NASA and its Exploration of the Cosmos

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” -Neil Armstrong

The National Aeronautics Space Administration, commonly known as ‘NASA’, was founded on July 29th, 1958, when President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space law. On October 1st, 1958, NASA officially became open for business. But let’s back track a little to understand why NASA was founded in the first place.

During the Cold War, Russia and the United States of America were engaged in what was known as "the space race". The race was started when Russia launched the first ever satellite known to man, Sputnik. As revolutionary as this was in space exploration history, the United States had to combat with an equally or more extraordinary feat. After a lot of brainstorming, several men and political figures came together to think of an organization that would support what’s to come. With organizations like the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Special Committee on Space and Aeronautics, the National Science Foundation, the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Army and Air Force, and more, it was hard to form a new organization with originality. As administrators began to collaborate with the leaders of the organizations mentioned above, the National Aeronautics Space Agency was formed. On April 2nd, Eisenhower sent a draft to Congress to get NASA ratified. Eilene Galloway, a renowned researcher in the field of Astronomy, changed the name to National Aeronautics Space Administration. NASA got ratified on July 29th, 1958.

One of the first missions NASA engaged in are the famous Apollo missions. Now that an organization had formed, it was now possible to combat Russia. NASA’s first Apollo Mission was Apollo 11, which was launched 53 years ago. Apollo 11 sent the first human, Neil Armstrong, to the moon in 1969.

After the Apollo missions had ended, many more NASA missions followed suit, including the Space Shuttle program. The Space Shuttle program included 5 shuttles (a total of 6 were built but only 5 ended up flying) named Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The first launch in the Space Shuttle program was on April 12th, 1981, and ended on July 21st, 2011. The program flew 135 missions, contributed to the development of the International Space Station, and inspired many generations to come.

Unfortunately, as successful as space exploration has been, there have also been many downfalls, including Space Shuttle Challenger and Space Shuttle Columbia.

Space shuttle Challenger was launched on January 28th, 1986 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shuttle endured an accident, killing the seven astronauts that were on board the shuttle. During the night before the scheduled date for liftoff, the launch pad was covered in thick ice due to a severe cold wave. On the day of the launch, the liftoff was delayed until 11:38 am. Everything was normal until the vehicle reached Max-Q, a period of greatest aerodynamic pressure. Mission Control said, "Challenger, go with throttle up," to Scobee, and just moments later the vehicle exploded after 73 seconds since liftoff initiated. After the explosion, debris rained down for more than an hour, and unfortunately investigations didn't show any signs of the crew.

Space shuttle Columbia suffered disaster on February 1st, 2003, while coming in-contact with Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The disaster occured only minutes before Columbia was scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center. A while after, an investigation determined the cause of the disaster, which was a piece of foam insulation that broke off Columbia’s propellant tank, damaging the edge of the shuttle’s left wing in the process.

Although space exploration is fascinating, we must also take a moment to think about the people that were lost in the process. As we advance into the future, hopefully disasters like Challenger and Columbia are limited, and soon, eradicated.

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Bibliography

Dunbar, B. (2008, March 28). The birth of NASA. NASA. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_29.html

Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (2021, November 30). Challenger disaster. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Challenger-disaster

History.com Editors, history.com editors. (2010, February 15). Space shuttle columbia. History.com. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.history.com/topics/space-exploration/columbia-disaster

Loff, S. (2015, March 16). The Apollo missions. NASA. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/index.html