NASA, SEARCHING ANSWERS TO EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS

Joseph de Ca'th Lon at the NASA Center

Today, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Intermediate Language Practice (Chapter 33) manual. 

After doing her homework, The Grandma has had lunch with Joseph de Ca'th Lon, who has explained her that today is the 60th anniversary of the signature of the National Aeronautics and Space Act that established NASA. They have been talking about the importance of NASA in our lives and how this agency works for searching answers to our existence.

More information: Countable and Uncountable I , II & III

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the United States responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

Golden Record in Voyager 1

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian, rather than military, orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science.

The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed sixty years ago on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958. Since that time, most U.S. space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle.

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Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System and Commercial Crew vehicles. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program (LSP) which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches.

Mars Expedition

NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System, advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program, exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft missions such as New Horizons, and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and associated programs. NASA shares data with various national and international organizations such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite.

From 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch an artificial satellite for the International Geophysical Year (1957–58). 

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An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard. After the Soviet launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. 

Juno visits Jupiter

The US Congress, alarmed by the perceived threat to national security and technological leadership, known as the Sputnik crisis, urged immediate and swift action; President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his advisers counseled more deliberate measures. 

On January 12, 1958, NACA organized a Special Committee on Space Technology, headed by Guyford Stever. On January 14, 1958, NACA Director Hugh Dryden published A National Research Program for Space Technology stating.

While this new federal agency would conduct all non-military space activity, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was created in February 1958 to develop space technology for military application.

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On July 29, 1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing NASA. When it began operations on October 1, 1958, NASA absorbed the 43-year-old NACA intact; its 8,000 employees, an annual budget of US$100 million, three major research laboratories: Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, and Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory and two small test facilities. 

Saturn in a photo taken by Cassini

A NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA. 

A significant contributor to NASA's entry into the Space Race with the Soviet Union was the technology from the German rocket program led by Wernher von Braun, who was now working for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), which in turn incorporated the technology of American scientist Robert Goddard's earlier works. 

Earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPA's early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a contractor facility operated by the California Institute of Technology.

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NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Unmanned programs launched the first American artificial satellites into Earth orbit for scientific and communications purposes, and sent scientific probes to explore the planets of the solar system, starting with Venus and Mars, and including grand tours of the outer planets.

Buzz Aldrin stands on the surface of the Moon

Manned programs sent the first Americans into low Earth orbit (LEO), won the Space Race with the Soviet Union by landing twelve men on the Moon from 1969 to 1972 in the Apollo program, developed a semi-reusable LEO Space Shuttle, and developed LEO space station capability by itself and with the cooperation of several other nations including post-Soviet Russia. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter.

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On December 4, 2006, NASA announced it was planning a permanent moon base. The goal was to start building the moon base by 2020, and by 2024, have a fully functional base that would allow for crew rotations and in-situ resource utilization. However, in 2009, the Augustine Committee found the program to be on an unsustainable trajectory.

Pluto, New Horizons Mission

NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of Mars, Mars 2020 and InSight and Saturn and studies of the Earth and the Sun. Other active spacecraft missions are Juno for Jupiter, New Horizons, for Jupiter, Pluto, and beyond, and Dawn for the asteroid belt. 

NASA continued to support in situ exploration beyond the asteroid belt, including Pioneer and Voyager traverses into the unexplored trans-Pluto region, and Gas Giant orbiters Galileo (1989–2003), Cassini (1997–2017), and Juno (2011–). The New Horizons mission to Pluto was launched in 2006 and successfully performed a flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015. The probe received a gravity assist from Jupiter in February 2007, examining some of Jupiter's inner moons and testing on-board instruments during the flyby. On the horizon of NASA's plans is the MAVEN spacecraft as part of the Mars Scout Program to study the atmosphere of Mars.

There was a new executive administration in the United States, which directed NASA to send Humans to Mars by the year 2033. The Europa Clipper and Mars 2020 continue to be supported for their planned schedules.

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NASA has been one of the most 

successful public investments 

in motivating students to do well 

and achieve all they can achieve.

Neil Armstrong