What does n.a.s.a mean

The second manned mission, Apollo 8 , brought astronauts for the first time in a flight around the Moon in December of On the next two missions, docking maneuvers that were needed for the Moon landing were practiced. And finally, the long-awaited Moon landing was made with the Apollo 11 mission on July 20th, Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December Throughout these six Apollo spaceflights, a total of twelve men walked on the Moon.

These missions also returned a wealth of scientific data, not to mention Conceived of in , the station was constructed on Earth and launched on May 14th, atop the first two stages of a Saturn V rocket. Skylab was damaged during its launch, losing its thermal protection and one electricity-generating solar panels. This necessitated the first crew to rendezvous with the station to conduct repairs. Two more crews followed, and the station was occupied for a total of days during its history of service.

This ended in with the downing of the station over the Indian Ocean and parts of southern Australia. By the early 70s, a changing budget environment forced NASA to begin researching reusable spacecraft, which resulted in the Space Shuttle Program.

Unlike previous programs, which involved small space capsules being launched on top of multistage rockets, this program centered on the use of vehicles that were launchable and mostly reusable.

Its major components were a spaceplane orbiter with an external fuel tank and two solid-fuel launch rockets at its side. The external tank, which was bigger than the spacecraft itself, was the only major component that was not reused. Over the course of missions, which ran from to , the Space Shuttles performed many important tasks. These included carrying the Spacelab into orbit — a joint effort with the European Space Agency ESA — running supplies to Mir and the ISS see below , and the launch and successful repair of the Hubble Space Telescope which took place in and , respectively.

The Shuttle program suffered two disasters during the course of its 15 years of service. The first was the Challenger disaster in , while the second — the Columbia disaster — took place in Fourteen astronauts were lost, as well as the two shuttles. By , the program was discontinued, the last mission ending on July 21st, with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center.

With the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program in , crew members were delivered exclusively by Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz remains docked with the station while crews perform their six-month long missions, and then returns them to Earth. The ISS has been continuously occupied for the past 15 years, having exceeded the previous record held by Mir; and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations. The ISS program is expected to continue until at least , but may be extended until or possibly longer, depending on the budget environment.

A few years ago, NASA celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Originally designed to ensure American supremacy in space, it has since adapted to changing conditions and political climates. Its accomplishments have also been extensive, ranging from launching the first American artificial satellites into space for scientific and communications purposes to sending probes to explore the planets of the Solar System.

In the coming years, NASA hopes to build on that reputation, bringing an asteroid closer to Earth so we can study it more closely, and sending manned missions to Mars. Our teachers wanted us to witness history being made.

So we did… Yeah, we watched all the launches either at the school or, since my parents were spaceflight fans, at home. Those flights really fired up our imaginations! Oh yeah… I even took algebra and learned how to use a slide rule.. It had a launch pad and a separate control console with a pump attached. At 0 the rocket would launch! Maybe the cat too? So thanks NASA for all the memories… lets make some more!

I recall my grade school days and sureptitiously reading Popular Science at newstands without buying the magazine about such things as the supercritical wing, and other aeronautical research too risky for entrepeneurs to fund. I was as enamored of spaceships as any kid I knew. I drew rocket ship designs in the margins of my school notebooks when classes became too boring. Astronaut John L. NASA is known for its space program. This star seems much brighter as it is , times closer. She joined the world famous space agency in the US at the end of August.

This is what she had to say about her journey. NASA is likely to research which of the following subjects? The renowned theoretical physicist has for years been a proponent of real-life, NASA -led interstellar travel. Navy and the National Weather Service? I asked a former NASA astronaut, who cannot be quoted on the record, to look at photographs of the debris. The day still retains the name of Luc- nasa , or the Anniversary of the Sun. New Word List Word List. Save This Word!

National Aeronautics and Space Administration: the federal agency that institutes and administers the civilian programs of the U. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms. What is NASA? Why is NASA important? A robotic rover explored Mars to try to determine if the planet could support life. The Hubble telescope. The telescope orbits around Earth and is used to observe and study our solar system and distant stars.

The International Space Station.