National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

The era of space exploration began in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first

satellite, Sputnik, into Earth orbit October 4, 1957. The Soviet also were the first to launch a

manned spacecraft when Yuri Gagarni, made one orbit around the Earth in 1961. Americans

were electrified by the news. A year later the Soviets issued an ultimatum that the Western

Allies evacuate Berlin. Next came a proposal that Berlin become a free city. There waere fears

that the Cold War of coexistence could turn into a world war.

America also had goals they wanted to fulfil. A year later the United States Congress

passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act to promote and coordinate the United States

space program. In 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established,

commonly referred to NASA. Shortly after NASA's founding, the launching site at Cape

Canaveral, Florida, and the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas were planned and built.

According to the 1958 act, NASA's functions are: to conduct research on problems of

flight within and outside the Earth's atmosphere; to develop, construct, tests and operate space

vehicles; to explore space with manned and unmanned vehicles; to cooperate with other nations

on projects for the peaceful uses of space; and to publish the results of its work.

The planning and control of NASA's activities take place at the agency's headquarters in

Washington, D.C. There are four program offices that have been set up to develop and direct the

activities of NASA's several field installation: Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology,

Office of Space Science and Applications, Office of Space Flight, and Office of Space Tracking

The Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology is responsible for the continued

development of advanced technology. This office set the guidelines for NASA's objectives,

demonstrates the feasibility of the objectives, and proposes the necessary technology to carry

them out. It also coordinates activities with other agencies to prevent duplication of effort.

The office of Space Science and Applications directs the study of the nature of the

universe through research in astrophysics, biology, Earth sciences, solar system exploration,

communications, micro gravity, and information systems. This office uses a vairety of devices to

conduct its research. These include remote sensing equipment, automated spacecraft, sounding

The Office of Space Flight is responsible for the space laboratories and all facets of the

Space Transportaion System, or space shuttles of NASA. This office also directs several of the

field installations and oversees the purchase of all hardware necessary for NASA's space

The office of Space Tracking and Data Systems Provides all the information necessary

for the commencement and progress of space missions. The facilities that provide this

information support are the Deep Space Network, the Space flight Tracking and Data Network,

and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite systems. A global communications system coordinates

the tasks of this office by linking all tracking sites, control centers, and data processing

facilities.NASA has nine chief field installations. Many people who follow space launches know

of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Tex., and the John F. Kennedy Space Center

at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Houston installation is a command control center, while the center

at Cape Canaveral is the primary launching site.

The other field installations are: Ames Research Center at Moffet Field, Calif.; Goddard Space

Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; Langley

Research Center in Hampton, Va.; Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio; George C.

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.; and the National Space Technology

Laboratories in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Since it was founded, NASA has had many striking successes and at least two unfortunate

tragedies. In 1961 Alan Shepard was the first American sent into space. The following year John

Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. The most stunning achievement was putting

two men on the moon in July 1969. The agency's first major accident was the death by fire in

1967 of astronauts Virgil Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The second disaster was the

explosion of the Challenger space shuttle on Jan. 28, 1986. Less than two minutes after lift-off

all seven astronauts aboard were killed, including Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher-astronaut.