Boldly Going for 52 Years

Today marks the anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). But after more than a half century of exploration and research, NASA’s future appears to be fading into the blackness of space. Plagued by cost overruns, budget cuts, and changes in presidential priorities, NASA’s hopes to send the first manned mission to Mars is on indefinite countdown hold.

A Late Start
President Dwight Eisenhower established NASA seven months after the Soviet Union had launched the first artificial satellite into orbit. The implications of this launched extended beyond a quest for science. Tensions between the U.S. and the Soviets had radically increased since the end of World War II. Space capabilities opened up new possibilities in warfare.

Nevertheless, NASA was established as a civilian, rather than military, space agency. Several other smaller organizations were incorporated into NASA, including its predecessor NACA (National Advisory Council for Aeronautics), and several major research laboratories. The space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was on.

Getting our Butts Kicked
Project Mercury was one of the first NASA programs, the goal of which was manned spaceflight. The Soviets’ program was already in high gear, so the Americans were behind from the starts. The Soviets managed numerous firsts including:

• the first satellite,
• the first animal in space (a dog named Laika),
• the first telemetry to and from outer space
• the first man-made object to pass near the moon
• the first probe to impact with the moon
• the first images of the moon’s dark side (and all this time you thought it was Pink Floyd)
• the first probe launched to Mars
• the first probe launched to Venus
• and the first person in space and in Earth orbit.

On April 12, 1961, the Soviets launched Yuri Gagarin as the first human in space and in orbit. Alan Shepard followed less than a month later aboard Freedom 7, but did not achieve orbit.. Shepard was touted as the first astronaut (i.e. American) in space, even though he wasn’t the first person in space. After all, Gagarin was a cosmonaut. Sure it meant the same thing, but don’t tell that to NASA.

The following year, John Glenn became the first astronaut in orbit. Again, not really an international first, but oh well.

To the Moon, Alice!
Project Gemini followed which provided the research that paved the way for the Apollo missions. On July 7, 1969, nearly nine years after NASA began, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men of any nation to land on the moon, while Michael Collins remained in orbit in the command module (it’s really hard to park one of those things).

The final Apollo mission took place in 1975 and included a docking with the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. This symbolic mission represented an act of détente and the end of the space race. It also marked the end of manned spaceflight for six years, being replaced by the Space Shuttle program.

In the late 1970s, NASA began developing the Space Shuttle, the first re-usable spacecraft. All prior spacecraft were either left to drift into space, abandoned on the lunar surface or landed in the ocean (those recovered weren’t reusable).

But the Space Shuttle could be launched via rocket and land much like an airplane thanks to the ceramic tile heat shield. A total of five shuttles were put into use for a total of 132 flights. The Challenger was destroyed shortly after liftoff in 1986 after nine successful missions. The Columbia burned up on re-entry in 2003. A sixth shuttle, the Lexington, is rumored to have been used for military purposes, but to date no government official has confirmed its existence.

Other achievements of NASA include the Voyager long-distance probes; the Galileo probe sent to Jupiter; the Viking,  Pathfinder and rover missions to Mars, and the Hubble Telescope which has provided glimpses into the origin of the universe.

A Questionable Future
The future for NASA remains uncertain following the discontinuation of the Space Shuttle program. During the Bush Administration, there had been talking of resuming missions to the moon, with hopes of using lunar resources for long-term colonization, and eventually manned missions to Mars.

However, President Obama has scuttled plans for these programs citing cost overruns that have plagued NASA since the beginning, and limiting its mission to more of a space taxi service for astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

At the same time, several private interests are stepping up to the space plate (pardon the bad metaphor), including Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (aka Space X), Scaled Composites, Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace and SpaceDev. It is believed by many that space tourism (selling rides to civilians for a hefty price) rather than tax dollars will help pay for the future of space exploration. Whether will or won’t remains one of many great unknowns.