Jackass Flats

{{short description|Alluvial basin in Nye County, Nevada, United States}}{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}File:Peacekeeper - simulated missile and canister test 1.jpg

Jackass Flats is a shallow alluvial basin located in the southwest portion of the Nevada National Security Site in Nye County, Nevada, United States. The area lies east of Yucca Mountain, south of the Calico Hills and Shoshone Mountain and northwest of Skull Mountain. The valley drains to the southwest via the Tonopah and Fortymile washes into the Amargosa Valley across US Route 95 at the town of Amargosa Valley, Nevada. The "flat" covers an area of approximately {{convert|120|mi2}} and ranges in elevation from about {{convert|2800|ft|abbr=on}} just north of US 95 to {{convert|4000|ft|abbr=on}} at the mountain bases to the north and east.Beatty, Nevada–California, 30x60 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1986

It is located mostly within Area 25 and extends into Area 14 and Area 26.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

It was the test site of nuclear-powered rocket engines during project Project Rover and NERVA.{{cite book |isbn = 978-0-8135-9918-2 |title = Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants |last1 = Clark |first1 = John Drury |author-link=John Drury Clark |date = 23 May 2018 |publisher = Rutgers University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BdU4DwAAQBAJ&q=jackass |pages=302 |oclc=281664}}{{rp|109}}