What is NASA?
NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the US government agency for space exploration, aeronautics and space science. It was founded on October 1, 1958.
NASA was created after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, starting the Space Race. It took over earlier research groups and quickly began human spaceflight programs: Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. In 1969, Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the Moon.
Since then, NASA has flown the Space Shuttle, helped build the International Space Station and sent robotic missions across the solar system, such as the Voyager probes and Mars rovers including Curiosity and Perseverance. It also operates telescopes like Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope and studies Earth's climate from orbit.
NASA today
NASA's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually send them to Mars. In April 2026, Artemis II carried four astronauts around the Moon. NASA headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and its centers include Johnson Space Center in Houston and Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Did You Know?
NASA's famous blue logo with a red swoosh is nicknamed the meatball, while its 1970s red lettering logo is known as the worm.