🇺🇸 Giant Rock International Spaceport

Giant Rock International Spaceport (US-1840) in Landers, US, was formerly known as Giant Rock Airport. It was operated by George Van Tassel from 1947 to 1975. The airport was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for emergency use by commercial airliners and, in the early 1960s, saw approximately one flight per day. Between November 1961 and October 1962, it served as a launch site for helium balloons used to measure neutron density in Earth's atmosphere.

The airport was originally established by Frank Critzer in the 1930s, who built an airstrip on a nearby ancient lakebed, averaging a plane per day by 1941. After Critzer's death in 1942, the land reverted to the government, and Van Tassel later leased the property. Van Tassel also hosted annual UFO conventions at Giant Rock, which attracted thousands of attendees.

The exact date and reason for the airport's closure are not explicitly stated, but its operation under Van Tassel ceased in 1975. Today, the site of Giant Rock itself is a large freestanding boulder that fractured in 2000, revealing a white granite interior, and its exterior is partially covered in graffiti. The concrete pad of a former restaurant building, part of the Giant Rock Airport, remains at the site.

*Sources researched: en.wikipedia.org, ourairports.com, cabinetmagazine.org, main.sbcounty.gov, desertusa.com*