Area 51 Palmdale facility. A search for a suitable testing site for the U-2 was conducted under the same extreme security as the rest of the project. He notified Lockheed, who sent an inspection team out to Groom Lake. According to Lockheed's U-2 designer Kelly Johnson: The lakebed made an ideal strip from which they could test aircraft, and the Emigrant Valley's mountain ranges and the NTS perimeter, about north of Las Vegas, protected the test site from visitors. The CIA asked the AEC to acquire the land, designated "Area 51" on the map, and add it to the Nevada Test Site.
Minnesota State Highway 51 The northern terminus of Highway 51 at I-694 in Arden Hills is also shared with the westbound interchange for U.S. Highway 10. From south to north, the route adjoins the campuses of Macalester College, Hamline University, University of Northwestern - Saint Paul, and Bethel University. Como Park, Zoo, and Conservatory in Saint Paul is located 7 blocks east of the junction of Highway 51 (Snelling Avenue) and Como Avenue. Eastbound Como Avenue becomes Horton Avenue. The park entrance is on Horton Avenue near Lexington Parkway. Rosedale Center and Har Mar Mall shopping centers are located on the route in Roseville.