Point Barrow
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Point Barrow or Nuvuk, is a headland on the Arctic coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, located 15 km (9 mi) northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of the United States, at .
The first European to discover the point was English geographer Frederick William Beechey, who encountered it in 1825. It is named for Sir John Barrow, a statesman and geographer of the British Admiralty.
The water around the point is normally ice-free for only two or three months a year, but this period is increasing[link], likely due to global warming.
Point Barrow has served as a jumping-off point for many Arctic expeditions, including the Wilkins-Detroit Arctic Expeditions and the April 15, 1928 Eielson-Wilkins flight across the Arctic Ocean to Spitsbergen.
Between 1965 and 1972, the point was used as a launch site for Nike Cajun and Nike Apache sounding rockets. It is also the site of a Global Atmosphere Watch atmospheric monitoring station.
External links
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