The 1960s decade is known by its huge amount of new inventions. A lot of them belong to the space racing. Period when the US and USSR were competing by taking control over the space. Many different spacecraft companies which were specialized in launching and rocket engineering started forming mostly when the second World War has started and after it. The main reason was a need of producing new weapons like for example rocket-powered guns. The war brought a lot of new technical inventions that caused the increasing number of aircraft companies. After the Second World War, the Defense Department started a serious company for the fields of rocketry and upper atmosphere sciences so the US would still have TOP places in the world technological development rating.
The Eisenhower’s administration was politically pressured. They needed to reply to soviets as soon as possible. The Soviet just had a great success with launching Sputnik. Americans tried to easy the race by launching the Explorer 1. But it wasn’t enough to warn and protect the government from transformations. As a result of this crisis in the winter of the same year, the government cooperated with leaders of the congress to plan legislation creating a permanent federal agency which will be dedicated to explore. A lot of variants of problem solving were proposed given during that winter. In Eisenhower’s opinion the worst one to come up with was creating a Department of Science and Technology. But Eisenhower resisted other less ambitious plans as well.
In the summer of 1958 U.S. President D. Eisenhower signed a law creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA). The reason for this decision was the launch of the Soviet Union's first artificial earth satellite. The official date of birth NASA is October 1, 1958 The new facility replaces the several government agencies, including the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, created during the First World War (1915).
Californian AMES Research Center is named after the first director of NASA Dr. Joseph S. Ames. Center is engaged in the design and development of advanced technologies, including information and research, as well as conducting various studies. DRYDEN Research Center is located on the territory of the military air base in the California desert Moggi and since 1946 is a permanent place to test prototypes of aircrafts. GLENN Research Center in Ohio – a world leader in studying the jet engineering. Space Center GODDARD, located in Greenbelt, has a wide range of tasks - from the study of astrophysics and the properties of the Earth to the satellite tracking and control. Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL in Pasadena is owned by the U.S. government and is coordinated by the California Institute of Technology. Space Center JOHNSON, located in Houston, manages major space project of NASA (space shuttle launch to orbit or creating ISS). Space Center KENNEDY, like the previous one, is designed to control the flight of space objects by NASA. Research Center LANGLEY - National Aerospace Laboratory. It is here that the main achievements of NASA. Space Center MARSHALL, located in Huntsville, is engaged in the construction of space objects and systems for monitoring and tracking. STENNIS Space Center is the largest complex in the United States for testing rocket engines.
Headquartered in Washington, NASA has about a thousand of employees. The main purpose of NASA is to coordinate the work of NASA in general and to monitor the development of four strategic areas: space research, earth exploration, work with people and the development of new technologies for the realization of future projects. California Research Center Ames - one of the oldest in NASA, it was built in 1939 and named after the first Director Dr. Joseph S. Ames. Ames Center is engaged in the design and development of advanced technologies, including information and research, as well as conducting various studies.
President John F. Kennedy raised a plan that by the end of this decade NASA will send astronauts to the moon. With help of the Mercury and Gemini projects, NASA qualified astronauts and all the technical workers with certain skill level it needed for landing. And after eight years of preparing in July Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of twelve men to walk on the moon.After Apollo, NASA started to produce the type of ship that you can use more than one time, it was called the space shuttle. First launching was in 1981 and then two years ago it was retired. It has flown more the 130 times successfully. In the beginning of new era the US and Russia started developing permanent staying in space aboard the International Space Station. It is an international project that represents proficient workers from sixteen countries.
Nevertheless the research continues to be done in all scientific field by NASA. The new spacecraft was built. Mars Pathfinder became the first spacecraft that would explore Mars in the next decade, as we try to find out if the life was possible over there. The Terra and Aqua satellites are flagships of a different fleet, this one in Earth orbit, designed to help us understand how our home world is changing. NASA teams are focused on improved aircraft travel that is safer and cleaner.To conduct various research projects and the U.S. government annually allocates NASA about $ 15 billion. These funds are distributed in different areas within which the agency: Space science (the study of the solar system, Mars and the Moon, the study of the history of the universe, its structure and evolution, the study of interactions between the Sun and Earth, the search for natural satellites of distant planets and extraterrestrial life). Earth Science (various studies of the planet, including the impact on the environment and their effects). Research in the field of biology and physics (molecular biology, nanotechnology, nuclear physics, etc.).
Astronautics (development of faster, more secure, efficient and reliable machines for air and space travel). Educational programs (training of astronauts and technicians, training of new employees, bringing in the scientific field of schoolchildren and students). Research System (human and robotic technology, transportation systems). Space flights (International Space Station, space shuttles, support for space travel).
Nowadays, in laboratories of NASA ultra-fast data transmission systems are being developed based on the laser beam. With their help it will be possible for a few minutes to transfer huge amounts of data within the solar system. There are new kinds of engines and methods of transportation. NASA projects inspire thousands of independent scientists to participate in the cosmic progress. Apparently, a couple of decades, we are waiting for the first landing on Mars, the establishment of a small colony on the moon, launch the active operation of the International Space Station. They are here and to go beyond the solar system far away.
One of the biggest successes in the whole NASA’s history with thousands of different projects is Apollo 11. Just a little bit less than three weeks after Alan Shepard orbited the Earth on May 5th 1961 the US President featured a new goal that will become the biggest success so far. The president said: “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." (Greene, 1962). Kennedy was obviously talking about the new program – Apollo. The USA was going to land on the moon. NASA immediately announced and opened the Apollo program.
It has been eight years since the announcement to land on the moon. The work moved quickly: When there were some equipment delay, NASA just changed it to another one.
The landing on the moon was one of the biggest news making stories of the whole decade. Millions were waiting for it, millions were watching this happening. Almost every American knows one of the most used statements that Armstrong said "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
However, not everything in the NASA’s history was so positive and there is another side of the medal. For example, mission Apollo 1 became a total disaster in 1967 when 3 astronauts were caught in fire and died. During the preparation to the first manned flight program "Apollo" was planned for February 21, 1967, on board the ship suffered a major fire and the entire crew was killed. The fire occurred on January 27, 1967 during a ground test at the launch pad number 34 Space Center. Kennedy. In the fire killed astronauts V. Grissom, E. White, and R. Chaffee.
It is hard to imagine our life without satellite television today or without google maps. We use it in our daily routine without thinking that all of this is thanks to the NASA. A lot of new inventions were transferred to medicine. Like for example breast cancer scanner. It is a little chip that was produced for NASA programs but right now is used for scanning. It hurts less then and is more precise than biopsy. There are some other features that are more global, for example the NASA was funding their money in this type of research which is called virtual reality.
There are many areas of technologies that were developed by NASA and have a positive impact in people in their everyday routine like medication, transportation and so many others. Every year starting from 1976, NASA publicities “Spinoff” that shows the importance and effect on modern society of some agency activities. And for last 13 years NASA is giving a “Government and Commercial Invention of the Year” and the “Software of the Year.” prize every year to new inventors, engineers.
Another really effective and just positive impact has International Space Station that was created in 1998 and still works. Finally people can stay in space for few weeks instead of just a couple of hours.
NASA introduced a system (actually it has seven steps guidance on how to check food) to make sure that the astronauts while getting to the moon wouldn’t get poisoned. After one quarter of the century, Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department used this safety system for all people around the world, according to statistics, the number of cases of salmonella dropped by a factor of two.
Right now, the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge are covered in a protective material that NASA needed to invent to save its launch pads from the destructive effects of hot, humid and salt-laden air. Finally, the multispectral imaging methods used for seeing and understanding the Martian surface have been applied to, as the Chicago Tribune noted in 2006, “badly charred Roman manuscripts that were buried during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Examining those carbonized manuscripts under different wavelengths of light suddenly revealed writing that had been invisible to scholars for two centuries.” (Nasa.gov, 1999)
A bunch of these examples are only the beginning of the great new chapter. While their existence is a source of pride, we must realize that America did not create the space program with the idea of gaining these collateral benefits. But through its proven record of developing new technologies, it is likely that in the next 50 years NASA will continue to inspire whole new industries, revolutionize existing ones, and form new possibilities for the future, benefiting people everywhere.
Despite significant successes in the development of near-Earth space, NASA activities are often criticized by experts. The harshest assessment guide NASA received after the death of the space shuttle Challenger and Columbia. NASA has been accused of neglecting the lives of astronauts. NASA criticized for short-sighted and, in the opinion of some experts, policy. For example, in a report prepared by the committee of the National Research Council of the United States (National Research Council) in 2008 noted that NASA spends too much effort to perform short-term projects, and pays no attention to long and promising programs. Another important issue for NASA is the prospect of being left without their spaceships. Soon three space shuttles will be cancelled because of their high cost and unreliability. Construction of the new - "Orion", is delayed until at least 2015 dollars, so will be forced to use the services of Russia for delivery to the ISS astronauts and cargo.
References
Greene, N. (1962) Apollo 11 Mission. [online] Available at: http://space.about.com/cs/missions/a/apollo11.htm [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
Greene, N. (1967) Apollo 1 Fire. [online] Available at: http://space.about.com/cs/astronautbios/a/apollo1.htm [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
History.nasa.gov (1968) NASA Apollo Mission Apollo-1-- NASA Response. [online] Available at: http://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/response.html [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
Layton, J. (n.d.) HowStuffWorks "NASA's 10 Greatest Achievements". [online] Available at: http://www.howstuffworks.com/ten-nasa-achievements.htm#page=10 [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
Nasa.gov (1958) NASA - What Does NASA Do?. [online] Available at: http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/what_does_nasa_do.html [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
Nasa.gov (1999) NASA - Space Program Benefits: NASA’s Positive Impact on Society. [online] Available at: http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/benefits.html [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
Space.com (1997) Apollo 11: First Men on the Moon | The Greatest Moments in Flight. [online] Available at: http://www.space.com/16758-apollo-11-first-moon-landing.html [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
Space.com (1997) Apollo 11: First Men on the Moon | The Greatest Moments in Flight. [online] Available at: http://www.space.com/16758-apollo-11-first-moon-landing.html [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
The Sun (2008) What has Nasa ever done for us?. [online] Available at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/1752963/Top-25-things-NASA-has-done-National-Aeronautics-And-Space-Administration-celebrates-50th-anniversary.html [Accessed: 21 May 2013].
