nasa for other uses see nasa disambiguation national aeronautics and space administrationsealemblemflagagency overviewformedjuly29 1958 60 years ago19580729preceding agencynaca 19151958james morhard deputy administratorjeff dewit chief financial officerwebsitewwwnasagov part of a series of articles on thespace policy of the united states nasa space policy of the united states apollo program us manned space programs apollo apollosoyuz joint skylab constellation iss joint gemini manned orbiting laboratory manned venus flyby mercury orion space shuttle space transportation system shuttlemir joint us space probes vanguard explorer 1 pioneer mariner ranger surveyor lunar orbiter viking voyager lunar reconnaissance orbiter new horizons expendable launch vehicles vanguard juno i mercuryredstone mercuryatlas geminititan ii titan iii iv atlasagena apollosaturn i ib v atlascentaur atlas v shuttlederived launch vehicle ares i ares v space launch system notable figures robert goddard wernher von braun lyndon b johnson john f kennedy james webb robert gilruth george low george mueller maxime faget kurt debus rocco petrone christopher kraft jr gene kranz guenter wendt alan shepard john glenn neil armstrong gene franklin astronauts the mercury seven geminiapollo astronauts nasa astronaut corps vte the national aeronautics and space administration nasa ns is an independent agency of the united states federal government responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research nasa was established in 1958 succeeding the national advisory committee for aeronautics naca the new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science since its establishment most us space exploration efforts have been led by nasa including the apollo moon landing missions the skylab space station and later the space shuttle nasa is supporting the international space station and is overseeing the development of the orion multipurpose crew vehicle the space launch system and commercial crew vehicles the agency is also responsible for the launch services program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned nasa launches nasa science is focused on better understanding earth through the earth observing system creation creation of nasa william h pickering center jpl director president john f kennedy right nasa administrator james e webb background discussing the mariner program with a model presented from 1946 the national advisory committee for aeronautics naca had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic bell x1 is of great urgency and importance to our country both from consideration of our prestige as a nation as well as military necessity that this challenge while this new federal agency would conduct all nonmilitary space activity the advanced research projects agency arpa was created in february 1958 to develop space technology for military application on july 29 1958 eisenhower signed the national aeronautics and space act establishing nasa when it began operations on october 1 1958 nasa absorbed the 43yearold naca intact its 8000 employees an annual budget of us100million three major research laboratories langley aeronautical laboratory ames aeronautical laboratory and lewis flight propulsion laboratory and two small test facilities staff and leadership list of nasa administrators jim bridenstine speaks to three astronauts aboard the international space station shortly after being sworn in as nasas thirteenth administrator the agencys leader nasas administrator is nominated by the president of the united states subject to approval of the us senate and reports to him or her and serves as senior space science advisor though space exploration is ostensibly nonpartisan the appointee usually is associated with the presidents political party democratic or republican and a new administrator is usually chosen when the presidency changes parties the only exceptions to this have been democrat thomas o paine acting administrator under democrat lyndon b johnson stayed on while republican richard nixon tried but failed to get one of his own choices to accept the job paine was confirmed by the senate in march 1969 and served through september 1970 republican james c fletcher appointed by nixon and confirmed in april 1971 stayed through may 1977 into the term of democrat jimmy carter daniel goldin was appointed by republican george h w bush and stayed through the entire administration of democrat bill clinton robert m lightfoot jr associate administrator under democrat barack obama was kept on as acting administrator by republican donald trump until trumps own choice jim bridenstine was confirmed in april 2018 the first administrator was dr t keith glennan appointed by republican president dwight d eisenhower during his term he brought together the disparate projects in american space development research the second administrator james e webb 19611968 appointed by president john f kennedy was a democrat who first publicly served under president harry s truman in order to implement the apollo program to achieve kennedys moon landing goal by the end of the 1960s webb directed major management restructuring and facility expansion establishing the houston manned spacecraft johnson center and the florida launch operations kennedy center capitalizing on kennedys legacy president lyndon johnson kept continuity with the apollo program by keeping webb on when he succeeded kennedy in november 1963 but webb resigned in october 1968 before apollo achieved its goal and republican president richard m nixon replaced webb with republican thomas o paine organizational structure of nasa 2015 james fletcher was responsible for early planning of the space shuttle program during his first term as administrator under president nixon he was appointed for a second term as administrator from may 1986 through april 1989 by president ronald reagan to help the agency recover from the space shuttle challenger disaster former astronaut charles bolden served as nasas twelfth administrator from july 2009 to january 20 2017 bolden is one of three former astronauts who became nasa administrators along with richard h truly served 19891992 and frederick d gregory acting 2005 the agencys administration is located at nasa headquarters in washington dc and provides overall guidance and direction space flight programs list of nasa missions at launch control for the may 28 1964 saturn i sa6 launch wernher von braun is at center nasa has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history unmanned programs launched the first american artificial satellites into earth orbit for scientific and communications purposes and sent scientific probes to explore the planets of the solar system starting with venus and mars and including grand tours of the outer planets manned programs sent the first americans into low earth orbit leo won the space race with the soviet union by landing twelve men on the moon from 1969 to 1972 in the apollo program developed a semireusable leo space shuttle and developed leo space station capability by itself and with the cooperation of several other nations including postsoviet russia some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects such as the galileo probe which was deployed by astronauts in earth orbit before being sent unmanned to jupiter manned programs some of nasas first africanamerican astronauts including dr ronald mcnair guy bluford and fred gregory from the class of 1978 selection of astronauts the experimental rocketpowered aircraft programs started by naca were extended by nasa as support for manned spaceflight this was followed by a oneman space capsule program and in turn by a twoman capsule program reacting to loss of national prestige and security fears caused by early leads in space exploration by the soviet union in 1961 president john f kennedy proposed the ambitious goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of x15 rocket plane 19591968 north american x15 x15 in powered flight the x15 was an naca experimental rocketpowered hypersonic research aircraft developed in conjunction with the us air force and navy the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems requests for proposal were issued on december 30 1954 for the airframe and february 4 1955 for the rocket engine the airframe contract was awarded to north american aviation in november 1955 and the xlr30 engine contract was awarded to reaction motors in 1956 and three planes were built the x15 was droplaunched from the wing of one of two nasa boeing b52 stratofortresses nb52a tail number 52003 and nb52b tail number 52008 known as the balls 8 release took place at an altitude of about 45000 feet 14km and a speed of about 500 miles per hour 805kmh twelve pilots were selected for the program from the air force navy and naca later nasa a total of 199 flights were made between 1959 and 1968 resulting in the official world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned powered aircraft current as of 2014 project mercury 19581963 project mercury john glenn on friendship 7 first us orbital flight 1962 shortly after the space race began an early objective was to get a person into earth orbit as soon as possible therefore the simplest spacecraft that could be launched by existing rockets was favored the us air forces man in space soonest program considered many manned spacecraft designs ranging from rocket planes like the x15 to small ballistic space capsules when nasa was created that same year the air force program was transferred to it and renamed project mercury the first seven astronauts were selected among candidates from the navy air force and marine test pilot programs on may 5 1961 astronaut alan shepard became the first american in space aboard freedom7 launched by a redstone booster on a 15minute ballistic suborbital flight the soviet union ussr competed with its own singlepilot spacecraft vostok they sent the first man in space by launching cosmonaut yuri gagarin into a single earth orbit aboard vostok 1 in april 1961 one month before shepards flight in august 1962 they achieved an almost fourday record flight with andriyan nikolayev aboard vostok 3 and also conducted a concurrent vostok 4 mission carrying pavel popovich project gemini 19611966 project gemini ed white on gemini 4 first us spacewalk 1965 based on studies to grow the mercury spacecraft capabilities to longduration flights developing space rendezvous techniques and precision earth landing project gemini was started as a twoman program in 1962 to overcome the soviets lead and to support the apollo manned lunar landing program adding extravehicular activity eva and rendezvous and docking to its objectives the first manned gemini flight gemini 3 was flown by gus grissom and john young on march 23 1965 under the direction of soviet premier nikita khrushchev the ussr competed with gemini by converting their vostok spacecraft into a two or threeman voskhod they succeeded in launching two manned flights before geminis first flight achieving a threecosmonaut flight in 1963 and the first eva in 1964 after this the program was canceled and gemini caught up while spacecraft designer sergei korolev developed the soyuz spacecraft their answer to apollo apollo program 19611972 apollo program apollo 11 buzz aldrin on the moon 1969 the us publics perception of the soviet lead in the space race by putting the first man into space motivated president john f kennedy to ask the congress on may 25 1961 to commit the federal government to a program to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s which effectively launched the apollo program apollo was one of the most expensive american scientific programs ever it cost more than 20 billion in 1960s dollars the second manned mission apollo 8 brought astronauts for the first time in a flight around the moon in december 1968 apollo 17 lrv003 1972 the first person to stand on the moon was neil armstrong who was followed by buzz aldrin while michael collins orbited above five subsequent apollo missions also landed astronauts on the moon the last in december 1972 throughout these six apollo spaceflights twelve men walked on the moon these missions returned a wealth of scientific data and 3817 kilograms 842lb of lunar samples topics covered by experiments performed included soil mechanics meteoroids seismology heat flow lunar ranging magnetic fields and solar wind apollo set major milestones in human spaceflight it stands alone in sending manned missions beyond low earth orbit and landing humans on another celestial body apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body while apollo 17 marked the last moonwalk and the last manned mission beyond low earth orbit to date the program spurred advances in many areas of technology peripheral to rocketry and manned spaceflight including avionics telecommunications and computers apollo sparked interest in many fields of engineering and left many physical facilities and machines developed for the program as landmarks many objects and artifacts from the program are on display at various locations throughout the world notably at the smithsonians air and space museums skylab 19651979 skylab skylab in 1974 seen from the departing skylab 4 csm skylab was the united states first and only independently built space station to save cost nasa used one of the saturn v rockets originally earmarked for a canceled apollo mission to launch the skylab apollo spacecraft were used for transporting astronauts to and from the station three threeman crews stayed aboard the station for periods of 28 59 and 84 days skylabs habitable volume was 11290 cubic feet 320m3 which was 307 times bigger than that of the apollo command module apollosoyuz test project 19721975 apollosoyuz test project soviet and american crews with spacecraft model 1975 on may 24 1972 us president richard m nixon and soviet premier alexei kosygin signed an agreement calling for a joint manned space mission and declaring intent for all future international manned spacecraft to be capable of docking with each other the mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments and provided useful engineering experience for future joint usrussian space flights such as the shuttlemir program and the international space station space shuttle program 19722011 space shuttle program launch of a space shuttle mae jemison working in spacelab in 1992 spacelab was a major nasa collaboration with europes space agencies the space shuttle became the major focus of nasa in the late 1970s and the 1980s planned as a frequently launchable and mostly reusable vehicle four space shuttle orbiters were built by 1985 the first to launch columbia did so on april 12 1981 its major components were a spaceplane orbiter with an external fuel tank and two solidfuel launch rockets at its side the external tank which was bigger than the spacecraft itself was the only major component that was not reused the shuttle could orbit in altitudes of 185643km 115400 miles on 20 missions 198398 the space shuttle carried spacelab designed in cooperation with the european space agency esa spacelab was not designed for independent orbital flight but remained in the shuttles cargo bay as the astronauts entered and left it through an airlock in 1995 russianamerican interaction resumed with the shuttlemir missions 19951998 once more an american vehicle docked with a russian craft this time a fullfledged space station this cooperation has continued with russia and the united states as two of the biggest partners in the largest space station built the international space station iss the strength of their cooperation on this project was even more evident when nasa began relying on russian launch vehicles to service the iss during the twoyear grounding of the shuttle fleet following the 2003 space shuttle columbia disaster the shuttle fleet lost two orbiters and 14 astronauts in two disasters challenger in 1986 and columbia in 2003 international space station 1993present international space station the international space station as seen by the final sts mission animation of assembly of the iss the international space station iss combines nasas space station freedom project with the sovietrussian mir2 station the european columbus station and the japanese kib laboratory module long duration missions to the iss are referred to as iss expeditions expedition crew members typically spend approximately six months on the iss the station can be seen from the earth with the naked eye and as of 2018 is the largest artificial satellite in earth orbit with a mass and volume greater than that of any previous space station the iss program is expected to continue until at least 2020 and may be extended beyond 2028 commercial programs 2006present commercial resupply services and commercial crew development media all and dragon being berthed to the iss in may 2012cygnus berthed to the iss in september 2013 the development of the commercial resupply services crs vehicles began in 2006 with the purpose of creating american commercially operated uncrewed cargo vehicles to service the iss on december 23 2008 nasa awarded commercial resupply services contracts to spacex and orbital sciences corporation dragon v2rendering of cst100 in orbit the commercial crew development ccdev program was started in 2010 with the purpose of creating american commercially operated crewed spacecraft capable of delivering at least four crew members to the iss staying docked for 180 days and then returning them back to earth in 2010 nasa announced the winners of the first phase of the program a total of 50million was divided among five american companies to foster research and development into human spaceflight concepts and technologies in the private sector in 2011 the winners of the second phase of the program were announced 270million was divided among four companies beyond low earth orbit program 20102017 for missions beyond low earth orbit bleo nasa has been directed to develop the space launch system sls a saturnv class rocket and the two to six person beyond low earth orbit spacecraft orion in february 2010 president barack obamas administration proposed eliminating public funds for the constellation program and shifting greater responsibility of servicing the iss to private companies the authorization act required a newly designed hlv be chosen within 90 days of its passing the launch vehicle was given the name space launch system the new law also required the construction of a beyond low earth orbit spacecraft exploration flight test 1 eft1 an unmanned test flight of orions crew module was launched on december 5 2014 atop a delta iv heavy rocket em3 is planned to deliver a crew of 4 to lunar orbit along with the first module of deep space gateway on june 5 2016 nasa and darpa announced plans to build a series of new xplanes over the next 10 years nasa plans to build full scale deep space habitats such at the nautilusx and deep space gateway as part of its next space technologies for exploration partnerships nextstep program in 2017 nasa was directed to get humans to mars by 2033 nasa graphic for the journey to mars unmanned programs unmanned nasa missions pioneer 3 and 4 launched in 1958 and 1959 respectively jwst main mirror assembled november 2016 more than 1000 unmanned missions have been designed to explore the earth and the solar system the missions have been launched directly from earth or from orbiting space shuttles which could either deploy the satellite itself or with a rocket stage to take it farther the first us unmanned satellite was explorer 1 which started as an abmajpl project during the early part of the space race it was launched in january 1958 two months after sputnik at the creation of nasa the explorer project was transferred to the agency and still continues to this day its missions have been focusing on the earth and the sun measuring magnetic fields and the solar wind among other aspects the inner solar system has been made the goal of at least four unmanned programs the first was mariner in the 1960s and 70s which made multiple visits to venus and mars and one to mercury probes launched under the mariner program were also the first to make a planetary flyby mariner 2 to take the first pictures from another planet mariner 4 the first planetary orbiter mariner 9 and the first to make a gravity assist maneuver mariner 10 this is a technique where the satellite takes advantage of the gravity and velocity of planets to reach its destination the first successful landing on mars was made by viking 1 in 1976 twenty years later a rover was landed on mars by mars pathfinder outside mars jupiter was first visited by pioneer 10 in 1973 more than 20 years later galileo sent a probe into the planets atmosphere and became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet pioneers 10 and 11 and both voyager probes carry messages from the earth to extraterrestrial life on november 26 2011 nasas mars science laboratory mission was successfully launched for mars curiosity successfully landed on mars on august 6 2012 and subsequently began its search for evidence of past or present life on mars activities 20102017 radioisotope within a graphite shell that goes into the generator nasas ongoing investigations include indepth surveys of mars mars 2020 and insight and saturn and studies of the earth and the sun other active spacecraft missions are juno for jupiter new horizons for jupiter pluto and beyond and dawn for the asteroid belt nasa continued to support in situ exploration beyond the asteroid belt including pioneer and voyager traverses into the unexplored transpluto region and gas giant orbiters galileo 19892003 cassini19972017 and juno 2011 in the early 2000s nasa was put on course for the moon however in 2010 this program was cancelled see constellation program as part of that plan the shuttle was going to be replaced however although it was retired its replacement was also cancelled leaving the us with no human spaceflight launcher for the first time in over three decades the new horizons mission to pluto was launched in 2006 and successfully performed a flyby of pluto on july 14 2015 the probe received a gravity assist from jupiter in february 2007 examining some of jupiters inner moons and testing onboard instruments during the flyby on the horizon of nasas plans is the maven spacecraft as part of the mars scout program to study the atmosphere of mars on december 4 2006 nasa announced it was planning a permanent moon base since 2011 nasas strategic goals have been extend and sustain human activities across the solar system expand scientific understanding of the earth and the universe create innovative new space technologies advance aeronautics research enable program and institutional capabilities to conduct nasas aeronautics and space activities share nasa with the public educators and students to provide opportunities to participate in august 2011 nasa accepted the donation of two space telescopes from the national reconnaissance office despite being stored unused the instruments are superior to the hubble space telescope in september 2011 nasa announced the start of the space launch system program to develop a humanrated heavy lift vehicle the space launch system is intended to launch the orion multipurpose crew vehicle and other elements towards the moon nearearth asteroids and one day mars the james webb space telescope jwst is currently scheduled to launch in may 2020 curiositys wheel on mars 2012 curiositys battered wheel after several years of exploration 2017 on august 6 2012 nasa landed the rover curiosity on mars on august 27 2012 curiosity transmitted the first prerecorded message from the surface of mars back to earth made by administrator charlie bolden hello this is charlie bolden nasa administrator speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of the curiosity rover which is now on the surface of mars since the beginning of time humankinds curiosity has led us to constantly seek new lifenew possibilities just beyond the horizon i want to congratulate the men and women of our nasa family as well as our commercial and government partners around the world for taking us a step beyond to mars this is an extraordinary achievement landing a rover on mars is not easy others have tried only america has fully succeeded the investment we are makingthe knowledge we hope to gain from our observation and analysis of gale crater will tell us much about the possibility of life on mars as well as the past and future possibilities for our own planet curiosity will bring benefits to earth and inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers as it prepares the way for a human mission in the not too distant future thank you recent and planned activities nasas ongoing investigations include indepth surveys of mars mars 2020 and insight and saturn and studies of the earth and the sun other active spacecraft missions are juno for jupiter new horizons for jupiter pluto and beyond and dawn for the asteroid belt nasa continued to support in situ exploration beyond the asteroid belt including pioneer and voyager traverses into the unexplored transpluto region and gas giant orbiters galileo 19892003 cassini19972017 and juno 2011 the new horizons mission to pluto was launched in 2006 and successfully performed a flyby of pluto on july 14 2015 the probe received a gravity assist from jupiter in february 2007 examining some of jupiters inner moons and testing onboard instruments during the flyby on the horizon of nasas plans is the maven spacecraft as part of the mars scout program to study the atmosphere of mars there was a new executive administration in the united states which directed nasa to send humans to mars by the year 2033 in 2018 nasa alongside with other companies including sensor coating systems pratt whitney monitor coating and utrc have launched the project caution coatings for ultra high temperature detection this project aims to enhance the temperature range of the thermal history coating up to 1500c and beyond the final goal of this project is improving the safety of jet engines as well as increasing efficiency and reducing co2 emissions insight launched and en route to mars in 2018 new horizons kuiper belt object flyby eoy 2018 january 2019 planned osirisrex en route for asteroid sample return on september 24 2023 mars 2020 rover planned europa clipper planned misc discovery missions misc explorer missions new frontier mission including new horizons juno and osirisrex earth observation solar and astronomical observatories james webb space telescope planned parker solar probe launched august 2018 transiting exoplanet survey satellite tess launched in april 2018 wide field infrared survey telescope wfirst planned nasa advisory council in response to the apollo 1 accident which killed three astronauts in 1967 congress directed nasa to form an aerospace safety advisory panel asap to advise the nasa administrator on safety issues and hazards in nasas aerospace programs in the aftermath of the shuttle columbia accident congress required that the asap submit an annual report to the nasa administrator and to congress the national aeronautics and space administration authorization act of 2014 reaffirmed the importance of asap directives further information space policy of the united states artistic rendition of space station freedom with the orbiter vehicle some of the major nasa directives were to land people on the moon build the space shuttle and build a large space station typically the major directives had the intervention of the science advisory political funding and public interest that synergized into various waves of effort often heavily swayed by technical funding and worldwide events for example there was a major push to build space station freedom in the 1980s but when the cold war ended the russians the americans and other international partners came together to build the international space station in the 2010s the major shift was the retirement of the space shuttle and the development of a new manned heavy lift rocket the space launch system missions for the new system have varied but overall they were similar as it primarily involved the desire to send a human into the space the space exploration initiative of the 1980s opened newer avenues of galaxy exploration in the coming decades the focus is gradually shifting towards exploration of planet mars however some differences exist over the technologies to develop and focus on for the exploration longer project execution timelines means its up to the future officials to execute on a directive which often leads to directional mismanagement for example a shuttle replacement has numerous components involved each making some headway before being called off for various reasons including the national aerospace plane venture star orbital space plane ares i and others the asteroid mission was not a major directive in the 2010s instead the general support rested with the long term goal of getting humans to mars the space shuttle was retired and much of the existing road map was shelved including the then planned lunar return and ares i human launch vehicle previously in the early 2000s there was a plan called the constellation program but this was defunded in the early 2010s nasa authorization act of 2017 orion at iss artwork the nasa authorization act of 2017 which included 195 billion in funding for that fiscal year directed nasa to get humans near or on the surface of mars by the early 2030s space policy directive 1 in december 2017 on the 45th anniversary of the last manned mission to the lunar surface president donald trump approved a directive that includes a lunar mission on the pathway to mars and beyond well learn the directive im signing today will refocus americas space program on human exploration and discovery it marks an important step in returning american astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 for longterm exploration and use this time we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprint we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to mars and perhaps someday to many worlds beyondpresident trump 2017 new nasa administrator jim bridenstine addressed this directive in an august 2018 speech where he focused on the sustainability aspectsgoing to the moon to staythat are explicit in the directive including taking advantage of us commercial space capability that did not exist even five years ago which have driven down costs and increased access to space research nasa research for technologies funded or otherwise supported by nasa see nasa spinoff technologies nasa developed this hardsuit in the 1980s at the ames research center nasas aeronautics research mission directorate conducts aeronautics research nasa has made use of technologies such as the multimission radioisotope thermoelectric generator mmrtg which is a type of radioisotope thermoelectric generator used on space missions the earth science research program was created and first funded in the 1980s under the administrations of ronald reagan and george hw bush nasa started an annual competition in 2014 named cubes in space climate study nasa also researches and publishes on climate change facilities jet propulsion laboratory complex in pasadena californiavehicle assembly and launch control at kennedy space center nasa facilities nasas facilities are research construction and communication centers to help its missions some facilities serve more than one application for historic or administrative reasons nasa also operates a shortline railroad at the kennedy space center and uses special aircraft john f kennedy space center ksc is one of the bestknown nasa facilities it has been the launch site for every united states human space flight since 1968 although such flights are currently on pause ksc continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for americas civilian space program from three pads at the adjoining cape canaveral air force station lyndon b johnson space center jsc in houston is home to the christopher c kraft jr mission control center where all flight control is managed for manned space missions jsc is the lead nasa center for activities regarding the international space station and also houses the nasa astronaut corps that selects trains and provides astronauts as crew members for us and international space missions another major facility is marshall space flight center in huntsville alabama at which the saturn 5 rocket and skylab were developed the jpl worked together with abma one of the agencies behind explorer 1 the first american space mission fcr 1 in 2009 during the sts128 mission jsc in houston the ten nasa field centers are john f kennedy space center florida ames research center moffett field california armstrong flight research center formerly hugh l dryden flight research facility edwards california goddard space flight center greenbelt maryland jet propulsion laboratory near pasadena california lyndon b johnson space center houston texas langley research center hampton virginia john h glenn research center cleveland ohio george c marshall space flight center huntsville alabama john c stennis space center bay st louis mississippi numerous other facilities are operated by nasa including the wallops flight facility in wallops island virginia the michoud assembly facility in new orleans louisiana the white sands test facility in las cruces new mexico and deep space network stations in barstow california madrid spain and canberra australia budget nasas budget from 1958 to 2012 as a percentage of federal budget an artists conception from nasa of an astronaut planting a us flag on mars a manned mission to mars has been discussed as a possible nasa mission since the 1960s budget of nasa nasas share of the total federal budget peaked at approximately 441 in 1966 during the apollo program then rapidly declined to approximately 1 in 1975 and stayed around that level through 1998 despite this public perception of nasas budget differs significantly a 1997 poll indicated that most americans believed that 20 of the federal budget went to nasa for fiscal year 2015 nasa received an appropriation of us1801 billion from congress549 million more than requested and approximately 350 million more than the 2014 nasa budget passed by congress in fiscal year 2016 nasa received 193 billion president donald trump signed the nasa transition authorization act of 2017 in march which set the 2017 budget at around 195 billion examples of some proposed fy2018 budgets exploration 479 billion planetary science 223 billion earth science 192 billion aeronautics 0685 billion environmental impact the exhaust gases produced by rocket propulsion systems both in earths atmosphere and in space can adversely effect the earths environment some hypergolic rocket propellants such as hydrazine are highly toxic prior to combustion but decompose into less toxic compounds after burning rockets using hydrocarbon fuels such as kerosene release carbon dioxide and soot in their exhaust on may 8 2003 environmental protection agency recognized nasa as the first federal agency to directly use landfill gas to produce energy at one of its facilitiesthe goddard space flight center greenbelt maryland an example of nasas environmental efforts is the nasa sustainability base additionally the exploration sciences building was awarded the leed gold rating in 2010 gallery observations plot of orbits of known potentially hazardous asteroids size over 460 feet 140m and passing within 47million miles 76106km of earths orbit various nebulae observed from a nasa space telescope 1 ceres pluto jupiter spacecraft hardware comparison of apollo gemini and mercury hubble space telescope astronomy observatory in earth orbit since 1990 also visited by the space shuttle curiosity rover roving mars since 2012 planned spacecraft james webb space telescope rendering in orbit orion spacecraft design as of january 2013 space launch system concept art mars 2020 rover design art concepts nasa has developed oftentimes elaborate plans and technology concepts some of which become worked into real plans space tug concept 1970s vision mission for an interstellar precursor spacecraft by nasa 2000s langleys mars ice dome design for a mars habitat 2010s examples of missions by target here are some selected examples of missions to planetarysized objects other major targets of study are the earth itself the sun and smaller solar system bodies like asteroids and comets in addition the moons of the planets or body are also studied examples of robotic missions spacecraft launch year mercury venus mars jupiter saturn uranus neptune pluto mariner 2 1962 flyby mariner 4 1964 flyby mariner 5 1967 flyby mariner 6 and 7 1969 flyby mariner 9 1971 orbiter pioneer 10 1972 flyby pioneer 11 1973 flyby flyby mariner 10 1973 flyby flyby viking 1 and viking 2 1975 orbiters landers voyager 1 1977 flyby flyby voyager 2 1977 flyby flyby flyby flyby galileo 1989 flyby orbiter magellan 1989 orbiter mars global surveyor 1996 orbiter cassini 1997 flyby flyby orbiter mars odyssey 2001 orbiter spirit and opportunity 2003 rovers messenger 2004 orbiter flyby mars reconnaissance orbiter 2005 orbiter new horizons 2006 flyby flyby juno 2011 orbiter curiosity mars science laboratory 2011 rover maven 2013 orbiter spacecraft launchyear mercury venus mars jupiter saturn uranus neptune pluto examples of missions for the sun interface region imaging spectrograph solar dynamics observatory stereo ulysses spacecraft parker solar probe examples of missions to small solar system bodies eg comets and asteroids near shoemaker dawn spacecraft osirisrex examples of missions to the moon lunar reconnaissance orbiter ladee government of the united states portal spaceflight portal astronomy picture of the day department of defense manned space flight support office list of government space agencies list of nasa aircraft list of united states rockets nasa advanced space transportation program nasa art program nasa awards and decorations nasa insignia nasa research park nasa tv nasacast small explorer program space policy of the barack obama administration techport nasa french space program russian space program chinese space program notes listen to this article infodl this audio file was created from a revision of the article nasa dated september 1 2005 and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article audio help more spoken articles wikimedia commons has media related to nasa wikiquote has quotations related to nasa wikisource has original text related to this article national aeronautics and space act wikisource has original works written by or aboutnational aeronautics and space administration general official nasa site nasa engineering and safety center nasa photos and nasa images nasa launch schedule nasa television and nasa podcasts nasa on google nasas channel on youtube nasa on twitter nasa on facebook nasa in the federal register nasa watch an agency watchdog site the gateway to astronaut photography of earth nasa documents relating to the space program 195362 dwight d eisenhower presidential library online documents pertaining to the early history and development of nasa dwight d eisenhower presidential library nasa records available for research at the national archives at atlanta technical report archive and image library trail historic technical reports from nasa and other federal agencies nasa alumni league nal florida chapter nal jsc chapter works by nasa at project gutenberg works by or about nasa at internet archive how nasa works on howstuffworkscom nasa history division monthly look at exploration events nodis nasa online directives information system ntrs nasa technical reports server nasa history and the challenge of keeping the contemporary past quest the history of spaceflight quarterly vtenasapolicy and historyhistory naca 1915 national aeronautics and space act 1958 space task group 1958 paine 1986 rogers 1986 ride 1987 space exploration initiative 1989 augustine 1990 us national space policy 1996 cfusai 2002 caib 2003 vision for space exploration 2004 aldridge 2004 augustine 2009 general space race administrator and deputy administrator chief scientist astronaut corps budget spinoff technologies nasa tv nasa social launch services program apollo 15 postal covers incident kennedy space center vehicle assembly building launch complex 39 launch control center johnson space center mission control lunar sample laboratory robotic programspast hitchhiker mariner mariner mark ii mesur mars surveyor 98 new millennium lunar orbiter pioneer planetary observer ranger surveyor viking project prometheus mars scout current living with a star lunar precursor robotic program earth observing system great observatories program explorer small explorer voyager discovery new frontiers mars exploration rover human spaceflightprogramspast x15suborbital mercury gemini apollo apollosoyuz test projectwith thesoviet space program skylab space shuttle shuttlemirwithroscosmos state corporation constellation current international space station commercial orbital transportation services cots commercial crew development ccdev orion individual featured missionshuman and roboticpast cobe mercury 3 mercuryatlas 6 magellan pioneer 10 pioneer 11 galileo galex grail wmap space shuttle sojourner rover spirit rover ladee messenger aquarius cassini dawn kepler currentlyoperating mars reconnaissance orbiter 2001 mars odyssey new horizons international space station hubble space telescope spitzer rhessi swift themis mars exploration rover curiosity rover timeline opportunity rover observed goes 14 lunar reconnaissance orbiter goes 15 van allen probes sdo juno mars science laboratory timeline nustar voyager 1 voyager 2 wise maven mms osirisrex transiting exoplanet survey satellite future jpss james webb space telescope wfirst insight mars 2020 nisar europa clipper communicationsand navigation canberra deep space atomic clock deep space network goldstone madrid near earth network space flight operations facility space network nasa lists astronauts by name by year apollo astronauts list of nasa aircraft list of nasa missions unmanned missions list of nasa contractors list of united states rockets list of nasa cancellations list of space shuttle missions crews nasa imagesand artwork earthrise the blue marble family portrait pale blue dot pillars of creation mystic mountain solar system family portrait the day the earth smiled fallen astronaut lunar plaques pioneer plaques voyager golden record nasa insignia gemini and apollo medallions mission patches category vtenasa facilitiesnasa headquartersprimary 10 centersspacespace flight goddard space flight center jet propulsion laboratory johnson space center kennedy space center marshall space flight center stennis space center research ames research center armstrong flight research center glenn research center langley research center other facilities michoud assembly facility wallops flight facility white sands test facility goddard institute for space studies santa susana field laboratory scientific balloon flight facility independent verification and validation facility deep space network goldstone madrid canberra space flight operations facility articles and topics related to nasa vtepublicsector space agenciesafrica asal gsstc narrs nasrda sansa americasnorth america csa aem nasa afspc south america conae aeb dcta inpe ita cce abae ivic asiaeast asia cnsa calt cast ccf cgwic costind jaxa isas nal nasda nict usef nrsc nada kari satrec nspo southeast asia lapan mnsa ssta ingenius gistda south asia sparrso isro antrix corp dos suparco southwest asia maka1 iaio isa saha isa ncsr gors tbtak uzay uaesa central asia kazcosmos tnsa europe asa maka1 bsa1 bisa srti cso dtu space ecss esa eumetsat eusc cnes dlr isars hso asi luxinnovation sron nsc cbk rosa rka1 sri1 vko ssp inta snsa sso tbtak uzay uksa ssau1 oceania asa csiro nzsa world apsco cospar iaa intelsat interkosmos intersputnik uncopuos unoosa european space agency see also timeline of first orbital launches by country 1 preceded by the soviet space program vteresearch and development agencies of the federal government of the united statesindependent agencies national science foundation nsf national aeronautics and space administration nasa environmental protection agency office of research and development intelligence advanced research projects activity iarpa smithsonian institution research centers and programs agriculture agricultural research service ars national institute of food and agriculture nifa economic research service ers united states forest service research and development rd commerce national institute of standards and technology nist national oceanic and atmospheric administration noaa defenseair force air force research laboratory afrl air force life cycle management center aflcmc air force nuclear weapons center nwc air force institute of technology afit army army research development and engineering command rdecom us army test and evaluation command atec army medical research and materiel command usamrmc engineer research and development center erdc army research lab arl navy office of naval research onr naval research laboratory nrl naval medical research center nmrc naval warfare centers air nawc surface nswc undersea nuwc command control and ocean surveillance nccosc naval postgraduate school nps marine corps 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research and technology veterans affairs veterans health administration office of research and development ord multiagency initiatives us global change research program usgcrp networking and information technology research and development program nitrd national nanotechnology initiative nni judicial branch federal judicial center policymaking bodies office of science and technology policy ostp office of technology assessment ota defunct house committee on science space and technology senate committee on commerce science and transportation authority control worldcat identities bne xx148293 bnf cb11868484t data gnd 22949 isni 0000 0001 1456 7559 lccn n78087581 lnb 000175514 ndl 00276299 nkc kn20010711417 nsk 000041310 pic 328444 selibr 123881 snac w60w92qf sudoc 027773299 ulan 500265440 viaf 146202023 