CAREERS
IN AEROSPACE
NASA
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 transsonic 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 Syncom satellites. NASA’s Earth science efforts have also
literally changed the way we view our home planet; the Landsat 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.
NASA has accomplished
many great scientific and technological feats in air space and NASA.
NASA technology also has been adapted for many non-aerospace uses by
the private sector. NASA remains a leading force in scientific research
and in stimulating public interest in aerospace exploration, as well
as science and technology in general. Perhaps more importantly, our
exploration of space has taught us to view the Earth, ourselves, and
the universe in a new way. While the tremendous technical and scientific
accomplishments of NASA demonstrate vividly that humans can achieve
previously inconceivable feats, we also are humbled by the realization
that Earth is just a tiny “blue marble” in the cosmos.
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