NASA’s 61st birthday

NASA’s story began on 29 July 1958 when the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, and established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

NASA officially opened its doors in October 1958, after absorbing the NACA, the former National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, an agency founded in 1915 but was later dissolved.

In 1958, NASA had only 8 000 employees and an annual budget of approximately $100 million, compared to the 2019’s budget of $20.7 billion.

NASA’s 61st birthday: The agency’s five most groundbreaking achievements

61 years later and they can't even put a human into low Earth orbit. I think in 61 years NASA should of at least put a few bases on Mars and some moons.

When NASA was about 10 years old they were sending humans to the moon and bringing them back safely. Now at 61 NASA seems to be just a grumpy old man walking around the kitchen trying to remember what he is looking for.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

It's easy to knock NASA and sometimes it's deserved but a lot of our knowledge of the Universe comes from NASA missions , they are still the only agency to successfully land on Mars.

NASA may not be perfect but they do deliver quality.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

NASA is one our nation's greatest sources of pride.

a reply to: gortex

I have great respect for NASA.

Guess I should of said that before I started ragging on them.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Nasa started with so much innovation and earned pride from the nation and then politics screwed everything up.

They made one of mans greatest achievements happen and then lose the tapes....ugh.

Thanks Nazis and crazy sci-fi sex cult guys! We couldn't have done it without ya!

a reply to: LookingAtMars

There is not a doubt in my mind, were not for politics and NASA's dependence on the government for funding, we would likely have had structures on the Moon and Mars by now.

Another thing that has held them back is the notion that exploration comes without risk.