The Air Force Flight Test Museum is open to military personnel with credentials to enter the base as well as general public tours offered periodically.

The museum also features aircraft engines, missiles, hardware, life support equipment, technical drawings, test reports memorabilia, and models.

However, the first official flight was on 1 October with NACA, Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, Royal Air Force, Army, Bell and General Electric personnel on hand.

The Airacomets provided USAAF pilots and ground crews with valuable data about the difficulties and pitfalls involved in converting to jet aircraft.

Also in October 1944, a small detachment arrived at Muroc for experimental work in rocket firing, remaining until the end of 1945.

[7] On 14 October 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager, piloted the Bell X-1 to a speed of 760 miles per hour, breaking the sound barrier for the first time.

In the years since, multiple generations of experimental "X-Planes" have been tested and flown at Edwards, for the Air Force and other agencies, such as NASA.

[7] Simultaneously, the base was hosting testing for proposed weapon systems including the F-84 Thunderjet, F-86 Sabre, F-94 Starfire, and B-45 Tornado.

Major Robert "Bob" White became the first person to fly an aircraft into space on 17 July 1962 when he flew his X-15 to an altitude of 314,750 feet.

On 3 October 1967 William "Pete" Knight set the standing aircraft speed record of Mach 6.72 (4,520 mph), again flying an X-15.

When the space program began a number of astronauts were selected from the Air Force's test pilot cadre.

The school replaced its space-oriented curriculum with an entire new battery of courses focusing on systems and test management.

The Rockwell B-1 Lancer began flight testing in 1974 with its multitude of highly sophisticated offensive and defensive systems.

[9] In April 1981, the wheels of Space Shuttle Columbia touched down on Rogers Dry Lakebed, with Astronauts John Young and Robert Crippin successfully landing the first orbiting space vehicle ever to leave the Earth under rocket power and return to Earth aerodynamically for re-use.

[9] The 1990s saw the arrival of the Lockheed YF-22 and the Northrop YF-23 prototype fighters, both using stealth technology and designed for air supremacy with agility, high-speed and supersonic cruise capability.

The MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper attack counterparts, tested at Edwards, today fill a critical role in the Global War on Terrorism.

Additionally, the center has played a key role in the development of the Air Force's X-35A and X-32A prototypes for the Joint Strike Fighter program, both making their first flights in late 2000.