It also laid the initial groundwork for NASA’s exploration of the moon and planets. In demonstrating the possibilities for the world, Explorer I made space a race. It was the first major discovery of the Space Age. The data revealed a donut-shaped ring of charged particle radiation trapped by Earth’s magnetic field surrounding the planet. 31, 1958, and his cosmic ray detector was onboard “by virtue of preparedness and good fortune,” as he often recalled. When the United States announced in September 1955 that it would produce the first artificial satellite for the International Geophysical Year project, James Van Allen, head of the University of Iowa’s physics department, began building an instrument to measure radiation in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The ceremony took place on the White House Lawn. Robert Gilruth, director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, with the Medal for Distinguished Federal Civil Service. Legendary leader - Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and James Webb (behind microphones) look on as President John F. Thousands of inspiring stories involving extraordinary scientists and engineers have been lived and told in NASA’s first 50 years. It was engineering and science together that demonstrated American capabilities and put the U.S. But the United States response – Explorer 1 – flew higher and returned textbook-changing knowledge. Its beep-beep-beep startled the world and scored the U.S.S.R. Even Sputnik was the U.S.S.R.’s contribution to a cooperative global science project called International Geophysical Year 1957-’58, at least officially. While engineering – building the rockets and spacecraft and getting them out to their destinations in working order – was clearly the driving force of NASA in the early years, science was always an integral part of the space program. Only together can scientists and engineers do the work of NASA and it has been that way from the start. Stone, also the Voyager project scientist. For a mission to succeed, NASA scientists and engineers must share certain qualities despite their inherent differences, “qualities like patience, dedication, optimism, faith in colleagues, a willingness to take informed risks, and the capacity to be a team player,” according to former Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Director Edward C. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of people may be involved in a single project. No one builds a rocket or makes a discovery in space alone. Drawing on the talents of individuals from all nationalities and cultural backgrounds, NASA is looking to acquire the best of what humanity has to offer. NASA has evolved and so has it workforce.
If your image of a NASA engineer or scientist is that of a white male in a crisp white shirt with black clip-on tie and pocket protector, think again. One in every 1,000 patents issued by United States Patent and Trade Organization has gone to scientists or engineers working on NASA projects and tens of thousands of scientific studies from the agency’s missions have been published in leading journals worldwide. As NASA has extended its presence on the final frontier, they have defined new fields and expanded knowledge and technology on almost every front.
Similarly, to explain the things and places it explores, NASA enlists scientists from a multitude of specialties within the fields of astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, materials science and physics.
#THE SPACE IN BETWEEN WE USED TO DREAM SOFTWARE#
Space science pioneer - James Van Allen, key contributor to 25 space missions.Įngineers draw the cutting edge in every capacity for NASA, from avionics to electronics, software to rocketry. The people who turn space exploration dreams into real NASA missions or projects are engineers and scientists. It’s something else to create the technology to actually do these things. It’s one thing to think about studying Earth from above or sending robots and humans to the moon or Mars or conducting experiments in space.