The hub of the base is Edwards, California. Glen Edwards. 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. Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager 's flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 , [ 4 ] test flights of the North American X , [ 4 ] the first landings of the Space Shuttle , [ 5 ] and the around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.
A water stop on the Santa Fe Railroad since , the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century. The Corums proved instrumental in attracting other settlers and building infrastructure in the area, and when a post office was commissioned for the area, they named it Muroc, a reversal of the Corum name, due to the presence of a town named Coram.
Conscious that March Field was located in an area of increasing growth in Riverside County , and with the need for bombing and gunnery ranges for his units, base and 1st Wing commander Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. The facility established to support the range, initially called "Mohave Field" for the nearby community of Mohave , was Muroc Field.
They put out circular bombing targets in the desert. At this time, another colorful character in Edwards' history, Pancho Barnes , built her renowned Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch that would be the scene of many parties and celebrations to come. The dry lake was a hive of hot rodding, with racing on the playa. The runway on which the Space Shuttle landed follows the route that hosted racing in the s. The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
