Creation
1963 photo showing Dr. William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James Webb in background. They are discussing the
Mariner program, with a model presented.
Within 30 years NASA sent humans to the Moon's surface and returned them, and launched the Space shuttle shown here in orbit viewing the
Aurora australis from the
Space ShuttleDiscovery, on
STS-39, May 1991 (orbital altitude: 260 km)
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 46-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.
[14] A
NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959.
[15] 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.
[16] Earlier research efforts within the
U.S. Air Force[14] and many of ARPA's early space programs were also transferred to NASA.
[17] In December 1958, NASA gained control of the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a contractor facility operated by the
California Institute of Technology.
[14]
Space flight programs
Pioneer 3 and 4 launched in 1958 and 1959, respectively
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. 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.
Manned programs
The experimental
rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a one-man
space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. Reacting to loss of national prestige and
securityfears caused by early leads in space exploration by the
Soviet Union, in 1961 President
John F. Kennedy proposed the ambitious goal "of landing a man on the Moon by the end of [the 60s], and returning him safely to the Earth." This goal was met in 1969 by the
Apollo program, and NASA planned even more ambitious activities leading to a
manned mission to Mars. However, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, and a semi-reusable Earth orbital shuttle. In the 1990s, funding was approved for NASA to develop a permanent Earth orbital
space station in cooperation with the international community, which now included the former rival, post-Soviet
Russia. To date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen
X-15 rocket flights above the
USAF definition of spaceflight altitude, 260,000 feet (80 km).
[18]
X-15 rocket plane (1959–68)
The
X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered
hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force and Navy. The design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems.
[19] Requests for proposalwere issued on December 30, 1954 for the airframe, and February 4, 1955 for the rocket engine. The airframe contract was awarded to
North American Aviation in November 1955, and the XLR30 engine contract was awarded to
Reaction Motors in 1956, and three planes were built. The X-15 was
drop-launched from the wing of one of two NASA
Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses,
NB52A tail number 52-003, and
NB52B, tail number 52-008 (known as the
Balls 8). Release took place at an altitude of about 45,000 feet (14 km) and a speed of about 500 miles per hour (805 km/h).
Twelve pilots were selected for the program from the Air Force, Navy, and NACA (later NASA). A total of 199 flights were made between 1959 and 1968, resulting in the
official world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned powered aircraft (current as of 2014), and a maximum speed of Mach 6.72, 4,519 miles per hour (7,273 km/h).
[20] The altitude record for X-15 was 354,200 feet (107.96 km).
[21] Eight of the pilots were awarded Air Force
astronaut wings for flying above 260,000 feet (80 km), and two flights by
Joseph A. Walker exceeded 100 kilometers (330,000 ft), qualifying as spaceflight according to the
International Aeronautical Federation. The X-15 program employed mechanical techniques used in the later manned spaceflight programs, including
reaction control system jets for controlling the orientation of a spacecraft,
space suits, and horizon definition for navigation.
[21] The
reentry and landing data collected were valuable to NASA for designing the
Space Shuttle.
[19]
Project Mercury (1959–63)
Friendship 7, NASA's first manned orbital spaceflight
Mercury-Atlas 6 launch on February 20, 1962
Still frame of John Glenn in orbit from camera inside Friendship 7
Shortly after the
Space Race began, an early objective was to get a person into Earth orbit as soon as possible, therefore the simplest spacecraft that could be launched by existing rockets was favored. U.S. Air Force's
Man in Space Soonest program looked at many manned spacecraft designs, ranging from rocket planes like the X-15, to small ballistic
space capsules.
[22] By 1958, the space plane concepts were eliminated in favor of the ballistic capsule.
[23]
When NASA was created that same year, the Air Force program was transferred to it and renamed
Project Mercury. The
first seven astronauts were selected among candidates from the Navy, Air Force and Marine test pilot programs. On May 5, 1961, astronaut
Alan Shepard became the first American in space aboard
Freedom 7, launched by a
Redstone booster on a 15-minute
ballistic (suborbital) flight.
[24] John Glenn became the first American to be launched into
orbit by an
Atlas launch vehicle on February 20, 1962 aboard
Friendship 7.
[25] Glenn completed three orbits, after which three more orbital flights were made, culminating in
L. Gordon Cooper's 22-orbit flight
Faith 7, May 15–16, 1963.
[26]
Project Gemini (1961–66)
Rendezvous of Gemini 6 and 7
Launch shots of the Gemini's (
Gemini 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
7,
6A,
8,
9A,
10,
11, and
12)
Main article:
Project Gemini
Based on studies to grow the Mercury spacecraft capabilities to long-duration flights, developing
space rendezvoustechniques, and precision Earth landing, Project Gemini was started as a two-man program in 1962 to overcome the Soviets' lead and to support the Apollo manned lunar landing program, adding
extravehicular activity (EVA) and
rendezvous and
docking to its objectives. The first manned Gemini flight,
Gemini 3, was flown by
Gus Grissom and
John Young on March 23, 1965.
[28] Nine missions followed in 1965 and 1966, demonstrating an endurance mission of nearly fourteen days, rendezvous, docking, and practical EVA, and gathering medical data on the effects of weightlessness on humans.
[29][30]
Under the direction of
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, the USSR competed with Gemini by converting their Vostok spacecraft into a two- or three-man
Voskhod. They succeeded in launching two manned flights before Gemini's first flight, achieving a three-cosmonaut flight in 1963 and the first EVA in 1964. After this, the program was then canceled, and Gemini caught up while spacecraft designer
Sergei Korolev developed the
Soyuz spacecraft, their answer to Apollo.
Project Apollo (1961–72)
Main article:
Apollo program
The U.S public's perception of the Soviet lead in putting the first man in space, motivated President
John F. Kennedy to ask the Congress on May 25, 1961 to commit the federal government to a program to land a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, which effectively launched the
Apollo program.
[31]
Apollo was one of the most expensive American scientific programs ever. It cost more than $20 billion in 1960s dollars
[32] or an estimated $205 billion in present-day US dollars.
[33] (In comparison, the
Manhattan Project cost roughly $26.2 billion, accounting for inflation.)
[33][34] It used the
Saturn rockets as launch vehicles, which were far bigger than the rockets built for previous projects.
[35] The spacecraft was also bigger; it had two main parts, the combined command and service module (CSM) and the lunar landing module (LM). The LM was to be left on the Moon and only the command module (CM) containing the three astronauts would eventually return to Earth.
Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, 1969
The second manned mission,
Apollo 8, brought astronauts for the first time in a flight around the Moon in December 1968.
[36] Shortly before, the Soviets had sent an unmanned spacecraft around the Moon.
[37] On the next two missions docking maneuvers that were needed for the Moon landing were practiced
[38][39] and then finally the Moon landing was made on the
Apollo 11mission in July 1969.
[40]
The first
person to stand on the Moon was
Neil Armstrong, who was followed by
Buzz Aldrin, while
Michael Collins orbited above. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. Throughout these six Apollo spaceflights, twelve men walked on the Moon. These missions returned a wealth of scientific data and 381.7 kilograms (842 lb) of lunar samples. Topics covered by experiments performed included
soil mechanics,
meteoroids,
seismology,
heat flow,
lunar ranging,
magnetic fields, and
solar wind.
[41] The Moon landing marked the end of the space race and as a gesture, Armstrong mentioned mankind
[42] when he stepped down on the Moon.
Apollo 17's lunar roving vehicle, 1972
Apollo set major
milestones in human spaceflight. It stands alone in sending manned missions beyond
low Earth orbit, and landing humans on another
celestial body.
[43] Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while
Apollo 17 marked the last moonwalk and the last manned mission beyond
low Earth orbitto date. The program spurred advances in many areas of technology peripheral to rocketry and manned spaceflight, including
avionics, telecommunications, and computers. Apollo sparked interest in many fields of engineering and left many physical facilities and machines developed for the program as landmarks. Many objects and artifacts from the program are on display at various locations throughout the world, notably at the
Smithsonian's Air and Space Museums.
Skylab (1965–79)
Skylab space station, 1974
Skylab was the United States' first and only independently built
space station.
[44] Conceived in 1965 as a workshop to be constructed in space from a spent
Saturn IB upper stage, the 169,950 lb (77,088 kg) station was constructed on Earth and launched on May 14, 1973 atop the first two stages of a
Saturn V, into a 235-nautical-mile (435 km) orbit inclined at 50° to the equator. Damaged during launch by the loss of its thermal protection and one electricity-generating solar panel, it was repaired to functionality by its first crew. It was occupied for a total of 171 days by 3 successive crews in 1973 and 1974.
[44] It included a laboratory for studying the effects of
microgravity, and a
solar observatory.
[44]NASA planned to have a Space Shuttle dock with it, and elevate Skylab to a higher safe altitude, but the Shuttle was not ready for flight before Skylab's re-entry on July 11, 1979.
[45]
To save cost, NASA used one of the Saturn V rockets originally earmarked for a canceled Apollo mission to launch the Skylab. Apollo spacecraft were used for transporting astronauts to and from the station. Three three-man crews stayed aboard the station for periods of 28, 59, and 84 days. Skylab's habitable volume was 11,290 cubic feet (320 m
3), which was 30.7 times bigger than that of the
Apollo Command Module.
[45]
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (1972–75)
Apollo-Soyuz crews with models of spacecraft, 1975
On May 24, 1972, US President
Richard M. Nixon and
Soviet Premier
Alexei Kosygin signed an agreement calling for a joint manned space mission, and declaring intent for all future international manned spacecraft to be capable of docking with each other.
[46] This authorized the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), involving the rendezvous and docking in Earth orbit of a surplus
Apollo Command/Service Module with a
Soyuz spacecraft. The mission took place in July 1975. This was the last US manned space flight until the first orbital flight of the
Space Shuttlein April 1981.
[47]
The mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments, and provided useful engineering experience for future joint US–Russian space flights, such as the Shuttle–Mir Program
[48] and the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle program (1972–2011)
Mission profile. Left: launch, top: orbit (cargo bay open), right: reentry and landing
The
Space Shuttle became the major focus of NASA in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Planned as a frequently launchable and mostly reusable vehicle, four space shuttle orbiters were built by 1985. The first to launch,
Columbia, did so on April 12, 1981,
[49] the 20th anniversary of the first known human space flight.
[50]
Its major components were a
spaceplane orbiter with an external fuel tank and two solid-fuel launch rockets at its side. The external tank, which was bigger than the spacecraft itself, was the only major component that was not reused. The shuttle could orbit in altitudes of 185–643 km (115–400
miles)
[51] and carry a maximum payload (to low orbit) of 24,400 kg (54,000 lb).
[52] Missions could last from 5 to 17 days and crews could be from 2 to 8 astronauts.
[51]
In 1995, Russian-American interaction resumed with the
Shuttle-Mir missions (1995–1998). Once more an American vehicle docked with a Russian craft, this time a full-fledged space station. This cooperation has continued with Russia and the United States as two of the biggest partners in the largest space station built: the
International Space Station (ISS). The strength of their cooperation on this project was even more evident when NASA began relying on Russian launch vehicles to service the ISS during the two-year grounding of the shuttle fleet following the 2003
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
The Shuttle fleet lost two orbiters and 14 astronauts in two disasters:
Challenger in 1986, and
Columbia in 2003.
[55] While the 1986 loss was mitigated by building the
Space Shuttle Endeavour from replacement parts, NASA did not build another orbiter to replace the
second loss.
[55] NASA's Space Shuttle program had 135 missions when the program ended with the successful landing of the Space Shuttle
Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011. The program spanned 30 years with over 300 astronauts sent into space.
[56]
International Space Station (1993–present)
The International Space Station
The
International Space Station (ISS) combines NASA's
Space Station Freedom project with the Soviet/Russian
Mir-2 station, the European
Columbus station, and the Japanese
Kibō laboratory module.
[57] NASA originally planned in the 1980s to develop
Freedomalone, but US budget constraints led to the merger of these projects into a single multi-national program in 1993, managed by NASA, the
Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the
European Space Agency (ESA), and the
Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
[58][59] The station consists of pressurized modules, external
trusses,
solar arrays and other components, which have been launched by Russian
Proton and
Soyuz rockets, and the US Space Shuttles.
[57] It is
currently being assembled in
Low Earth Orbit. The on-orbit assembly began in 1998, the completion of the
US Orbital Segment occurred in 2011 and the completion of the
Russian Orbital Segment is expected by 2016.
[60][61][dated info] The ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and agreements
[62] which divide the station into two areas and allow
Russia to retain full ownership of the Russian Orbital Segment (with the exception of Zarya),
[63][64] with the US Orbital Segment allocated between the other international partners.
[62]
Long duration missions to the ISS are referred to as
ISS Expeditions. Expedition crew members typically spend approximately six months on the ISS.
[65] The initial expedition crew size was three, temporarily decreased to two following the Columbia disaster. Since May 2009, expedition crew size has been six crew members.
[66] Crew size is expected to be increased to seven, the number the ISS was designed for, once the Commercial Crew Program becomes operational.
[67] The ISS has been continuously occupied for the past 14 years and 251 days, having exceeded the previous record held by
Mir; and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from
15 different nations.
[68][69]
Spacewalking NASA astronaut in Earth orbit
The station can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye and, as of 2015, is the largest artificial satellite in
Earth orbit with a mass and volume greater than that of any previous space station.
[70]The
Soyuz spacecraft delivers crew members, stays docked for their half-year-long missions and then returns them home. Several uncrewed cargo spacecraft service the ISS, they are the Russian
Progress spacecraft which has done so since 2000, the European
Automated Transfer Vehicle(ATV) since 2008, the Japanese
H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) since 2009, the American
Dragon spacecraft since 2012, and the American
Cygnus spacecraft since 2013. The Space Shuttle, before its retirement, was also used for cargo transfer and would often switch out expedition crew members, although it did not have the capability to remain docked for the duration of their stay. Until another US manned spacecraft is ready, crew members will travel to and from the International Space Station exclusively aboard the Soyuz.
[71] The highest number of people occupying the ISS has been thirteen; this occurred three times during the late Shuttle ISS assembly missions.
[72]
The ISS program is expected to continue until at least 2020 but may be extended until 2028 or possibly beyond that.
[73]
Commercial Resupply Services (2006–present)
The Dragon is seen being berthed to the ISS in May 2012
The Standard variant of Cygnus is seen berthed to the ISS in September 2013
The development of the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) vehicles began in 2006 with the purpose of creating American commercially operated uncrewed cargo vehicles to service the ISS.
[74] The development of these vehicles was under a fixed price milestone-based program, meaning that each company that received a funded award had a list of milestones with a dollar value attached to them that they didn't receive until after they had successful completed the milestone.
[75] Private companies were also required to have some "skin in the game" which refers raising an unspecified amount of private investment for their proposal.
[76]
Commercial Crew Program (2010–present)
The
Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program was initiated in 2010 with the purpose of creating American commercially operated crewed spacecraft capable of delivering at least four crew members to the ISS, staying docked for 180 days and then returning them back to Earth.
[82] It is hoped that these vehicles could also transport non-NASA customers to private space stations such those planned by
Bigelow Aerospace.
[83] Like COTS, CCDev is also a fixed price milestone-based developmental program that requires some private investment.
[75]
In 2010, NASA announced the winners of the first phase of the program, a total of $50 million was divided among five American companies to foster research and development into human spaceflight concepts and technologies in the private sector. In 2011, the winners of the second phase of the program were announced, $270 million was divided among four companies.
[84] In 2012, the winners of the third phase of the program were announced, NASA provided $1.1 billion divided among three companies to further develop their crew transportation systems.
[85] In 2014, the winners of the final round were announced.
[86] SpaceX's
Dragon V2 (planned to be launched on a
Falcon 9 v1.1) received a contract valued up to $2.6 billion and Boeing's
CST-100 (to be launched on an
Atlas V) received a contract valued up to $4.2 billion.
[87] NASA expects these vehicles to begin transporting humans to the ISS in 2017.
[87]
-
Computer rendering of CST-100 in orbit
Beyond Low Earth Orbit program (2010–present)
Artist's rendering of the 70 mt variant of SLS launching Orion
For missions beyond
low Earth orbit (BLEO), NASA has been directed to develop the
Space Launch System (SLS), a Saturn-V class rocket, and the two to six person, beyond low Earth orbit spacecraft,
Orion. In February 2010, President
Barack Obama's administration proposed eliminating public funds for the
Constellation program and shifting greater responsibility of servicing the ISS to private companies.
[88] During a speech at the Kennedy Space Center on April 15, 2010, Obama proposed a new heavy-lift vehicle (HLV) to replace the formerly planned
Ares V.
[89] In his speech, Obama called for a manned mission to an asteroid as soon as 2025, and a manned mission to Mars orbit by the mid-2030s.
[89] The
NASA Authorization Act of 2010 was passed by Congress and signed into law on October 11, 2010.
[90] The act officially canceled the Constellation program.
[90]
Orion spacecraft design as of January 2013
The Authorization Act required a newly designed HLV be chosen within 90 days of its passing; the launch vehicle was given the name "Space Launch System". The new law also required the construction of a beyond low earth orbit spacecraft.
[91] The
Orion spacecraft, which was being developed as part of the Constellation program, was chosen to fulfill this role.
[92] The Space Launch System is planned to launch both Orion and other necessary hardware for missions beyond low Earth orbit.
[93] The SLS is to be upgraded over time with more powerful versions. The initial capability of SLS is required to be able to lift 70 mt into
LEO. It is then planned to be upgraded to 105 mt and then eventually to 130 mt.
[92][94]
Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1), an unmanned test flight of Orion's crew module, was launched on December 5, 2014, atop a
Delta IV Heavy rocket.
[94] Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) is the unmanned initial launch of SLS that would also send Orion on a
circumlunar trajectory, which is planned for 2017.
[94] The first manned flight of Orion and SLS, Exploration Mission 2 (EM-2) is to launch between 2019 and 2021; it is a 10- to 14-day mission planned to place a crew of four into
Lunar orbit.
[94] As of March 2012, the destination for EM-3 and the intermediate focus for this new program is still in-flux.
[95]
Unmanned programs
Ariel as seen by Voyager 2
Art for the
Kepler space telescope
Deep space mission deployed by Shuttle, 1989
Poster art for the PADME concept, a proposed budget Mars mission
More than 1,000 unmanned missions have been designed to explore the Earth and the solar system.
[96] Besides exploration, communication satellites have also been launched by NASA.
[97] The missions have been launched directly from Earth or from orbiting space shuttles, which could either deploy the satellite itself, or with a rocket stage to take it farther.
The first US unmanned satellite was
Explorer 1, which started as an ABMA/JPL project during the early part of the
Space Race. It was launched in January 1958, two months after Sputnik. At the creation of NASA the Explorer project was transferred to this agency and still continues to this day. Its missions have been focusing on the Earth and the Sun, measuring magnetic fields and the
solar wind, among other aspects.
[98] A more recent Earth mission, not related to the Explorer program, was the
Hubble Space Telescope, which as mentioned above was brought into orbit in 1990.
[99]
The
inner Solar System has been made the goal of at least four unmanned programs. The first was
Mariner in the 1960s and '70s, which made multiple visits to
Venus and
Mars and one to
Mercury. Probes launched under the Mariner program were also the first to make a planetary flyby (
Mariner 2), to take the first pictures from another planet (
Mariner 4), the first planetary orbiter (
Mariner 9), and the first to make a
gravity assist maneuver (
Mariner 10). This is a technique where the satellite takes advantage of the gravity and velocity of planets to reach its destination.
[100]
Outside Mars, Jupiter was first visited by
Pioneer 10 in 1973. More than 20 years later
Galileo sent a probe into the planet's atmosphere, and became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet.
[102] Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to visit
Saturn in 1979, with
Voyager 2making the first (and so far only) visits to
Uranus and
Neptune in 1986 and 1989, respectively. The first spacecraft to leave the solar system was Pioneer 10 in 1983. For a time it was the most distant spacecraft, but it has since been surpassed by both
Voyager 1 and
Voyager 2.
[103]
Pioneers 10 and 11 and both Voyager probes carry messages from the Earth to extraterrestrial life.
[104][105] A problem with deep space travel is communication. For instance, it takes about 3 hours at present for a radio signal to reach the New Horizons spacecraft at a point more than halfway to Pluto.
[106] Contact with Pioneer 10 was lost in 2003. Both Voyager probes continue to operate as they explore the outer boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space.
[107]
Artist's concept of NASA's Intelligent Payload Experiment (IPEX) and M-Cubed/COVE-2 satellites ("CubeSats") that were launched as part of the NROL-39 GEMSat mission in December 2013.
On November 26, 2011, NASA's
Mars Science Laboratory mission was successfully launched for Mars.
Curiosity successfully landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and subsequently began its search for evidence of past or present life on Mars.
[108][109][110]
Recent and planned activities
NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of Mars and Saturn and studies of the Earth and the Sun. Other active spacecraft missions are
MESSENGER for
Mercury, 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–), and Juno (2011–).
Vision mission for an interstellar precursor spacecraft by NASA
On December 4, 2006, NASA announced it was planning a
permanent moon base.
[112] 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 a "unsustainable trajectory."
[113] In 2010, President
Barack Obamahalted existing plans, including the Moon base, and directed a generic focus on manned missions to asteroids and Mars, as well as extending support for the International Space Station.
[114]
Since 2011, NASA's strategic goals have been
[115]
- Extend and sustain human activities across the solar system
- Expand scientific understanding of the Earth and the universe
- Create innovative new space technologies
- Advance aeronautics research
- Enable program and institutional capabilities to conduct NASA's aeronautics and space activities
- Share NASA with the public, educators, and students to provide opportunities to participate
View of Enceladus's
Europa-like surface with the
Labtayt Sulci fractures at center and the Ebony (left) and Cufa dorsa at lower left; imaged by
Cassinion February 17, 2005
On August 6, 2012, NASA landed the rover
Curiosity on Mars. On August 27, 2012,
Curiosity transmitted the first pre-recorded message from the surface of Mars back to Earth, made by Administrator Charlie Bolden:
| “ | Hello. This is Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator, speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of the Curiosity Rover, which is now on the surface of Mars.
Since the beginning of time, humankind’s curiosity has led us to constantly seek new life...new possibilities just beyond the horizon. I want to congratulate the men and women of our NASA family as well as our commercial and government partners around the world, for taking us a step beyond to Mars. This is an extraordinary achievement. Landing a rover on Mars is not easy – others have tried – only America has fully succeeded. The investment we are making...the knowledge we hope to gain from our observation and analysis of Gale Crater, will tell us much about the possibility of life on Mars as well as the past and future possibilities for our own planet. Curiosity will bring benefits to Earth and inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers, as it prepares the way for a human mission in the not too distant future. Thank you. [119] | ” |
Scientific research
Mars rock, viewed by a rover
Main article:
NASA research
Staff and leadership
NASA's administrator is the agency's highest-ranking official and serves as the senior space science adviser to the President of the United States. The agency's administration is located at
NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC and provides overall guidance and direction.
[120]Except under exceptional circumstances, NASA civil service employees are required to be
citizens of the United States.
[121]
The third administrator was
James E. Webb (served 1961–1968), appointed by President
John F. Kennedy. In order to implement the
Apollo program to achieve Kennedy's Moon landing goal by the end of the 1960s, Webb directed major management restructuring and facility expansion, establishing the Houston Manned Spacecraft (Johnson) Center and the Florida Launch Operations (Kennedy) Center.
Facilities
John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), is one of the best-known NASA facilities. It has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on pause, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program from three pads at the adjoining Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Another major facility is
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama at which the Saturn 5 rocket and Skylab were developed.
[124]The
JPL, mentioned above, was together with
ABMA one of the agencies behind
Explorer 1, the first American space mission.
- John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
- Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
- Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Facility, 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
- John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
- Plum Brook Station Test Facilities, Sandusky, 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
Budget
NASA's budget from 1958 to 2012 as a percentage of federal budget
An artist's conception, from NASA, of an astronaut planting a U.S. flag on Mars. A
manned mission to Mars has been discussed as a possible NASA mission since the 1960s.
Main article:
Budget of NASA
NASA's budget has generally been approximately 1% of the federal budget from the early 1970s on, but briefly peaked to approximately 4.41% in 1966 during the Apollo program.
[125] Public perception of NASA's budget has differed significantly from reality; a 1997 poll indicated that most Americans responded that 20% of the federal budget went to NASA.
[126]
The percentage of federal budget that NASA has been allocated has been steadily dropping since the Apollo program and in 2012 it was estimated at 0.48% of the federal budget.
[127] In a March 2012 meeting of the
United States Senate Science Committee,
Neil deGrasse Tyson testified that "Right now, NASA’s annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar. For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow."
[128][129]
For Fiscal Year 2015, NASA received an appropriation of
US$18.01 billion from Congress—$549 million more than requested and approximately $350 million more than the 2014 NASA budget passed by Congress.
[130]
Environmental impact
Space exploration can affect life on Earth. Some
hypergolic rocket propellants, such as
hydrazine, are extremely toxic prior to
combustion. Rockets based on hydrocarbons, such as
kerosene, release carbon dioxide and soot in their exhaust.
[131] However, rocket emissions are insignificant compared to those from automobiles or coal-fired power plants, as they are much less frequent. Additionally, the exhaust from
LOx- and
LH2- fueled engines, like the
SSME, is almost entirely water vapor.
[132] NASA addressed environmental concerns with its canceled
Constellation program in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act in 2011.
[133]
Observations
Plot of orbits of known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (size over 460 feet (140 m) and passing within 4.7 million miles (7.6×106 km) of Earth's orbit)
Various nebulae observed from a NASA space telescope
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Spacecraft
Examples of NASA missions by target
Plutonium
Radioisotope within a graphite shell that goes into the generator.
The Space Shuttle shown in Figure 9 performs the functions of the first two stages of an expendable launch vehicle. The satellite--together with the third stage--are mounted in the cargo bay of the shuttle. When the shuttle reaches its orbital elevation of 150 to 200 miles, the satellite and third stage assembly are ejected from the cargo compartment as shown in Figure 10. Then the third stage is fired, placing the satellite into the elliptical transfer orbit. At the apogee of the transfer orbit, the satellite’s AKM moves the satellite into its designated geosynchronous orbital slot. After all of its cargo has been jettisoned, the shuttle returns to earth for refurbishing and reus
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