Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation located in Kern County in southern California, about northeast of Lancaster and east of Rosamond. It is the home of the Air Force Test Center, Air Force Test Pilot School, and NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. It is the Air Force Materiel Command center for conducting and supporting research and development of flight, as well as testing and evaluating aerospace systems from concept to combat. It also hosts many test activities conducted by America's commercial aerospace industry. Previously known as Muroc Air Force Base,
Edwards Air Force Base the adoption of the Hobson Plan, as the 2759th Experimental Wing. With the X-1, flight testing at Muroc began to assume two distinct identities. Highly experimental research programs—such as the X-3, X-4, X-5 and XF-92A—were typically flown in conjunction with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA, and were conducted in a methodical fashion to answer largely theoretical questions. Then, as now, the great bulk of flight testing at Muroc focused on evaluations of the capabilities of aircraft and systems proposed for the operational inventory. In December 1949, Muroc was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in honor of Captain