The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, more commonly known as “NASA,” has been a major pillar of American society since its founding in 1958. Responsible for all American space exploration, NASA has captured the imaginations of American citizens for more than five decades. Today, NASA’s role has been altered somewhat. They are no longer the only player in the American space race, but they are still the biggest kids on the playground.
History of NASA
NASA was founded on July 26th, 1958, to replace NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). It was created as a response to the “Sputnik crisis,” which referred to the Soviet Union’s successful launch of Sputnik–the first man-made satellite in space. Deeply embroiled in the Cold War, President Eisenhower saw Sputnik as a troubling sign of technological superiority, and began to pour funds into the new Space program in the U.S.A. for the sake of security. NASA took over NACA’s operations, as well as Werner von Braun’s German rocket program, many older research efforts by the U.S. Air Force, and the JPL–a facility originally owned and run by CalTech.
Important Missions
NASA’s work began with Project Mercury, which was primarily designed to find out if humans could survive in space at all. In May of 1961, Project Mercury became a success, when astronaut Alan Sheperd became the first American in space–one month after Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The Russians were winning the space race, so NASA turned its attention to the race for the moon, founding Project Apollo. Apollo couldn’t stand alone, however; NASA founded Project Gemini as a support for Apollo, which helped scientists learn about life in low-earth orbit.
In July of 1969, after years of trial and error and nearly $191 billion dollars (in current USD), Apollo 11 landed successfully on the moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on an extra-terrestrial surface. Five more Apollo missions to the moon were conducted, with the last in 1972.
Space Stations
After the success of the Apollo missions, space programs the world over turned their attention to low-Earth orbit. In 1973, NASA launched Skylab–the only U.S.-owned space station–which stayed in orbit until 1979, when it fell into the atmosphere and was destroyed. By then, the Cold War was finally ending, and the U.S. and Russia allied to create the Apollo-Soyuz Project, which was only the first step in decades of international partnership, which would eventually lead to the International Space Station (which also includes Japanese and European efforts). Other projects include the Hubble Space Teleschope, and the Space Shuttle Program, including the disastrous Challenger and Columbia crashes.
Private Space Travel
In recent years, budget cuts and waning public interest have seen NASA losing out to private space travel companies, like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. However, NASA is still very much in business, with plans to explore Mars and the outer planets over the next few decades. The future is bright for American space travel.
