What does nasa stand for

How NASA Works

What is NASA’s Future?

During his first term in the early 2000s, President George W. Bush laid out an ambitious plan for NASA’s future. He planned to replace the aging space shuttles with a new program, Constellation, that NASA administrator Michael Griffin described as «Apollo on steroids.» Bush aimed to have U.S. astronauts return to the moon in the 2020s [source: Lewis].

But after Barack Obama took office in 2009, he pointed NASA in a different direction. After a commission of experts found that the Constellation program was behind schedule and exceeding its budget, Obama decided to cancel the program, and abandon the planned moon visits. Instead, he wanted the agency to aim for even more ambitious goals of landing astronauts on a near-Earth asteroid by 2025, and reaching Mars in the 2030s. To that end, NASA embarked upon a new plan to develop the Orion crew capsule, a portion of Constellation that was kept, and to develop a massive new rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) [sources: Lewis, Wall].

At a 2018 gathering of present and past NASA officials, Trump administration NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine pledged that the agency that first reached the moon would continue to push the envelope in the 21st century by returning to the moon and aiming for Mars.

«A lot of us were not even born when all of that [Apollo] took place, and the visions that have come since then have not always materialized,» Bridenstine said. «But because those visions existed, we at this point in history have more opportunity to do more than ever before, » [source: Dean].

What Does NASA Stand For?

Chances are that if you have lived on this planet for the past half-century, you’ve heard of NASA. As the agency that is in charge of America’s space program, they put a man on the Moon, launched the Hubble Telescope, helped establish the International Space Station, and sent dozens of probes and shuttles into space.

But do you know what the acronym NASA actually stands for? Well, NASA stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As such, it oversees America’s spaceflight capabilities and conducts valuable research in space. NASA also has various programs on Earth dedicated to flight, hence why the term “Aeronautics” appears in the agency’s name.

However, the real meaning behind this famous acronym cannot be understood until without learning about the history of the organization. Born during the height of the Cold War, NASA was founded for the straightforward purpose of ensuring American dominance in space. But in the many generations since its inception, NASA’s mission has evolved considerably.

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Formation

The process of forming NASA began in the early 1950s with the development of rocket planes – like the Bell X-1 – and the desire to launch physical satellites. However, it was not until the launch of Sputnik 1 – the first artificial satellite into space that was deployed by the Soviets on October 4th, 1957 – that efforts to develop an American space program truly began.

Fearing that Sputnik represented a threat to national security and America’s technological leadership, Congress urged then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower to take immediate action. This result in an agreement whereby a federal organization similar to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) – which was established in 1915 to oversee aeronautical research – would be created.

Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were also incorporated into NASA. A significant contribution came from the work of the Army Ballistic Missie Agency (ABMA), which had been working closely with Wernher von Braun – the leader of Germany’s rocket program during WWII – at the time.

In December 1958, NASA also gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a contractor facility operated by the California Institute of Technology. By 1959, President Eisenhower officially approved of A NASA seal, which is affectionately referred to as the “meatball” logo because of the orbs included in the design.

Early Projects

NASA has since been responsible for the majority of the manned and unmanned American missions that have been sent into space. Their efforts began with the development of the X-15, a hypersonic jet plane that NASA had taken over from the NACA. As part of the program, twelve pilots were selected to fly the X-15, and achieve new records for both speed and maximum altitude reached.

A total of 199 flights were made between 1959 and 1968, resulting in two official world records being made. The first was for the highest speed ever reached by a manned craft – Mach 6.72 or 7,273 km/h (4,519 mph) – while the second was for the highest altitude ever achieved, at 107.96 km (354,200 feet).

The X-15 program also employed mechanical techniques used in the later manned spaceflight programs, including reaction control system jets, space suits, horizon definition for navigation, and crucial reentry and landing data. However, by the early 60’s, NASA’s primary concern was winning the newly-declared “Space Race” with the Soviets by putting a man into orbit.

Project Mercury

This began with the Project Mercury, a program that was taken over from the US Air Force and which ran from 1959 until 1963. Designed to send a man into space using existing rockets, the program quickly adopted the concept of launching ballistic capsules into orbit. The first seven astronauts, nicknamed the “Mercury Seven“, were selected from the Navy, Air Force, and Marine test pilot programs.

On May 5th, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space aboard the Freedom 7 mission. John Glenn became the first American to be launched into orbit by an Atlas launch vehicle on February 20th, 1962, as part of Friendship 7. Glenn completed three orbits, and three more orbital flights were made, culminating in L. Gordon Cooper’s 22-orbit flight aboard Faith 7, which flew on May 15th and 16th, 1963.

Project Gemini

Project Gemini, which began in 1961 and ran until 1966, aimed at developing support for Project Apollo (which also began in 1961). This involved the development of long-duration space missions, extravehicular activity (EVA), rendezvous and docking procedures, and precision Earth landing. By 1962, the program got moving with the development of a series of two-man spacecraft.

The first flight, Gemini 3, went up on March 23rd, 1965 and was flown by Gus Grissom and John Young. Nine missions followed in 1965 and 1966, with spaceflights lasting for nearly fourteen days while crews conducting docking and rendezvous operations, EVAs, and gathered medical data on the effects of weightlessness on humans.

Project Apollo

The program relied on the use of Saturn rockets as launch vehicles, and spacecraft that were larger than either the Mercury or Gemini capsules – consisting of a command and service module (CSM) and a lunar landing module (LM). The program got off to a rocky start when, on January 27th, 1967, the Apollo 1 craft experienced an electrical fire during a test run. The fire destroyed the capsule and killed the crew of three, consisting of Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, Roger B. Chaffee.

The second manned mission, Apollo 8, brought astronauts for the first time in a flight around the Moon in December of 1968. On the next two missions, docking maneuvers that were needed for the Moon landing were practiced. And finally, the long-awaited Moon landing was made with the Apollo 11 mission on July 20th, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon while pilot Michael Collins observed.

Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. Throughout these six Apollo spaceflights, a total of twelve men walked on the Moon. These missions also returned a wealth of scientific data, not to mention 381.7 kilograms (842 lb) of lunar samples to Earth. The Moon landing marked the end of the space race, but Armstrong declared it a victory for “mankind” rather than just the US.

Skylab and the Space Shuttle Program

After Project Apollo, NASA’s efforts turned towards the creation of an orbiting space station and the creation of reusable spacecraft. In the case of the former, this took the form of Skylab, America’s first and only independently-built space station. Conceived of in 1965, the station was constructed on Earth and launched on May 14th, 1973 atop the first two stages of a Saturn V rocket.

Skylab was damaged during its launch, losing its thermal protection and one electricity-generating solar panels. This necessitated the first crew to rendezvous with the station to conduct repairs. Two more crews followed, and the station was occupied for a total of 171 days during its history of service. This ended in 1979 with the downing of the station over the Indian Ocean and parts of southern Australia.

By the early 70s, a changing budget environment forced NASA to begin researching reusable spacecraft, which resulted in the Space Shuttle Program. Unlike previous programs, which involved small space capsules being launched on top of multistage rockets, this program centered on the use of vehicles that were launchable and (mostly) reusable.

Its major components were a spaceplane orbiter with an external fuel tank and two solid-fuel launch rockets at its side. The external tank, which was bigger than the spacecraft itself, was the only major component that was not reused. Six orbiters were constructed in total, named Space Shuttle Atlantis, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise.

Over the course of 135 missions, which ran from 1983 to 1998, the Space Shuttles performed many important tasks. These included carrying the Spacelab into orbit – a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) – running supplies to Mir and the ISS (see below), and the launch and successful repair of the Hubble Space Telescope (which took place in 1990 and 1993, respectively).

The Shuttle program suffered two disasters during the course of its 15 years of service. The first was the Challenger disaster in 1986, while the second – the Columbia disaster – took place in 2003. Fourteen astronauts were lost, as well as the two shuttles. By 2011, the program was discontinued, the last mission ending on July 21st, 2011 with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center.

By 1993, NASA began collaborating with the Russians, the ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to create the International Space Station (ISS). Combining NASA’s Space Station Freedom project with the Soviet/Russian Mir-2 station, the European Columbus station, and the Japanese Kibo laboratory module, the project also built on the Russian-American Shuttle-Mir missions (1995-1998).

The ISS and Recent Projects

With the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, crew members were delivered exclusively by Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz remains docked with the station while crews perform their six-month long missions, and then returns them to Earth. Until another US manned spacecraft is ready – which is NASA is busy developing – crew members will travel to and from the ISS exclusively aboard the Soyuz.

Uncrewed cargo missions arrive regularly with the station, usually in the form of the Russian Progress spacecraft, but also from the ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) since 2008, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) since 2009, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft since 2012, and the American Cygnus spacecraft since 2013.

The ISS has been continuously occupied for the past 15 years, having exceeded the previous record held by Mir; and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations. The ISS program is expected to continue until at least 2020, but may be extended until 2028 or possibly longer, depending on the budget environment.

Future of NASA

A few years ago, NASA celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Originally designed to ensure American supremacy in space, it has since adapted to changing conditions and political climates. Its accomplishments have also been extensive, ranging from launching the first American artificial satellites into space for scientific and communications purposes to sending probes to explore the planets of the Solar System.

But above all else, NASA’s greatest accomplishments have been in sending human beings into space, and being the agency that conducted the first manned missions to the Moon. In the coming years, NASA hopes to build on that reputation, bringing an asteroid closer to Earth so we can study it more closely, and sending manned missions to Mars.

Universe Today has many articles on NASA, including articles on its current administrators and the agency’s celebrating 50 years of spaceflight.

Astronomy Cast has an episode on NASA’s mission to Mars.

What Is NASA?

This article is part of the NASA Knows! (Grades 5-8) series.

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA is a United States government agency that is responsible for science and technology related to air and space. The Space Age started in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik. NASA was created in 1958. The agency was created to oversee U.S. space exploration and aeronautics research.

The administrator is in charge of NASA. The NASA administrator is nominated by the president and confirmed by a vote in the Senate.

What Does NASA Do?

Many people know something about NASA’s work. But most probably have no idea about how many different things the agency does. Astronauts in orbit conduct scientific research. Satellites help scientists learn more about Earth. Space probes study the solar system, and beyond. New developments improve air travel and other aspects of flight. NASA is also beginning a new program to send humans to explore beyond the moon to Mars. In addition to those major missions, NASA does many other things. The agency shares what it learns, so that its information can make life better for people all over the world. For example, companies can use NASA discoveries to create new “spin-off” products.

NASA’s Education Office helps teachers to prepare the students who will be the engineers, scientists, astronauts and other NASA workers of the future. They will be the adventurers who will continue the exploration of the solar system and universe in the years to come. NASA has a tradition of investing in programs and activities that inspire and engage students, educators, families and communities in the excitement and discovery of exploration. NASA offers training to help teachers learn new ways to teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The agency also involves students in NASA missions to help them get excited about learning.

Who Works for NASA?

NASA’s Headquarters is in Washington, D.C. The agency has nine centers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and seven test and research facilities located in several states around the country. More than 18,000 people work for NASA. Many more people work with the agency as government contractors. Those people are hired by companies that NASA pays to do work for it. The combined workforce represents a wide variety of jobs. Astronauts may be the best-known NASA employees, but they only represent a small number of the total workforce. Many NASA workers are scientists and engineers. But people there hold many other jobs, too, from secretaries to writers to lawyers to teachers.

What Has NASA Done?

When NASA started, it began a program of human spaceflight. The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs helped NASA learn about flying in space and resulted in the first human landing on the moon in 1969. Currently, NASA has astronauts living and working on the International Space Station.

NASA’s robotic space probes have visited every planet in the solar system and several other celestial bodies. Telescopes have allowed scientists to look at the far reaches of space. Satellites have revealed a wealth of data about Earth, resulting in valuable information such as a better understanding of weather patterns.

NASA has helped develop and test a variety of cutting-edge aircraft. These aircraft include planes that have set new records. Among other benefits, these tests have helped engineers improve air transportation. NASA technology has contributed to many items used in everyday life, from smoke detectors to medical tests.

What does NASA stand for?

What does NASA stand for? There are so many acronyms, initials and abbreviations raising questions like «What does NASA stand for?» These combinations of letters are now being used just like everyday words! Find out the difference between an acronym, abbreviation, trademark or an initialism (yes, it’s yet another new word!). Back to the question «What does NASA stand for?». We have detailed below the meaning of the letters or initials used, a definition and some helpful background information about this common acronym. So read on to discover the answer to your question: What does NASA stand for? And what the letters NASA mean! An ideal free Educational Resource complete with useful examples for Teachers, Students, Colleges and Schools.

What does NASA stand for?

What does NASA stand for? What is the Meaning and Origin of the word Acronym?

The meaning of acromyn is ‘A word formed from the initial letters of a multi-word name’. What is the origin of the word? The word derives from the Greek word ‘acro’ meaning ‘tip, end’ and the English word ‘onym’ meaning name e.g. NATO or RADAR

What does NASA stand for? What is the meaning of Initials and Initialism?

Initials used as words are called initialism which is defined as an abbreviation that consists of the initial letters of a series of words, pronounced in sequence e.g. HTML.

What does NASA stand for? What is the Meaning of the word Abbreviation?

The meaning of abbreviation is a shortened form of a written word or phrase used in place of the whole e.g. APP for application.

What does NASA stand for? Trademarks

Some combinations of letters such as iPOD are trademarks. A trademark means a word used to identify a particular company’s product and differentiate the product from other companies’ products.

What does NASA stand for? Definitions and Examples

Reading a definition and learning about what letters stand for is so much easier when examples are provided. The use of illustrations, samples and specimens will simplify any task from writing, studying English Grammar or punctuation to understanding difficult shortened terms such as NASA. An ideal free Educational Resource complete with useful examples for Teachers, Students, Colleges and Schools.

What does NASA stand for? Different Types of Acronyms, Initials and Abbreviations!

What does NASA stand for?

What does NASA mean? This page is about the various possible meanings of the acronym, abbreviation, shorthand or slang term: NASA.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Natural Athlete Strength Association

Never A Straight Answer

Need Another Seven Astronauts

Not All Shuttles Arrive

Northmemorial Amateur Sports Association

North American Search Authority

No Access to Space for Americans

National Assistance Services Australia

Nerds Are Searching for Answers

Never Admit Seeing Anything

National Association of Signing Agents

Negotiating Agents Steering API

National Aggregate Stone Association

National Association of Space Astronauts

Never Absolutely Sure of Anything

National Acronym Slinging Agency

New Age Space Association

Not A Shuttle Anymore

New Airwalk Shoes Accepted

National Army Sporting Association

Nosey Alien Seekers Association

National Annoying Sister Association

No Anti Sock Anvil

What does NASA mean?

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