Eight Non-NGS disks were located along a concrete retaining wall on board what is now the Cooper's Island Nature Reserve. Six are still there as of 2015; two are missing.
All were monumented around the 1980s-1991 timeframe at what was then the US Navy Base at Kindley Field in Bermuda.
The National Aeronautic and Space Administration and the Goddard Space Flight Center set up a tracking station here in the 1960s for use with Apollo, Gemini, Mercury, and Skylab programs. These disks were were most likely used as part of ground-tracking calculations for the various NASA space missions in the 1980s until the tracking station was abandoned.
These marks were not set by the NOAA, and are not listed in the NGS Database.
Blasterz best guess for the monumentation date for Ref Pt. A is mid-late 1980s, since other NASA-GSFC disks nearby look very similar, but they are date-stamped and have a different emblem in the center.
The waymarked disk is inscribed "NASA-GSFC" along the top curve. "Ref Pt A" with a circle and a hole punched in the center occupies the center of the disk. "Greenbelt, MD" is inscribed at the bottom of the disk.
To reach NASA-GSFC Ref Pt. A, go to the Cooper's Island Nature Reserve and park outside the gate. Walk in on foot along Cooper's Island Road toward the Bird Lookout Tower. As you pass over a narrow neck of land to the tower, look left and right for two retaining walls on either side of the road. NASA-GSFC center Ref Pt A will be on your left, on the retaining wall closest to Long Bay.
From Bermuda Attractions website: (
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"Cooper's Island Bermuda
Cooper's Island is part of St. Davids of Bermuda located at the south eastern end and covering an area of about 44.5 acres. The island which is still largely undeveloped, has a great nature reserve, excellent shallow water public beaches, sun dunes and rocky shorelines. Cooper's island was occupied by the U.S military, and later U.S Navy. A NASA space tracking station was also located here. The island was a restricted area until 1995.
The island was likely named after William Cooper from London who was the member of Somers Isle Company that initially took up the administration of Bermuda during the British colonization. In 1614, Governor Moore had built the Pembroke Fort at the south eastern end of Cooper’s island. It had two cannons mounted on it. The fort was destroyed during the World War II.
U.S army had taken possession of the island since 1941. The Kindley Field airport was built at a close distance in 1944 (which is now the LF Wade International Airport of Bermuda). There was also an army post called Fort Bell that was set up in St. Georges. Due its proximity to both the airport and the army post, the U.S army built a battery with 155mm guns at the Cooper's Island during the World War II. The guns were later removed.
In 1960, NASA had built a space tracking station at the Cooper's Island to gather tracking and scientific data from all its spacecraft, satellites and planetary probes. However, by 1995 the entire base was closed down by U.S and the island was opened out to public.
Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve in the island spans across some 12 acres of unspoiled area. It is heavily wooded and has a diverse range of habitats including salt-water marsh, rocky coastline and upland hillside habitats.
There are number of picturesque beaches located at the Cooper's Island. One of the most popular of them is the Clearwater Beach Park at Annie’s Bay which stretches along the northern coastline of the island. This is a shallow water family beach and very popular for weekend picnics and sporting events.
The other great beaches located at the Cooper's Island include Turtle Bay Beach, Well Bay, Long Bay, and Fort Hill Bay. You can spot turtles from all these beaches.
How to reach Cooper's Island
There is no public transport that goes all the way up to Cooper's Island. Take bus #6 from town of St. George for St. David's Lighthouse. Then walk along the Ruth's Bay Road towards west. Continue on Orange Hole Road along west. You will see Cooper's Island Road. There are also tour boat excursions that take place for Coopers Island. "
From the NASA Bermuda website: (
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The History of Kindley Air Force Base
In September 1939 World War II started to heat up in Europe and as a result British and American leaders began to feel it was necessary to protect countries in the Western Hemisphere.
By September 1940, negotiations were made between Britain and the United States to acquire certain air and navy bases on a 99 year lease.
Bermuda was one of these areas.
In October 1940, an American Naval mission under Rear Admiral John W. Greenslade arrived in Bermuda to survey possible sites and, eventually, the eastern end of Bermuda and two islands in the Great Sound were chosen for two bases.
Long Bird Island and Cooper's Island, part of St David's Island, were developed into an air strip by dredging the ocean and using the fill to create an extra 750 acres of land. It wasn't until August 11, 1943 that all construction was considered complete.
The base was originally occupied by the U.S. Army on April 16, 1941 and named Fort Bell. However, the airfield area was refered to as Kindley Air Field.
The maintenance and operation of the entire base was handled by U.S. Army Ground Forces, while Army Coast Artillery units were responsible for defense. The U.S. Army Air Force operated the air traffic section of the base.
The Bermuda base became a vital link in air and sea traffic between the United States and Europe both during and after the war as a 'stop off place.' Troops were able to rest, recover and receive medical treatment, while military personnel used the facilities to hold conferences. (see more photos)
Towards the end of 1945, a decision was made to terminate ground force activities in Bermuda and on January 1, 1946 the Air Transport Command took control of the base. The name Fort Bell was discontinued and the entire base became known as Kindley Field and later as Kindley Air Force Base
Other than military purposes, Kindley Field has been used for regular commercial flights since Jan 1946. In that year, 559 civilian aircraft landed at Kindley; by the end of 1969, arrivals had increased to 6,256. Over the years, flight activity has steadily increased to thousands of flights both, commercial and military, on an annual basis.
The mission of Kindley remained essentially the same, but due to technological advances in airlift systems and relocations of some basic missions, Kindley's role gradually shifted to activities such as rescue and recovery, associated with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) , Air Force space programs and U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare activities. These changes resulted in adjustments being made to the types of operational units stationed on the base.
Since World War II, Kindley has hosted different tenants: an air transport squadron, an aerial weather reconnaissance squadron, a Coast Guard air station, an aerospace rescue and recovery squadron, Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command aerial refueling squadrons and, lastly, Navy anti-submarine patrol squadrons.
As technology continued to change, it became evident that long-range combat airlift aircraft decreased the importance of having Bermuda as a staging and refueling stop for trans-Atlantic air traffic. Nevertheless, because of the buildup of Soviet submarine forces in the Atlantic, Bermuda became the ideal place for having a U.S. Navy base.
Thus a decision was made by the U.S. Department of Defense that Kindley AFB would be transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Navy, effective July 1, 1970
As it has from the time of its activation in 1941 - first as Fort Bell, then as Kindley Air Force Base, next as Naval Air Station and presently as Bermuda International Airport - the base has played a significant role in the development of Bermuda's destiny."
For more on this US Military base that became a nature preserve, see here: (
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"Abandoned Bermuda: Exploring An Old NASA Outpost On Cooper's Island
By: Rebecca Dolan
Posted: 05/23/2012 7:19 am EDT Updated: 11/05/2012
Everything begins to change once you pass the airport. The road is no longer lined with quaint houses painted in shades of lime and coral. Industrial structures that seem both foreign and familiar loom.
To anyone who's spent time on a U.S. military base, the architecture might be a giveaway. The area, airport included, was home to Naval Air Station Bermuda from 1970 to 1995. The architectural style -- if you want to call it that -- is pretty unique.
This area, on the eastern part of St. David's island, has a long history as military territory. The story goes something like this: In 1944, consumed by WWII, the U.S. developed Fort Bell and Kindley Field airfield on the island. Cooper's Island was used to house ammo bunkers and underground storage tanks. The Air Force hung out for a while before the Navy came in for good in 1970. In 1960, NASA was given permission to build a tracking station on Cooper's Island.
The station played a role in the Mercury Project, as well as all of the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions. Then, in 1997, NASA shut down the station. In 2001, the U.S. handed the land back over to Bermuda.
Some of the structures on St. David's have already been reclaimed by local businesses -- and repainted in those characteristic bright hues -- and others are waiting to be refurbished. Cooper's Island, however, has been made into a nature reserve. Remnants of the island's military past remain delightfully untouched and, since it's open to the public, anyone can explore the eerie old buildings and bunkers."