Edwards AFB News

  • Ridley Mission Control Center turns 30

    The heart of the Air Force Flight Test Center turns 30 years old June 12. Ridley Mission Control Center was dedicated in 1980 with a small ribbon cutting ceremony. The control center, which was built for $6.5 million, is named for Col. Jackie L. Ridley, a former test pilot, engineer and architect of

  • AFFTC leads the way to 'the Rock'

    Seventy-two bike riders mounted up for the nearly 80-mile round trip ride from Building 1 on Edwards Main Base to the Air Force Research Laboratory, 'the Rock', that officially kicked off Motorcycle Safety Day June 1."The whole purpose for this ride, besides having a good time, is to emphasize and

  • Where there's Thunder

    On a typically windy, curiously cool Friday in late May, I sat with Brig. Gen. William "Thunder" Thornton and wife Lisa to try capturing their two years as commander and first lady of the 412th Test Wing. Some two hours later I had only scratched the surface of an unique couple who so easily blend

  • X-51A conducts flight test

    An X-51A Waverider flight test vehicle successfully made the longest ever supersonic combustion ramjet-powered hypersonic flight today off the Southern California coast.The more than 200-second burn by the X-51's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne-built air breathing scramjet engine accelerated the vehicle

  • NASA Dryden rededicates Educator Resource and Visitor Centers

    The Aero Institute in Palmdale, Calif. held an open house where NASA Dryden Flight Research Center rededicated its Educator Resource and Visitor Centers, May 19.  Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, Air Force Flight Test Center commander, represented Edwards at the event. 

  • Ceremony set for 412th Test Wing

    The 412th Test Wing is scheduled to hold its change of command ceremony at 10 a.m. in Hangar 1600, June 4.  Col. Dawn M. Dunlop will assume command of the Air Force's premier test organization from Brig. Gen. William J. Thornton.  Colonel Dunlop comes from within 412th TW, she currently serves as

  • The origin of Memorial Day

    Decoration Day commemorates U.S. men and women who have died while serving in the military. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War - celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War - it was expanded after World War I.Following the end of the Civil War, many

  • Base residents play biggest role in protecting pets from predators

    Coyote and bobcat attacks on family pets continue in base housing and these common desert predators persist in roaming base backyards and side streets with a compulsory purpose-gathering food. Why base housing? Because, base officials say, some residents have taught them where the food is. For the