| Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!labrea!agate!eos!ames!yee
Subject: NASA marks thirtieth anniversary on October 1 (Forwarded)
Posted: 21 Sep 88 16:01:42 GMT
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Mary Sandy
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. September 20, l988
Release: 88-129
NASA MARKS THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY ON OCTOBER 1
On Oct. 1, l988, NASA marks 3 decades of achievements in
aeronautics and space. In retrospect, it has been a period of
remarkable scientific and technological accomplishments that pioneered
the space frontier, made quantum leaps in man's understanding of his
planet and his Universe, and saw revolutionary advances in the
aeronautics field.
NASA Administrator Dr. James C. Fletcher states, "As we celebrate
the establishment of NASA 30 years ago and take account of our
agency's many accomplishments since then, I hope we will also take a
moment to reflect on how privileged we are, as public servants, to
have been entrusted by the American people with such exciting and
challenging missions -- missions of critical importance to the scientific,
technological and economic strength and well being of this country.
"Our record over the 30 years testifies to how well we have met
the goals and challenges of these missions. It includes many exciting
high points such as the early manned space flights, the fly-bys of the
planets, the unmatched success of the Apollo landings on the moon, and
the flights of the Space Shuttle. And the record includes countless
other accomplishments in space science and applications, advanced
technology, aeronautics and practical spin-offs of space technology.
"After 30 years, NASA has achieved a vigorous maturity. Now, we
have the ability, the unending challenge, and, I believe, the support
of the American people to make the next 30 years just as memorable as
those we celebrate today."
NASA's Beginnings
On April 2, l958, the Eisenhower Administration submitted a bill
establishing a national aeronautics and space agency. After
refinements, President Eisenhower signed into law the National
Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration came into being on Oct. 1, l958.
The Soviet launch on Oct. 4, l957 of Sputnik I, the world's
first artificial satellite, had a profound effect on the United
States. At the time of the launch, the United States considered
itself the world leader in technology. There were many individual
space efforts spread across several government organizations, but none
was truly ready to progress to a launch. Sputnik spurred the growing
political consensus that a national space program was essential.
The act established a broad charter for civilian aeronautical and
space research. It absorbed the existing National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA) and made broad transfers from other government
programs. NASA received Project Vanguard from the Naval Research
Laboratory; lunar probes from the Army; lunar probes and rocket engine
programs, including the F-1, from the Air Force; and over $100 million
of unexpended funds. T. Keith Glennan was named administrator. The
broadest possible dissemination of information to the public was a
unique part of the act.
The agency's resources included 8000 people, three laboratories
(now the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.; the Lewis Research
Center, Cleveland and Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.) and
two stations, with a facilities value of 300 million dollars and
annual budget of 100 million. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
Pasadena, Calif., and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, Huntsville,
Ala. were soon added to the list of facilities. Today NASA has 18
facilities located nationwide.
On Jan. 31, l958, the first American satellite, Explorer 1, went
into orbit. An on-board experiment developed by Professor James A.
Van Allen encountered mysterious levels of radiation at 603 miles
altitude, leading to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt.
On March 17, l958, Vanguard l joined Explorer l in orbit.
The problem of launch vehicles occupied much attention in NASA's
early years, leading to the development of Scout, Centaur and Saturn
launch vehicles.
Manned Space Flight
The Soviets achieved the first successful manned space mission
when Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched into space aboard Vostok 1 on
April 12, l961. The Mercury program, which began just after NACA
became NASA, was America's pioneering manned space flight program.
Alan B. Shepard, Jr. was the first American to fly in space in the
Freedom 7 Mercury spacecraft on May 5, l96l. When the program began,
there were serious questions as to man's ability to function or even
survive in the space environment. The Mercury program of one-man
spacecraft proved that man could live, eat, work and sleep in space.
The space flights in the two-man Gemini spacecraft in 1965 and
1966 provided mastery of technology and skills that were crucial to
Apollo: maneuvering in space, rendezvous and docking with another
vehicle in space, extravehicular activities and demonstrating that man
could function effectively in space for as long as 2 weeks with no
lasting harmful aftereffects. In addition, photographs and other data
acquired during Gemini's orbital missions provided a wealth of
information related to the Earth's geography, environment and
resources as well as astronomy.
On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy addressed a joint session of
Congress embracing a national goal of "landing a man on the moon and
returning him safely to Earth" within a decade. Apollo vastly
expanded knowledge about the moon and Earth. Six Apollo expeditions
explored the moon, the last in December 1972.
Skylab was America's first space station where three American
astronaut crews lived and worked for long periods, the longest lasting
84 days. The mission provided a wealth of Earth survey and solar
pictures, as well as good science studies, and proved that man could
work for prolonged periods in space without lasting harmful
aftereffects upon return to Earth.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in l975 was the world's first
international manned space mission. It tested compatible rendezvous
and docking systems for manned spacecraft and conducted a variety of
experiments in Earth survey, astronomy, life sciences and industrial
and pharmaceutical processing.
With the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia on April 12, l981,
the United States entered a new era in transportation between Earth
and space. The National Space Transportation System opened space for
regularly scheduled transportation of people and cargo between Earth
and Earth orbit.
The space transportation system has achieved 24 successful
flights. The 25th Shuttle flight in January 1986 ended in the
explosion of the orbiter Challenger and the deaths of its crew. The
Challenger accident led to a reevaluation of the Shuttle's systems and
the Shuttle management process.
The Shuttle program returns to flight status with the launch of
the Discovery, now set for September 29. The second in a series of
Tracking and Data Relay System satellites will be the primary payload
for the STS-26 mission, which also includes microgravity, life
science, atmospheric science and infrared communications experiments,
as well as two student experiments.
Aeronautics
When NACA became NASA in 1958, the agency already had been
involved in basic and applied aeronautics research for more than 40
years. Many of the aeronautics advances in performance, speed, safety
and efficiency from NACA/NASA research are considered so fundamental
today that they are taken for granted.
NACA was created in 1915 "...to direct the scientific study of
the problems of flight with a view to their practical solution." The
National Aeronautics and Space Act of July 27, l958, stated among its
objectives: "the preservation of the role of the U.S. as a leader in
aeronautical science and technology." U.S. aeronautical products
provide the largest positive contribution of any industry to the
nation's trade balance. Maintaining a world position of aeronautical
leadership among fierce international competition is important to the
U.S. economy.
In April 1985, Dr. G. A. Keyworth II, science advisor to the
President, announced three national aeronautics goals which have
provided the framework for the agency's aeronautics program planning
for 1986 and beyond. They are:
o Subsonic Goal -- Technology for an entirely new
generation of fuel-efficent, affordable U.S. aircraft
operating in a modernized National Airspace System.
o Supersonic Goal -- To develop pacing technologies for
sustained supersonic cruise capability for efficient
long-distance flight.
o Transatmospheric Goal -- To pursue research towards a
capability for extremely fast passenger transportation
between points on Earth, and also offer a vehicle that
could provide routine cruise and maneuvers into and out
of the atmosphere with takeoffs and landings from
conventional runways.
NASA continues to expand U.S. capabilities in civil and military
aviation and to contribute significantly to the nation's aviation
leadership and national security. Aeronautical programs run the gamut
from fundamental disciplinary research to flight testing, with primary
research subjects being the vehicles and power plants that use the
Earth's atmosphere for flight. Aeronautic research also focuses on the
aerodynamics of space vehicles.
In President Reagan's 1986 State of The Union address, he
announced a bold new program of research leading to an aerospace
plane. The National Aero-space Plane program is an accelerated
technology development program leading to a flight research vehicle
(X-30) to validate a wide range of aerospace technologies and
capabilities, including horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage
operation to orbital speeds and sustained hypersonic cruise within the
atmosphere using airbreathing propulsion.
This joint NASA and Department of Defense (DOD) program could
provide the technology leading to a wide variety of operational
aerospace vehicles, including civil space launch vehicles, hypersonic
transports and long-range air defense interceptors. A future
aerospace plane could be capable of taking off from a runway and
flying to orbit or be a hypersonic airliner flying between continents.
The conceptual design phase has been completed and the program is now
into the vehicle technology development phase that will result in
ground testing of large scale engines and selected aircraft components
and in preliminary designs of the X-30 experimental vehicle.
NASA is engaged in many other joint NASA/DOD research programs
which continue to ensure the superiority of U.S. military aviation.
In the area of flight safety, NASA research programs focus on the
problems of lightning, wind shear, icing and heavy rain, as well as
runway and tire studies.
The 1987 dedication of the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS)
Facility at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. provided a new
national capability in the field of computational fluid dynamics.
Considered the world's most powerful computing system, it opens a
gateway to a new era in many types of research, ranging from
computational chemistry, astrophysics, aerodynamics and biological
research to weather modeling. Capable of computing complex air-flow
conditions encountered in actual aircraft, NAS is being used to
perform pioneering aeronautical research.
Other new testing facilities have enhanced aeronautical testing.
The National Transonic Facility at the Langley Research Center is a
unique, world class wind tunnel using a cryogenic test gas capable of
simulating actual flight parameters for advanced aerodynamics
research. Also the world's largest wind tunnel, NASA's 80-by-120 Foot
Wind Tunnel located at Ames Research Center, became fully operational
at the end of l987. The facility is particularly valuable for its
full-scale aircraft test capability.
NASA's research programs continue to reshape future aircraft for
enhanced efficiency and maneuverability, and its materials and
structures research has greatly expanded the range of lighter,
stronger, more durable materials available for aircraft construction.
In recent years business and commercial transport aircraft have
successfully demonstrated the NASA-developed natural laminar flow
concept which can increase flight efficiency. At NASA's Lewis
Research Center, advanced propulsion research programs are expected to
lead to more economical propulsion for commercial transport aircraft
and for advanced hypersonic vehicles.
Flight testing of the NASA High Alpha flight research vehicle, a
highly-instrumented F/A-18 aircraft, will provide valuable information
for future supersonic aircraft capable of unprecedented agility and
maneuverability. Flight tests are being conducted at the Dryden
Flight Research Facility in Edwards, Calif.
Rotorcraft research will lead to future aircraft that could hover
like helicopters, yet use their stationary rotors as wings for
airplane-like speed. A joint United Kingdom, DOD and NASA program is
underway to develop technology for advanced, short take-off and
vertical landing type aircraft.
Space Science and Applications
NASA's space science programs have contributed significantly to a
new golden age of discovery. They have substantially advanced the
frontiers of knowledge about our home planet, the relationships of sun
and Earth, and celestial phenomena.
NASA programs and projects have explored virtually the entire
solar system. The Voyager II spacecraft is expected to reach Neptune
in August 1989, which would leave only planet Pluto as yet unexplored
by deep space probes. Voyager I is in interstellar space after
successful flybys of Jupiter and Saturn. After extensive
interplanetary exploration, the Pioneer 10 spacescraft has left our
solar system. As the most distant human-made object in existence, it
continues to make discoveries about interstellar space.
Thirty years of life science studies have provided an
understanding of the physiological effects of space flight, though
much remains to be understood about the causes. In astronomy, the
agency has looked at the universe in the various wave lengths and is
examining that information in detail.
With respect to Earth, NASA projects have studied and now
understand most of the chemical processes affecting our planet. NASA
satellites and airborne studies are providing global profiles of
stratospheric aerosol and ozone, helping us to better understand the
impact of the greenhouse gases. Expanded weather satellite system
capabilities allow for sophisticated, high accuracy weather forecasting.
NASA's space applications program, in which satellite technology
is directly applied to benefit people, has been a driving force for
human programs. Often involving international partners, the program
has had a value that is incalculable and steadily growing. The
Landsat program, for example, has provided an invaluable survey of the
Earth's surface with applications to such diverse problems as
agricultural management, environmental protection, beach-erosion
forecasting and prospecting for minerals and hydrocarbons -- to name a
few. Landsat is now an operational system managed by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NASA technology has contributed to a vast increase in commercial
communications service. The first was global TV, which gave people
front row seats to historic events. Among others are the linking of
airliners on transoceanic flights with ground terminals and direct
broadcast of satellites to rooftop antennas rather than through huge
ground stations. Researchers at JPL are conducting a series of
technology-related tests that are expected to play a major role in the
development of a mobile satellite communications sytem for the 1990s.
The new technology would extend mobile cellular service to remote
areas throughout the country.
Astronomical observatories and astronomy satellites have
dramatically altered our conception of the universe. Earth's
atmosphere blocks most of the electromagnetic radiations that can tell
us about the nature of celestial objects. Our Earth-bound capability
to observe the universe also is limited by the turbulence and
brightness of the atmosphere.
Satellite observatories viewing the heavens from above Earth's
appreciable atmosphere have opened a window on the universe. They
have provided new findings on Earth's magnetic field, enhanced our
understanding of how solar activity interacts with Earth's magnetic
field, provided new critical information on Earth's atmosphere and
confirmed the existence of the solar wind. The Hubble Space
Telescope, expected to be placed in orbit above the atmosphere in
1990, will distinguish fine details in planetary atmospheres or nearby
star fields -- with 10 times the clarity of the best ground observatories.
The Galileo mission to Jupiter, a joint project with the Federal
Republic of Germany, will make a comprehensive long-term study of the
planet's atmosphere, magnetic field and its moons.
The Ulysses mission, a cooperative effort between NASA and the
European Space Agency slated for launch in 1990, will provide the
first view of the sun and the solar system from above the ecliptic
plane, offering first knowledge about the sun's magnetic poles.
Space Station
President Reagan made the development of a permanently manned
U.S. space station a national goal in his 1984 State of the Union
message. Reagan invited friends and allies of the United States to
participate in the program and called for commercial private sector
involvement. The space station has been named Space Station Freedom.
Space Station Freedom will provide an unsurpassed research
facility for scientific, technology and commercial activities in space
and will serve as a base for continued exploration of the solar system
in the next century. It will be capable of growth both in size and
capability and is intended to operate for several decades, well into
the 21st century.
NASA has spent the last 4 years defining requirements for Space
Station Freedom. Four aerospace firms were awarded development
contracts in December 1987. NASA will initiate detailed designs in
January 1989 which will lead to a first element launch in 1995.
Twenty launches will be required to assemble the station, with Space
Station Freedom expected to be permanently manned in 1996. A final
agreement with three international partners, the European Space
Agency, Japan and Canada will be signed on September 29, l988.
Space Technology
NASA's space research and technology program provides advanced
technology to ensure continued U.S. leadership in civil space programs.
NASA's Civilian Space Technology Initiative is a focused program
that will enhance the technologies for reliable, low-cost access to
Earth orbit and support effective operations and science missions
therein. Pathfinder will pursue those emerging and innovative
technologies that support a broad set of future space exploration
missions including a return to the moon, autonomous and piloted
missions to Mars and other solar system bodies, and an intensified
planet Earth focus. Academic sector participation has been encouraged
through programs such as the University Space Design program and the
University Space Engineering Research program.
Many of NASA's space technology programs are concerned with the
problems of providing power, controls and structures, and assembly of
large space structures. Examples of other research areas include
spacesuit studies, research for more efficient reentry from space,
advanced power systems for future lunar and Mars bases, and lighter
weight tanks for cryogenic fuels. Other areas of concentration are in
studies for control systems for future large lightweight spacecraft
and the assembly of large space structures with teleoperated manipulators,
as well as a program to allow free-flying telerobots to grapple and dock
with gyrating satellites to stabilize and repair the spacecraft.
Technology Utilization
NASA programs by nature are demanding of technological input.
Meeting the aeronautical and space goals of the past 3 decades has
required advancements across a broad spectrum that embraces virtually
every scientific and technological discipline. Making this storehouse
of "know how" available in the public interest is mandated by the
National Aeronautics and Space Act.
The examples of technology transfer to benefit mankind are
incalculable and pervasive, affecting daily lives in many ways.
Spinoffs from micro miniaturization technologies have led to medical
devices ranging from programmable pacemakers to other biomedically
implanted devices such as insulin pumps. In the medical field alone,
thousands of direct spinoffs from NASA programs can be cited in areas
such as body imaging, laser technology and filtering processes such as
those now used for blood.
Public safety uses of NASA technology include smoke and fire
detection devices and a wide variety of fire resistant materials.
Grooved highways, a surfacing technique that has dramatically reduced
highway accidents, are a spinoff of an aeronautics runway safety
program. A passive sewage treatment system using water hyacinths,
such as the one being initiated by the city of San Diego, is one
environmental application of NASA research, as are the anti-corrosive
coatings receiving wide commercial use.
The list of spinoff applications for consumer, home and
recreational use alone is particularly broad. Materials originally
developed for space suit use are now found in a wide variety of
products as diverse as tennis shoes, food packaging and window shades.
The range of spinoffs embraces areas such as transportation,
structural analysis, food and agriculture, manufacturing technology,
industrial productivity, energy systems and construction. The impact
on computer applications has been phenomenal.
Commercial Development of Space
The 1980s has witnessed an emerging awareness of the potential
economic value of space. Amid a growing consensus that U.S.
leadership in the commercial development of space is in the national
economic interest, the President directed in 1984 that NASA take steps
to significantly expand commercial space activity. The Congress
enacted legislation assigning NASA to "seek and encourage, to the
maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space."
NASA responded by adopting a Commercial Use of Space Policy and
establishing the Office of Commercial Programs to provide a focus for
action to expand U.S. private sector investment and involvement in the
civil space program.
Throughout the agency's 30-year history, cooperative activities
with U.S. industry have helped accelerate the commercial application
of aeronautical and space technology. Such efforts in the 1960s led to
the emergence and growth of satellite communications, which has become
a $3 billion a year industry.
Today, over half of the 50 largest U.S. industrial corporations
are participating in one or more of NASA's programs to stimulate
commercial space activity. They are joined by scores of other
companies, small and large, which are actively investigating the
commercial opportunities in space. These include the private firms
which comprise the vanguard of a U.S. commercial launch vehicle
industry. NASA is encouraging and supporting this new industry
through agreements to privatize government-developed rockets, provide
access to NASA facilities and become users of commercial launch services.
Well over 100 U.S. companies have become affiliated with NASA's
16 Centers for Commercial Development of Space, which combine the
support of government with the talent of universities and the interest
and investment of industry. Other firms, like 3M Co., have entered
into joint endeavor agreements in which NASA sponsors spaceflight
opportunities for privately-supported industrial research and development.
Since 1983, a growing number of America's small businesses have
been contributing to NASA's mission through a program called Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR).
NASA finances SBIR by setting aside over 1 percent of its annual
research and development appropriation for the award of Phase I and
Phase II contracts to small businesses. Proposals are requested
annually in areas of interest to the agency, many of which have
commercial potential. Contracts are placed and projects are managed
by nine NASA field installations across the country. To date, the
agency has spent or committed $175 million for 755 Phase I and 299
Phase II contracts placed with 446 small businesses in 40 states,
territories and the District of Columbia.
Tracking and Data
NASA provides vital tracking, command, telemetry, communications,
data relay and data processing support to meet NASA's flight program
requirements. STS-26 will launch the second of three Tracking and
Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) which will continue the transition from a
ground-based tracking network to a space-based network for low-Earth
orbit missions.
NASA's early Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network evolved
from the Minitrack tracking stations (11 of them) set up by the U.S.
Naval Research Laboratory for the Vanguard Program in 1956 and 1957.
These stations had radio interferometers which formed electronic
"fences" to search the sky for any spacecraft carrying 136 megaherz
radio beacons.
Over the past 30 years, technological developments and
requirements led to a unified S-band system which unified all tracking
and communications functions (voice, telemetry and command) into a
single communications link. Called the Manned Space Flight Network,
it is comprised of ground stations, ships at sea and antennae-carrying
aircraft all linked together by the globe spanning NASA Communications
Network.
The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) is the
answer to the requirement for nearly continuous communication with
newer and more sophisticated satellites. These revolutionary new
tracking stations in space, launched from the Space Shuttle, operate
at a geosynchronous orbit of 22,300 miles above the Earth's equator.
At that altitude, because the speed of the satellites is the same as
the rotational speed of the Earth, they remain "fixed" in orbit over
one location.
A TDRS satellite which will be the second in the TDRSS network
will be launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-26
mission. A third is slated for launch in January 1989. A TDRSS
ground terminal has been built at White Sands, N.M., a location that
provides a clear view to the TDRS and weather conditions generally
good for communications. The NASA ground terminal provides the
interface between the TDRS and its network elements.
The worldwide NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) provides the
Earth-based radio communications link for NASA's unmanned inter-
planetary spacecraft. The DSN has provided telecommunications and
data acquisition support for deep space exploration projects since 1961.
Although DSN's primary activity is telecommunications support for
unmanned space exploration, the stations also are used as scientific
radio telescopes for radio astronomy experiments and in NASA's search
for extraterrestrial intelligence.
NASA's DSN is preparing for the Voyager spacecraft fly-by of
Neptune in August 1989, providing the support capability of the deep
space antennas for this and future missions such as Magellan and Galileo.
International Affairs
Under the mandate provided by the 1958 National Aeronautics and
Space Act, NASA must conduct "its aeronautical and space activities so
as to contribute to ... cooperation by the U.S. with other nations and
groups of nations in work done pursuant to this Act, and in the
peaceful application of the results thereof cooperation which has
opened a wide range of its space activities to foreign participation
and contribution.
Cooperative activities have ranged from flight of foreign- built
spacecraft to ground-based study and analysis of data. Japan, Canada
and the European Space Agency are partners with NASA in Space Station
Freedom. Other activities have included, for example, contribution of
experiments or payloads to be flown in space by NASA, joint projects
to develop flight hardware, use of data or lunar samples provided by
NASA, training, visits and joint publication of scientific results.
On a reimbursable basis, NASA provides certain services, including
launching of satellites as well as data and tracking services.
More than 1000 agreements have been signed with 135 countries and
international organizations over NASA's 30-year history.
Toward the Future
The presidentially appointed National Commission on Space was
charged with proposing a national program that would "carry America's
civilian space enterprise into the 21st century." The commission
projected the next 50 years of America's future in space and proposed
goals which assure America's continued leadership in space.
The commission's 1986 report, "Pioneering the Space Frontier",
presented a pioneering mission for 21st century America -- "to lead
the exploration and development of the space frontier, advancing
science, technology and enterprise, and building institutions and
systems that make accessible vast new resources and support human
settlement beyond Earth orbit, from the highlands of the moon to the
plains of Mars." Three major thrusts were recommended:
o Advancing our understanding of our planet, our solar
system, and the universe;
o Exploring, prospecting, and settling the solar system;
and
o Stimulating space enterprises for the direct benefit of
the people on Earth.
In 1987, a task group chaired by then astronaut Sally Ride was
appointed by NASA Administrator Dr. James Fletcher to evaluate
potential U.S. space program initiatives.
In its report, "Leadership and America's Future in Space", the
task group presented three major goals. They are: (1) the
advancement of scientific knowledge of the planet Earth, the solar
system and the universe beyond; (2) the expansion of the human
presence beyond the Earth into the solar system; and (3) the
strengthening of aeronautics research and the development of
technology towards the promotion of U.S. leadership in civil and
military aviation. NASA is studying these goals and considering
appropriate initiatives.
On June 1, l987, the NASA administrator announced the creation of
the Office of Exploration to coordinate agency activities that would
"expand the human presence beyond Earth," particularly to the moon and
Mars. A key role of this office is to focus lunar and Mars
initiatives, identifying the prerequisite investments that the nation
must make in the near term to achieve these iniatives.
The National Commission on Space paid tribute to NASA as "... a
national resource that plays a critical role in space exploration and
development. It also provides a symbol of national pride and
technological leadership. The Commission applauds NASA's spectacular
achievements of the past and anticipates impressive achievements to come."
========================================================================
Received: by decwrl.dec.com (5.54.5/4.7.34)
id AA00680; Wed, 21 Sep 88 12:43:32 PDT
|