Mariner Mission to Venus

by Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA: FOR SCIENCE

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was an outgrowth of the participation of the United States in the International Geophysical Year program and of the nation’s space effort, revitalized following Russia’s successful orbiting of Sputnik I in 1957.

Final NACA meeting, August 21, 1958.

Model of X-1 research plane.

Headquarters of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C.

JPL developed first JATO units in 1941.

Other Laboratory Projects were the Corporal missile (left) and Explorer I (right), the first U.S. satellite.

Under the terms of the law which created NASA, it is a Federal Agency dedicated to carrying out “activities in space ... devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind.” NASA is charged to preserve the role of our nation as a leader in the aeronautical and space sciences and technology and to utilize effectively the science and engineering resources of the United States in accomplishing these goals. Activities associated with military operations in space and the development of weapons systems are specifically assigned to the Defense Department.

In November, 1957, before the creation of NASA, President Eisenhower had established a Scientific Advisory Committee to determine the national objectives and requirements in space and to establish the basic framework within which science, industry, and the academic community could best support these objectives.

The Committee submitted a report to the President in March, 1958, recommending creation of a civilian agency to conduct the national space programs. The recommendation, endorsed by the President, was submitted to the Congress on April 2, 1958. The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 was passed and became law in July, 1958.

NASA was officially established on October 1, 1958, and Dr. T. Keith Glennan, President of Case Institute of Technology, was appointed as the first Administrator. The facilities and personnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) were transferred to form the nucleus of the new NASA agency.

NACA had performed important and significant research in aeronautics, wind tunnel technology, and aerodynamics since 1915, including a series of experimental rocket research aircraft that culminated in the X-15. It was natural that it be expanded to include space operations.

Among the NACA Centers transferred to NASA were the Langley Research Center at Hampton, Virginia; Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio; Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California; Flight Research Center, Edwards, California; and the rocket launch facility at Wallops Island, Virginia.

Those personnel of the Naval Research Laboratory who had been working on Project Vanguard were also transferred to NASA, as was the project. These personnel are now part of the new Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt, Maryland.

The October, 1958, transfers also included a number of the space projects of the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Defense Department. In a December, 1958, Executive Order, the President assigned the former Army facilities of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena, California, to NASA. At the same time, the group working under Dr. Wernher von Braun at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (commanded by Major General John B. Medaris) was made responsive to NASA requirements.

On July 1, 1960, the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was organized at Huntsville under von Braun’s direction. The former Development Operations Division of ABMA formed the nucleus of the new Center. The MSFC mission was to procure and to supervise the adaptation of launch vehicles for NASA space missions, including Atlas, Thor, and Agena. Marshall is directly responsible for the design and development of advanced, high-thrust booster vehicles such as the Saturn C-1 and C-5 and the Nova.

An agency to conduct NASA affairs at Cape Canaveral was formed within MSFC on July 1, 1960. Known then as the Launch Operations Directorate (LOD), it was directed by Dr. Kurt H. Debus. LOD became independent of Marshall in March, 1962, when it was redesignated the Launch Operations Center (LOC), reporting directly to the Office of Manned Space Flight. This separation resulted largely because the activities at AMR were becoming more operational in character and less oriented toward research and development.

LOC handles such functions for NASA as the scheduling of launch dates and liaison with the Atlantic Missile Range for support activities. The Center will have the responsibility in the field for assembly, checkout, and launch of the Saturn and Nova boosters.

Following the election of President Kennedy in 1961, James E. Webb replaced Dr. Glennan as Administrator of NASA. Shortly after, a new national goal was announced—placing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth in this decade. Meanwhile, JPL had been assigned responsibility for unmanned exploration of the Moon, the planets, and interplanetary space, and thus was charged with supporting the NASA manned flight program through these activities.

In less than five years, NASA grew to include eight flight and research centers and about 21,000 technical and management personnel. Within NASA, Dr. Abe Silverstein’s Office of Space Flight Programs was responsible for the Mariner R Project which was directly assigned to Ed Cortright, Director of Lunar & Planetary Programs, and Fred Kochendorfer, who is NASA’s Program Chief for Mariner. A subsequent reorganization placed responsibility under Dr. Homer Newell’s Office of Space Sciences, and Oran Nicks became Director of Lunar & Planetary Programs.