NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the government agency responsible for the United States of America's space program and long-term general aerospace research. A civilian organization, it conducts (or oversees) research into both civilian and military aerospace systems.

Table of contents

1 Vision and Mission 2 History 3 NASA space missions 4 Field installations 5 Related legislation 6 See also 7 External links

Vision and Mission

NASA has distilled its official vision and mission into simple lists. Its vision is:

• To improve life here,
• To extend life to there, and
• To find life beyond.

Its mission, updated after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks:

• To understand and protect our home planet;
• To explore the Universe and search for life; and
• To inspire the next generation of explorers.

History

NASA's predecessor was the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), which was formed in 1915 to promote aeronautical research and development in the United States. In 1958, the department was reorganized and given control of the space program, which had previously been undertaken separately by different branches of the military.

Some of its most notable achievements are sending the first men to the moon in 1969, the ongoing space shuttle program, contributions to the international space station, and the launching of various space probes and satellites. Its activities have led to a wealth of scientific discoveries, many of which have led to important military and commercial applications. In recent years, its strategy has begun to shift from pursuing a few high-cost projects, to pursuing a number of smaller and lower-cost projects ("faster, better, cheaper"), including the use of unmanned rockets, probes and robots.

NASA space missions

• Manned space missions
  • Mercury program
  • Gemini program
  • Apollo program
  • Skylab
  • Space Shuttle
  • International Space Station

• Unmanned space missions
  • Mariner program
  • Surveyor program
  • Viking program
  • Voyager program
  • Mars Pathfinder
  • COBE
  • MER mission

NASA has also collaborated with the ESA on some missions:

• Hubble Space Telescope
• SOHO
• Ulysses

Assorted other missions:

• Chandra X-ray Observatory
• Infrared Astronomical Satellite
• Space Infrared Telescope Facility (Spitzer Space Telescope)

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Field installations

There are 12 NASA field installations:

• John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
• Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
• Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
• Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory, near Pasadena, California
• Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
• Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
• Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
• George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
• Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana
• John C. Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
• Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia

Related legislation

• 1958 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration PL 85-568 (passed on July 29)
• 1961 - Apollo mission funding PL 87-98 A
• 1970 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research and Development Act PL 91-119
• 1984 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act PL 98-361
• 1988 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act PL 100-685

See also

• Astronaut
• Space exploration
• Space Shuttle
• European Space Agency
• Canadian Space Agency
• Russian Aviation and Space Agency
• NASDA
• Earth
• Space Race

External links

• NASA Home Page
• The Failure of NASA: And A Way Out by Philip K. Chapman, Space Daily, May 30, 2003. An opinion piece which claims that NASA's problems are not in lack of funding but in mismanagement and a false belief in unsuccessful "giant leap" projects like the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Contains a graphic of NASA's funding up to 2005.