National Aeronautics and Space Administration
| Noun | 1. |  National Aeronautics and Space Administration - an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight |
| 单词 | national aeronautics and space administration | |||
| 释义 | National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNational Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space explorationspace exploration,the investigation of physical conditions in space and on stars, planets, and other celestial bodies through the use of artificial satellites (spacecraft that orbit the earth), space probes (spacecraft that pass through the solar system and that may or may not ..... Click the link for more information. , artificial satellites (see satellite, artificialsatellite, artificial, object constructed by humans and placed in orbit around the earth or other celestial body (see also space probe). The satellite is lifted from the earth's surface by a rocket and, once placed in orbit, maintains its motion without further rocket propulsion. ..... Click the link for more information. ), rocketry, and space telescopes (see Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory. Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble) was expected to provide the clearest view yet obtained of the universe from a position some 350 mi (560 km) ..... Click the link for more information. ) and observatories. It is also responsible for international cooperation in space matters. NASA came into existence on Oct. 1, 1958, superseding the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), an agency that had been oriented primarily toward laboratory research. While the NACA budget never went higher than $5 million and its staff never exceeded 500, the NASA annual budget reached $14.2 billion in 1995, and its staff reached a maximum size of 34,000 in 1966 (21,000 in 1995), with some 400,000 contract employees working directly on agency programs. The creation of NASA was spurred by American unpreparedness at the time the Soviet Union launched (Oct. 4, 1957) the first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1). NASA took over the Langley (including the Wallops Island, Va., launch facility), Ames, and Lewis (now Glenn) research centers from NACA. Soon after its creation, NASA acquired from the U.S. army the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (operated by the California Institute of Technology). Later, the Army Ballistic Missile Arsenal (now the Marshall Space Flight Center) at Huntsville, Ala., was placed under NASA control. The best-known NASA field installations are the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center near Houston, Tex., where flights are coordinated, and the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where space shuttle and other space program launches have taken place. Other facilities include the Armstrong, Goddard, and Stennis centers and NASA headquarters, in Washington, D.C. Operationally, NASA is headed by a civilian appointed by the president and has four main divisions, the mission directorates for aeronautics research, human exploration and operations, science, and space technology, as well as a directorate for mission support. Despite some highly publicized failures, NASA has in many cases successfully completed its missions within their projected budgets; the total cost of the Apollo project, for example, wound up very close to the original $20-billion estimate. Currently, NASA oversees all space science projects and launches approximately half of all military space missions. BibliographySee T. Crouch, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1989); H. Benedict, NASA: The Journey Continues (2d ed., 1992); R. D. Launius et al., NASA and the Exploration of Space (1998); W. E. Burrows and W. Cronkite, The Infinite Journey (2000); H. E. McCurdy, Inside NASA: High Technology and Organizational Change in the U.S. Space Program (2000); R. E. Bilstein, Testing Aircraft, Exploring Space (2003); F. Sietzen, Jr., et al., New Moon Rising: The Making of America's New Space Vision and the Remaking of NASA (2004). National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), a government organization in the USA; established Oct. 1, 1958. The organizational nucleus of NASA was the previously existing National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NASA’s primary objectives are the conduct of scientific research on earth and in outer space; the development and technological advancement of airplanes and spacecraft; the study of the potential benefits of developing aeronautics and space exploration and the use of their achievements for peaceful purposes; coordination of the efforts of governmental, industrial, and scientific organizations in aeronautics and space exploration, with the goal of effective use of the resources of the USA and avoidance of duplication of work; and the collaboration of the USA with other countries on issues of aeronautics and the conquering of outer space (for example, the Soyuz-Apollo project with the USSR). National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Synonyms for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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