Let me start by saying that I don\u2019t know if NASA celebrates today as their birthday or not. But if they don\u2019t \u2013 they should.<\/p>\n
Technically, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created on 1 October 1958. On that date, per the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 the newly-created agency called NASA absorbed the functions of a number of other Federal activities and began operations under it’s own name.<\/p>\n
Less than 11 years later, we put a man on the moon.<\/p>\n
However, one of those \u201cother Federal activities\u201d NASA absorbed was a thing called NACA:\u00a0 the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 abolished NACA \u2013 and transferred its functions and assets, part and parcel, to NASA. So in my book NASA traces its lineage directly to NACA, inheriting its accomplishments and history.<\/p>\n
Those accomplishments were hardly trivial. On 30 September 1958, NACA facilities included a few you might have heard of: \u00a0 the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory at Hampton, Virginia; the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory at Moffett Field, CA; the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (Lewis Research Center) in Cleveland, OH; and the Muroc Flight Test Unit at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.<\/p>\n
Mach 1, Mach 2, and Mach 3 flight were achieved under NACA \u2013 not NASA \u2013 managed efforts. The Bell X-1\u00a0 (Mach 1), Douglas D-558-2 (Mach 2), and Bell X-2 (Mach 3) were all NACA projects. Ditto a host of other experimental flight programs dating well back before World War II.<\/p>\n
Why bring this up today? Because NACA \u2013 NASA\u2019s direct predecessor \u2013 was established on 4 March 1915, or exactly 100 years ago today.\u00a0 Establishing NASA and reaching the moon would IMO have been one helluva lot harder if that had never happened.<\/p>\n
So even if you don\u2019t celebrate it (and IMO you should):\u00a0\u00a0 happy 100th, NASA.\u00a0 In my book, today is your true birthday.<\/p>\n
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(Edited to add that Mach 3 flight was also achieved under NACA.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"