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Onizuka Air Force Station was a United States Air Force installation in Santa Clara County, California, just outside the city limits of Sunnyvale, at the intersection of U.S. Route 101 and State Route 237. It was operational from 1960 to 2010. Its distinguishing feature was Building 1003, known locally as the ''Blue Cube'' or simply the "Cube" given its large, pale blue, and windowless shape. The station's other distinguishing features were its three primary parabolic dish antennas used for communication with remote tracking stations used to control military satellites; these antennas were named Sun East, Sun West, and Sun 3. ==History== In the United States space program's formative stages, Air Force Systems Command contracted with the Philco Ford division of Ford Motor Company to provide interim operational facilities at its Palo Alto, California, location. Operations commenced in the late 1950s. By 1958, the United States Air Force sought a permanent home with larger facilities. Ultimately, the United States Air Force purchased roughly 19 acres of land from Lockheed Corporation, which included Lockheed Building 100, and was named Sunnyvale Air Force Station. Construction of the station's original facilities was completed in 1960. Over time, additional structures were built as operations expanded. The station was home to the Air Force Systems Command operational unit known as the Air Force Satellite Test Center, colloquially called the "stick," and other non-Air Force Systems Command operational organizations. By 1979, the Air Force Satellite Test Center was renamed the Air Force Satellite Control Facility. In 1986, Sunnyvale Air Force Station was renamed Onizuka Air Force Base in honor of Lt Col Ellison Onizuka, USAF, one of the astronauts who, on January 28, 1986, died in the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. On January 26, 1994, Onizuka Air Force Base was renamed Onizuka Air Force Station. Ultimately, both Onizuka Air Force Station and the Air Force Satellite Control Facility were transferred from Air Force Systems Command to Air Force Space Command and was operated by the 21st Space Operations Squadron, a geographically separated unit (GSU) of the 50th Space Wing. The non-Air Force System Command operational organizations remained under their respective commands. When the station was opened in 1960, the Sunnyvale area was rural and the station was predominantly surrounded by orchards. By the late 1970s, the region had become Silicon Valley and the station's physical security vulnerabilities became apparent. As a result, Air Force Systems Command commenced plans for the Consolidate Space Operations Center (CSOC), which would be located several miles east of Colorado Springs, Colorado at a to be build Falcon Air Force Station (ultimately named Schriever Air Force Base). Spacecraft operations would be split between the two locations and each location would serve as a backup to the other. To maintain this redundancy, when Onizuka Air Force Station was selected for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the Air Force determined to relocate Onizuka's remaining operational units to the new Ellison Onizuka Satellite Operations Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base.〔()〕 Upon completion of this transition, Onizuka Air Force Station was ceremonially closed on July 28, 2010, and officially closed on September 30, 2010. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Onizuka Air Force Station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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