Area 51 Nellis Bombing Range Test Site airport (KXTA) on the north of the Area 51 USAF military installation. The lake at elevation is approximately from north to south and from east to west at its widest point. Located within the namesake Groom Lake Valley portion of the Tonopah Basin, the lake is south of Rachel, Nevada. The origin of the Area 51 name is unclear. The most accepted comes from a grid numbering system of the area by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); while Area 51 is not part of this system, it is adjacent to Area 15. Another explanation is
Area 51 plunging the aircraft into the sagebrush. Area 51 pilots called it "The Hook". For crosswind landings two unpaved airstrips (runways 9/27 and 03/21) were marked on the dry lakebed. By August 1961, construction of the essential facilities was completed (3 surplus Navy hangars were erected on the base's north side—hangars 4, 5, and 6.) A fourth, Hangar 7, was new construction. The original U-2 hangars were converted to maintenance and machine shops. Facilities in the main cantonment area included workshops and buildings for storage and administration, a commissary, control tower, fire station, and housing. The Navy also contributed more than