CONGRESS CREATES NASA
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 29, 1958, the Congress of the United States passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA.
The act, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, set up NASA as a civilian agency to operate the space program of the United States. President John F. Kennedy would make the space effort an integral part of his New Frontier program and set the goal in 1961 to land a man on the moon before decade's end.
The
agency, which would begin operations on October 1, 1958, was created in
the aftermath of the October 4, 1957 launch of the world's first man-made
satellite, Sputnik, by the Soviet Union.
JFK appointed NASA's second administrator, James E. Webb, in 1961.
Vehicle Assembly Building
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Photo by MrMiscellanious (2005)
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 29, 1958, the Congress of the United States passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA.
The act, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, set up NASA as a civilian agency to operate the space program of the United States. President John F. Kennedy would make the space effort an integral part of his New Frontier program and set the goal in 1961 to land a man on the moon before decade's end.
JFK appointed NASA's second administrator, James E. Webb, in 1961.
Vehicle Assembly Building
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Photo by MrMiscellanious (2005)
