NASA History
Milestones in Space Exploration and Science
W ith this simple preamble, the Congress and the
President of the United States created the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Octo-
of a technological gap, and provided the impetus for in-
creased spending for aerospace endeavors, technical and
scientific educational programs, and the chartering of
ber 1, 1958: “An Act to provide for research into the prob- new Federal agencies to manage air and space research
lems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and development.
and for other purposes.” More immediately, the United States launched its first
NASA’s birth was directly related to the pressures of Earth satellite on January 31, 1958, when Explorer 1 docu-
national defense. After World War II, the United States mented the existence of radiation zones encircling the
and the Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War, a Earth. Shaped by the Earth’s magnetic field, what came
broad contest over the ideologies and allegiances of non- to be called the Van Allen Radiation Belt, these zones
aligned nations. During this period, space exploration partially dictate the electrical charges in the atmosphere
emerged as a major area of contest and became known as and the solar radiation that reaches Earth. The United
the space race. States also began a series of scientific missions to the Moon
During the late 1940s, the Department of Defense and planets in the latter 1950s and early 1960s.
pursued research and rocketry and upper-atmospheric sci- As a direct result of the Sputnik crisis, NASA began
ences as a means of assuring American leadership in tech- operations on October 1, 1958, absorbing into itself the
nology. A major step forward came when President Dwight earlier National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in-
D. Eisenhower approved a plan to orbit a scientific satel- tact: its 8,000 employees, an annual budget of $100 mil-
lite as part of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) lion, three major research laboratories — Langley
for the period, July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, a Aeronautical Laboratory, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory,
cooperative effort to gather scientific data about the Earth. and Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory — and two smaller
The Soviet Union quickly followed suit, announcing plans test facilities. It quickly incorporated other organizations
to orbit its own satellite. into the new agency, notably the space science group of
The Naval Research Laboratory’s Project Vanguard was the Naval Research Laboratory in Maryland, the Jet Pro-
chosen on September 9, 955, to support the IGY effort, pulsion Laboratory managed by the California Institute
largely because it did not interfere with high-priority bal- of Technology for the Army, and the Army Ballistic Mis-
listic missile development programs. It used the nonmili- sile Agency in Huntsville, Alabama, where Wernher von
tary Viking rocket as its basis, while an Army proposal to Braun’s team of engineers were engaged in the develop-
use the Redstone ballistic missile as the launch vehicle ment of large rockets. Eventually, NASA created other cen-
waited in the wings. Project Vanguard enjoyed exceptional ters, and today it has 10 located around the country.
publicity throughout the second half of 1955 and all of NASA began to conduct space missions within months
1956, but the technological demands upon the program of its creation, and during its first 20 years conducted
were too great and the funding levels too small to ensure several major programs:
success.
A full-scale crisis resulted on October 4, 1957, when ● Human space flight initiatives — Mercury’s single as-
the Soviets launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artifi- tronaut program (flights during 1961–1963) to as-
cial satellite, as its IGY entry. This had a “Pearl Harbor” certain if a human could survive in space; Project
effect on American public opinion, creating an illusion Gemini (flights during 1965–1966) with two astro-
nauts to practice space operations, especially rendez-
From A Brief History of NASA, by the National Aeronau- vous and docking of spacecraft and extravehicular
tics and Space Administration. See http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ activity (EVA); and Project Apollo (flights during
office/pao/History/factsheet.htm. 1968–1972) to explore the Moon.
196 Congressional Digest ■ www.congressionaldigest.com ■ September 2011
● Robotic missions to the Moon (Ranger, Surveyor, and that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal,
Lunar Orbiter), Venus (Pioneer, Venus), Mars (Mari- before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon
ner 4, Viking 1 and 2), and the outer planets (Pioneer and returning him safely to Earth.” A direct response to
10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2). Soviet successes in space, Kennedy used Apollo as a high-
profile effort for the United States to demonstrate to the
● Aeronautics research to enhance air transport safety, world its scientific and technological superiority over its
reliability, efficiency, and speed (X-15 hypersonic Cold War adversary.
flight, lifting body flight research, avionics and elec- In response to the Kennedy decision, NASA was con-
tronics studies, propulsion technologies, structures sumed with carrying out Project Apollo and spent the next
research, and aerodynamics investigations). 11 years doing so. This effort required significant expendi-
tures, costing $25.4 billion over the life of the program, to
● Remote-sensing Earth satellites for information gath- make it a reality. Only the building of the Panama Canal
ering (Landsat satellites for environmental monitoring). rivaled the size of the Apollo program as the largest non-
military technological endeavor ever undertaken by the
● Applications satellites for communications (Echo 1, United States; only the Manhattan Project was comparable
TIROS, and Telstra) and weather monitoring. in a wartime setting. Although there were major challenges
and some failures — notably a January 27, 1967, fire in an
● An orbital workshop for astronauts, Skylab. Apollo capsule on the ground that took the lives of astro-
nauts Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, and Edward
● A reusable spacecraft for traveling to and from Earth H. White, Jr. — the program moved forward inexorably.
orbit, the space shuttle. Less than two years later, in October 1968, NASA
bounced back with the successful Apollo 7 mission, which
orbited the Earth and tested the redesigned Apollo com-
■ Early Spaceflights: Mercury and Gemini mand module. The Apollo 8 mission, which orbited the
Moon on December 24-25, 1968, when its crew read from
NASA’s first high-profile program involving human space- the book of Genesis, was another crucial accomplishment
flight was Project Mercury, an effort to learn if humans could on the way to the Moon.
survive the rigors of spaceflight. On May 5, 1961, Alan B. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for
Shepard, Jr. became the first American to fly into space when mankind.” Neil A. Armstrong uttered these famous words
he rode his Mercury capsule on a 15-minute suborbital on July 20, 1969, when the Apollo 11 mission fulfilled
mission. John H. Glenn Jr. became the first U.S. astronaut Kennedy’s challenge by successfully landing Armstrong
to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962. With six flights, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. on the Moon. Armstrong
Project Mercury achieved its goal of putting piloted space- dramatically piloted the lunar module to the lunar sur-
craft into Earth orbit and retrieving the astronauts safely. face with less than 30 seconds worth of fuel remaining.
Project Gemini built on Mercury’s achievements and After taking soil samples and photographs, and doing
extended NASA’s human spaceflight program to spacecraft other tasks on the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin rendez-
built for two astronauts. Gemini’s 10 flights also provided voused with their colleague Michael Collins in lunar or-
NASA scientists and engineers with more data on weight- bit for a safe voyage back to Earth.
lessness, perfected reentry and splashdown procedures, Five more successful lunar landing missions followed.
and demonstrated rendezvous and docking in space. One The Apollo 13 mission of April 1970 attracted the
of the highlights of the program occurred during Gemini public’s attention when astronauts and ground crews had
4, on June 3, 1965, when Edward H. White, Jr., became to improvise to end the mission safely after an oxygen
the first U.S. astronaut to conduct a spacewalk. tank burst midway through the journey to the Moon.
Although this mission never landed on the Moon, it re-
inforced the notion that NASA had a remarkable ability
■ Going to the Moon — Project Apollo to adapt to the unforeseen technical difficulties inher-
ent in human spaceflight.
The singular achievement of NASA during its early years With the Apollo 17 mission of December 1972, NASA
involved the human exploration of the Moon, Project completed a successful engineering and scientific program.
Apollo. Apollo became a NASA priority on May 25, 1961, Fittingly, Harrison H. “Jack” Schmitt, a geologist who par-
when President John F. Kennedy announced, “I believe ticipated on this mission, was the first scientist to be se-
Congressional Digest ■ www.congressionaldigest.com ■ September 2011 197
lected as an astronaut. NASA learned a good deal about shuttle orbiters in NASA’s fleet: Atlantis, Discovery, and
the origins of the Moon, as well as how to support hu- Endeavour.
mans in outer space. In total, 12 astronauts walked on the
Moon during six Apollo lunar landing missions.
In 1975, NASA cooperated with the Soviet Union to ■ Toward a Permanent
achieve the first international human spaceflight, the Human Presence in Space
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). This project success-
fully tested joint rendezvous and docking procedures for The core mission of any future space exploration will be
spacecraft from the United States and the USSR. After humanity’s departure from Earth orbit and journeying to
being launched separately from their respective countries, the Moon or Mars, this time for extended and perhaps
the Apollo and Soyuz crews met in space and conducted permanent stays. A dream for centuries, active efforts to
various experiments for two days. develop both the technology and the scientific knowledge
necessary to carry this off are now well underway.
An initial effort in this area was NASA’s Skylab pro-
■ Space Shuttle gram in 1973. After Apollo, NASA used its huge Saturn
rockets to launch a relatively small orbital space work-
After a gap of six years, NASA returned to human space- shop. There were three human Skylab missions, with the
flight in 1981, with the advent of the space shuttle. The crews staying aboard the orbital workshop for 28, 59,
shuttle’s first mission, STS-1, took off on April 12, 1981, and then 84 days. The first crew manually fixed a bro-
demonstrating that it could take off vertically and glide ken meteoroid shield, demonstrating that humans could
to an unpowered airplane-like landing. On STS-6, dur- successfully work in space. The Skylab program also
ing April 4-9, 1983, F. Story Musgrave and Donald H. served as a successful experiment in long-duration hu-
Peterson conducted the first shuttle extra-vehicular activ- man spaceflight.
ity, to test new spacesuits and work in the shuttle’s cargo In 1984, Congress authorized NASA to build a ma-
bay. Sally K. Ride became the first American woman to jor new space station as a base for further exploration
fly in space when STS-7 lifted off on June 18, 1983 — of space. By 1986, the design depicted a complex, large,
another early milestone of the shuttle program. and multipurpose facility. In 1991, after much debate
On January 28, 1986, a leak in the joints of one of over the station’s purpose and budget, NASA released
two solid rocket boosters attached to the Challenger or- plans for a restructured facility called Space Station Free-
biter caused the main liquid fuel tank to explode 73 sec- dom. Another redesign took place after President Bill
onds after launch, killing all seven crew members. The Clinton took office in 1993, and the facility became
shuttle program was grounded for more than two years known as Space Station Alpha.
while NASA and its contractors worked to redesign the Then Russia, which had many years of experience in
solid rocket boosters and implement management reforms long-duration human spaceflight, such as with its Salyut
to increase safety. On September 29, 1988, the shuttle and Mir space stations, joined with the United States and
successfully returned to flight, and NASA then flew a to- other international partners in 1993 to build a joint fa-
tal of 87 successful missions. cility that became known formally as the International
Tragedy struck again on February 1, 2003, however. Space Station (ISS). To prepare for building the ISS start-
As the Columbia orbiter was returning to Earth on the STS- ing in late 1998, NASA participated in a series of shuttle
107 mission, it disintegrated about 15 minutes before it missions to Mir, and seven American astronauts lived
was to have landed. The Columbia Accident Investigation aboard Mir for extended stays. Permanent habitation of
Board was quickly formed and determined that a small the ISS began with the launch of the Expedition One crew
piece of foam had come off the external tank and had struck on October 31 and the docking on November 2, 2000.
the reinforced carbon panels on the underside of the left On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush vis-
wing during launch on January 16. When the orbiter was ited NASA headquarters and announced a new Vision for
returning to Earth, the breach in the reinforced carbon- Space Exploration. This Vision entailed sending humans
carbon panels allowed hot gas to penetrate the orbiter, back to the Moon and on to Mars by eventually retiring
leading to a catastrophic failure and the loss of seven the shuttle and developing a new, multipurpose crew ex-
crewmembers. ploration vehicle. Robotic scientific exploration and tech-
By summer 1995, NASA was poised to return to nology development was also folded into this
flight again with the STS-114 mission. There were three encompassing Vision.
198 Congressional Digest ■ www.congressionaldigest.com ■ September 2011
■ The Science of Space examining Jupiter and its moon, Europa, revealed that
Europa may contain ice or even liquid water, thought to
In addition to major human spaceflight programs, there be a key component in any life-sustaining environment.
have been significant scientific probes that have explored NASA also has used radio astronomy to scan the heav-
the Moon, the planets, and other areas of our solar sys- ens for potential signals from extraterrestrial intelligent life.
tem. In particular, the 1970s heralded the advent of a new It continues to investigate whether any Martian meteor-
generation of scientific spacecraft. Two similar spacecraft, ites contain microbiological organisms and, in the late
Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, launched on March 2, 1972, 1990s, organized an Origins program to search for life us-
and April 5, 1973, respectively, traveled to Jupiter and ing powerful new telescopes and biological techniques.
Saturn to study the composition of interplanetary space. More recently, scientists have found more and more evi-
Voyagers 1 and 2, launched on September 5, 1977, and dence that water used to be present on Mars.
August 20, 1977, respectively, conducted a “grand tour”
of our solar system.
In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was ■ Aeronautics Research
launched into orbit around the Earth. Unfortunately,
NASA scientists soon discovered that a microscopic spheri- Building on its roots in the National Advisory Commit-
cal aberration in the polishing of the Hubble’s mirror sig- tee for Aeronautics, NASA has continued to conduct many
nificantly limited the instrument’s observing power. types of cutting-edge aeronautics research on aerodynam-
During a previously scheduled servicing mission in De- ics, wind shear, and other important topics using wind
cember, 1993, a team of astronauts performed a dramatic tunnels, flight testing, and computer simulations. In the
series of spacewalks to install a corrective optics package 1960s, NASA’s highly successful X-15 program involved
and other hardware. The hardware functioned like a con- a rocket-powered airplane that flew above the atmosphere
tact lens, and the elegant solution worked perfectly to re- and then glided back to Earth unpowered. The X-15 pi-
store Hubble’s capabilities. The servicing mission again lots helped researchers gain much useful information about
demonstrated the unique ability of humans to work in supersonic aeronautics, and the program also provided data
space, enabled Hubble to make a number of important for development of the space shuttle.
astronomical discoveries, and greatly restored public con- NASA also cooperated with the Air Force in the 1960s
fidence in NASA. on the X-20 Dyna-Soar program, which was designed to
Several months before this first HST servicing mission, fly into orbit. The Dyna-Soar was a precursor to later similar
however, NASA suffered another major disappointment when efforts such as the National Aerospace Plane, on which
the Mars Observer spacecraft disappeared on August 21, 1993, NASA and other government agencies and private com-
just three days before it was to go into orbit around the red panies did advanced hypersonics research in such areas as
planet. In response, NASA began developing a series of “bet- structures, materials, propulsion, and aerodynamics.
ter, faster, cheaper” spacecraft to go to Mars. NASA has also done significant research on flight
The Mars Global Surveyor was the first of these space- maneuverability on high-speed aircraft that is often ap-
craft; it was launched on November 7, 1996, and has been plicable to lower-speed airplanes. NASA scientist Rich-
in a Martian orbit mapping Mars since 1998. Using some ard Whitcomb invented the “supercritical wing” that was
innovative technologies, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft specially shaped to delay and lessen the impact of shock
landed on Mars on July 4, 1997 and explored the surface waves on transonic military aircraft and had a significant
of the planet with its miniature rover, Sojourner. The Mars impact on civil aircraft design.
Pathfinder mission was a scientific and popular success, Beginning in 1972, the watershed F-8 digital-fly-by-
with the world following along via the Internet. This suc- wire (DFBW) program laid the groundwork for electronic
cess was followed by the landing of the Spirit and Oppor- DFBW flight in various later aircraft, such as the F/A-18,
tunity rovers in January 2004, to much scientific and the Boeing 777, and the space shuttle. More sophisticated
popular acclaim. DFBW systems were used on the X-29 and X-31 aircraft,
Over the years, NASA has continued to look for life which would have been uncontrollable otherwise. From
beyond our planet. In 1975, NASA launched the two 1963 to 1975, NASA conducted a research program on
Viking spacecraft to look for basic signs of life on Mars; “lifting bodies,” aircraft without wings. This valuable re-
the spacecraft arrived on Mars in 1976 but did not find search paved the way for the shuttle to glide to a safe
any indications of past or present biological activity there. unpowered landing, as well as for the later X-33 project,
In 1996, a probe from the Galileo spacecraft that was Continued on page 224
Congressional Digest ■ www.congressionaldigest.com ■ September 2011 199
■ Pushing Boundaries
NASA History
So this is the next chapter that we can write together here
Continued from page 199 at NASA. We will partner with industry. We will invest in
and for a prototype for a future crew return vehicle from cutting-edge research and technology. We will set far-reach-
the ISS. In 2004, the X-43A airplane used innovative ing milestones and provide the resources to reach those mile-
scramjet technology to fly at 10 times the speed of sound, stones. And step by step, we will push the boundaries not
setting a world’s record for air-breathing aircraft. only of where we can go but what we can do.
Fifty years after the creation of NASA, our goal is no
longer just a destination to reach. Our goal is the capac-
■ Applications Satellites ity for people to work and learn and operate and live safely
beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately
NASA did pioneering work in space applications, such in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite. And
as communications satellites in the 1960s. The Echo, in fulfilling this task, we will not only extend humanity’s
Telstar, Relay, and Syncom satellites were built by NASA reach in space — we will strengthen America’s leadership
or by the private sector based on significant NASA ad- here on Earth.
vances. Now, I’ll close by saying this. I know that some Ameri-
In the 1970s, NASA’s Landsat program literally cans have asked a question that’s particularly apt on Tax
changed the way we look at our planet Earth. The first Day: Why spend money on NASA at all? Why spend
three Landsat satellites, launched in 1972, 1975, and money solving problems in space when we don’t lack for
1978, transmitted back to Earth complex data streams problems to solve here on the ground? And obviously our
that could be converted into colored pictures. Landsat data country is still reeling from the worst economic turmoil
has been used in a variety of practical commercial appli- we’ve known in generations. We have massive structural
cations, such as crop management and fault-line detec- deficits that have to be closed in the coming years.
tion, and to track many kinds of weather, such as droughts, But you and I know this is a false choice. We have to
forest fires, and ice floes. fix our economy. We need to close our deficits. But for
NASA has been involved in a variety of other Earth pennies on the dollar, the space program has fueled jobs
science efforts such as the Earth Observation System of and entire industries. For pennies on the dollar, the space
spacecraft and data processing that have yielded impor- program has improved our lives, advanced our society,
tant scientific results in such areas as tropical deforesta- strengthened our economy, and inspired generations of
tion, global warming, and climate change. ■ Americans. And I have no doubt that NASA can continue
to fulfill this role.
But I want to say clearly to those of you who work for
President Obama’s Remarks NASA, to the entire community, that has been so sup-
portive of the space program in this area: That is exactly
Continued from page 205 why it’s so essential that we pursue a new course and that
And many of these jobs will be created right here in Florida we revitalize NASA and its mission — not just with dol-
because this is an area primed to lead in this competition. lars, but with clear aims and a larger purpose.
Now, it’s true — there are Floridians who will see their Now, little more than 40 years ago, astronauts de-
work on the shuttle end as the program winds down. This scended the nine-rung ladder of the lunar module called
is based on a decision that was made six years ago, not six Eagle, and allowed their feet to touch the dusty surface of
months ago, but that doesn’t make it any less painful for the Earth’s only Moon. This was the culmination of a dar-
families and communities affected as this decision becomes ing and perilous gambit — of an endeavor that pushed
reality. the boundaries of our knowledge, of our technological
So I’m proposing a $40 million initiative led by a high- prowess, of our very capacity as human beings to solve
level team from the White House, NASA, and other agen- problems. It wasn’t just the greatest achievement in
cies to develop a plan for regional economic growth and NASA’s history — it was one of the greatest achievements
job creation. And I expect this plan to reach my desk by in human history.
August 15. It’s an effort that will help prepare this already And the question for us now is whether that was the
skilled workforce for new opportunities in the space in- beginning of something or the end of something. I choose
dustry and beyond. to believe it was only the beginning. ■
224 Congressional Digest ■ www.congressionaldigest.com ■ September 2011
Copyright of Congressional Digest is the property of Congressional Digest and its content may not be copied or
emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.
However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
