AEDC history book now available Published Feb. 4, 2010 By Darbie Sizemore AEDC/PA Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. -- A couple of years ago, Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) Public Affairs (PA) began a project to document the contributions of Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) to America's air superiority. Not an easy task considering that the center has made significant contributions to the development of almost every high-performance military flight system, space launch and weapons programs, as well as NASA manned space systems and many commercial aircraft. The result of that project was a book titled Beyond the Speed of Sound. The book is by no means a complete list of everything that has made use of AEDC's unique test facilities throughout their development, improvements and sustainment. Rather, Beyond the Speed of Sound is a sampling with overviews of the types of testing done. The material is based entirely on cleared news releases, which means in some cases there may have been actual test work that is not covered in the pages. It would have taken several volumes to completely cover all of the programs the center has supported since the early 1950s. The book is divided into chapters or profiles based upon the systems tested at AEDC. Each profile is a high-level summary of the testing or analysis work conducted on the system while in the center's facilities. The name for the book was based on a line from President Harry Truman's dedication speech: "The scientists who work here will explore what lies on the other side of the speed of sound. This is part of our effort to make our air power the best in the world - and to keep it the best in the world. This applies to the plans of the Air Force, the Navy and our Marines. It applies to our guided missiles and all the future developments that science may bring." Beyond the Speed of Sound .pdf file (22 MB)