Located in heart of Silicon Valley, Moffett Field is a catchall for a variety of business and government facilities. Its more notable residents are NASA Ames, Moffett Federal Airfield, The Moffett Field Historical Society, and a burgeoning Google presence.
The field was founded in 1931 when residents of Santa Clara Country raised just under a half a million dollars to purchase the farmland to then sell it to the U.S. Government for the princely sum of $1 dollar in order to build what was then known as NAS Sunnyvale in 1933. The US navy wanted to use the base for Airship operations. Upon the death of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, who was a huge proponent of Airship operations, the base was changed to NAS Moffett Field on 1 September 1933.
To support airship operations the massive Hanger One was built. The Hanger which at the time was one of the largest freestanding building in the world covered a whopping 8 acres. After the tragic los of the Airship USS Macon, the navy turned control over the base to the US Army. Following WWII the navy regained control of the base and during the Cold War was one of the primary West Coast bases for anti submarine aircraft such as the P-2V and the P-3 Orion.
In 1939 NACA the precursor to NASA opened up research facilities on the base including the ARC Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex.
Following the military drawdown during the post Cold War period the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) identified the base as unneeded and thus was decommissioned and turned over to NASA)
The base now is run by NASA and they have actively rented out space to a variety of companies like Google etc. Lockheed martin Space Systems is collocated on the base as well as the 129th Air national Guard Squadron. There is also housing and other projects. In a nod to its Navy roots a Navy Commissary remains on the site and is open.
Visitors are allowed on base with government issued ID if they have business there. In addition there is a museum on site that you can visit as well. Its hours are limited so check the website for more information. Also as a note traffic laws are STRICTLY enforced by the NASA police and that goes for bikes and vehicles so behave yourselves. read more