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.
By Laurence Prusak and Don Cohen NASA is unquestionably a knowledge-intensive organization. Among government agencies, it is probably the most knowledge intensive.
By Dr. James B. Garvin For fifty years, NASA has promoted scientific investigations enabled by the space-borne vantage point it has pioneered.
By Noel Hinners Starting in 1963, I have witnessed in amazement the science discoveries made by the nation’s human and robotic space program.
By Laurence R. Young So we are going back to the moon, this time with more people staying for longer periods. The lunar outpost has been envisioned as a substantial home base—if not a settlement—to house and supply astronauts as they explore the lunar surface.
