1.
Chantilly, Virginia
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Chantilly is a census-designated place in western Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 23,039 at the 2010 census, Chantilly is named after an early-19th-century mansion and farm, which in turn took the name of an 18th-century plantation that was located in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The name Chantilly originated in France with the Château de Chantilly, located in the Northern Virginia portion of the Washington metropolitan area, Chantilly sits approximately 25 miles west of Washington, D. C. via Interstate 66 and U. S. Route 50. It is located between Centreville to the south, Herndon and Reston to the north and northeast, respectively, Chantilly was home to a number of colonial plantations in the 1700s, including the Sully Plantation built by Richard Bland Lee I. Other plantations included George Richard Lee Turbervilles Leeton Grove, the John Hutchison Farm, Cornelia Lee Turberville Stuart, who was born at Leeton and was the daughter of George Richard Lee Turberville and Henrietta Lee, inherited a portion of Leeton in 1817 from her father. During the Civil War, federal troops destroyed by fire the Chantilly Plantation manor house, one building remains, a stone house across Route 50 from the Greenbriar Shopping Center. After the war, Cornelia Stuart, who had become deeply in debt, sold her 1, the advertisement for the sale referenced several tenements, one of which was the Stone House. The village grew during the 19th century, particularly following the construction of the Little River Turnpike to Winchester, during the American Civil War on September 1,1862, the Battle of Chantilly was fought nearby. Reaching the Little River Turnpike northwest of Centreville, Jackson turned southeastward toward Fairfax Court House to strike in rear of Popes army, during September 1, Pope, apprised of Jacksons movement, began to withdraw toward Fairfax Court House. Late in the day, Jackson clashed with Union forces under Brigadier General Isaac Stevens and Major General Philip Kearny near Ox Hill, during the ensuing battle, which was fought amid a raging storm, both Union generals Stevens and Kearny were killed. The fighting ended at dusk, and Popes army continued its withdrawal to Fairfax, although commercial and residential development now covers most of the Chantilly battlefield, a small county park preserves a 5-acre portion of the battle site. Chantilly is located in western Fairfax County at 38°53′39″N 77°25′52″W, to the southwest is Schneider Crossroads, not part of any census-designated area. The present center of Chantilly is located around the intersection of U. S. Route 50 and Virginia Route 28. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 12.2 square miles, of which 12.0 square miles is land and 0.1 square miles. As of the census of 2010, there were 23,039 people,7,218 households, the population density was 1,916.7 people per square mile. There were 7,403 housing units at a density of 615. 9/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 57. 6% White,6. 5% African American,0. 3% Native American,25. 2% Asian,0. 1% Pacific Islander,6. 1% some other race, and 4. 3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15. 9% of the population,13. 0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2. 4% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Aviation museum
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An aviation museum, air museum, or aerospace museum is a museum exhibiting the history and artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual or replica aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, models, dioramas, clothing, aviation museums vary in size from housing just one or two aircraft to hundreds. They may be owned by national, regional or local governments or be privately owned, some museums address the history and artifacts of space exploration as well, illustrating the close association between aeronautics and astronautics. Aviation museums may display their aircraft only on the ground or fly some of them, museums that do not fly their aircraft may have decided not to do so either because the aircraft are not in condition to fly or because they are considered too rare or valuable. Museums may fly their aircraft in air shows or other related events. Some museums have sets of periodicals, technical manuals, photographs and these are often made available to aviation researchers for use in writing articles or books or to aircraft restoration specialists working on restoring an aircraft
4.
Fairfax Connector
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Fairfax Connector is a public bus service provided by Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and operated under contract by MV Transportation. The first buses rolled out in September 1985 as a lower-cost alternative to the Metrobus service of the regional Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the original routes connected the southern part of the county to the Huntington Metro station which borders Alexandria. This area continues to be the core of the system, and is noted for the number of residents in the Richmond Highway area who use the service at all times of the day. Fairfax Connector, or simply The Connector, has expanded to 50-odd routes spanning much of the county. In 1994, the service was extended to the industrial areas of suburban Reston and Herndon. Along State Route 267, express buses carry commuters from free park-and-ride lots to the Washington Metro system. In June 2009, service was transitioned from the Metrobus 2W, 12-, and 20-series routes to the Connector in the Centreville, Chantilly, fares are paid in cash, Metrobus weekly unlimited bus flash pass, or WMATA issued SmarTrip card. The fare for local routes for riders paying cash and SmarTrip is $1.75, discounted transfers between local buses to and from Metrorail cost $1.25 and are available only to SmarTrip users. The fare for express Bus 495 is $4.00 cash or $3.65 SmarTrip, the fare for express buses 394,395 and 981 is $5.35. An express fare of $7.50 is charged on routes 595 and 597, there is no SmarTrip discount for express routes except for 495 buses. A $5 round trip fare or $4.50 SmarTrip with rail to bus transfer is charged for the Wolf Trap shuttle 480 operated by the Connector, as of January 4,2009, Fairfax Connector no longer issues or accepts paper transfers. As of August 2015, the Fairfax Connector fleet roster consists of the following buses, as of August 2014, the Fairfax Connector bus system consists of 85 routes. The following are the numbers and names that make up the Fairfax Connector bus system
5.
Smithsonian Institution
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The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
6.
National Air and Space Museum
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The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the NASM, is a museum in Washington, D. C. It holds the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1946 as the National Air Museum and opened its building on the National Mall near LEnfant Plaza in 1976. In 2014, the museum saw approximately 6.7 million visitors, the museum contains the Apollo 11 module, the Friendship 7 capsule which was flown by John Glenn, the Bell X-1 which broke the sound barrier, and the Wright brothers plane near the entrance. The National Air and Space Museum is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and spaceflight, as well as science and terrestrial geology. Almost all space and aircraft on display are originals or the original backup craft and it operates an annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, at Dulles International Airport, which opened in 2003 and itself encompasses 760,000 square feet. The museum currently conducts restoration of its collection at the Paul E. St, the mass of the museum is similar to the National Gallery of Art across the National Mall, and uses the same pink Tennessee marble as the National Gallery. Built by Gilbane Building Company, the museum was completed in 1976, the west glass wall of the building is used for the installation of airplanes, functioning as a giant door. The Air and Space Museum was originally called the National Air Museum when formed on August 12,1946 by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. The String fellow steam engine intended for aircraft was added to the collection in 1889, some pieces were on display in the Arts and Industries Building, some were stored in the Aircraft Building, a large temporary metal shed in the Smithsonian Castles south yard. Larger missiles and rockets were displayed outdoors in what was known as Rocket Row, the shed housed a large Martin bomber, a LePere fighter-bomber, and an Aeromarine 39B floatplane. Still, much of the collection remained in storage due to a lack of display space, the current Garber Facility was ceded to the Smithsonian by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1952 after the curator Paul E. Garber spotted the wooded area from the air. Bulldozers from Fort Belvoir and prefabricated buildings from the United States Navy kept the initial costs low, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center opened in 2003, funded by a private donation. The museum also holds the mirror for the Hubble which. The Smithsonian has also promised the International Cometary Explorer, which is currently in a solar orbit that occasionally brings it back to Earth. The Air and Space Museum announced a renovation of its main entrance hall. The renovation to the hall was funded by a $30 million donation from Boeing. The gift, which will be paid over seven years, is the largest corporate donation ever received by the Air, Boeing had previously given donations totaling $58 million
7.
Washington Dulles International Airport
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Washington Dulles International Airport is an international airport in Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia, United States,26 miles west of downtown Washington, D. C. The airport serves the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area, centered on the District of Columbia, the airport is named after John Foster Dulles, the 52nd Secretary of State who served under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Dulles main terminal is a landmark designed by Eero Saarinen. Operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Dulles Airport occupies 13,000 acres straddling the Loudoun-Fairfax line, most of the airport is in the unincorporated community of Dulles, in Loudoun County, with a small portion in the unincorporated community of Chantilly in Fairfax County. Dulles is the one of the three airports in the larger Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area with more than 21 million passengers a year. On a typical day, more than 60,000 passengers pass through Washington Dulles to, however, Dulles Airport now ranks behind both Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in total annual passenger boardings. Prior to World War II, Hoover Field was the commercial airport serving Washington. It was replaced by Washington National Airport in 1941, after the war, in 1948, the Civil Aeronautics Administration began to consider sites for a second major airport to serve the nations capital. Congress passed the Washington Airport Act in 1950 to provide funding for a new airport in the region. One competing plan called for the airport to be built in the Pender area of Fairfax County, while another called for the conversion of Andrews Air Force Base in Prince Georges County, the civil engineering firm Ammann and Whitney was named lead contractor. The airport was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy on November 17,1962, as originally opened, the airport had three runways. Its original name, Dulles International Airport, was changed in 1984 to Washington Dulles International Airport, the main terminal was designed in 1958 by famed Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and it is highly regarded for its graceful beauty, suggestive of flight. In the 1990s the main terminal at Dulles was reconfigured to allow space between the front of the building and the ticket counters. Additions at both ends of the main terminal more than doubled the structures length, the original terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan was modeled after the Saarinen terminal at Dulles. The design included a landscaped man-made lake to collect rainwater, a hotel. The first scheduled flight at Dulles was an Eastern Air Lines Super Electra turboprop from Newark International Airport in New Jersey on November 19,1962. Airport operations grew along with Virginia suburbs and the Dulles Technology Corridor, perimeter, in 1969, Dulles had 2.01 million passengers while National had 9.9 million. The era of jumbo jets began on January 15,1970, rather than a traditional champagne bottle, red, white, and blue water was sprayed on the aircraft
8.
Fairfax County, Virginia
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Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,081,726, in 2015, it was estimated at 1,142,234, making it the Commonwealths most populous jurisdiction, with 13. 6% of Virginias population. The county seat is the City of Fairfax, though because it is an independent city under Virginia law, the county is also home to seven Fortune 500 companies, including three with Falls Church addresses. At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of what would become Fairfax County were an Algonquian-speaking sub-group called the Taux, also known as the Doeg or Dogue. Their villages, as recorded by Captain John Smith in 1608, included Namassingakent, virginian colonists from the Northern Neck region drove the Doeg out of this area and into Maryland by 1670. Fairfax County was formed in 1742 from the part of Prince William County. It was named for Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, the Fairfax family name is derived from the Old English phrase for blond hair – Faeger-feahs. The oldest settlements in Fairfax County were along the Potomac River, George Washington settled in Fairfax County and built his home, Mount Vernon, facing the river. Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason is nearby, modern Fort Belvoir is partly on the estate of Belvoir Manor, built along the Potomac by William Fairfax in 1741. Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, the member of the British nobility ever to reside in the colonies. The Belvoir mansion and several of its outbuildings were destroyed by fire immediately after the Revolutionary War in 1783, in 1757, the northwestern two-thirds of Fairfax County became Loudoun County. In 1789, part of Fairfax County was ceded to the government to form Alexandria County of the District of Columbia. Alexandria County was returned to Virginia in 1846, reduced in size by the secession of the independent city of Alexandria in 1870, the Fairfax County town of Falls Church became an independent city in 1948. The Fairfax County town of Fairfax became an independent city in 1961, Fairfax County was an important region in the Civil War. The Battle of Chantilly or Ox Hill, during the campaign as the second Battle of Bull Run, was fought within the county. Other areas of activity included Minors Hill, Munsons Hill, and Uptons Hill, on the eastern border, overlooking Washington. The federal governments growth during and after World War II spurred rapid growth in the county, other large businesses continued to settle in Fairfax County and the opening of Tysons Corner Center spurred the rise of Tysons Corner. The technology boom and a steady government-driven economy also created rapid growth, the economy has also made Fairfax County one of the nations wealthiest counties
9.
Space Shuttle Discovery
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Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the orbiters from NASAs Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5,1984, over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, gathering more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. Discovery became the third operational orbiter to enter service, preceded by Columbia and Challenger. It embarked on its last mission, STS-133, on February 24,2011 and touched down for the time at Kennedy Space Center on March 9. Discovery performed both research and International Space Station assembly missions and it also carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. Discovery was the first operational shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour, Discovery launched the Hubble Space Telescope and conducted the second and third Hubble service missions. It also launched the Ulysses probe and three TDRS satellites, project Mercury astronaut John Glenn, who was 77 at the time, flew with Discovery on STS-95 in 1998, making him the oldest person to go into space. Had plans to launch United States Department of Defense payloads from Vandenberg Air Force Base gone ahead and its first West Coast mission, STS-62-A, was scheduled for 1986, but canceled in the aftermath of Challenger. Discovery was retired after completing its mission, STS133 on March 9,2011. The spacecraft is now on display in Virginia at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Discovery weighed 6,870 pounds less than Columbia when it was brought into service due to optimizations determined during the construction and testing of Enterprise, Columbia and Challenger. Beginning in late 1995, the orbiter underwent a nine-month Orbiter Maintenance Down Period in Palmdale and this included outfitting the vehicle with a 5th set of cryogenic tanks and an external airlock to support missions to the International Space Station. After STS-105, Discovery became the first of the fleet to undergo Orbiter Major Modification period at the Kennedy Space Center. Work began in September 2002 to prepare the vehicle for Return to Flight and this included scheduled upgrades and additional safety modifications. Discovery is 6 pounds heavier than Atlantis and 363 pounds heavier than Endeavour, Discovery was decommissioned on March 9,2011. Discovery replaced Enterprise in the Smithsonians display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, Discovery was transported to Washington Dulles International Airport on April 17,2012, and was transferred to the Udvar-Hazy on April 19 where a welcome ceremony was held. Afterwards, at around 5,30 pm, Discovery was rolled to its final stop in the Udvar Hazy Center. By its last mission, Discovery had flown 149 million miles in 39 missions, completed 5,830 orbits, Discovery flew more flights than any other Orbiter Shuttle, including four in 1985 alone. Discovery flew all three return to flight missions after the Challenger and Columbia disasters, STS-26 in 1988, STS-114 in 2005, Discovery flew the ante-penultimate mission of the Space Shuttle program, STS-133, having launched on February 24,2011
