MichaelWTravels

While planning our trip to Easter Island I picked up a copy of "A Companion To Easter Island" by James Grant Peterkin. I had been in touch with James and ordered the book from him directly. (James would also end up being our guide for two of our days on EI)

The companion guide had information about sites all over Easter Island. The information was written in an easy to digest manner making for a quick read. I also enjoyed the photos inside

While reading the book, I came across an odd site that I was interested in visiting. It was very different from the other sites around Easter Island. It was an old NASA Facility that was opened in 1983. The photo in the companion guide reminded me of something that belonged in the TV series Lost!

I found Easter Island an odd place for the United States to put a NASA site.
According to the guide book the site was built by NASA "to monitor seismic activity in the Pacific Ocean, measuring the movement of the tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust. Easter Island sits on the edge of the Nazca plate and creeps approximately 15 centimeters closer to the South American mainland each year."


We ended up visiting the NASA Facility on our last day on Easter Island and found the site by mistake.

I was driving back from a long day of site seeing around the island and we decided to take a road through the interior which we had not been on before. I was keeping my eyes on the road when Kim happened to notice what she thought was the NASA site. I immediately stopped and turned around to go check it out.

Although there wasn't much to see at the NASA Facility I was really glad that we had found it. The facility consisted of a few buildings- all painted a dull green. It was pretty interesting to see but I really wondered what was doing inside of the buildings. The facility was surrounded by a fence so we couldn't go directly up to the buildings which was a bit annoying.

I am not sure if the site is still used but from the looks of the area I'd guess that it wasn't.

If you're planning a trip to Easter Island I definitely recommend that you pick up a copy of the guidebook: A Companion Guide To Easter Island.

mallodi

Really interesting. Thanks for posting something a bit different to the usual reports we see around here.

MichaelWTravels

You're very welcome. Glad you enjoyed!

malkie

Brilliant stuff. Great to see something different
Photos look like something from the TV show 'Lost'

Doc Savage

The NASA site is on Easter Island because it was a suitable place to put a very long runway for emergency shuttle landings.

Interesting pictures, thanks!

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-..._easter-island

lad2

The airport served as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle.

glu800

Incidentally, the Mataveri International Airport (IPC) was once designated as an abort landing site for NASA's Space Shuttles when they were planned to be launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg AFB on the West Coast. Unfortunately, with the Challenger disaster, that never happened, and plans to use IPC were scrapped as well. I doubt that has anything to do with the facility you visited, but interesting none the less.

I'm actually writing up an Easter Island trip report now. Just went in early November!

EDIT: Oops... I guess I was a few minutes late posting this :P

MichaelWTravels

Thank you! I mentioned in my post how the site reminded me of Lost. Glad you felt the same way based on my photos.
You're welcome! The US payed a ton of money to Chile plus all of the fees to extend the runway. I'd guess the government is glad the runway was lengthened to allow full size planes to bring the tourists & pay the entry visa!
Correct, that was the plan!
How long did you spend on Easter Island? We loved it and felt that we got to see a ton of things. I have another post somewhere on FT (or on my blog) related to another really odd thing I did on Easter Island. It's related to souvenir shopping!

glu800

I spent about 4 full days on Easter Island (arrived early on the first morning). I think it was a good amount of time to see most of the main sites. There was plenty more to see (as you clearly showed in your original post), but I suppose you could stay for weeks and still not see everything! I thought it was an amazing trip... some of the sites were simply incredible, like the hike up to Rano Kau, and sunrise at Tongariki.

MichaelWTravels

Glad you enjoyed! We had 4.5 days on Easter Island. I felt like it was enough time but we did love it. We loved how you could drive around the island and pretty much not get lost. Some of the roads didn't seem to be meant for driving but led to amazing sites. The sunrise at Tongariki was so great that we went twice! Second time we took very few photos and just enjoyed the site!

Did you visit any other parts of Chile?
We also went to Patagonia (amazing), Santiago & Valparaiso (not so amazing).

glu800

Yeah, I was a little surprised at how small the island was and how rural it felt. Renting a car for a day was a great way to see a ton of stuff!

This was a just a short trip, so only Santiago for 3 days afterwards. I really like Santiago actually, maybe not as flashy as other cities, but there were some really cool neighborhoods and I thought the people were very friendly. Debated going to Valparaiso, but ultimately decided not to (probably a good idea).

I did Patagonia back in 2009 and I still think it was some of the most incredible scenery I've ever seen in my life. Did Ushuaia, drove from Punta Arenas up to Torres del Paine and did the W circuit, then El Calafate and Perito Moreno. Unfortunately didn't get up to El Chalten and Fitz Roy... maybe next time when I get to go back!