NASA

NASA traces its roots to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Although Dayton, Ohio, is considered the birthplace of aviation, by 1914 the United States recognized that it lagged significantly behind Europe in aviation capability. Determined to regain American leadership in aviation, the US Congress created the Aviation Section of the US Army Signal Corps in 1914 and established NACA in 1915 to foster aeronautical research and development. Over the next forty years, NACA conducted aeronautical research in support of the US Air Force, US Army, US Navy, and the civil aviation sector. Following the end of World War II, NACA became interested in the possibilities of guided missiles and supersonic aircraft, developing and testing the Bell X-1 in a joint program with the US Air Force. NACA's interest in space grew out of its rocketry program at the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division.

The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in the Space Age and kicked off the Space Race. Despite NACA's early rocketry program, the responsibility for launching the first American satellite initially fell to the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard. Vanguard's operational issues led the Army Ballistic Missile Agency to successfully launch Explorer 1, America's first satellite, on February 1, 1958.

The Eisenhower Administration decided to separate the nation's military and civil spaceflight programs, which had been previously organized together under the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency. NASA was established on July 29, 1958, with the signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act, and began operations on October 1, 1958.

As America's premier aeronautics agency, NACA formed the core of NASA's new structure, reassigning 8,000 employees and three major research laboratories to the new entity. NASA also absorbed the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard, the Army's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under the leadership of Wernher von Braun. This established NASA firmly as the US's civil space leader, while the Air Force retained military space leadership.

Plans for human spaceflight began within the US Armed Forces prior to NASA's creation. …

The International Space Station (ISS) represents a fusion of NASA's initial Space Station Freedom project with the Russian Mir-2 program, the European Columbus initiative, and the Japanese Kibō laboratory. Though NASA planned in the 1980s to develop Freedom unilaterally, domestic budget constraints forced a merger of these concepts into a single multi-national effort in 1993. The program is managed jointly by NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The station is constructed of multiple pressurized modules, large external trusses, solar arrays, and diverse scientific components manufactured globally and delivered to orbit by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets alongside the American Space Shuttle. Orbital assembly began in 1998; the core US Orbital Segment was completed by 2009, with the Russian Orbital Segment achieving its primary assembly phase by 2010. Operations and habitation are governed by international treaties, granting Russia full ownership over its segment (excluding the early, US-funded Zarya module), while allocating the US Orbital Segment collaboratively among NASA and the other partners.

Long-duration assignments aboard the station are classified as ISS Expeditions. Expedition crews historically spend roughly six months in orbit. Originally set at three, crew numbers temporarily decreased to two following the Columbia disaster before returning to and expanding to six residents by 2009. Following the successful introduction of the robust Commercial Crew capsules—which comfortably transport four crewmembers each—long-duration expeditions frequently support larger staffing contingents. The ISS has been continuously inhabited since November 2000, eclipsing the previous occupancy record set by Mir, and has hosted travelers from over 15 nations.

The station can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye and, as of 2026, is the largest artificial satellite in Earth orbit with a mass and volume greater than that of any previous space station. The Russian Soyuz and American Dragon and Starliner spacecraft are used to send astronauts to and from the ISS. …

In response to the Apollo 1 accident, which killed three astronauts in 1967, Congress directed NASA to form an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to advise the NASA Administrator on safety issues and hazards in NASA's air and space programs. In the aftermath of the Shuttle Columbia disaster, Congress required that the ASAP submit an annual report to the NASA Administrator and to Congress. By 1971, NASA had also established the Space Program Advisory Council and the Research and Technology Advisory Council to provide the administrator with advisory committee support. In 1977, the latter two were combined to form the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). The NASA Authorization Act of 2014 reaffirmed the importance of ASAP.

NASA and NOAA have cooperated for decades on the development, delivery and operation of polar and geosynchronous weather satellites. The relationship typically involves NASA developing the space systems, launch solutions, and ground control technology for the satellites and NOAA operating the systems and delivering weather forecasting products to users. Multiple generations of NOAA Polar orbiting platforms have operated to provide detailed imaging of weather from low altitude. Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) provide near-real-time coverage of the western hemisphere to ensure accurate and timely understanding of developing weather phenomenon.

The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the US Armed Forces, while NASA is an independent agency of the US government responsible for civil spaceflight. NASA and the Space Force's predecessors in the Air Force have a long-standing cooperative relationship, with the Space Force supporting NASA launches out of Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, to include range support and rescue operations from Task Force 45. NASA and the Space Force also partner on matters such as defending Earth from asteroids. Space Force members can be NASA astronauts, with Colonel Michael S. Hopkins, the commander of SpaceX Crew-1, commissioned into the Space Force from the International Space Station on December 18, 2020. In September 2020, the Space Force and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding formally acknowledging the joint role of both agencies. …

The agency's administration is located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and provides overall guidance and direction. Except under exceptional circumstances, NASA civil service employees are required to be US citizens. NASA's administrator is nominated by the US president subject to Senate approval and serves at the president's pleasure as a senior space science advisor.

Jared Isaacman is the administrator of NASA since December 2025. His first nomination was withdrawn by President Donald Trump on May 31, 2025. He was renominated on November 4, 2025, and confirmed by the Senate on December 17.

NASA budget requests are developed by NASA and approved by the administration prior to submission to the US Congress. Authorized budgets are those that have been included in enacted appropriations bills that are approved by both houses of Congress and enacted into law by the US president.

NASA fiscal year budget requests and authorized budgets are listed below.

NASA funding and priorities are developed through its four Mission Directorates.

NASA operates ten field centers which manage and execute the agency's programs and activities. Under a management structure announced in May 2026, each field center receives a basic level of funding for its operations, and can "compete" for additional funding from the mission directorates.

The exhaust gases produced by rocket propulsion systems, both in Earth's atmosphere and in space, can adversely affect the Earth's environment. Some hypergolic rocket propellants, such as hydrazine, are highly toxic prior to combustion, but decompose into less toxic compounds after burning. Rockets using hydrocarbon fuels, such as kerosene, release carbon dioxide and soot in their exhaust. Carbon dioxide emissions are insignificant compared to those from other sources; on average, the US consumed 803 million US gal (3.0 million m) of liquid fuels per day in 2014, while a single Falcon 9 rocket first stage burns around 25,000 US gallons (95 m) of kerosene fuel per launch. Even if a Falcon 9 were launched every single day, it would only represent 0.006% of liquid fuel consumption (and carbon dioxide emissions) for that day. Additionally, the exhaust from LOx- and LH2-fueled engines, like the SSME, is almost entirely water vapor. NASA addressed environmental concerns with its canceled Constellation program in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act in 2011. In contrast, ion engines use harmless noble gases like xenon for propulsion.

An example of NASA's environmental efforts is the NASA Sustainability Base. Additionally, the Exploration Sciences Building was awarded the LEED Gold rating in 2010. On May 8, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency recognized NASA as the first federal agency to directly use landfill gas to produce energy at one of its facilities—the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

In 2018, NASA along with other companies including Sensor Coating Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Monitor Coating and UTRC launched the project CAUTION (CoAtings for Ultra High Temperature detectION). This project aims to enhance the temperature range of the Thermal History Coating up to 1,500 °C (2,730 °F) and beyond. The final goal of this project is improving the safety of jet engines as well as increasing efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.

NASA also researches and publishes on climate change. Its statements concur with the global scientific consensus that the climate is warming. Bob Walker, who has advised former US President Donald Trump on space issues, has advocated that NASA should focus on space exploration and that its climate study operations should be transferred to other agencies such as NOAA. …