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100 Years Ago This Month: Wright Flyer Test NASA turns 50 this year and we are reaching for the stars. Hard to believe that just 50 years before NASA's inception, the Wright brothers were taking the first steps into powered flight. › View Site |
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NASA Education Television Partnership Announced NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale announced the launch of NASA Education TV (NASA eTV), a partnership with the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) to produce new educational television programs for distribution on NASA Television and the Internet. › View Site |
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When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions Discovery Channel Sundays beginning June 8, 2008 › Visit Site |
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STS-124 Mission Status STS-124 is the second of three Space Shuttle flights that will launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The shuttle crew will install Kibo’s large Japanese Pressurized Module, or JPM, and its remote manipulator system, or RMS. › View Site |
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Surveyor 1 Landed on the Moon (1966) Surveyor 1, the first of the Surveyor missions to make a successful soft landing on the Moon on June 2, 1966, proved the spacecraft design and landing technique. In addition to transmitting over 11,000 pictures, it sent information on the bearing strength of the lunar soil, the radar reflectivity, and temperature. › Visit Site |
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Space Technology Hall of Fame Inducts NASA Spinoff Technology The Space Foundation inducted three NASA-developed technologies into the Space Technology Hall of Fame. A medical diagnostic software tool that measures the thickness of arteries, a non-invasive medical device that improves blood flow to the heart and brain, and a technology that safely removes petroleum-based pollutants from water or soil each are being recognized as important products that originated from space technology. › Visit Site |
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The Home Planet: NASA's View of Earth As humanity ventures farther into the solar system, the focus on our home planet is as sharp as ever. › View Interactive Feature |
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Eyes on the Earth Learn more about NASA spacecraft studying our home planet. › View Interactive Feature |
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NASA Interactive Features › Visit NASA Interactive Features Site |
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This Week at NASA Audio and Video Podcasts › Visit NASA Podcast Site |
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NASA Home & City Discover how space exploration impacts your daily life. › Visit NASA Home & City Site |
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NASA 101 A summary of NASA's many programs and projects. › View NASA 101 Feature |
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Aeronautics Research Onboard Interactive Web site showcasing "Decades of Contributions to Aviation". › View Aeronautics Research Onboard Site |
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Tiros 1 April 1, 1960 – The United States launched TIROS 1, the first successful meteorological satellite, for monitoring Earth’s weather. › Visit Tiros 1 Site |
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Apollo 13 April 11-17, 1970 – 56 hours into the flight of Apollo 13, the oxygen tank in the service module ruptured and damaged several of the power, electrical, and life support systems. All three crew members returned safely to Earth. › Visit Apollo 13 Site › Watch Apollo 13 Video (Quicktime) |
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STS-1 April 12, 1981 – Astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen flew Space Shuttle Columbia on the first flight of the Space Transportation System (STS-1) › View STS-1 Interactive Feature |
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Hubble Space Telescope Launch 24 Apr. 1990 - Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope from the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-31) › Visit Hubble Site |
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KSC Attraction Wins Award The new "Shuttle Launch Experience" which opened in May 2007 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is getting high marks. The attraction was honored with a Thea Award at the 14th Annual Thea Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles on March 8, 2008. The "Shuttle Launch Experience" was selected for outstanding achievement in the attraction category and was judged to represent the highest standards of excellence and creative achievement in the arts and sciences of compelling places and experiences. › View Website |
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Mercury: America's First Astronauts NASA unveiled the Mercury Astronaut Corps on April 9, 1959. On Feb. 20, 1962, an Atlas rocket successfully carried Glenn and the hopes of an entire nation into orbit aboard Friendship 7, a flight that ushered in a new era of space travel that eventually led to Americans walking on the moon by the end of the 1960s. › View Website |
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NACA's Inception On March 3, 1915, the U.S. established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to "supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution." In 1958, the committee became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). › View Website |
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Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer The father of modern rocket propulsion is the American, Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard. By 1926, Goddard had constructed and tested successfully the first rocket using liquid fuel. Indeed, the flight of Goddard's rocket on March 16,1926, at Auburn, Massachusetts, was a feat as epochal in history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. › View Website |
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Pioneer The Pioneer series of spacecraft performed first-of-their-kind explorations of the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus. Pioneer 0, 1, and 2 were the United States' first lunar attempts. These identical spacecraft, which all failed to meet their lunar objectives, were followed by Pioneer 3 and 4, which succeeded in becoming America's first successful lunar missions. › View Website |
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NASA Beams Beatles' 'Across the Universe' Into Space For the first time ever, NASA beamed a song -- The Beatles' "Across the Universe" -- directly into deep space at 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 4. The transmission over NASA's Deep Space Network commemorated the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of NASA's founding and the group's beginnings. + View Website |
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50th Anniversary of The Space Age History changed on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball, weighed only 183 pounds and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth. The launch opened an era of new political, military, technological and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the Space Age and the U.S.-Soviet space race. + Visit 50th Anniversary of The Space Age Site |
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Langley 90th Anniversary Gallery Take a look at some highlights of Langley's time on the leading edge. + View Langley 90th Anniversary Gallery |
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50 Years in Space Conference Noted luminaries, including Nobel Laureate John Mather, astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin presented an international look at the past, present, and future of space flight. Invited speakers and guests included international aerospace leaders from industry, government, and academia. The event provided a venue for reflection on how far we have come in the past fifty years, and where we are going in the future, from the perspective of an internationally recognized group of invited experts. + View Website |
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Interactive Explorer 1 + View This Feature |
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T. Keith Glennan Speech NASA’s First Administrator. + Watch The T. Keith Glennan Speech + Download Other Oral Histories |
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50th Anniversary Press Release + Visit This Site + View 50th Anniversary Press Release |