Government agency established for the exploration of space.
On October 1, 1958, Congress created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in response to the
launching of the first satellite, Sputnik, by the Soviet Union
during the cold war. As the successor of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NASA began to explore the
feasibility of human space travel. The first flights of Project
Mercury (1961–1963) were designed to explore the effects of
space travel on humans. These were followed by the Project
Gemini flights (1965–1966) in which humans explored
space. Project Apollo (1968–1972) resulted in the landing of
the first humans on the moon in 1969. Since then, NASA has
focused on scientific experiments, the development of the
international space station (involving cooperation among
the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Russia, and 11 nations of the European Space Agency), and exploring the far
reaches of the galaxy using unmanned spacecraft—for example, the Hubble telescope and various unmanned missions to other planets.
Since its inception NASA has conducted experiments that
have revealed valuable information on aerodynamics, wind
shear, wind tunnels, flight testing, and computer simulations.
Many biology and physics experiments have been conducted
in space to explore the effect of weightlessness on objects.
Long-range probes have explored the outer reaches of our
universe, and the Hubble space telescope has revealed the existence of numerous astronomical bodies. In addition, communications satellites have enhanced the opportunities for
technology used by telecommunications companies—for example, paging, cellular telephones, and global positioning
systems.
NASA’s goals include understanding the earth and its
weather system in order to predict events such as flooding;
exploring the fundamentals of physics, biology, and chemistry in the environment of space; understanding the origin
and evolution of life on earth and searching for life elsewhere;
encouraging the public, especially the younger generation, to
explore space; and enabling revolutionary capabilities
through the development of new technologies such as the
personal computer.
As of 2003 NASA operates under a budget of $15 billion.
Since the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed on reentry
February 1, 2003, opponents of NASA have argued for an increase in funding to ensure the safety of future missions.
—Cynthia Clark Northrup
References
Baker, Wendy. NASA: America in Space. New York: Crescent
Books, 1986.
Bromberg, Joan Lisa. NASA and the Space Industry.
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.