September 30, 2013 - A New NASA

A New NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was founded fifty-five years ago this week, but its heritage dates to the 1915 founding of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), whose mission “to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight” resulted in numerous advances in aviation. In 1958, the National Space Exploration Act gave NACA a new name and a broader mandate that extended beyond the atmosphere. NASA has continued to evolve and redefine itself, making great strides in human space flight, planetary exploration, aeronautical research, and space-based astronomy. This multi-spectral image of galaxy M101 combines data from four of NASA’s cutting-edge space telescopes: Hubble, Spitzer, Chandra, and GALEX.

Image credit: NASA / ESA / CXC / JPL / Caltech / STScI

Weekly Calendar

September 30 - October 6, 2013

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 30

1880: Henry Draper takes first photograph of Orion Nebula
1994: STS-68 Endeavour launched
1995: Daily communication with Pioneer 11 ends
2005: Soyuz TMA-7 launched carrying ISS Expedition 12 crew
2009: Soyuz TMA-16 launched carrying ISS Expedition 21/22 crew

Tuesday 1

Mars 7° north of Moon

1897: 40-inch refractor dedicated at Yerkes Observatory
1958: NASA founded
1962: 300-foot radio telescope at Green Bank goes into operation
2010: Chang’e-2 lunar spacecraft launched

Wednesday 2

Thursday 3

Uranus at opposition

1935: Charlie Duke born
1942: First V2 rocket launched
1962: Mercury Sigma 7 launched
1967: X-15A-2 flies at mach 6.7
1985: STS-51J Atlantis launched

Friday 4

World Space Week begins

New Moon 8:35 PM ET

1957: Sputnik 1 launched
1959: Luna 3 launched
2004: SpaceShipOne wins X Prize

Saturday 5

1882: Robert Goddard born
1923: Edwin Hubble finds Cepheid variable stars in galaxy M-31
1962: European Southern Observatory founded
1984: STS-41G Challenger launched

Sunday 6

Mercury 3° south of Moon

1990: STS-41 Discovery launched
1992: NASA and RASA sign Human Spaceflight Agreement to share astronauts and cosmonauts
2008: MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second flyby of Mercury