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Eisenhower, Glennan, and Dry
…
| title |
Eisenhower, Glennan, and Dryden |
| date |
10.01.1958 |
| description |
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created on October 1, 1958. It would perform civilian research related to space flight and aeronautics. President Eisenhower commissioned Dr. T. Keith Glennan, right, as the first administrator for NASA and Dr. Hugh L. Dryden as deputy administrator. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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NASA Unveils 50th Anniversar
…
| title |
NASA Unveils 50th Anniversary Logo |
| date |
09.13.2007 |
| description |
Deputy Administrator Shana Dale unveiled the agency's anniversary logo Thursday in a ceremony at WIRED Magazine's annual NextFest [ http://www.wirednextfest.com/ ] in Los Angeles. NASA's "birthday" is October 1, 1958. Recent shuttle astronauts and future NASA technology are also in the spotlight at NextFest, which features the latest innovations in products and technologies in many areas where NASA plays a leading role. Dale and astronaut Scott Kelly introduced the space shuttle's STS-118 crew, including mission specialist and former educator Barbara Morgan, at NextFest opening ceremonies earlier Thursday. Morgan and the other crew members of the STS-118 mission will sign autographs throughout NextFest in the Exploration Pavilion. Deputy Administrator Dale also participated in an announcement regarding the X PRIZE Foundation at the X PRIZE stage. Other NASA technology on display: * A four foot model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope [ http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/wavefront.html ]. The observatory is designed to study the faint light from objects at the farthest reaches of space and time and is targeted for launch in 2013. * A 3-D panorama of Mars * Demonstrations of the all-terrain technology in the current Mars rovers. [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html ] * Information about experimental rovers that are helping scientists learn how robots could evaluate potential outposts on the moon or Mars. * An infrared video camera and monitor on display by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/index.html ] mission. It reveals remarkable temperature changes in the infrared spectrum on the faces of visitor volunteers. * An interactive assembly project featuring Constellation [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html ], NASA's next generation of human spacecraft. |
|
Original 7 Astronauts in Spa
…
| Title |
Original 7 Astronauts in Spacesuits |
| Full Description |
Project Mercury Astronauts, whose selection was announced on April 9, 1959, only six months after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formally established on October 1, 1958. Front row, left to right, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and M. Scott Carpenter, back row, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom and L. Gordon Cooper. |
| Date |
09/13/1968 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
|
Portrait of T. Keith Glennan
| Title |
Portrait of T. Keith Glennan |
| Full Description |
T. (Thomas) Keith Glennan was the first Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, established October 1, 1958, under the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. As Administrator, Mr. Glennan headed a staff of scientists, engineers, technicians, and other employees engaged in research and development in aeronautics and space matters. In this position he was a member of the president's National Aeronautics and Space Council. Born in Enderlin, North Dakota, on September 8, 1905, Mr. Glennan earned a degree in electrical engineering from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University in 1927. Following graduation, he worked in the newly developed sound motion picture industry, and later became assistant general service superintendent for Electrical Research Products Company. Mr. Glennan joined the Columbia University Division of War Research in 1942, serving through the war, first as Administrator and then as Director of the U.S. Navy's Underwater Sound Laboratories at New London, Connecticut. For his work he was awarded the Medal of Merit. Following the war Mr. Glennan became an executive of the Ansco Corp., Binghamton, New York, and became the President of the Case Institute of Technology in 1947. While serving as President at Case he also served with the Atomic Energy Commission. He was NASA's Administrator from 1958 until 1961. Mr. Glennan returned to Case in 1961 where he served until he retired in 1966. Although retired, Mr. Glennan spent two years as president of Associated Universities, Inc., an advocacy group for institutions of higher learning. Mr. Glennan died on April 11, 1995, in Mitchellville, MD. Mr. Glennan's portrait was painted by artist Albert Murray of New York. |
| Date |
1964 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
|
Project Mercury Astronauts
| Title |
Project Mercury Astronauts |
| Full Description |
Project Mercury Astronauts, whose selection was announced on April 9, 1959, only six months after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formally established on October 1, 1958. They are: front row, left to right, Walter H. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and Scott Carpenter, back row, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. Gus Grissom, and L. Gordon Cooper. |
| Date |
9/13/1968 |
| NASA Center |
Kennedy Space Center |
|
Complete NASA Dryden Staff o
…
Dryden Test Pilots 1990 - Sm
…
Lifting body pilots - Jerry
…
| Photo Description |
Posing for this photo in front of the M2-F3 are (Left-Right) Air Force pilot Captain Jerauld Gentry, NASA pilots John Manke and William H. Dana. Kneeling is Air Force pilot Major Cecil Powell. These four pilots flew the M2-F3 on a total of 27 flights between June 2, 1970 and December 20, 1972. The vehicle reached a maximum altitude of 71,500 feet and a maximum speed of Mach 1.613. Dana joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's High-Speed Flight Station On October 1, 1958 (the birthday of NASA). As a research pilot, he was involved in some of the most significant aeronautical programs carried out at the Center. In the late 1960s and in the 1970s Dana was a project pilot on the lifting body program which flew several versions of the wingless vehicles and produced data that helped in development of the Space Shuttle. For his contributions to the lifting body program, Dana received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. In 1976 he received the Haley Space Flight Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for his research work on the M2-F3 lifting body control systems. In 1993 Dana became Chief Engineer at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. He has authored several technical papers and is a member of The Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on May 29, 1998. John joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Flight Research Center in 1962 as a research engineer and later became a research pilot, testing advanced craft such as the wingless lifting bodies, forerunners of the Space Shuttle. He was project pilot on the X-24B and also flew the HL-10, M2-F3, and X-24A lifting bodies. John made the first supersonic flight of a lifting body and the first landing of a lifting body on a hard surface runway. Manke served as Director of the Flight Operations and Support Directorate at the Dryden Flight Research Center prior to its integration with Ames Research Center in October 1981. After this date John was named to head the joint Ames-Dryden Directorate of Flight Operations. He also served as site manager of the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility. John is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on April 27, 1984. |
| Project Description |
A fleet of lifting bodies flown at the NASA Flight Research Center (FRC--later the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from 1963 to 1975 demonstrated the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an aircraft at a pre-determined site. Aerodynamic lift--essential to flight in the atmosphere--was obtained from the shape of their bodies. The addition of fins and control surfaces allowed the pilots to stabilize and control the vehicles and regulate their flight paths. The information the lifting body program generated contributed to the data base that led to development of today's space shuttle program. The success of the FRC's M2-F1 [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/M2-F1/index.html ] program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation. The "M" refers to "manned" and "F" refers to "flight" version. "HL" comes from "horizontal landing" and 10 is for the tenth lifting body model to be investigated by Langley. The first flight of the M2-F2--which looked much like the "F1"--was on July 12, 1966. Milt Thompson was the pilot. By then, the same B-52s used to air launch the famed X-15 rocket research aircraft were modified to also carry the lifting bodies. Thompson was dropped from the B-52's wing pylon mount at an altitude of 45,000 feet on that maiden glide flight. The M2-F2 weighed 4,620 pounds, was 22 feet long, and had a width of about 10 feet. On May 10, 1967, during the sixteenth glide flight leading up to powered flight, a landing accident severely damaged the vehicle and seriously injured the NASA pilot, Bruce Peterson. NASA pilots and researchers realized the M2-F2 had lateral control problems, even though it had a stability augmentation (control) system. When the M2-F2 was rebuilt by the Northrop Corporation with the help and cooperation of the FRC and redesignated the M2-F3 [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/M2-F3/index.html ], it was modified with an additional third vertical fin--centered between the tip fins--to improve control characteristics. The M2-F2/F3 was the first of the heavy-weight, entry-configuration (i.e., configured for re-entry to the atmosphere from space) lifting bodies. Its successful development as a research test vehicle answered many of the generic questions about these vehicles. NASA donated the M2-F3 vehicle to the Smithsonian Institute in December 1973. It is currently hanging in the Air and Space Museum along with the X-15 aircraft number 1, which was its hangar partner at Dryden from 1965 to 1969. |
| Photo Date |
1971 |
|
National Advisory Committee
…
| Name of Image |
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Pilot |
| Date of Image |
1960-07-01 |
| Full Description |
The Marshall Space Flight Center was activated on July 1, 1960 as a part of NASA, which had been established on October 1, 1958 by Congressional passage of the National Aeronautics and Space Act. The nucleus of NASA was the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics later named the National Advisory Committee for Aeronauts (NACA). The NACA was founded in 1915 to study the problems of flight and to recommend practical solutions to basic aircraft design and construction problems. NACA's wind turnels and other research facilities made NACA technical reports the basis for aviation progress for more than 40 years. |
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President Eisenhower Present
…
| Name of Image |
President Eisenhower Presents NASA Commissions |
| Date of Image |
1959-01-01 |
| Full Description |
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created on October 1, 1958, to perform civilian research related to space flight and aeronautics. President Eisenhower commissioned Dr. T. Keith Glernan, right, as the first administrator for NASA and Dr. Hugh L. Dryden as deputy administrator. |
|
Happy 40th Birthday, NASA!
| Title |
Happy 40th Birthday, NASA! |
| Explanation |
Happy Birthday, NASA [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/40thann/40home.htm ]! The National Aeronautics and Space Administration officially began operations on October 1, 1958, absorbing its forerunner organization [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4406/cover.html ] the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NACA. Its landmark achievements in human spaceflight include [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/40thann/humanspf.htm ] the Mercury and Gemini Projects culminating in the Apollo Project moon landings in the 1960s and early 1970s, Apollo-Soyuz and Skylab in the 1970s, and the Space Shuttle program of the 1980s and 1990s. (Pictured is [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-91/ images/captions/KSC-98EC-0691.html ] the June 1998 launch of the [ http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] Space Shuttle Discovery.) NASA's science programs [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4211/cover.htm ] have produced the robotic exploration of our Solar System, views of the Universe [ http://universe.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] across the electromagnetic spectrum, and valuable meteorological [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980928.html ] and remote-sensing Earth observations. At birth, NASA's [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/monograph10/ ] priorities were largely driven by the pressures and competitions [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Timeline/1955-57.html ] of the Cold War. But looking back over 40 years [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/40thann/factsheet.htm ], the sum of its accomplishments have produced needed new technologies and a vital new perspective on Planet Earth and the Cosmos. |
|
Lifting body pilots - Jerry
…
| Title |
Lifting body pilots - Jerry Gentry, John Manke, Bill Dana, Cecil Powell with M2-F3 in background |
| Description |
Posing for this photo in front of the M2-F3 are (Left-Right) Air Force pilot Captain Jerauld Gentry, NASA pilots John Manke and William H. Dana. Kneeling is Air Force pilot Major Cecil Powell. These four pilots flew the M2-F3 on a total of 27 flights between June 2, 1970 and December 20, 1972. The vehicle reached a maximum altitude of 71,500 feet and a maximum speed of Mach 1.613. Dana joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's High-Speed Flight Station On October 1, 1958 (the birthday of NASA). As a research pilot, he was involved in some of the most significant aeronautical programs carried out at the Center. In the late 1960s and in the 1970s Dana was a project pilot on the lifting body program which flew several versions of the wingless vehicles and produced data that helped in development of the Space Shuttle. For his contributions to the lifting body program, Dana received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. In 1976 he received the Haley Space Flight Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for his research work on the M2-F3 lifting body control systems. In 1993 Dana became Chief Engineer at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. He has authored several technical papers and is a member of The Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on May 29, 1998. John joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Flight Research Center in 1962 as a research engineer and later became a research pilot, testing advanced craft such as the wingless lifting bodies, forerunners of the Space Shuttle. He was project pilot on the X-24B and also flew the HL-10, M2-F3, and X-24A lifting bodies. John made the first supersonic flight of a lifting body and the first landing of a lifting body on a hard surface runway. Manke served as Director of the Flight Operations and Support Directorate at the Dryden Flight Research Center prior to its integration with Ames Research Center in October 1981. After this date John was named to head the joint Ames-Dryden Directorate of Flight Operations. He also served as site manager of the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility. John is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on April 27, 1984. A fleet of lifting bodies flown at the NASA Flight Research Center (FRC--later the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from 1963 to l975 demonstrated the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an aircraft at a pre-determined site. Aerodynamic lift--essential to flight in the atmosphere--was obtained from the shape of their bodies. The addition of fins and control surfaces allowed the pilots to stabilize and control the vehicles and regulate their flight paths. The information the lifting body program generated contributed to the data base that led to development of today's space shuttle program. The success of the FRC'sM2-F1 [, http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/M2-F1/index.html ]program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation. The "M" refers to "manned" and "F" refers to "flight" version. "HL" comes from "horizontal landing" and 10 is for the tenth lifting body model to be investigated by Langley. The first flight of the M2-F2--which looked much like the "F1"--was on July 12, 1966. Milt Thompson was the pilot. By then, the same B-52s used to air launch the famed X-15 rocket research aircraft were modified to also carry the lifting bodies. Thompson was dropped from the B-52's wing pylon mount at an altitude of 45,000 feet on that maiden glide flight. The M2-F2 weighed 4,620 pounds, was 22 feet long, and had a width of about 10 feet. On May 10, 1967, during the sixteenth glide flight leading up to powered flight, a landing accident severely damaged the vehicle and seriously injured the NASA pilot, Bruce Peterson. NASA pilots and researchers realized the M2-F2 had lateral control problems, even though it had a stability augmentation (control) system. When the M2-F2 was rebuilt by the Northrop Corporation with the help and cooperation of the FRC and redesignated theM2-F3 [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/M2-F3/index.html ], it was modified with an additional third vertical fin--centered between the tip fins--to improve control characteristics. The M2-F2/F3 was the first of the heavy-weight, entry-configuration (i.e., configured for re-entry to the atmosphere from space) lifting bodies. Its successful development as a research test vehicle answered many of the generic questions about these vehicles. NASA donated The M2-F3 vehicle to the Smithsonian Institute in December 1973. It is currently hanging in the Air and Space Museum along with the X-15 aircraft number 1, which was its hangar partner at Dryden from 1965 to 1969. |
| Date |
01.01.1971 |
|
Dryden Test Pilots 1990 - Sm
…
| Title |
Dryden Test Pilots 1990 - Smolka, Fullerton, Schneider, Dana, Ishmael, Smith, and McMurtry |
| Description |
It was a windy afternoon on Rogers Dry Lake as the research pilots of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility gathered for a photo shoot. It was a special day too, the 30th anniversary of the first F-104 flight by research pilot Bill Dana. To celebrate, a fly over of Building 4800, in formation, was made with Bill in a Lockheed F-104 (826), Gordon Fullerton in a Northrop T-38, and Jim Smolka in a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 (841) on March 23, 1990. The F-18 (841), standing on the NASA ramp is a backdrop for the photo of (Left to Right) James W. (Smoke) Smolka, C. Gordon Fullerton, Edward T. (Ed) Schneider, William H. (Bill) Dana, Stephen D. (Steve) Ishmael, Rogers E. Smith, and Thomas C. (Tom) McMurtry. Smolka joined NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility in September 1985. He has been the project pilot on the F-15 Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles (ACTIVE) research and F-15 Aeronautical Research Aircraft programs. He has also flown as a pilot on the NASA B-52 launch aircraft, as a co-project pilot on the F-16XL Supersonic Laminar Flow Control aircraft and the F-18 High Angle-of-Attack Research Vehicle (HARV) aircraft. Other aircraft he has flown in research programs are the F-16, F-111, F-104 and the T-38 as support. Fullerton, joined NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility in November 1986. He was project pilot on the NASA/Convair 990 aircraft to test space shuttle landing gear components, project pilot on the F-18 Systems Research Aircraft, and project pilot on the B-52 launch aircraft, where he was involved in six air launches of the commercially developed Pegasus space launch vehicle. Other assignments include a variety of flight research and support activities in multi-engine and high performance aircraft such as, F-15, F-111, F-14, X-29, MD-11 and DC-8. Schneider arrived at the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility on July 5, 1982, as a Navy Liaison Officer, becoming a NASA research pilot one year later. He has been project pilot for the F-18 High Angle-of-Attack program (HARV), project pilot for the F-15 aeronautical research aircraft, the NASA B-52 launch aircraft, and the SR-71 "Blackbird" aircraft. His past research work at Dryden has included participation in the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire, the FAA/NASA 720 Controlled Impact Demonstration, the F-14 Automatic Rudder Interconnect and Laminar Flow programs, and the F-104 Aeronautical Research and Microgravity programs. Dana joined the NASA's High-Speed Flight Station on October 1, 1958. As a research pilot, he was involved in some of the most significant aeronautical programs carried out at the Center. In the late 1960s and in the 1970s Dana was a project pilot on the lifting body program, flying the wingless M2-F1, HL-10, M2-F3, and the X-24B vehicles. He was a project pilot on the hypersonic X-15 research aircraft and flew the rocket-powered vehicle 16 times, reaching a speed of 3,897 mph and an altitude of 310,000, feet. Bill was the pilot on the final (199th) flight of the 10-year program. Other research and support programs Dana participated in were the F-15 Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control (HIDEC), the F-18 High Angle-of-Attack Research Vehicle (HARV), YF-12, F-104, F-16, PA-30, and T-38. In 1993 Dana became Chief Engineer at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (soon to be renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center). Ishmael was a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center from January 1977 until the spring of 1995, when he became manager of Dryden's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) programs. In 1996 he became NASA's X-33 Deputy Manager for Flight Test and Operation. As a research pilot he served as the chief project pilot on two major aeronautical research programs, the SR-71 High Speed Research program and the F-16XL Laminar Flow Technology program. He took part in the X-29 Forward-Swept-Wing program, and gave support to other pilots' research flights in a T-38 and F-104 aircraft. Smith became a research pilot at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility in August 1982. In the spring of 1995 he became Chief of the Flight Crew Branch where currently there are 8 other NASA pilots and 2 flight engineers. Smith has also been a co-project pilot on two major aeronautical programs at Dryden. They are the integrated thrust vectoring F-15 ACTIVE and the SR-71 "Blackbird" Research programs. Other research programs that he has been associated with are the F-104 Zero "G" tests, F-18 HARV, X-29 Forward-Swept-Wing, with support flights being flown in a T-38 and F-104. McMurtry has been a pilot at NASA's Dryden since joining the Flight Research Center in November 1967. In 1981, Tom became Chief Pilot a position he held until February 1986, when he was appointed Chief of the Research Aircraft Operations Division. McMurtry has been project pilot for the AD-1 Oblique Wing program, the F-15 Digital Electronic Engine Control (DEEC) project and the F-8 Supercritical Wing program. He was co- project pilot on the F-15 ACTIVE program, F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire program and on several remotely piloted research vehicle programs such as the FAA/NASA 720 Controlled Impact Demonstration and the sub-scale F-15 spin research project. He has also been a co-project pilot on the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. |
| Date |
01.01.1990 |
|
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