In my USAF C-141 flying years, I often flew NASA support missions to Ascension Island. It’s a joint RAF/USAF base deep in the South Atlantic. It’s a spit of an island whose landscape looks like the Moon — pockmarked volcanic rock and beaches, an undulating runway often populated with sheep or cattle, a mountain peak reaching into the clouds named “Green Mountain” — with some locals and some military/NASA personnel. It’s a beautiful little island with some amazing history. We’d typically fly from Charleston AFB, SC, to Patrick AFB, FL, then on to Antigua for gas (and a cheeseburger), and then the long flight south to the remote island. We called it “the world’s longest straight in.” After takeoff, you flew the same course all the way to the runway. Often late at night.