NASA History

NASA History
Apollo
In early 1969, the goal set by President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the Moon seemed within reach. A new president, Richard M. Nixon, now sat in the White House and needed to chart America’s course in space in the post-Apollo era. President Nixon directed his science advisor to evaluate proposals for […]
Posted February 13, 2024
NASA History
Skylab
The longest spaceflight up to that time ended on Feb. 8, 1974, when Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after their 84-day mission aboard Skylab, America’s first space station.
Posted February 7, 2024
NASA History
STS-41B
On Feb. 3, 1984, space shuttle Challenger took off on its fourth flight, STS-41B. Its five-person crew of Commander Vance D. Brand, Pilot Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson, and Mission Specialists Ronald E. McNair, Robert L. Stewart, and Bruce McCandless flew an eight-day mission ending with the first return to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in […]
Posted February 6, 2024
NASA History
Bruce McCandless
Humans in Space
Robert L. Gibson
STS-41B
As astronaut Bruce McCandless II flew the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) out of the space shuttle Challenger’s payload bay for the first time on February 7, 1984, many in the agency were fearful about the use of a self-propelled and untethered backpack in space.  (Previous spacewalkers remained connected to the vehicle with tethers.
Posted February 3, 2024
NASA History
On Feb. 3, 1994, space shuttle Discovery took off on its 18th flight, STS-60. Its six-person crew of Commander Charles F. Bolden, Pilot Kenneth S. Reightler, and Mission Specialists N. Jan Davis, Ronald M. Sega, Franklin R. Chang-Díaz, who served as payload commander, and Sergei K. Krikalev of the Russian Space Agency, now Roscosmos, flew […]
Posted February 2, 2024
NASA History
In honor of Black History Month, we recognize the contributions of Black astronauts to our nation’s space programs.
Posted February 1, 2024
NASA History
On Jan. 25, 1984, President Ronald W. Reagan directed NASA to build a permanently inhabited Earth orbiting space station within a decade. The President’s announcement turned years of NASA studies into a real program.
Posted January 25, 2024
General
Glenn History
Glenn Research Center
NASA History
On January 23, 1941, local authorities, military representatives, and agency officials assembled in Cleveland to initiate construction of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) new research laboratory.
Posted January 23, 2024
Glenn History
Glenn Research Center
Langley Research Center
NASA History
“[On December 15, 1941] a few shivering, startled Southerners from Langley, the vanguard of those in the Power Plants Division transferring to Cleveland, arrived in the biggest snowstorm in years,” recalled former receptionist Mary Louise Gosney.
Posted January 22, 2024
NASA History
The new year of 1969 dawned with optimism that NASA would meet President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. The previous year saw four Apollo missions, two uncrewed and two carrying three astronauts each, test different components of the lunar landing architecture, culminating […]
Posted January 19, 2024
Sign up for our newsletter:

Categories

4
10
4
216
12
1
11
1
29
1
188
1
4
2
95
2
3
3
1
10
6
18
1
1
4
1
2
37
1
18
29
10
15
43
6
353
14
1
2
1
Io
4
1
10
2
57
3
193
9
1
1
6
11
2
9
5
2
2
1
337
1
1
3
1
2
14
1
12
7
51
616
24
141
13
6
1
3
254
3
1
1
6

Recent Posts