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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA (for its acronym in English, National Aeronautics and Space Administration), is the US government agency responsible for the civil space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
In 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower founded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with a strongly civilian, rather than military, orientation, encouraging peaceful applications of space science. On July 29, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed, thus destabilizing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). On October 1 of that year, the new agency began to function.
Since then most of America's space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the space shuttle. Through 2020, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System, and Commercial Crew Development vehicles. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program (LSP), which provides oversight services for launch operations and countdown management for NASA unmanned launches.
Science used by NASA focuses on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System (EOS), advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program Scientists, exploring bodies throughout the solar system with advanced robotic missions such as New Horizons and investigating astrophysics issues such as the Big Bang through the Great Observatories and programs partners. NASA shares information with various national and international organizations, such as the Ibuki satellite of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Background
Since 1946, NACA had been conducting experiments with rocket planes, such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, the challenge was to launch an artificial satellite for the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958.; A reflection of this is the effort he put into the Vanguard Program. Following the Soviet launch of the world's first artificial satellite (the Sputnik 1) on October 4, 1957, US attention turned to its own fledgling advances in space. The United States Congress, alarmed by the perceived threat to national security and technological leadership (a reaction dubbed the Sputnik Crisis), urged immediate action, but President Eisenhower and his advisers advised action after further deliberation. carefully. This led to agreement on the need for a new federal agency, based primarily on the NACA, to conduct all non-military activity in space. For its part, in February 1958 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was created to develop space technology for military applications.
On July 29, 1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA. When it began its operations on October 1 of that same year, it completely absorbed NACA: its 8,000 employees, an annual budget of 100 million dollars, three major laboratories (Langley Research Center, Ames Research Center and Glenn Research Center) and two smaller test facilities. In 1959, President Eisenhower approved a NASA seal. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into the new space agency. Early research efforts within the United States Air Force, as well as many of DARPA's early space programs, were transferred to NASA. In December 1958, it gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a facility contractor operated by the California Institute of Technology.
The technology of the German rocket program (led by Wernher von Braun, now working for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency), which had incorporated technology from the early work of American scientist Robert Goddard, made a significant contribution to the entry of NASA in the space race with the Soviet Union.
Space Flight Programs
NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. The unmanned programs launched the first American artificial satellites into Earth orbit for scientific and communications purposes, and scientific probes to explore the planets of the solar system, beginning with Venus and Mars, and including a program to study the outer planets. The manned programs sent the first Americans into low terrestrial orbit (OTB) and won the space race with the Soviet Union, landing twelve men on the Earth's satellite from 1969 to 1972, thanks to the Apollo program; developed a semi-reusable space shuttle for OTB and operates the International Space Station on OTB, in cooperation with other nations, including post-Soviet Russia.
Manned missions
The rocket plane experimental programs initiated by NACA were extended by NASA in support of human spaceflight. This was followed by a one-man space capsule program and, in turn, a two-man capsule program. In 1961, then-President John F. Kennedy, in response to the loss of national prestige and security fears caused by the Soviet Union's early leaders in space exploration, proposed the ambitious goal of "putting a man on the Moon in the late [1960s] decade, and return him safely to Earth". This goal was achieved in 1969 by the Apollo program, and NASA planned even more ambitious activities such as a manned mission to Mars. However, the reduction in the perceived threat and the change in political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory and a semi-reusable Earth orbital shuttle. In the 1990s, funding was approved for NASA to develop a permanent Earth orbital space station in cooperation with the international community, which included longtime rival post-Soviet Russia. To date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of space flight altitude, 260,000 feet (80 km).
X-15 Rocket Plane (1959–68)
NASA's XS-1 (Bell X-1) was followed by other experimental vehicles, such as the X-15, developed in cooperation with the United States Air Force and Navy. The design featured a slender fuselage, side fairings that contained fuel, and one of the first computerized control systems. Airframe proposals were called for on December 30, 1954, and on February 4, 1955 for the rocket engine. In November 1955, the airframe contract was awarded to North American Aviation, and in 1956 the XLR30 engine contract was awarded to Motors Reaction. Subsequently, three aircraft were built. The X-15 was launched from the wing of one of NASA's two Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, NB52A tail number 52-003, and NB52B, tail number tail 52-008 (known as balls 8). The launch was made at an altitude of about 45,000 feet (14 km) and at a speed of about 500 miles per hour (805 km/h).
Twelve pilots were selected for the program from the Air Force, Navy and NASA. Between 1959 and 1968, one hundred and ninety-nine flights were made, breaking official world speed records for manned powered aircraft (valid as of 2014), with a top speed of 4,519 miles per hour (7,273 km/h). the X-15, the altitude record was 354,200 feet (107.96 km). Eight of the pilots were awarded the United States Astrounaut Badge, division of the Air Force for flying for above 260,000 feet (80 km), and two flights by Joseph A. Walker exceeded 100 kilometers (330,000 feet), qualifying as spaceflight according to the International Aeronautical Federation. The X-15 program employed mechanical techniques used in later human spaceflight programs, including jet reaction control systems to control a spacecraft's orientation, pressurized spacesuits, and navigation horizon definition. reentry and landing data collected proved valuable to NASA's design of the space shuttle.
Mercury Program (1959-1963)
Shortly after the start of the space race, the first goal was to get a person into Earth orbit as soon as possible. Therefore, the simpler spacecraft that could be launched by existing rockets was favored. The US Air Force's Man in Space Soonest program studied many manned spacecraft designs, ranging from rocket planes like the X-15 to small ballistic space capsules. In 1958, space plane concepts were phased out in favor of the ballistic capsule.
When NASA was created that same year, the Air Force program was transferred to it and was renamed the Mercury Program. The first seven astronauts were selected from the Navy, Navy and Air Force pilot program test candidates. On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard was the first American in space aboard Freedom 7, launched by a Mercury-Redstone rocket in a 15-minute ballistic (suborbital) flight. On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to be launched into orbit by an Atlas launch vehicle, aboard the Friendship 7 capsule. Glenn completed three orbits, after which three more flights were made. orbital flights, culminating in 22 orbital flights by L. Gordon Cooper, aboard Mercury Atlas 9, from May 15 to 16, 1963.
The Soviet Union (USSR) competed with their own single-pilot spacecraft, the Vostok 1. They beat the United States in the first man in space, launching cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into a single Earth orbit aboard Vostok 1 in April 1961, a month before Shepard's flight. In August 1962, they achieved a nearly four-day flight record with Andrián Nikolayev aboard Vostok 3, and also flew a concurrent mission, Vostok 4, carrying Pavel Popovich.
Gemini Program (1961-66)
Based on studies to extend the capabilities of the Mercury spacecraft to long-duration flight, developing rendezvous space rendezvous techniques, and precision landing to Earth, Project Gemini was launched in 1962 as a two-man program to overcome the Soviet advantage and support the Apollo manned lunar landing program by adding extravehicular activity (EVA) and target rendezvous and docking. The first manned Gemini flight, Gemini 3, was flown by Gus Grissom and John Young on March 23, 1965. Nine missions followed in 1965 and 1966, demonstrating an endurance mission of nearly fourteen days of rendezvous i>, docking, and practical EVA, gathering medical data on the effects of weightlessness on humans.
Under the leadership of the chairman of the council of ministers Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union was competing with the Gemini by converting its Vostok spacecraft into a two- or three-man Voskhod. They succeeded in launching two manned flights before Gemini's, achieving one of three cosmonauts in 1963 and the first EVA in 1964. After this, the program was cancelled, and Gemini caught up while spacecraft designer Sergei Korolev was developing the Soyuz spacecraft, his answer to Apollo.
Apollo Program (1961-72)
The Apollo Program was one of the most expensive American scientific projects in history. It is estimated to have cost $200 billion in today's dollars. The Saturn rockets were used as launchers, which were much larger than those built for earlier programs. ship was also larger; It had two main parts, the Combined Command and Service Module (CSM) and the Moon Landing Module (LM). The LM was to remain on the Moon and only the Command Module (CM) containing the astronauts would eventually return to Earth.
The second manned mission, Apollo 8, first took astronauts on a flight around the Moon in December 1968. Shortly before, the Soviets had sent an unmanned spacecraft around the moon. two following missions the docking maneuvers necessary to land on the moon were practiced, to finally take place in July 1969, with the Apollo 11 mission. In 1961 President Kennedy had presented the Apollo Program, establishing the deadline to reach the Moon by the end of that decade, which was ultimately achieved by a narrow margin.
The first person to set foot on the Moon was Neil Armstrong, followed by Buzz Aldrin, as Michael Collins orbited above them. Five other subsequent missions of the Apollo program also carried astronauts to the lunar surface, the last of them in December 1972, which together involved carrying twelve men to the satellite.
These missions provided valuable scientific information and 381.7 kg of lunar samples. The experiments carried out dealt with soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismology, heat transfer, laser beam reflections, magnetic field and solar wind. The moon landing marked the end of the space race and left Armstrong's famous phrase about the humanity when it stepped on the surface of the satellite for the first time.
The Apollo program achieved important milestones in space flight. He remains the only one to have sent manned missions beyond low Earth orbit and to have landed a person on another celestial body. Apollo 8 was the first manned aircraft to orbit another celestial body; for its part, Apollo 17 marked the last journey to the Moon and the last manned mission beyond low Earth orbit. The program spurred advances in many areas of technology peripheral to rocketry and crewed flight, including avionics, telecommunications and computers. Apollo precipitated interest in many fields of engineering and left behind a wealth of physical facilities and machinery that had been developed for the program. Many objects and artifacts from this are on display in various locations around the world, most notably the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
Skylab (1965-79)
Skylab was the first American space station and the only one to be built independently. Conceived in 1965 as a workshop to be built in space from the upper stage of an exhausted Saturn IB, the 77,000 kg station it was manufactured on Earth and launched on May 14, 1973 on the first two platforms of a Saturn V into an orbit of 435 km and inclined 50° with respect to the equator. Damaged during launch due to the loss of its thermal protection and an electrically generating solar panel, it was repaired by its first crew. It was occupied for a total of 171 days by three successive crews in 1973 and 1974. It included a laboratory for the study of the effects of microgravity and a solar observatory. NASA planned to attach a space shuttle to it and raise the station to an altitude safer, but the shuttle was not airworthy before Skylab's reentry on July 11, 1979.
To save costs, the agency used one of the Saturn V rockets originally intended for a canceled Apollo mission for its launch. Apollo aircraft were used to transport astronauts to and from Skylab. Three three-man crews remained aboard the station for periods of 28, 59, and 84 days. The station had 320 m³ of living space, a space 30.7 times larger than the Apollo command and service module.
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (1972-75)
On May 24, 1972, US President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin agreed to a joint manned mission into space and declared their intention that all future international manned aircraft would have the ability to dock with one another. This authorized the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), which involved the rendezvous and docking in Earth orbit of an Apollo command and service module with a Soyuz spacecraft.. The mission took place in July 1975 and was the last American manned spaceflight until the first orbital flight of the Space Shuttle in April 1981.
The mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments and provided engineering expertise for future Soviet-American spaceflight, such as the Mir-Shuttle program and the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle Program (1972-2011)
The space shuttle became NASA's primary goal during the late 1970s and 1980s. Designed to be a vehicle that could be launched and reused frequently, four orbital space shuttles had been built by 1985. The first to be launched was Columbia, on April 12, 1981, on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first spaceflight.
Its main components were an orbital spaceplane with an external fuel tank and two solid-fuel launch rockets on its side. The external tank, which was larger than the ship itself, was the only component that was not reused. The shuttle could orbit at altitudes between 185 and 643 km and carry a maximum payload of 24,400 kg (at low orbit). Missions could last between five and seventeen days and crews could consist of two to eight members.
In 20 missions, from 1983 to 1998, the Space Shuttle carried Spacelab, a space laboratory designed in cooperation with ESA. This was not designed for independent orbital flight, but remained in the shuttle's cargo compartment while astronauts entered and exited it through an airlock. Another famous series of missions was the successful launch and repair of the Hubble Space Telescope. in 1990 and 1993.
In 1995, US-Russian cooperation resumed with the Shuttle–Mir Program missions (1995-1998). Once again, an American vehicle docked with a Russian craft, this time a full-fledged space station. This cooperation continued with the construction of the largest space station, the International Space Station (ISS), with these powers as the main partners in the project. The strength of their collaboration on this project was even more evident when NASA began to rely on Russian launch vehicles to power the ISS during the grounding of the shuttle fleet in the two years following the Columbia disaster in 2003.
The shuttle fleet lost two orbitals and fourteen astronauts in two disasters: the Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Columbia disaster in 2003. Although the 1986 loss was mitigated by the Building Endeavor with spare parts, NASA did not manufacture another orbital to replace the second loss. NASA's Space Shuttle Program had completed 135 missions when it ended with the successful landing of Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center on September 21. July 2011. The program spanned thirty years with more than three hundred astronauts sent into space.
International Space Station (1993-present)
The International Space Station (ISS) combines the Japanese Kibo laboratory with three projects: the Russian-Soviet Mir-2, the Freedom space station and the European Columbus laboratory Initially, in the 1980s, NASA had planned to develop Freedom independently, but budget constraints in the United States led, in 1993, to the merger of these projects into a single multi-programme. -national, managed by NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The station consists of pressurized modules, an integrated framework structure, solar panels, and other components, which were launched by the Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets and the US space shuttles. It is currently being assembled in low Earth orbit. In-orbit assembly began in 1998, with the US Orbital Segment completed in 2011, and part of the Russian Orbital Segment currently underway. Ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and agreements that divide the the station into two zones and allow Russia to retain full ownership of the Russian orbital segment (excluding Zaryá), with the US orbital segment allocated among the other international partners.
Long duration missions to the ISS are called ISS Expeditions. Expedition crew members typically spend approximately six months aboard the ISS. The initial expedition crew consisted of three members, though it dropped to two after the Columbia disaster in 2003 and increased to six afterwards. May 2009. Finally, the crew size was increased to seven, the number of crew members for which the International Space Station was designed, once the Commercial Personnel Program, COTS became operational in 2020 with the flights of the Dragon 2 ships The ISS has been continuously manned for the past 13 years and 106 days, having surpassed the previous record held by Mir; and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different countries. The station can be seen from Earth with the naked eye and, as of 2013, is the largest artificial Earth-orbiting satellite with a mass and volume greater than that of any previous space station. The station is provisioned by Soyuz spacecraft, which remain docked for half-year missions and are then returned to Earth. Several uncrewed spacecraft provide or have provided cargo services to the ISS, these are: the Russian Progress spacecraft which has done so since 2000, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), between 2008 and 2014, the H Transfer Vehicle -II (HTV) Japanese, between 2009 and 2020, the Dragon spacecraft since 2012 and the Cygnus spacecraft since 2013. The space shuttle, before its retirement, was used for cargo transfer and frequently changes members of the expedition crew, even though they did not have the ability to stay docked for the duration of their stay. Until another American crewed spacecraft is ready, crew members travel to and from the International Space Station exclusively aboard the Soyuz. The largest number of people to occupy the ISS has been thirteen astronauts, this occurred three times during the decade of ISS shuttle assembly missions. The ISS program is scheduled to continue through at least 2020, but could extend to 2028 and possibly beyond.
Sourcing Business Services (2006-present)
Development of Commercial Supply Services (CRS) vehicles began in 2006 with the purpose of creating unmanned American commercial cargo vehicles to supply the ISS. Development of these vehicles was under a target pricing program, which meant that each company that got a funded award was given a list of targets with a dollar value attached to them that they would not get until after the target was achieved. To private companies they were also required to raise an unspecified amount of private investment for their purpose.
On December 23, 2008, NASA awarded commercial resupply services contracts to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation. SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 rocket and SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Orbital Sciences will use its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft. The first Dragon resupply mission took place in May 2012, while the first for Cygnus lifted off on September 18, 2013. The CRS program now covers all but a few U.S. cargo needs for the ISS. with specific vehicles shipped with the European AVT and Japanese HTV.
Commercial Crew Program (2010)
The Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program was launched in 2010 with the goal of creating a commercially operated and crewed US spacecraft capable of carrying at least four crew members to the ISS, staying docked for 180 days and returning them thereafter back to Earth. Like COTS, CCDev also relies on target pricing for program development, which likewise requires some private investment.
In 2010, NASA announced the winners of the first phase of the program and a total of $50 million was divided among five US companies to further research and development of human spaceflight concepts and technologies in the private sector. In 2011, the winners of the second phase were announced and $270 million was distributed among four companies. In 2012, the winners of the third phase were announced, to which NASA provided $1.1 billion, divisible among three companies to develop its crew transport systems. This phase of the program is expected to run from June 3, 2012 to May 31, 2014. The winners of this latest round were SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which plans to launch with a Falcon 9; Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, to be launched on an Atlas V; and Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser, launched from an Atlas V. The agency wants to have two commercial crew vehicles in service, which are expected to be operational by the end of 2018.[update]
Dragon V2 (the trunk is not in the picture)
Computer modeling of CST-100 in orbit
Beyond the Low Earth Orbit Program (2010)
For missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (BLEO), NASA has turned to the development of the Space Launch System (SLE, better known by its acronym: SLS), and two to six people, plus beyond low earth orbit of spacecraft, Orion. In February 2010, the administration of President Barack Obama proposed eliminating public funding for the Constellation program and shifting it to greater responsibility for ISS maintenance to private companies. During the speech at the Kennedy Space Center on April 15, 2010, Obama proposed a new Heavy Transport Vehicle (HLV), which would replace the previously planned Ares V. He also proposed that the United States should send a team to an asteroid in the 2020s and send a crew to Mars orbit at the mid-2030s. The United States Congress wrote the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 and President Obama signed it into law on October 11 of that year. The authorization act officially terminated the Constellation program.
The Authorization Act requires a new HLV design to be chosen within 90 days of its approval and for the construction of a spacecraft beyond low earth orbit. The authorization act names a this new the HLV space launch system. The authorization act also requires a spacecraft to be developed beyond low-Earth orbit, the Orion spacecraft, which is being developed as part of the Constellation program, which was chosen to fill this role. It is planned to launch both Orion as well as other equipment required for missions beyond low-Earth orbit with the Space Launch System. Over time, the SLE will be upgraded with more powerful versions. The initial capacity of the SLE is required to be capable of lifting 70 tons in low orbit, it is then anticipated that it will go to 10 meters and then, finally, to 130.
On December 5, 2014, the Orion crew module was launched as part of an unmanned test flight, on a Delta IV Heavy rocket, the flight called Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1). Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) is the first unmanned launch of the SLS, which would also send Orion on a circumlunar trajectory, which is scheduled for 2019.[update ] The first manned flight of Orion and SLS, Exploration Mission 2 (EM-2) is scheduled to launch between 2019 and 2021;[update] this is a 10-14 day mission with the goal of placing a crew of four in lunar orbit. Recently, the schedule for the EM-3 and subsequent missions has been confirmed. The EM-3 scheduled for before 2021[update] will deploy the Orion capsule in lunar orbit and the crew of 6 astronauts will be fully deployed on the surface, this The mission would focus on obtaining readings and analyzing a location to deploy a hypothetical future lunar base similar to the ISS.
Crew Dragon (2020-present)
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On May 30, 2020, NASA and the commercial company SpaceX launched the first manned commercial rocket, called Falcon 9 with 2 astronauts (Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley), which took off from Cape Canaveral and became the first flight private manned spacecraft taking off from US soil in nine years, heading to the International Space Station. It is the first time in history that a commercial aerospace company has transported humans into Earth orbit.
Unmanned Programs (1958)
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More than 1,000 unmanned missions have been designed to explore Earth and the Solar System. In addition to exploration, NASA has also launched communication satellites into orbit. Missions have been launched directly from Earth or from orbiting shuttles, which could either deploy the satellite themselves or use a rocket platform to carry it further.
The first unmanned satellite was Explorer 1, which began as an ABMA/JPL project early in the space race. It was launched in January 1958, two months after Sputnik. With the creation of NASA, it was transferred to this agency and its activity continues to this day, with its missions focused on the Earth and the Sun, measuring magnetic fields and the solar wind, among other aspects. A more recent terrestrial mission, unrelated to the Explorer program, it was the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched into orbit in 1990.
The inner Solar System has been the target of at least four unmanned programs, the first of which was the Mariner Program, in the 1960s and 1970s, which made multiple visits to Venus and Mars and one to Mercury. The probes launched under the Mariner Program were also the first to make a planetary flyby (Mariner 2), to take the first pictures of another planet (Mariner 4), the first planetary orbiter (Mariner 9) and the first to make a gravity assist maneuver (Mariner 10). This is a technique in which the satellite takes advantage of the gravity and speed of the planets to reach its destination.
The first successful landing on Mars was made by Viking 1 in 1976. Twenty years later, a rover did it again as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission.
Apart from Mars, Jupiter was first visited by Pioneer 10 in 1973. More than twenty years later, the Galileo space mission sent a probe into its atmosphere and became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, in 1979, and Voyager 2, the first – and so far the only one – to reach Uranus and Neptune, in 1986 and 1989 respectively. For its part, the first spacecraft to leave the Solar System was Pioneer 10, in 1983. For a time it was the most distant spacecraft from Earth, but it was later surpassed by Voyager 1 and 2.
The Pioneer 10 and 11 and Voyager probes each carry recorded messages from Earth addressed to possible extraterrestrial life. One problem with deep space travel is communication; for example, it takes about three hours for a radio signal to reach New Horizons at a point beyond halfway to Pluto. Contact was lost with Pioneer 10 in 2003, but both Voyager probes continue to operate as they explore the outer border between the Solar System and interstellar space.
On November 26, 2011, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission was launched to Mars and the rover Curiosity successfully touched down on the red planet on August 6, 2012, where it began their search for evidence of the existence, present or past, of life on Mars.
Recent and planned activities
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NASA continued to support in situ exploration beyond the asteroid belt, including the Pioneer and Voyager cruises into the unexplored transplutonian region and the orbiters of the gas giants Galileo (1989-2003), Cassini (1997-2017) and Juno (2011-). NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth inspection of Mars, through its Jet Propulsion Laboratory division, the other planets in the solar system, and the study of the Earth and the Sun. Other active missions with spacecraft are MESSENGER, to Mercury; New Horizons, for Jupiter, Pluto, and other trans-Neptunian objects; and the Dawn mission, for the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The New Horizons mission to Pluto was launched in 2006 and on July 14, 2015 it flew over this dwarf planet. The probe received gravity assist from Jupiter in February 2007, examining some of the giant planet's inner moons and testing some of its onboard instruments during the flyby. Plans on the horizon for NASA include the MAVEN spacecraft as part of the Mars Scout Program to study the Martian atmosphere.
On December 4, 2006, NASA announced that it was planning a permanent lunar base. The goal was to begin construction around 2020 and, by 2024, have a fully functional base that would allow crews to use resources in situ and have rotations. However, in 2009 the Augustine Commission assessed that the program was on an "unsustainable trajectory." In 2010, President Barack Obama halted existing plans, including the lunar base, and directed the general approach toward manned missions to asteroids and Mars, as well as extending support for the International Space Station. Since 2011, NASA's strategic goals have been:
- Maintain and extend human activities throughout the Solar System.
- Expand scientific understanding of the Earth and the Universe.
- Create new innovative space technologies.
- Advance in aeronautical research.
- Develop institutional programs and capacities to lead NASA's aviation and space activities.
- Open NASA to the public, educators and students to provide opportunities to participate.
In August 2011, NASA accepted a donation of two space telescopes from the National Reconnaissance Office. Despite being in unused storage, the instruments are superior to the Hubble Space Telescope.
In September 2011, NASA announced the start of the SLS ('Space Launch System') shuttle program to develop a heavy-lift vehicle for people. The SLS is intended to carry the Orion spacecraft and other elements to the Moon, near-Earth asteroids and, one day, to Mars. On December 5, 2014, an unmanned launch test of the Orion was carried out with a rocket Delta IV Heavy.
On August 6, 2012, NASA landed the rover Curiosity on Mars. On August 27, 2012, Curiosity transmitted the first pre-recorded message from the surface of Mars to Earth, made by Administrator Charlie Bolden:
Hello. This is Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator, speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of the Curiosity Rover, which is now on the surface of Mars.Since the beginning of time, humankind’s curiosity has led us to constantly seek new life... new possibilities just beyond the horizon. I want to congratulate the men and women of our NASA family as well as our commercial and government partners around the world, for taking us a step beyond to Mars.
This is an extraordinary achievement. Landing a rover on Mars is not easy – others have tried – only America has fully succeeded. The investment we are making... the knowledge we hope to gain from our observation and analysis of Gale Crater, will tell us much about the possibility of life on Mars as well as the past and future possibilities for our own planet. Curiosity will bring benefits to Earth and inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers, as it prepares the way for a human mission in the not too distant future.
Thank you.
Hi. I'm Charlie Bolden, NASA administrator, talking to them through the Curiosity probe transmission capabilities, which is now on Mars' surface.From the beginning of time, the curiosity of humanity has allowed us to seek new life... new possibilities beyond the horizon. I would like to congratulate the men and women of our family at NASA as well as our business and government partners around the world for taking a step beyond Mars.
This is an extraordinary achievement. Landing a probe on Mars is not easy - others have tried-only America. The United States has successfully completed it. The research we are doing... the knowledge we hope to gain from our observation and analysis of the Cráter Gale will tell us a lot about the possibility of life on Mars as well as past and future possibilities for our own planet. Curiosity will bring benefits to Earth and will inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers, while preparing the way for a manned mission in the not too distant future.
Thank you.
NASA arrived in 2015 with the Dawn probe into the orbit of another dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, bound for Ceres. This body has aroused the interest of scientists and fans, due to its strange white spots.
On September 26 at 23:14 GMT, the space probe Dart, which was in flight for 10 months, successfully impacted the asteroid Didymos, which was orbiting the small moon Dimorphos, a small body only 160 meters in diameter. None posed a threat to Earth.
This is the first attempt by NASA to move an asteroid in space, as part of the agency's overall planetary defense strategy. This meant a viable mitigation technique to protect the planet from a possible Earth-bound asteroid or comet in the future.
The outward voyage of the mission confirmed that NASA can successfully navigate a spacecraft to intentionally collide with an asteroid to deflect it, a technique known as kinetic impact
From the NASA administrative leadership, Dart is said to represent an unprecedented success for planetary defense, but it is also a unity mission with real benefit for all humanity.
Scientific research
Note: Side effects of military or government research on civilian technologies are not listed here.
Medicine in space
The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is conducting a variety of large-scale medical studies in space. Prominent among these is the Microgravity Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound study, in which astronauts—including former ISS commanders Leroy Chiao and Gennady Padalka—perform ultrasound tomography scans under the guidance of remote experts to diagnose and potentially treat hundreds of of medical conditions in space. There is often no doctor on board the ISS and diagnosing medical conditions is challenging. Astronauts are susceptible to a variety of health risks including decompression syndrome, barotrauma, immunodeficiencies, loss of muscle mass and bone, orthostatic intolerance due to volume loss, sleep disturbances, and radiation injuries. Ultrasonics offer a unique opportunity to monitor these conditions in space. These study techniques are now applied in Olympic and professional injuries and ultrasound is practiced by non-expert operators such as medical students or institutes. Remote guided ultrasound has been anticipated to have applications in emergency and rural care settings, where access to medical professionals may be difficult.
Ozone layer hole
In 1975, NASA was legislatively mandated to investigate and monitor the upper layers of the atmosphere, which led to the creation of the Upper Atmosphere Research Program and, later, the Observing System satellites from Earth in the 1990s to monitor the ozone hole. The first planetary-scale measurements were obtained in 1978 using the Nimbus 7 satellite and the work of NASA scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Salt evaporation and energy management
In one of the nation's largest restoration projects, NASA technology helps the state and federal governments reclaim a 25-mile (61 km²) pool of evaporated salt in southern San Francisco Bay. Scientists use satellite sensors to study the effect of salt evaporation on local ecology.
The agency has started the Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation Program as a cross-cutting project to prevent pollution and reduce water and energy use. It serves to make sure that NASA meets its responsibilities to the environment as part of the Federal Administration.
Earth Sciences
Understanding natural and human-induced changes in the global environment is the primary goal of NASA Earth Sciences. The agency currently has more than a dozen instruments in orbit studying all aspects of the Earth system (oceans, soil, atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere), with several more planned in the coming years.
NASA is working in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to produce a locally detailed global map of solar resources. NASA was also a major participant in evaluating innovative technologies for cleanup of the sources of DNAPL (from English "dense non-aqueous phase liquids"). On April 6, 1999, the agency signed a cooperative agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Department of Energy, and the United States Air Force that authorized all signatory organizations to carry carry out the necessary tests at the John F. Kennedy Space Center. The primary purpose was to evaluate two innovative remediation technologies: thermal removal and oxidative destruction of DNAPL. NASA formed a consortium with the Military Services and the Defense Contract Management Agency called the Joint Group on Pollution Prevention. The group works to reduce or eliminate hazardous materials or processes.
On May 8, 2003, the United States Environmental Protection Agency recognized NASA as the first federal agency to directly use biogas to produce power at one of its facilities—the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
On September 11, 2018, NASA published some photographs that were taken on a mission in Antarctica of a rectangular iceberg.
Address
The NASA administrator is the agency's highest-ranking official and serves as senior space science adviser to the President of the United States. Agency management is located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and provides general guidance and direction. Except in exceptional circumstances, NASA civil service employees are required to be citizens of the United States.
Although space exploration is non-partisan, the appointee is usually associated with the president's political party (Democrat or Republican), and a new administrator is usually chosen when there is a president from the other party. The only exceptions to this have been:
- Democrat Thomas O. Paine, acting administrator under Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson, stayed while Republican Richard Nixon tried, but failed to convince one of his candidates to accept the job. Paine was confirmed by the Senate in March 1969 and performed until September 1970.
- Republican James C. Fletcher, appointed by Nixon and confirmed in April 1971, remained until May 1977 in the mandate of Democrat Jimmy Cárter.
- Daniel Goldin was appointed by Republican George H. W. Bush and remained in the government of Democrat Bill Clinton.
- Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr., an associate administrator under the Democrat Barack Obama, was held as an administrator in office by Republican Donald Trump until Jim Bridenstine, elected by Trump, was confirmed in April 2018.
The first administrator was Dr. T. Keith Glennan, appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower; during his tenure he became involved with the disparate projects in space development research in the US The second administrator was James E. Webb (serving 1961-1968), appointed by President John F. Kennedy. In order to implement the Apollo program to achieve Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the Moon in 1970, Webb led major management restructuring and facilitated expansion, establishing the Manned Spacecraft Houston (Johnson) Center and launch operations. from the Center (Kennedy) of Florida. In 2009, President Barack Obama named Charles Bolden the twelfth Administrator of NASA. Administrator Bolden is one of three NASA administrators who were former astronauts along with fellow former astronauts Richard H. Truly (serving 1989-1992). and Frederick D. Gregory (2005).
Facilities
NASA facilities include research, construction, and communication centers. Currently some facilities are preserved only for administrative or historical reasons. NASA also operates a small rail line at the Kennedy Space Center, in addition to owning two Boeing 747 aircraft that are used to transport space shuttles.
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is NASA's best-known facility. Located on Merritt Island, north of Cape Canaveral, since 1968 it has been the site for the construction and launch of all types of United States space vehicles. Although these types of flights are currently suspended, the KSC continues to operate and is dedicated to administrative tasks and control of the unmanned rocket launch facilities that are part of the United States civil space program at Cape Canaveral. Its endowments include a Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and an airport.
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is the facility for manned space activities, and is located in southeast Houston, Texas. It houses the Mission Control Center (MCC-H), NASA's control center that coordinates and oversees all manned flight in the United States. MCC-H directs all missions and activities of the International Space Station and Shuttle.
Another important facility is the Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama, where the Saturn 5 and Skylab rockets are developed. The previously mentioned JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory or Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Pasadena) is, together with the ABMA (Army Ballistic Missile Agency), one of the agencies that were behind Explorer 1, the first American space mission.
To control its missions, NASA has various supercomputing centers, among which the most important is the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility, as well as the so-called Deep Space Network (DSN) made up of three antenna complexes in Canberra, Madrid and Goldstone (Barstow) and controlled by JPL.
NASA also owns eight International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) stations around the world: Monument Peak (United States), Yarragadee (Australia), the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomical Observatory (South Africa), the Goddard Greenbelt Space Flight Center (USA), Tahiti (French Polynesia), Arequipa (Peru), Haleakala Maui (USA) and Fort Davis (USA). Its function is primarily the measurement of satellites through three techniques: laser tracking, GPS and microwave-based satellite system.
Budget
The NASA budget has supposed, in general terms, the equivalent of slightly less than 1% of the annual federal budget between the 1970s and 2000s. Its maximum peak dates from 1966, during the life of the Apollo program, when its budget, of about 5.9 billion dollars, meant 4.41% of the expenses of the United States government. These figures differ greatly from the perception of US citizens; in 1997 a survey revealed that, on average, Americans thought that 20% of the federal budget was allocated to NASA, when in 1997 it did not exceed 0.8%.
The percentage of the federal budget allocated to NASA has been steadily declining after the end of the Apollo program and in 2012 it was estimated at 0.48% of federal spending, about $17.8 billion. At a March 2012 meeting of the United States Senate Committee on Science, Neil deGrasse Tyson stated that “Right now NASA's annual budget is half a penny for every tax dollar. With twice that amount, a penny on the dollar, we could transform a battered country, weary of economic struggle and crisis, into one where we could reclaim our 20th century right to a dream future."
Environmental impact
Space exploration can affect life on Earth due to the use of toxic chemicals in rocket manufacturing and carbon dioxide injected into the atmosphere during rocket operation. Exhaust gases produced by systems Rocket propulsion systems, both in Earth's atmosphere and in space, can negatively affect the environment. Some hypergolic rocket propellants, such as hydrazine, are highly toxic before combustion, but break down to less toxic compounds after combustion. Rockets that use hydrocarbon fuels, such as kerosene, release carbon dioxide and soot in their exhaust gases. However, carbon dioxide emissions are negligible compared to those from other sources; on average, the United States consumed 802,620,000 gallons of liquid fuels per day in 2014, while the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket burns about 25,000 gallons of kerosene fuel per launch. Even if a Falcon 9 were launched every year days, it would only represent 0.006% of liquid fuel consumption (and carbon dioxide emissions) for that day. Also, the exhaust from LOx and LH2 fueled engines, such as the SSME, is almost entirely water vapor.
NASA addressed the environmental concerns of its now-defunct Constellation program, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. On May 8, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency recognized NASA as the first federal agency to directly use landfill gas to produce power at one of its facilities: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. An example of NASA's environmental efforts is the NASA Sustainability Base. Additionally, the Exploration Science Building received a LEED Gold rating in 2010.
Missions in progress
Examples of some current NASA missions:
- Mars Odyssey, Mars orbiter
- X-ray Chandra Observatory
- Rover Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory), Rover de Marte
- Dawn Mission, asteroid orbiter
- Gamma Ray Fermi Space Telescope
- Hubble Space Telescope
- International Space Station
- Kepler Mission
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Moon orbiter
- MESSENGER, Mercury orbiter
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars orbiter
- New Horizons, going to Kuiper's belt
- Solar Dynamics Observatory
- Spitzer Space Telescope
- STEREO
- Gamma Ray Exposure Swift Mission
- Programa Artemis
- Space Telescope James Webb
- Rover Perseverance (Mars 2020) Rover de Marte