By: Keydron Stuckey

Brief History About (NASA)  NASA History in Brief October 1, 1958, the official start of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was the beginning of a rich history of unique scientific and technological achievements in human space flight, aeronautics, space science, and space applications. Formed as a result of the Sputnik crisis of confidence, NASA inherited the earlier National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and other government organizations, and almost immediately began working on options for human space flight. NASA's first high profile program was Project Mercury, an effort to learn if humans could survive in space, followed by Project Gemini, which built upon Mercury's successes and used spacecraft built for two astronauts. NASA's human space flight efforts then extended to the Moon with Project Apollo, culminating in 1969 when the Apollo 11 mission first put humans on the lunar surface. After the Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz Test Projects of the early and mid- 1970s, NASA's human space flight efforts again resumed in 1981, with the Space Shuttle program that continues today to help build the International Space  Station.

 Building on its NACA roots, NASA has continued to conduct many types of cutting-edge aeronautics research on aerodynamics, wind shear, and other important topics using wind tunnels, flight testing, and computer simulations. NASA's highly successful X-15 program involved a rocket-powered airplane that flew above the atmosphere and then glided back to Earth unpowered, providing Shuttle designers with much useful data. The watershed F-8 digital-fly-by-wire program laid the groundwork for such electronic flight in many other aircraft including the Shuttle and high performance airplanes that would have been uncontrollable otherwise. NASA has also done important research on such topics as "lifting bodies" (wingless airplanes) and "supercritical wings" to dampen the effect of shock waves on transonic aircraft.

 Additionally, NASA has launched a number of significant scientific probes such as the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft that have explored the Moon, the planets, and other areas of our solar system. NASA has sent several spacecraft to investigate Mars including the Viking and Mars Pathfinder spacecraft. The Hubble Space Telescope and other space science spacecraft have enabled scientists to make a number of significant astronomical discoveries about our universe.  NASA also has done pioneering work in space applications satellites. NASA has helped bring about new generations of communications satellites such as the Echo, Telstar, and Sitcom satellites. NASA's Earth science efforts have also literally changed the way we view our home planet; the Land sat and Earth Observing System spacecraft have contributed many important scientific findings. NASA technology has also resulted in numerous "spin-offs" in wide-ranging scientific, technical, and commercial fields. Overall, while the tremendous technical and scientific accomplishments of NASA demonstrate vividly that humans can achieve previously inconceivable feats, we also are humbled by the real that Earth is just a tiny "blue marble" in the cosmos.

Biography  Biographies of NASA Administrators  Dr. T. Keith Glenna, August 19, 1958-January 20, 1961 Dr. T. Keith Glenna  Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, January 21, 1961-February 14, 1961 (Acting) Dr. Hugh L. Dryden  James E. Webb, February 14, 1961-October 7, 1968 James E. Webb  Dr.Thomas O. Paine, October 8, 1968-March 21, 1969 (Acting) Dr.Thomas O. Paine  Dr. Thomas O. Paine, March 21, 1969-September 15, 1970 Dr. Thomas O. Paine  Dr. George M. Low, September 16, 1970-April 26, 1971 (Acting) Dr. George M. Low  Dr. James C. Fletcher, April 27, 1971-May 1, 1977 Dr. James C. Fletcher  Dr. Alan M. Lovelace, May 2, 1977-June 20, 1977 (Acting) Dr. Alan M. Lovelace  Dr. Robert A. Frisch, June 21, 1977-January 20, 1981 Dr. Robert A. Frisch  Alan M. Lovelace, January 21, 1981-July 10, 1981 (Acting) Alan M. Lovelace  Dr.James M. Begs, July 10, 1981-December 4, 1985 Dr.James M. Begs  Dr. William R. Graham, December 4, 1985-May 11, 1986 (Acting) Dr. William R. Graham  Dr. James C. Fletcher, May 12, 1986-April 8, 1989 Dr. James C. Fletcher  Dale D. Myers, April 8, 1989-May 13, 1989 (Acting) Dale D. Myers  Richard H. Truly, May 14, 1989-June 30, 1989 (Acting) Richard H. Truly  Richard H. Truly, July 1, 1989-March 31, 1992 Richard H. Truly  Daniel S. Golden, April 1, 1992-November 17, 2001 Daniel S. Golden  Dr. Daniel R. Melville, November 19, December 21, 2001 (Acting) Dr. Daniel R. Melville  Sean O'Keefe, December 21, February 11, 2005 Sean O'Keefe  Frederick D. Gregory, February 11, April 14, 2005 (Acting) Frederick D. Gregory  Dr. Michael Griffin, April 14, January 20, 2009 Dr. Michael Griffin

Biography  Biographies of NASA Deputy Administrators  Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, August 19, 1958-December 2, 1965 Dr. Hugh L. Dryden  Dr. Robert C. Seaman's, Jr., December 21, 1965-January 5, 1968 Dr. Robert C. Seaman's, Jr.  Dr. Thomas O. Paine, March 25, 1968-March 20, 1969 Dr. Thomas O. Paine  Dr. George M. Low, December 3, 1969-June 5, 1976 Dr. George M. Low  Dr. 4, 1985; May 11, 1986-October 1, 1986 Alan M. Lovelace, July 2, 1976-July 10, 1981 Dr. Alan M. Lovelace  Dr. Hans Mark, July 10, 1981-September 1, 1984 Dr. Hans Mark  Dr. William R. Graham, November 25, 1985-December Dr. William R. Graham  Dale D. Myers, October 6, 1986-May 13, 1989 Dale D. Myers  James R. Thompson, Jr., July 6, 1989-November 8, 1991 James R. Thompson, Jr.  Aaron Cohen, February 19-November 1, 1992 (Acting) Aaron Cohen  John R. Dailey, November 3, 1992-December 31, 1999 (Acting) John R. Dailey  *Dr. Daniel R. Melville, January 1, 2000-November 19, 2001; December 21, 2001-February 3, 2003 (*Dr. Melville was never the official Deputy Administrator. Rather, during these time periods he served as the Associate Deputy Administrator). *Dr. Daniel R. Melville  Frederick D. Gregory, August 12, February 20, 2005; April 14, November 4, 2005 Frederick D. Gregory  Shana Dale, November 4, January 17, 2009 Shana Dale  Lori Graver, July 17, Present Lori Graver

Timeline of Events  Events  a scientist named Tsiolkovsky started testing rockets  1981-the first re-usable shuttle, Columbia, was launched  1957-Soviet satellite, Sputnik, became the first manmade object to orbit Earth  1967-Photograph of the moon taken by Lunar Orbiter  1914-A scientist name Goddard patented the first rockets  1917-First space station, Salyut1(ends orbits 1973)  1990-HubbleTelescope launched  1961-The Redstone rocket lifted  1973-america launches the Space Station  1969-Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon  1995-Galileo sends back photos and data about Jupiter’s composition

 50 Years of NASA History  By: Keydron Stuckey  Fifty years after its founding, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration arguably leads the world in exploration, standing on the shoulders of a long line of explorers throughout history. Its astronauts have circled the world, walked on the moon, piloted the first winged spacecraft, and constructed the International Space Station. Its robotic spacecraft have studied Earth, visited all the planets (and soon the dwarf planet Pluto), imaged the universe at many wavelengths, and peered back to the beginnings of time. Its scramjet aircraft have reached the aeronautical frontier, traveling 7,000 miles per hour, 10 times the speed of sound, setting the world’s record. How did an agency with such varied accomplishments come into existence?