Sixty-five years ago today, on July 29, 1958, President Dwight D Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 into law in order "To provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes."
"The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind. The Congress declares that the general welfare and security of the United States require that adequate provision be made for aeronautical and space activities. The Congress further declares that such activities shall be the responsibility of, and shall be directed by, a civilian agency exercising control over aeronautical and space activities sponsored by the United States, except that activities peculiar to or primarily associated with the development of weapons systems, military operations, or the defense of the United States."
The creation of NASA didn't happen overnight, although it did happen relatively quickly in government time, thanks to the launch of Sputnik in 1957.
Sputnik launched on October 4, 1957, and the draft of legislation that Eisenhower submitted to Congress was finished on April 2, 1958.
The hearings in the House and Senate and an Executive Branch advisory committee were able to develop legislation that transformed NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics into NASA in under a year. The original act has been amended, and its language has been updated over the ensuing decades.
For better or worse, NASA remains an executive branch agency, tied to the whims of the President and the pocketbook of certain Senators and House Members representing districts with a significant NASA presence.
The agency has accomplished incredible things, from exploring the solar system with robotic spacecraft to sending humans to the Moon. NASA has done this even though its budgets and direction fluctuate over time. Here's to the next 65 years of space exploration!
Today's picture shows President Kennedy and President Eisenhower during a meeting in April 1961, roughly two weeks before Alan Shepard launched on his historic Mercury mission, America's first human spaceflight.
Sharing The Space Shot now will get you entered for a chance to win some awesome Skylab 50th prizes, including a signed copy of “Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story” or space-themed jewelry, coffee, or stickers. There will be prize drawings from now until the Splashdown of Skylab 3 at the end of September. So share away! Details below :)
Picture- JFK Archives