How Nasa was established/created. History of NASA.
Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Founded: 1 October 1958, United States
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
Administered by: Jim Bridenstine
Subsidiaries: NASA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The US Congress passed legislation on July 29, 1958, establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America's activities in space.
Since NASA sponsored space missions, both human and mechanical information has been received. About the solar system and the universe.
It has also launched several Earth-orbiting satellites that play an important role in everything from weather forecasting to navigation to global communications.
On October 4, 1957, NASA launched its first satellite, Sputnik. The 183-pound, basketball-sized satellite was created in response to the launch, which orbited the Earth in 98 minutes.
The Sputnik-1 launch surprised Americans and feared that the Soviets might also be able to send missiles with nuclear weapons from Europe to America.
The United States prided itself on being at the forefront of technology, and, embarrassed, immediately began to develop a response, signaling the start of the American-Soviet space race.
On November 3, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik II, with a dog named Laika. In December, the US attempted to launch a satellite of its own, called vanguard, but it exploded soon after takeoff.
On January 31, 1958, things got better with Explorer I, the first American satellite to successfully orbit the Earth.
In July of the same year, Congress officially established NASA from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and other government agencies, and reaffirmed the country's commitment to winning the space race.
In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced that America should put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
On July 20, in the year 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 mission achieved that goal and made history when astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first to set foot on the moon, which famously proclaimed "a small step for mankind.
NASA has continued to make considerable progress in space exploration since the first moonwalk, with the International Space Station playing a major role in the construction.
However, the agency also suffered tragic failures, such as disasters that killed the crew of the Challenger spacecraft in 1986 and the Columbia space shuttle in 2003.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon