The House passed legislation that would rename NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) introduced the legislation, H.R. 6612, at the end of November. His congressional district includes the western Mojave Desert where Edwards Air Force Base, which hosts the center, is located. The House unanimously passed the bill on Dec. 31 by a vote of 404 to zero. The Senate received the legislation on the next day, but has yet to vote on it. Dryden is NASA’s primary center for atmospheric flight research and operations and is considered critical in supporting the agency’s space exploration mission. The bill would redesignate Dryden as the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center in tribute to Armstrong, who died last August at age 82. Under another provision in the bill, NASA’s Western Aeronautical Test Range at Edwards would become the NASA Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.