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 newly created Air Research and Development Command. Activation of the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) followed on 25 June 1951. Units designated and assigned to the Center at the time of activation were the 6510th Air Base Wing for station support units. The test flying units at Edwards were assigned directly to the AFFTC . That same year, the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School moved to Edwards from Wright Field, Ohio. Its curriculum focused on the traditional field of performance testing and the relatively new field of stability and control, which had suddenly assumed critical importance with