Editing Edwards Air Force Base (section)

==Geography==
{{original research section|date=October 2013}}
[[File:Rogers Dry Lake.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Rogers Dry Lake|Rogers Lake]] is not always dry. During the brief rainy season in the [[Mojave Desert]], water fills the lakebed. The [[compass rose]] can be seen on the left.]]

The largest features of the {{convert|470|sqmi}} that make up Edwards AFB are the [[Rogers Dry Lake|Rogers Lake]] and [[Rosamond Lake]] dry lakes. These have served as emergency and scheduled landing sites for many aerospace projects including the [[Bell X-1]], [[Lockheed U-2]], [[Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird]], and the [[Space Shuttle program|Space Shuttle]]. The lakebeds have black lines painted on them to mark seven official "runways". Also painted on the dry lake beds near Dryden is the world's largest [[compass rose]]: {{convert|2000|ft|m|adj=on}} radius, {{Convert|4000|feet|mi km|2}} in diameter. The Edwards AFB compass rose's [[magnetic declination]] to true north is measured by Google Earth's distance/direction measurement tool as inclined to [[Magnetic declination|magnetic north]] with a 15.3 degrees east variance of [[true north]], as opposed to the current variance of 11.5 degrees east (2025). This is consistent with a calculated magnetic variance of 15.5 degrees east at this location at the time of the compass rose's construction in 1956.<ref>[https://www.aftc.af.mil/Portals/55/Documents/Historian/E-Books/Edwards%20Then%20and%20Now%202020%20update.pdf Edwards AFB - Then and Now]</ref> The larger lake bed, Rogers, encompasses {{convert|44|sqmi}} of desert. Because of Rogers' history in the space program, it was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]].

[[File:Jfader dryden.jpg|thumb|The world's largest compass rose is painted on the lake bed beside NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center.]]

The Rosamond dry lake bed encompasses {{convert|21|sqmi}} and is also used for emergency landings and other flight research roles. By August, the lake bed is dry and rough from the weather and from high-performance aircraft performing landings. Both lake beds are some of the lowest points in the [[Antelope Valley]] and they can collect large amounts of [[precipitation]]. Desert winds whip this seasonal water around on the lake beds and the process polishes them, yielding a new, extremely flat surface;{{sfn|Collins|2009|pp=4–5}} the Rosamond lake bed was measured to have an altitude deviation of {{convert|18|in}} over a {{convert|30000|ft|adj=on}} length; that's about {{convert|1|mm}} altitude deviation over every {{convert|20|m}} of length.

The census-designated place encompasses an area of {{convert|44.38|sqkm|sqmi|1}} of which {{convert|0.173|ha|acre}} is water.

===Environmental concerns===
There are several protected and threatened species living in Edwards, the most notable being the [[desert tortoise]] (''Gopherus agassizii''). It is illegal to touch, harass or otherwise harm a desert tortoise. Another notable species is ''[[Yucca brevifolia]]'': the taller members of this species are called Joshua trees.