What is NASA?
The letters “Nasa” stand for the first letter of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which means “National Aeronautics and Space Administration,” the official agency of the United States government that maintains the United States’ space program.
NASA, which is often informally referred to globally as the American Space Agency, is a federal agency that oversees the initiatives of the United States of America in outer space and exploration, whether within or outside the solar system, including exploration by humans, machines, robots, and navigational research. And air, ground and space research as well. It is responsible for the International Space Station (ISS).
Where is NASA headquarters?
The headquarters of “NASA” is located in Washington, DC, but it has branches and centers spread across the country, such as:
|
Center |
Location |
|
Goddard Space Flight Center |
Greenbelt – Maryland |
|
John F. Kennedy Space Center |
Cape Canaveral – Florida |
|
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |
Houston – Texas |
|
John Stennis Space Center |
Hancock County, Mississippi |
|
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) |
Pasadena – California |
A Glimpse into NASA’s History
- NASA was established in accordance with the National Space and Navigation Act, which was signed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1958. Therefore, several research laboratories were combined into one entity, such as the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory and the Lewis Flight Launch Laboratory.
- Congress has directed the Army Explosive Missile Agency and the United States Navy’s laboratories to contribute to the work and creation of the new agency.
- NASA was created during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
- In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched “Sputnik 1,” the first satellite around the Earth, and there was a general understanding of the possibility of exploiting outer space for the purposes of missiles and even nuclear weapons, and therefore the US government considered the success of “NASA” one of the priorities of national security.
- NASA’s early projects included Project Mercury, during which astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to go into space. And Project Gemini, which sent a team of two people into space for the first time.
- However, the most famous of NASA’s projects was the Apollo program, which began in 1960 and achieved America’s most important victory in space. In 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon and humans landed and walked on the moon for the first time in human history.
- NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to set foot on the moon’s surface following landing from their spacecraft.
- The Apollo program later sent 5 successful flights to the moon, during which astronauts were able to walk on the moon’s surface, and the number of American astronauts who walked on the moon reached 12 people between 1969 and 1972.
What are the responsibilities and missions of NASA?
As the federal government agency responsible for travel and space exploration, NASA’s missions include:
Planetary sciences
NASA is completely focused on studying the moons and planets in our solar system, where NASA scientists are looking for traces of life (current or past) and planning trips with astronauts to some of these areas.
SLS spacecraft launch systems
The NASA Space Launch Program initiative aims to produce a dispensable spacecraft launch vehicle that enables humans to explore deep space using relatively large aircraft.
Orion . Program
The Orion Multi-Use Spacecraft Carrying Astronauts is a reusable capsule designed to orbit around low Earth orbit. International cooperation is currently helping NASA to find this capsule. Like many of NASA’s cutting-edge contemporary projects, the Orion program uses special partners such as Lockheed Martin and Airbus. The capsule was designed using inspiration from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Back to the moon
NASA’s Artemis program aims to enable Americans to land on the south pole of the Moon in the near future. The Artemis program includes in its missions at least one female astronaut in its upcoming flights to be the first female astronaut to set foot on the moon.
Exploring Mars
During previous NASA trips to Mars, such as Opportunity, Spirit Curiosity, and Perseverance, NASA aimed to explore this planet. However, it intends to send astronauts in the future to Mars on manned flights, although the date of the flight has not yet been determined.
NASA budget
It is not surprising that space research and experiments, and the construction of spacecraft and space stations, cost a lot of money. Spacecraft rely on a lot of technologies that cannot be reused, and the technologies used in spacecraft and space-related research are constantly evolving, which means there is a constant need for innovation.
As of 2020, NASA is operating with a budget of $22.6 billion, which represents a small portion of the annual federal budget of the United States of America, which is estimated at $4.79. This small number allocated to NASA can never be compared to the enormous budget that US governments leased to NASA during the periods of the Mercury program, the Apollo program, the Voyager space missions, and the Space Shuttle program.
Some attribute this budget drop to the decrease in public interest in space exploration, while others explain that international competition to explore and seize space has decreased, especially with the exploration of planets and near-Earth regions and the double cost of exploring far regions, and economic crises play a major role in financing such huge projects.
To plug the shortfall in funding for NASA research and experiments, some private companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Blue Origin have begun testing rockets for commercial and scientific purposes. The United States of America has also begun to rely on Russian space programs to send American astronauts to the International Space Station.