Suggested Searches

1 min read

Sunrise at Rogers Dry Lake

Sunrise over lakebed
A sunrise photo of Edwards Air Force Base’s Rogers Dry Lake was taken after heavy rainfall in southern California. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center is seen in the foreground.

A sunrise photo of Edwards Air Force Base’s Rogers Dry Lake was taken after heavy rainfall in southern California. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center is seen in the foreground.

Rogers Dry Lake is a 44-square-mile area used for aviation research and test operations. An additional 22 square miles of similar smooth clay surface is provided by nearby Rosamond Dry Lake. Rogers Dry Lake is the larger of the two and has been used as the landing site for early space shuttle test and operational flights. Both lakebeds have been used for emergency and test landings of aircraft for more than 50 years.

Rogers Dry Lake has been declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior, because of its role in the development of the nation’s space program and in the development of aerospace systems.

Image Credit: NASA/Lauren Hughes