these young, underprepared troops surprised the local population, and many Islanders make clear distinctions in their recollections of civilian and military Japanese for this reason.[7]During and after World War Two
On February 1, 1944, Kwajalein was the target of the most concentrated bombardment of the Pacific War. Thirty-six thousand shells from naval ships and ground artillery on a nearby islet struck Kwajalein.[8] American B-24 Liberator bombers aerially bombarded the island, adding to the destruction.Of the 8,782 Japanese personnel[9] deployed to the atoll (including Korean laborers), it has been argued that only 2,200 were combat trained. Despite this likelihood, Japanese resistance was strong and resilient, even given the fact that Japanese troops were outnumbered by tens of thousands of American troops. By the end of the battle 373 Americans were killed, 7,870 Japanese and Koreans were killed,[10] and an estimated 200 Marshallese were killed.
Kwajalein was one of the few locations in the Pacific war where Islanders were killed while actually fighting for the Japanese.[11] On February 6, 1944, Kwajalein was claimed by the United States and "liberated" from Japanese rule.[12] While some American mistakenly claim that Kwajalein was "taken back" by the United States, the Marshall Islands had never been a United States territory prior to the initiation of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands that followed World War II.
Wartime memorials
Very few Japanese or Korean remains were ever repatriated from the atoll; thus both Kwajalein and Roi-Namur have ceremonial "cemetery" sites to honor this memory. The memorial on Kwajalein was constructed by the Marshall Islands Bereaved Families Association of Japan in the 1960s, and the memorial on Roi-Namur was constructed by American personnel. Both memorial sites are dedicated not only to Japanese souls but to the sacrifices of Koreans, Marshallese, and Americans.A ceremony is held at Japan's Yasukuni Shrine annually in April (originally held in February to coincide with the anniversary of the battle) where the memories of the Japanese soldiers are honored and surviving families make prayers to their spirits.[13]
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US Infantry inspect a hole after capturing the Kwajalein Atoll from Japan during World War II
Kwajalein today
Although the Marshall Islands was officially granted independence from the United States, and became an independent republic in 1986, Kwajalein atoll is still used by the United States for missile testing and various other operations. While this military history has deeply influenced the lives of the Marshall Islanders who have lived in the atoll through the war to the present, the military history of Kwajalein has made tourism almost non-existent and has kept the environment in relatively pristine condition. American civilians and their families who reside at the military installations in Kwajalein are able to enjoy this environment with few restrictions. Kwajalein lagoon offers excellent wreck diving of mostly Japanese ships, a few planes and the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Spear fishing and deep sea fishing are also exceptional. 80 degree water temperature and 100 foot visibility are common when scuba diving on the ocean side of the atoll.A neighboring island Ebeye has the largest population in the atoll, with approximately 13,000 residents (mostly Marshall Islanders and a small population of migrants and volunteers from other island groups and nations) living on 80 acres (320,000 m²) of land. Ebeye is one of the most densely populated places in the world.[14] Roi-Namur used to be 3 separate islands: Roi, Namur and Enidrikdrik. After WWII, while the US had control of the atoll, they mostly paved over Enidrikdrik and renamed the resulting island Roi-Namur.
Since 1961 several tests of anti-ballistic missiles were performed on Kwajalein. Therefore there are launchpads on Illeginni Island ( ), Roi-Namur Island ( ) and Kwajalein Drop Zone, Pacific Ocean ( ).
Land lease disputes
Under the constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands the government cannot own land; all land is private and inherited through one's matriline and clan. Since the United States began leasing land, the issue of proper land payments has been a major issue of contention for landowners which continues today. "Landowners" here refers to the consortium of representatives comprised of irooj (chiefs), alaps (clan heads) and senior rijerbal (workers) who have land rights to the places used for military purposes by the US. Unclear and insufficient in the opinion of these landowners, the original lease arrangements with the US were finally renegotiated only after the landowners and their supporters demonstrated in the early 1980s with a peaceful protest called "Operation Homecoming," in which Islanders re-inhabited their land at Kwajalein, Roi-Namur, and other restricted sites in the atoll.[15][16] This resulted in the first official Land Use Agreement (LUA) between the United States Army and Kwajalein landowners, which was linked to the larger Compact of Free Association with the United States. The first LUA guaranteed total payments of roughly US $11 million to the landowners through the year 2016, the majority of which went to the irooj (chiefs), who had the largest stake in the land. While some American observers erroneously claimed that these land payments were "misused," in fact these funds were rental payments that landowners could use at their own discretion, separate from whatever funds the US earmarked to help develop or improve Kwajalein Atoll, which were funneled into the now-defunct Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority (KADA.)In advance of its expiration in 2016, this LUA was renegotiated in 2003 as part of Compact II, with the US agreeing to pay the landowners (via the Republic of the Marshall Islands) $15 million a year, adjusted for inflation, with the option to use Kwajalein through 2066, renewable through 2086. The landowners, affiliated under the Kwajalein Negotiations Committee (KNC), strongly resisted this negotiation, stating that they had not been consulted about this agreement.[17] By their independent land appraisals and calculations, the KNC had already determined that the minimum acceptable compensation they should receive for Kwajalein lands was at least $19.1 million annually, adjusted for inflation. The landowners also claimed that there were many other terms by which they wished the US would abide should the lease be extended, including providing better support and infrastructure to Ebeye, improving healthcare and education, guaranteeing that the missile testing was not creating environmental hazards, and providing a comprehensive life and property insurance policy.[18] The landowners thus refused to sign the newly proposed LUA; so although the new Compact was ratified in 2003, they have since held out, insisting, through Kwajalein Atoll elected representatives, that either a new LUA should be drafted that considers their needs or the US will have to leave Kwajalein when the active LUA expires in 2016.
Currently the US pays an annual $15 million to the landowners, as agreed provisionally in 2003; however, as the LUA has not been signed, the difference of roughly $3 million goes into an escrow account. If the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the landowners do not reach an agreement about land payments by the end of 2008, the Compact states that these funds in escrow can be returned to the US Treasury. Landowners have vowed not to give in to this pressure from the US or from their own government, stating that it would be "insane" for Marshallese people to put up with another 70 years of the kind of circumstances that exist today in Kwajalein Atoll at Ebeye and other islands.[19]
Amidst this tense stalemate between Marshall Islands central government leaders and Kwajalein landowners, the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) installation has also been downsizing. However, recent statements by Army leadership[20] indicate that the United States is deeply committed to remaining in the Marshall Islands at Kwajalein Atoll for the foreseeable future.
Other islands in the Kwajalein atoll
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Kwajalein Atoll (Jacob, Arnold, etc. are World War II code names for islands)
Other islands in the atoll:[21]
- Ebeye is not part of the Reagan Test Site, it is a Marshallese island-city with shops, restaurants and an active commercial port. It is the administrative center of the Republic of the Marshall Islands at Kwajalein Atoll, and the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government (KALGOV), completely separate from the United States military operations in the atoll.
- Enubuj or "Carlson" Islet (its 1944 U.S. operation codename) is situated next to Kwajalein Islet to the northeast. It was from this island that U.S. forces launched their amphibious invasion of Kwajalein. Today, it is the site of a small Marshallese village with a church and small cemetery. The sunken vessel Prinz Eugen, used during the Bikini Atoll atomic weapons tests, is located here along the islet's northern lagoon side.
- Ennylabagen or "Carlos" Islet (codename) is also site of a small Marshall Islander community that has decreased in size in recent decades but was once a bigger village. Until recently, it was actively utilized by the Reagan Test Site for tracking activities during missions, and has been one of the only non-restricted Marshallese-populated islands used by the United States Army. As such, power and clean drinking water were provided to this island free-of-charge like on the other military-leased islands. This is likely to be phased out if the island ceases to be used for future mission support.
- Ebadon is located at the westernmost tip of the atoll. It was the second-largest island in the atoll before the formation of Roi-Namur. Like Ebeye, it falls fully under the jurisdiction of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is not part of the Reagan Test Site. The village of Ebadon was much more largely populated before the war and it was where some of the irooj (chiefs) of Kwajalein Atoll grew up. Like many other key islets in the atoll, it has much cultural and spiritual significance in Marshallese cosmology.
- Enmat is "mo" or taboo, birthplace of the irooj (chiefly families) and off-limits to anyone without the blessing of the Iroijlaplap (paramount chief). The remains of a small Marshallese village and burial sites are still intact, but this island is located in the Mid-Atoll Corridor and no one can reside there or on surrounding islands due to missile tests.
- Meck is a launch site for anti-ballistic missiles and is probably the most restricted island of all the U.S.-leased sites.
- Roi-Namur has several radar installations and a small residential community of unaccompanied U.S. personnel who deal with missions support and radar tracking. Japanese bunkers and buildings from World War II are still in good condition and preserved. Roi and Namur were originally separate islets that were joined by a causeway built predominately by Korean conscripted laborers working under the Japanese military. There is a significant indigenous Marshall Islander workforce that commutes to Roi-Namur from the nearby island of Enniburr, much like workers commute from Ebeye to Kwajalein. These workers are badged and have limited access to the island like their counterparts on Kwajalein, although access is granted for Islanders who need to use the air terminal to fly down to Kwajalein.
- Bigej (Marshallese "Pikeej") is uninhabited and has no buildings on it but many people from Kwajalein island in the south of the atoll come up to visit it for picnics and camping. It is covered with lush tropical palm trees and jungle. It is a site of cultural significance to the indigenous people of Kwajalein, as are most of the small islands throughout the atoll. Some Kwajalein landowners have proposed developing Bigej to look similar to the landscaped beauty of Kwajalein, for the exclusive use of Kwajalein atoll landowners and their families.
- Legan (Marshallese "Ambo") is uninhabited but does have a few buildings on the southern part of the island. Most of the island is thick jungle like most islands in the Marshall Islands. Unlike most islands though, Legan has a very small lake in the middle.
- Omelek Uninhabited, leased by the US military. Site of SpaceX launch facility.
- Little Bustard (Marshallese "Drebubbu") is the first island north of Kwajalein on the East reef. During low tide and with protective boots, it is possible to wade across the reef between Kwajalein and Little Bustard.
- Nell Island (Marshallese "Nōl") With a unique convergence of protected channels and small islands, the Nell area is unique and a popular destination for locals and Americans sailing through the area with proper permissions from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (All non-leased islands are strictly off-limits to American base residents and personnel without applying for official permission.)
Passes near Kwajalein Island
- SAR Pass (Search And Rescue Pass) is closest to Kwajalein on the West reef. This pass is manmade and was created in the 1970s, it is very narrow and shallow compared to the other natural passes in the lagoon and is only used by small boats. It is often misprounounced "Zar Pass."
- South Pass is also on the West reef, north of SAR Pass. It is very wide.
- Gea Pass is a deep water pass between Gea and Ninni islands.
- Bijej Pass is the first pass on the East reef North of Kwajalein & Ebeye.
See also
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Ballistic missile testing occurs at Kwajalein.
- National Missile Defense
- Space and Missile Defense Command
- Ground-Based Midcourse Defense
- Missile Defense Agency
- Marshall Islands
- Battle of Kwajalein
- USS Kwajalein (CVE-98)
- Communications in the Marshall Islands
- History of the Marshall Islands
- Geography of the Marshall Islands
Footnotes
1. ^ Dvorak, Gregory. Remapping Home: Touring the Betweenness of Kwajalein. M.A., Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, 2004.
2. ^ In Anxious Anticipation of Kuwajleen's Uneven Fruits : A Cultural History of the Significant Locations and Important Resources of Kuwajleen Atoll. Huntsville, Ala.: United States Army Space and Strategic Defense Command, 1997.
3. ^ Peattie, Mark R. Nan'yō : The Rise and Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, 1885-1945, Pacific Islands Monograph Series ; No. 4. Honolulu: Center for Pacific Islands Studies School of Hawaiian Asian and Pacific Studies University of Hawaii : University of Hawaii Press, 1988.
4. ^ Dvorak, Gregory. "The 'Martial Islands': Making Marshallese Masculinities between American and Japanese Militarism." The Contemporary Pacific Journal, forthcoming.
5. ^ Poyer, Lin, Suzanne Falgout, and Laurence Marshall Carucci. The Typhoon of War : Micronesian Experiences of the Pacific War. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001.
6. ^ Higuchi, Wakako. Micronesia under the Japanese Administration : Interviews with Former South Sea Bureau and Military Officials. Guam: University of Guam, 1987.
7. ^ Dvorak, Gregory. Man/Making Home : Breaking through the Concrete of Kwajalein Atoll. Canberra: Gender Relations Centre Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies Australian National University, 2005.
8. ^ John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945, Random House, 1970, p. 470
9. ^ Japanese Government, "Senshi Sosho" (War Chronicles, Marshall Islands Section), p. 216
10. ^ Richard, Dorothy, United States Naval Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Vol. 1 Washington, D.C.: Office of Chief of Naval Operations. 1957, 124
11. ^ Poyer, Lin, Suzanne Falgout, and Laurence M. Carucci, "The Typhoon of War: Micronesian Experiences of the Pacific War." Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2001, 121
12. ^ Hezel, Francis X. Strangers in Their Own Land : A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Honolulu:University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.
13. ^ Dvorak, Gregory. Seeds from Afar, Flowers from the Reef: Re-membering the Coral and Concrete of Kwajalein. PhD diss., Australian National University, Canberra, 2007 (forthcoming).
14. ^ Alexander, William John. Wage Labor, Urbanization and Culture Change in the Marshall Islands: The Ebeye Case, New School for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1978.
15. ^ "Home on the Range," a film by Adam Horowitz, 1983.
16. ^ Hanlon, David. Remaking Micronesia University of Hawai'i Press: 1998.
17. ^ Johnson, Giff, "Kwajalein Leader Says 'No' to Extending US Agreement," "Marianas Variety, 25 June 2007.
18. ^ Kwajalein Negotiations Committee, "The Position of Kwajalein Landowners Under the Renewed Compact of Free Association," KNC 2003.
19. ^ Johnson, Giff, "Kwajalein Leader Says 'No' to Extending US Agreement," "Marianas Variety, 25 June 2007.
20. ^ from Rowa, Aenet, "Yokwe Online," [1] accessed 1 July 2007
21. ^ based partly on testimony of Islanders and on Carucci, Laurence M. In Anxious Anticipation of Kuwajleen's Uneven Fruits : A Cultural History of the Significant Locations and Important Resources of Kuwajleen Atoll. Huntsville, Ala.: United States Army Space and Strategic Defense Command, 1997.
2. ^ In Anxious Anticipation of Kuwajleen's Uneven Fruits : A Cultural History of the Significant Locations and Important Resources of Kuwajleen Atoll. Huntsville, Ala.: United States Army Space and Strategic Defense Command, 1997.
3. ^ Peattie, Mark R. Nan'yō : The Rise and Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, 1885-1945, Pacific Islands Monograph Series ; No. 4. Honolulu: Center for Pacific Islands Studies School of Hawaiian Asian and Pacific Studies University of Hawaii : University of Hawaii Press, 1988.
4. ^ Dvorak, Gregory. "The 'Martial Islands': Making Marshallese Masculinities between American and Japanese Militarism." The Contemporary Pacific Journal, forthcoming.
5. ^ Poyer, Lin, Suzanne Falgout, and Laurence Marshall Carucci. The Typhoon of War : Micronesian Experiences of the Pacific War. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001.
6. ^ Higuchi, Wakako. Micronesia under the Japanese Administration : Interviews with Former South Sea Bureau and Military Officials. Guam: University of Guam, 1987.
7. ^ Dvorak, Gregory. Man/Making Home : Breaking through the Concrete of Kwajalein Atoll. Canberra: Gender Relations Centre Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies Australian National University, 2005.
8. ^ John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945, Random House, 1970, p. 470
9. ^ Japanese Government, "Senshi Sosho" (War Chronicles, Marshall Islands Section), p. 216
10. ^ Richard, Dorothy, United States Naval Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Vol. 1 Washington, D.C.: Office of Chief of Naval Operations. 1957, 124
11. ^ Poyer, Lin, Suzanne Falgout, and Laurence M. Carucci, "The Typhoon of War: Micronesian Experiences of the Pacific War." Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2001, 121
12. ^ Hezel, Francis X. Strangers in Their Own Land : A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Honolulu:University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.
13. ^ Dvorak, Gregory. Seeds from Afar, Flowers from the Reef: Re-membering the Coral and Concrete of Kwajalein. PhD diss., Australian National University, Canberra, 2007 (forthcoming).
14. ^ Alexander, William John. Wage Labor, Urbanization and Culture Change in the Marshall Islands: The Ebeye Case, New School for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1978.
15. ^ "Home on the Range," a film by Adam Horowitz, 1983.
16. ^ Hanlon, David. Remaking Micronesia University of Hawai'i Press: 1998.
17. ^ Johnson, Giff, "Kwajalein Leader Says 'No' to Extending US Agreement," "Marianas Variety, 25 June 2007.
18. ^ Kwajalein Negotiations Committee, "The Position of Kwajalein Landowners Under the Renewed Compact of Free Association," KNC 2003.
19. ^ Johnson, Giff, "Kwajalein Leader Says 'No' to Extending US Agreement," "Marianas Variety, 25 June 2007.
20. ^ from Rowa, Aenet, "Yokwe Online," [1] accessed 1 July 2007
21. ^ based partly on testimony of Islanders and on Carucci, Laurence M. In Anxious Anticipation of Kuwajleen's Uneven Fruits : A Cultural History of the Significant Locations and Important Resources of Kuwajleen Atoll. Huntsville, Ala.: United States Army Space and Strategic Defense Command, 1997.
External links
About the Marshall Islands and current events
- Yokwe Online, the largest Marshallese web presence online
- Embassy of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
Transportation
History
Work on Kwajalein
- U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command, Reagan Test Site
- work performed at Reagan Test Site
- Bechtel summary of Kwajalein
- Kwajalein Range Services overview and job opportunities
Kwajalein community
- Kwajalein's newspaper, The Hourglass
- Kwajalein Amateur Radio Club V73AX
- Kwajalein Scuba Club
- Kwajalein Yacht Club
- Kwajalein housing
- Kwajalein Junior/Senior High School & George Seitz Elementary School
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atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.
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Beau Briggs, the foremost atoll expert, says that the word atoll comes from the Dhivehi (an Indo-Aryan language spoken on the Maldive Islands) word atholhu..... Click the link for more information.
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Roi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944.
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Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944.
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Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from January 31, 1944, to February 3, 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault
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Bikini Atoll (also known as Pikinni Atoll) is an uninhabited 6.0-square-kilometer atoll in one of the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands. It consists of 36 islands surrounding a 594.2-square-kilometer lagoon.
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Rongelap Atoll is an island-atoll located in Micronesia. It is a municipality of the Marshall Islands. The Atoll consists of 61 islets with a combined area of approximately 3 square miles (8 km²). Its lagoon covers 388 square miles (1,000 km²).
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Enewetak (or Eniwetok) is an atoll in the Marshall Islands of the central Pacific Ocean. Its land consists of about 40 small islets totaling less than 6 km², surrounding a lagoon, 80 km (50 mi) in circumference.
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Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion, so named because it "falls out" of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust created when a nuclear weapon explodes.
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Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States in the summer of 1946. The series consisted of two detonations, each with a yield of 21 kilotons: ABLE detonated at an altitude of 520 feet (158 m) on 1 July 1946; BAKER detonated 90 feet (27
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Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site, is a missile test range in the Pacific Ocean. It covers about 750,000 square miles and includes rocket launch sites at the Kwajalein Atoll (on multiple islands), Wake Island, and
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Diego Garcia () is an atoll located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, some 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south off India's and Sri Lanka's southern coast. Diego Garcia is the largest atoll by land area of the Chagos Archipelago.
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Anthem
God Save the Queen
Capital
(and largest city) Georgetown
Official languages English
Government Dependency of St.
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God Save the Queen
Capital
(and largest city) Georgetown
Official languages English
Government Dependency of St.
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Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Utilizing a constellation of at least 24 medium Earth orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its
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SpaceX
Private
Founded 2002
Headquarters El Segundo, California
Key people Elon Musk: CEO and CTO
Industry Aerospace
Products Orbital rocket launch
Revenue unknown
Employees 350
Website spacex.
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Private
Founded 2002
Headquarters El Segundo, California
Key people Elon Musk: CEO and CTO
Industry Aerospace
Products Orbital rocket launch
Revenue unknown
Employees 350
Website spacex.
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Omelek Island is part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is controlled by the United States military under a long-term lease (along with ten other islands in the atoll) and is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.
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Falcon 1
Falcon 1 rocket in front of the FAA building in Washington DC.
Fact sheet
Function Orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer SpaceX
Country of origin USA
Size
Height 21.3 m (70 ft)
Diameter 1.
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Falcon 1 rocket in front of the FAA building in Washington DC.
Fact sheet
Function Orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer SpaceX
Country of origin USA
Size
Height 21.3 m (70 ft)
Diameter 1.
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Falcon 9
Falcon 9 variants. Note: The Falcon 9S5 was canceled, and the Falcon 9S9 was renamed the Falcon 9 Heavy.
Fact sheet
Function Man-rated re-usable heavy orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer SpaceX
Country of origin USA
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Falcon 9 variants. Note: The Falcon 9S5 was canceled, and the Falcon 9S9 was renamed the Falcon 9 Heavy.
Fact sheet
Function Man-rated re-usable heavy orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer SpaceX
Country of origin USA
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Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. The name copra is derived from the Malayalam word kopra (കൊപ്ര) for dried coconut. Copra is not to be mistaken as the scientific name for coconut (Cocos nucifera L.
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Jaluit Atoll is an atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only 4.38 sq mi (11 km²), but that encloses a lagoon of 266.31 sq mi (690 km²).
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Herod_Archelaus
