NASA: Information, Facts, and Resources About NASA

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Created in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also known as NASA, is the leader in scientific research and aerospace exploration. While many of the advancements made through the growth and development of NASA have benefited the air and space industry, many NASA technologies have been adapted for use by the private sector for non-aerospace-related purposes.

What Does NASA Stand For?

The acronym NASA stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

What is the Mission Statement of NASA?

According to the official website of NASA, the NASA mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.

How to Name a Star Through NASA

Contrary to what is commonly thought, neither NASA nor the International Astronomic Union sanction the naming of stars for people, place, events, or otherwise. While some commercial entities to name a star exist, both organizations dissociate themselves from this practice.

Who Founded NASA? A Brief History of NASA and Why NASA Was Created

On October 1, 1958, the President of the United States, along with Congress, signed an act that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also known as NASA. Part of the Act that was signed into law read, ” An Act to provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and for other purposes.” The creation of NASA was directly related to national defense, though much of the work that would be done by NASA served many other non-military purposes.

After World War II, the area then known as the Soviet Union and the United States were engaged in the Cold War, a contest over the ideologies and allegiances of non-aligned nations. During the Cold War period, the exploration of space became a major area of competition, and later became to be known as “the space race.”

In the late 1940s, the United States Department of Defense (DOD) pursued research and rocketry as a means for assuring that the United States was leading the way in technology. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a plan to place a scientific satellite into orbit as part of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. This major step was a joint effort to gather scientific information about the Earth. The Soviet Union then announced that they, too, would plan to orbit its own satellite.

On October 4, 1957, the world’s first artificial satellite was launched by the Soviets. Sputnik 1, as it was named, created a full-scle crisis for the United States. The American public opinion was that there was a technological gap between the United States and the Soviet Union, and as a result, there was a generous increase in funding for aerospace endeavors, technical and scientific educational programs, and new federal agencies to oversee air and space research and development.

On January 31, 1958, the United States launched it’s first Earth satellite, Explorer 1, which documented the existence of radiation zones encircling the Earth. Shaped by the magnetic field of the Earth, these zones, which came to be called the Van Allen Radiation Belt, partially dictate the electrical charges in the atmosphere and the amount of solar radiation that reaches the surface of the Earth. The United States also started to build a series of scientific missions to the moon and other planets and in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

NASA began its operations on October on October 1, 1958. It had an annual budget of $100 million and three major research laboratories -Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, and Ames Aeronautical Laboratory- at its disposal, along with two smaller test facilities. In its creation, it absorbed the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which had 8,000 employees. It also incorporated other organizations, including the space science group of the Naval Research Laboratory and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed by the California Institute of Technology for the Army, and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA went on to create other agencies around the country and currently has ten centers positioned throughout the United States.

Early Spaceflights for NASA

Within just months of its creation, NASA began to conduct space missions. During the first twenty years of its inception, NASA conducted several major programs:

Human Space Flight Initiatives: Mercury’s single astronaut program was designed to determine if a human could survive in space, and its flights too place from 1961 – 1963. Project Gemini, which took place from 1965 – 1966, allowed two astronauts to practice space space operations, including docking spacecraft and extravehicular activity (EVA). Most notably is Project Apollo, which was used to explore the moon, with flights taking place during 1968 – 1972.

Robotic Missions to Space by NASA:
Robotics missions to the Moon included Ranger, Surveyor, and Lunar Orbiter. Pioneer Venus was a project to explore the planet Venus, and the Mariner 4, Viking 1 and 2 were used for exploration of Mars. The outer planets were explored with Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager 1 and 2.

Other significant achievements in the first twenty years of NASA include vast amounts of research to enhance air transport safety, efficiency and reliability, propulsion technology studies, remote-sensing Earth satellites, communications satellites, an orbital workshop for astronauts called Skylab, and the creation of the Space Shuttle, a reusable spacecraft that was designed for traveling to and from Earth orbit.

Humans in Space: Highlights of Humans in Space with Project Mercury and Project Gemini

The first high-profile endeavor by NASA that involved human spaceflight was Project Mercury. This project was an effort to learn whether or not humans could survive the stress of space flight. On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. became the first American to fly into space. He rode his Mercury capsule during a 15-minute suborbital mission.

John H. Glenn, Jr. became the first astronaut from the United States to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962. Project Mercury was successful in completing its goal of putting piloted spacecraft into Earth orbit while returning the astronauts safely.

The next major achievements in NASA history was Project Gemini. Building upon the success of the Mercury program, Project Gemini extended NASA’s human spaceflight program to include spacecraft designed for two astronauts. During the 10 flights in the Gemini project, NASA scientists collected data on weightlessness, and allowed them to perfect the re-entry and splashdown procedures. They also demonstrated docking in space. On June 3, 1965, Edward H. White, Jr., became the first United States astronaut to conduct a spacewalk.

Project Apollo: Information About NASA Landing on the Moon

Perhaps the most notable achievement of NASA in its early years was the human exploration of Moon, which was called Project Apollo. Apollo became one of the priorities of NASA when President John F. Kennedy announced on May 25, 1961, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” This was a direct response to the successes the Soviet Union had in space. Kennedy was using Apollo as a high-profile way for the United States to show the world its scientific and technological superiority over the Soviet Union.

As a response to Kennedy’s decision to make Project Apollo a priority, NASA spent the next 11 years carrying out its mission. It cost over $25.4 billion to make Apollo a reality. It was one of the largest nonmilitary technological endeavors every undertaken by the United States, compared only to the building of the Panama Canal.

The project brought about major challenges, and included some failures, including a fire in an Apollo capsule on January 27, 1967, when the lives of Roger B. Chafee, Virgil “Gus Grissom, and Edward H. White, Jr., were taken. However, Project Apollo continued to move forward.

In October of 1968, NASA had a successful mission with Apollo 7, which orbited the Earth and tested a redesigned Apollo command module. Apollo 8, which orbited the Moon on December 24 – 25, 1968, was another key success in NASA’s endeavor to reach the moon.

Apollo 11 was the mission that finally fulfilled Kennedy’s challenge to successfully land on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. landed on the moon with Armstrong uttering these now-famous words, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong piloted the lunar module to the surface of the Moon in a dramatic fashion, with less than 30 seconds worth of fuel remaining. The astronauts took soil samples, photographs and conducted other tasks on the Moon before meeting with colleague Michael Collins in lunar orbit before returning safely back to Earth.

Following Apollo 11, there were five other successful lunar landings that followed. The Apollo 13 mission in April of 1970 didn’t land on the Moon because of technical challenges, but reinforced the perception that NASA had the ability to maneuver unforeseen difficulties in space.

With the Apollo 17 mission of December 1972, NASA completed a successful engineering and scientific program. Fittingly, Harrison H. “Jack” Schmitt, a geologist who participated on this mission, was the first scientist to be selected as an astronaut. NASA learned a good deal about the origins of the Moon, as well as how to support humans in outer space. In total, 12 astronauts walked on the Moon during 6 Apollo lunar landing missions.

In 1957, the Soviet Union and NASA cooperated to achieve the first international human spaceflight, in what was called the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). In doing so, the project successfully achieved joint rendezvous and docking procedures for spacecraft from both the United States and the Soviet Union. After being launched from their respective countries, the spacecraft met in space and performed experiments for two days before returning.

NASA News

NASA Finds New Life Dec 2, 2010, NASA scientist Felisa Wolfe Simon announce that they have found a bacteria whose DNA is completely alien to what we know today. Instead of using phosphorus, the bacteria uses arsenic.

Resource by AnnaBelle

Annalise Kaylor is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant specializing in search engine optimized content for the web. As a writer, her work has appeared across the United States in print ads for Whirlpool, Maytag, Home Depot, and Lowe's, among others. As a consultant, she has worked primarily in the education sector, helping universities increase their web visibility and construct and implement social media strategy. Annalise is an avid reader, knitter, organic gardener and baker, as well as the author of the popular baking blog, Knead To Be Loaved. Annalise enjoys fly fishing, camping, and hiking.

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