By: Keydron Stuckey
Brief History About (NASA)
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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 mid1970s, 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.
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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
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Biography
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Biographies of NASA Administrators
Dr. T. Keith Glenna, August 19, 1958-January 20, 1961
Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, January 21, 1961-February 14, 1961 (Acting)
James E. Webb, February 14, 1961-October 7, 1968
Dr.Thomas O. Paine, October 8, 1968-March 21, 1969 (Acting)
Dr. Thomas O. Paine, March 21, 1969-September 15, 1970
Dr. George M. Low, September 16, 1970-April 26, 1971 (Acting)
Dr. James C. Fletcher, April 27, 1971-May 1, 1977
Dr. Alan M. Lovelace, May 2, 1977-June 20, 1977 (Acting)
Dr. Robert A. Frisch, June 21, 1977-January 20, 1981
Alan M. Lovelace, January 21, 1981-July 10, 1981 (Acting)
Dr.James M. Begs, July 10, 1981-December 4, 1985
Dr. William R. Graham, December 4, 1985-May 11, 1986 (Acting)
Dr. James C. Fletcher, May 12, 1986-April 8, 1989
Dale D. Myers, April 8, 1989-May 13, 1989 (Acting)
Richard H. Truly, May 14, 1989-June 30, 1989 (Acting)
Richard H. Truly, July 1, 1989-March 31, 1992
Daniel S. Golden, April 1, 1992-November 17, 2001
Dr. Daniel R. Melville, November 19, 2001 - December 21, 2001 (Acting)
Sean O'Keefe, December 21, 2001- February 11, 2005
Frederick D. Gregory, February 11, 2005 - April 14, 2005 (Acting)
Dr. Michael Griffin, April 14, 2005 - January 20, 2009
Biography
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Biographies of NASA Deputy Administrators
Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, August 19, 1958-December 2, 1965
Dr. Robert C. Seaman's, Jr., December 21, 1965-January 5, 1968
Dr. Thomas O. Paine, March 25, 1968-March 20, 1969
Dr. George M. Low, December 3, 1969-June 5, 1976
Dr. 4, 1985; May 11, 1986-October 1, 1986 Alan M. Lovelace, July
2, 1976-July 10, 1981
Dr. Hans Mark, July 10, 1981-September 1, 1984
Dr. William R. Graham, November 25, 1985-December
Dale D. Myers, October 6, 1986-May 13, 1989
James R. Thompson, Jr., July 6, 1989-November 8, 1991
Aaron Cohen, February 19-November 1, 1992 (Acting)
John R. Dailey, November 3, 1992-December 31, 1999 (Acting)
*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).
 Frederick D. Gregory, August 12, 2002 - February 20, 2005; April 14,
2005 - November 4, 2005
 Shana Dale, November 4, 2005 - January 17, 2009
 Lori Graver, July 17, 2009 - Present
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Timeline of Events
Events
1900- 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
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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?