For decades, a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert has been a hotbed of some of the most innovative flight research in the U.S. From a test pilot breaking the sound barrier to a space shuttle touching down,

A B-52 Stratofortress bomber has crashed shortly after taking off from Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The crash happened shortly after the bomber took off around 11:20 a.m. local time, the base said.