The History of NASA

6 min reading – 1652 words

What Exactly is NASA?

If you’re wondering about NASA, you’re in the right place! Here’s a look back at the mythical space agency that enabled man to walk on the Moon.

The Origins of NACA

To talk about NASA, we first need to talk about NACA. The NACA, which stands for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, was set up at the beginning of the 20th century (1915), at a time when the first airplanes were taking off, to develop aeronautical technologies.

For almost 40 years, the NACA tested new wing profiles, participated in the X1 program to break the sound barrier, and took over German work on jet engines.

From NACA to NASA

In 1958, NACA became NASA. Only one letter was changed in the acronym, but in fact, the meaning was quite different. Where NACA stood for Comité de Conseil National pour l’Aéronautique, NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

So we’re adding the space dimension. NASA was created in response to the progress made by the Soviets. The year before, the Soviets had successfully launched Sputnik into orbit, and the American space program, until then managed by the military, was struggling to catch up. President Eisenhower created NASA as a civilian government space agency.

The head of NASA is the Administrator. The Administrator is appointed by the President of the United States, and the choice is submitted to the U.S. Senate.

NASA’s Relationship with the U.S. Government

While NASA is a civilian agency, it still depends on the government for certain decisions, such as the budget. The budget is voted on annually by the U.S. Congress, which has a major influence on what NASA can and cannot do.

If we were to talk in terms of millions of dollars, this would be irrelevant, given inflation and the fact that the overall U.S. budget has also increased sharply. To understand NASA’s budget, we need to talk in terms of percentage of the total U.S. budget.

At its inception, NASA’s budget was close to $100 million, which was 0.1% of the total U.S. budget. However, with the space race, Congress voted ever-larger budgets, with records being set in the 1960s before declining again thereafter.

For instance, in the 1960s, NASA’s budget peaked at over 4% of the federal budget. Today, NASA’s budget is just 0.47% of the federal budget. In comparison, the U.S. defense budget represents 15% of the federal budget — that’s thirty times more!

This inevitably limits NASA’s ambitions. If you adjust for inflation, the agency’s annual budget is four times smaller than it was during the Apollo era. Developing an interplanetary rocket for manned missions to the Moon or Mars under these conditions is no easy task. So what exactly does NASA do with all that money?

Major Technological Advances

NASA has contributed to a wide range of technological innovations. Thanks to NASA, we’ve had developments like:

• Winglets: Aerodynamic wing extensions that reduce drag and fuel consumption.
• Survival blankets.
• Aircraft anti-icing systems.
• Memory foam.
• Photovoltaic cells.
• Water purifiers.

These advancements are the result of decades of research, engineering, and development at NASA’s various centers across the USA.

NASA’s Development Centers

NASA’s research is conducted at several specialized centers, each with a unique role in space exploration and aviation technology:

• Ames Research Center: Located on California’s West Coast, formerly the NACA’s aeronautical center.
• Armstrong Flight Research Center: Located at Edwards Air Force Base, responsible for supersonic aircraft tests and aircraft crash simulations.
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Located in Pasadena, this center focuses on unmanned space missions, including projects like Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Curiosity, and Voyager.
• Johnson Space Center: Located in Houston, Texas, it oversees NASA’s manned missions, including the Apollo missions and current operations of the International Space Station (ISS).