Area designations in general

The other day I was viewing something about historical nuclear tests and I suddenly realised each nuclear test area was number like area 7, or area 12.

Is Area 51 a continuim of these nuclear test designations and if so then is area 51 part of nuclear testing or the mathematical modelling of nuclear explosions, engineering nuclear warheads, etc?

From what I have read on the subject, the Nevada Test Site was originally divided into numbered "areas" on the official survey map of the complex. Groom Lake happened to be located in an area that had been given the arbitrary number 51.

The three dimentional airspace above the complex is designated Restricted Area 4808 on aviation charts and is a No-Fly zone from the surface up with no published ceiling. Intercom communications with the complex from the FAA enroute center use the callsign "Dreamland" to designate the Groom Lake installation.

As far as I am aware, neither the number or name designations have any particular meaning beyond identifying the Groom Lake complex.

Dreamland in theory is the airspace above R4808N, but they don't call it dreamland on the radio. Aircraft navigate to Groom Lake using the designations Control for approach/departure, Tower, and Ground. There is a Dreamland frequency, but it is to contact the Nevada Test Site.

Janet Audio

This page is pretty obsolete these days, but you can find the reference to Dreamland. It contains the data and graphics from the "FLIP" before the document was removed from the internet.

airspace data

Back to the NTS, areas were assigned randomly to confuse those trying to monitor the NTS. Area 51 was the designation for where the base sits, though most NTS maps have Area 51 removed. If you manage to get into Control Point one (CP-1) of the NTS, there is a map of the NTS on the side wall. It still has Area 51 on it.

The various Nevada Test Site areas are not organized in any logical order and they come in different sizes and shapes.

Most NTS maps show Areas 1 through 12, Areas 14 through 20, Areas 23 and 23, and Areas 25 through 30. Areas 13 and 31 rarely appear and Area 51 only appears on maps dating between 1958 and 1978. The boundary of what would become Area 51 appears without a number on maps that show Watertown Airstrip at Groom Lake between 1955 and 1958.

Some maps show Area 25 (the Nuclear rocket Development Area) as Areas 400 and 401. I don't recall ever seeing a map with Area 21 or 24. They may never have been designated.

Some official documents list Tonopah Test Range as Area 52.

reply to post by Shadowhawk





The TTR itself has "areas", so this can get confusing. I pulled this image from
www.lazygranch.com/ttroae.htm

Here is a website that I linked that provides info on the sections of the Nevada Test Site from Area 1-30. It tells what kinds of testing goes on in these sights.
NTS Areas

reply to post by I B Dazzlin


This is the map they hand out for the Yucca Mountain Project tour. (BTW no longer given). It has some interesting details like the comm sites.



It is the same map they have on the wall in the NTS cafeteria. Yes, just in case you are wondering, there is some funny sign next to the microwaves in the cafeteria regarding nuking your food.

reply to post by gariac


Great map! I have not seen that one yet.