By Joe Kerwin We who were not test pilots were delighted when NASA announced it was going to hire scientist-astronauts, that is, people with PhD or MD degrees that might prove useful in space flight. We didn’t think too much about what NASA’s plans were in detail. We just went for it.
By George Michael (Mike) Gentry You might think I would take my work for granted after almost forty years of working with NASA photos. I never have, and even to this day I occasionally pinch myself.
We asked some long-time NASA people to describe events during their careers at the Agency that they consider especially vivid or meaningful.
NASA Celebrates Fifty Years Join NASA in celebrating its fiftieth anniversary by reviewing exciting discoveries and images from past missions, watching special lectures from NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Dr. Stephen Hawking, or visiting interactive Web features that walk you through each decade since the Agency’s inception.
By Laurence Prusak NASA’s fiftieth anniversary, being observed in a variety of ways this year, including in this special issue of ASK, makes me think about the importance of looking back—not just to celebrate but to learn from the past.
Don Cohen, Managing Editor In his “Knowledge Notebook” piece, Laurence Prusak notes that the past experiences of organizations influence how they behave now and how they will behave in the future.
By Carol Anne Dunn Outside NASA’s scientific community, NASA’s Inventions and Contributions Board (ICB) and its Space Act Awards Program are practically unknown, yet its history is a microcosm of NASA’s history, and it has been an important factor in NASA’s extensive technological achievements.
By Steven J. Dick NASA’s founding document, the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, specifically charged the new agency with eight objectives, including “the establishment of long-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and space activities for peaceful […]
By Dr. Stephen B. Johnson When humans first went to space in the 1950s and 1960s, many rockets and satellites failed, leading to the development of processes and technologies to reduce the probability of failure.
