Edwards Air Force Base

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space shuttle Endeavour

Watch the takeoff of SR-71 Blackbird from Edwards Air Force Base, California

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Edwards Air Force Base

California, United States

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July 20, 2026

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space shuttle Endeavour — space shuttle Endeavour Endeavour landing at Edwards Air Force Base, southern California, May 2000.

Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force facility located in the Mojave Desert in southern California. The base is primarily used for aviation and ordnance testing due to the desert's climate and sparse population. It features long airstrips at Palmdale and Edwards Air Force Base itself, which are crucial for testing new aircraft and supporting U.S. space program projects. The Mojave Desert, where the base is situated, is an arid region covering over 25,000 square miles and is known for its extreme temperature variations and low precipitation.12

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Area 51
It is administered by Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. The installation has been the focus of numerous conspiracies involving extraterrestrial life, though its only confirmed use is as a flight testing facility.
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It is administered by Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. The installation has been the focus of numerous conspiracies involving extraterrestrial life, though its only confirmed use is as a flight testing facility.
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Bakersfield
…Weapons Station China Lake and Edwards Air Force Base, lie to the east. Sequoia National Forest is nearby. Inc. (first) 1873 (disincorporated 1876); (second) 1898. Pop. (2010) 347,483; Bakersfield-Delano Metro Area, 839,631; (2020) 403,455; Bakersfield Metro Area, 909,235.
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…Weapons Station China Lake and Edwards Air Force Base, lie to the east. Sequoia National Forest is nearby. Inc. (first) 1873 (disincorporated 1876); (second) 1898. Pop. (2010) 347,483; Bakersfield-Delano Metro Area, 839,631; (2020) 403,455; Bakersfield Metro Area, 909,235.
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Palmdale
…south of the city, and Edwards Air Force Base is northeast. Inc. 1962. Pop. (2010) 152,750; (2020) 169,450.
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…south of the city, and Edwards Air Force Base is northeast. Inc. 1962. Pop. (2010) 152,750; (2020) 169,450.
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Chuck Yeager
…chief of test-flight operations at Edwards Air Force Base in California to join the staff of the Twelfth Air Force in West Germany. Following other routine assignments, he returned to Edwards in 1962 as commandant of the Aerospace Research Pilot School with the rank of colonel. In 1968 he took…
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…chief of test-flight operations at Edwards Air Force Base in California to join the staff of the Twelfth Air Force in West Germany. Following other routine assignments, he returned to Edwards in 1962 as commandant of the Aerospace Research Pilot School with the rank of colonel. In 1968 he took…
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