AEDC earns world-historic site recognition

  • Published
  • By Janae Daniels
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) was designated as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Historic Aerospace site June 25, marking the center's 56th anniversary.

AEDC was dedicated June 25, 1951 by President Harry S Truman in memory of General of the Air Force Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, World War II commander of the Army Air Forces and the only Airman to hold a five-star rank. Today the center operates more than 50 facilities at Arnold and two remote locations that can simulate flight conditions from sea level to space at speeds up to Mach 20. 

In addition to the facilities at Arnold, AEDC operates Hypervelocity Tunnel 9 at White Oak in Silver Spring, Md., and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

AIAA Associate Fellow Steven Noneman, a 32-year NASA employee and mission manager for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., officiated for AIAA.

"The dedication of the AEDC employees has immeasurably served the American people in times of peace and in times of war," he said. "AEDC has tested continuously emerging technologies and it's important that we recognize the significance of the work and capabilities here."

Dr. Richard Hallion, former Air Force Historian, AEDC Historian David Hiebert and center Commander Col. Art Huber also spoke at the ceremony.

"From the beginning, planners of AEDC recognized that although the test facilities of the center were vital, it was the art of engineering that was paramount," Colonel Huber said. "And so they were very careful to cultivate a culture of technical expertise to compliment the impressive facilities they built."

AIAA established the Historic Aerospace Sites program in January 2000 to promote the preservation of, and the dissemination of information about significant accomplishments made in the aerospace profession.

AEDC is one of just a few sites recognized by the committee including the Farnborough Airfield and Science Historic Site in Farnborough, England, the Boeing Red Barn in Seattle, Wash., Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the first balloon launch in Annonay, France, and Tranquility Base on the moon.