July 29:

1958 : NASA created

On this day in 1958, the U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian
agency responsible for coordinating America's activities in space.
NASA has since sponsored space expeditions, both human and mechanical,
that have yielded vital information about the solar system and
universe. It has also launched numerous earth-orbiting satellites that
have been instrumental in everything from weather forecasting to
navigation to global communications.
NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union's October 4, 1957
launch of its first satellite, Sputnik I. The 183-pound,
basketball-sized satellite orbited the earth in 98 minutes. The
Sputnik launch caught Americans by surprise and sparked fears that the
Soviets might also be capable of sending missiles with nuclear weapons
from Europe to America. The United States prided itself on being at
the forefront of technology, and, embarrassed, immediately began
developing a response, signaling the start of the U.S.-Soviet space
race.
On November 3, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik II, which carried a
dog named Laika. In December, America attempted to launch a satellite
of its own, called Vanguard, but it exploded shortly after takeoff. On
January 31, 1958, things went better with Explorer I, the first U.S.
satellite to successfully orbit the earth. In July of that year,
Congress passed legislation officially establishing NASA from the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and other government
agencies, and confirming the country's commitment to winning the space
race.
In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy declared that America should
put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969,
NASA's Apollo 11 mission achieved that goal and made history when
astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the
moon, saying "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind."
NASA has continued to make great advances in space exploration since
the first moonwalk, including playing a major part in the construction
of the International Space Station. The agency has also suffered
tragic setbacks, however, such as the disasters that killed the crews
of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986 and the Columbia space shuttle
in 2003. In 2004, President George Bush challenged NASA to return to
the moon by 2020 and establish "an extended human presence" there that
could serve as a launching point for "human missions to Mars and to
worlds beyond."

history.com/tdih.do


1588 : Spanish Armada defeated
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6973

1848 : Tipperary Revolt ends in failure
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5216

1900 : Italian American assassinates Italian king
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5217

1981 : Prince Charles marries Lady Diana
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5218

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