National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the full form of NASA. It is an independent agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as the aeronautics and space sciences of the United States federal government. It was established by the President Dwight D. Eisenhower on October 1 in the year1958 through the National Aeronautics and Space Act. It deals with the development of peaceful space science technologies instead of military ones, and is in charge of US science and technology related to space exploration and aircraft.
NASA's vision: Exploring and broadening awareness for the good of humanity
NASA is run by an administrator. Jim Bridenstine became the 13th Administrator of NASA after about July 2019, and James W. Morhard became the 14th Deputy Administrator of the NASA. The agency consists of four research directorates:
- Aeronautics Research, to improve new aeronautical technologies.
- The science concerned with initiatives to understand the origin, nature, and evolution of the universe, the solar system, and the Earth.
- Space technology, to develop the space research and exploration technology.
- Human exploration and operations related to the management of crewed projects such as the International Space Station, as well as operations related to service launches, space transportation, and space communications for both manned and robotic exploration programs.
Several other research centers are affiliated, including the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the Pasadena, California Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Houston, Texas Johnson Space Center, and the Hampton, Virginia Langley Research Center. NASA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Space flight programs
Throughout its history, NASA has conducted several manned and unmanned spaceflight projects. The Uncrewed programs launched America's first artificial satellites into Earth orbit for research and communications purposes and sent research probes to explore the planets of the solar system, starting with Venus and Mars, including large surveys of the outer planets.
Event Real and Expected
- In 2009, 40 years after the first moon landing, NASA launched a manned mission back to the moon. An Astronauts completed the Neil A. Armstrong Lunar Station in 2012, after a three-year construction period. The base will allow the crew to fly to more distant locations throughout the Solar System.
- NASA astronauts successfully landed on the recently discovered asteroid AO10 1999 in 2015.
- There is also a proposal for a manned landing mission to be sent to Mars by 2020 or 2021.
- Uncrewed missions include the Venus In Situ Explorer, which will launch in 2022.
- The joint NASA/ESA Uranus Pathfinder probe is scheduled to launch in 2025 and the Neptune Orbiter in 2016.