NASA
Sometimes, organizations and entities become so universally known by a nickname or abbreviation that people can easily forget what exactly a particular acronym stands for. For over fifty years, one particular American institution has been known to its constituents and citizens of other nations by a certain four-letter abbreviation, based on that group’s track record with stimulating curiosity about outer space, exploring the limits of human ability, physiology and will, and literally taking people to places they have never been before. This much-heralded organization is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also known as NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established and officially made known to the public in 1958. Since its inception, NASA mission after NASA mission has been responsible for furthering the world’s knowledge of space. Of the highest interest and amount of publicity have been the various manned missions that NASA has authorized to keep the United States on the cutting edge of scientific innovation. The following are among the programs affiliated with NASA that have brought significant firsts to the public consciousness:
1. Project Mercury/Project Gemini – Before contemplating orbiting any other celestial objects, NASA researchers had to verify that man could survive in space for the duration of such a trip. Project Mercury served as America’s first attempt to put man in space, and helped to add Alan Shepard to the record books as the first American in space. (Earlier, and a primary source of fuel for the Space Race, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man outright in space with the launch of Sputnik.) Later in the project’s history, a NASA mission would involve John Glenn being the first American man to orbit the Earth in the vehicle Friendship 7. As for Project Gemini, this served as a predecessor to the first moon missions, and solidified the idea that humans could survive in space for long periods and acclimate to conditions of weightlessness brought about the reduced effects of gravity.
2. The Apollo program – This is the program that really put NASA on the map. Not merely content with the achievement of orbiting the Earth and getting to outer space, Americans pushed to be the first to push beyond the orbit of Earth and reach the next closest body, our moon. The appropriately-titled Apollo program would not only attain that goal, but would give Americans pride of being home to the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong. Apollo 8 was the NASA mission that let the Administration cross orbiting the moon off the checklist, and probably the most significant mission in its history, Apollo 11, would result in “one small step for a man” and “one giant leap for mankind.”
3. The Space Shuttle program – Set to end after 2010 but as of now still scheduling launches, NASA’s Space Shuttle program ushered in a new age of travel through space and made it possible for the transportation of satellites and space station modules to Earth’s orbit; since missions under the Apollo program, no American spacecraft have exceeded the planet’s orbit. More than one NASA mission within the Space Shuttle movement has ended in tragedy, notably the Challenger disaster of 1986 and the Columbia snafu in 2003, in which both crews were lost.
4. The International Space Station – A current enterprise between NASA and the space administrations of Europe and other foreign countries, the International Space Station is to Mars as Projects Mercury and Gemini were to the moon. The biggest man-made satellite in our solar system and the possibly the most expensive object ever produced, the International Space Station is home to experiments on microgravity and tests of the body’s responses to the ravages of space. We may not know the full extent of this research until colonization attempts of other celestial bodies are made.
Mission failures resulting in the loss of life and the program’s inherent expenses have meant criticism of NASA by some. Still, the Administration continues to be compensated handsomely for its efforts in understanding space travel, and in terms of public perception, is still seen as important to the national interests. Its successes have obviously earned it a strong place in today’s world.