NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or simply NASA, is an independent agency^W of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

History[]

1958-1969[]

NASA was established in 1958 as a result of the National Aeronautics and Space Act^W signed into law by US president Dwight D. Eisenhower^W in response to Sputnik 1^W. Their first human spaceflight program was Project Mercury^W with their first astronauts being known as the Mercury 7^W. They were beaten to space by the Soviet Union with Yuri Gagrin^W on Vostok 1^W. This angered the Mercury astronauts with John Glenn even having said the word "fuck".^[1] Project Mercury ran from 1959 to 1963.

In 1961, US president John F. Kennedy^W tasked the United States with landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.

From 1964 to 1966, NASA commenced Project Gemini^W to prepare for the Apollo missions. Gemini 8^W came close to disaster had it not been for Neil Armstrong aborting the mission after the spacecraft spun out of control. Gemini 7^W was the first flight of Edward Baldwin and Gordo Stevens.^[2]

1990s[]

In 1997, NASA became a member of the newly founded Mars-7 Alliance (M-7), after President Ellen Wilson and Mikhail Gorbachev signed a treaty to end the competition in the Space Race in Brussels, along with India, Japan, North Korea, the European Space Agency, and the Coalition of Communist Countries for Spaceflight.^[3]

Infrastructure[]

Facilities[]

Molly Cobb Space Center (CSC)
Administration, training, research, and Mission Control center
Kennedy Space Center (KSC): Launch site
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC): Research facility
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL): Research and development center
NASA Flight Research Center (FRC): Aeronautical research center

USAF facilities also used by NASA:
- Cape Kennedy: Launch site
- Edwards Air Force Base
- Ellington Air Force Base
- US Air Force Plant 42
- Vandenberg Air Force Base

McMurdo Station, Antarctica (NASA annex)

Surface outposts[]

Jamestown base (Moon)
Happy Valley base (Mars, formerly)
Happy Valley (as part of the M-7 Alliance)

Launch vehicles[]

Spacecraft[]

Space stations[]

Notable personnel[]

Wernher von Braun: Director (former), Engineer
Gene Kranz: Flight director (former)
Deke Slayton: Head of Astronaut Office (former), Astronaut
Margo Madison: JSC director (former), Flight director (former), Flight controller (former), Engineer
Aleida Rosales: Flight director (former), Flight controller (former), Engineer
Bill Strausser: Flight director (former), Flight controller (former), Engineer
Edward Baldwin: Head of Astronaut Office (former), Astronaut
Molly Cobb: Head of Astronaut Office (former), Astronaut