Nasa

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

The era of space exploration began in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first

satellite, Sputnik, into Earth orbit October 4, 1957. The Soviet also were the first to launch a

manned spacecraft when Yuri Gagarni, made one orbit around the Earth in 1961. Americans

were electrified by the news. A year later the Soviets issued an ultimatum that the Western

Allies evacuate Berlin. Next came a proposal that Berlin become a free city. There waere fears

that the Cold War of coexistence could turn into a world war.

America also had goals they wanted to fulfil. A year later the United States Congress

passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act to promote and coordinate the United States

space program. In 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established,

commonly referred to NASA. Shortly after NASA's founding, the launching site at Cape

Canaveral, Florida, and the Johnson Sp

Gemini 7, in which Frank Borman and James A. Lovell, Jr., set a space-flight endurance record

lead to a better understanding of the effects of aging. His involvement makes a bold statement

when the craft emerged from behind the moon. At about this time the long-discarded Saturn

Collins, Micheal, Liftoff: the story of america's adventure in space

ace Center in Houston Texas were planned and built.

orbital test flights from April 1981 to July 1982. The first flight (STS 1) was flown by astronauts

for the commencement and progress of space missions. The facilities that provide this

flight, Lovell and Haise entered Aquarius and began checking systems. Suddenly a loud bang

of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Tex., and the John F. Kennedy Space Center

and productive aging. He studied the similarities between space travel and aging on his own, and

vehicles were the world's first maneuverable manned spacecraft. In the first manned Gemini

emergency...