1958
President Eisenhower Authorizes Creation of NASA
On this day in 1958, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower signs an act that creates the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). He called the signing an [sic] historic step, further
equipping the United States for leadership in the space age.
Since the end of World War II, the United
States had worked to make breakthroughs in rocket science. This particular
legislation expanded the original National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
(NACA) into NASA. NASA research, which was generously funded by Eisenhower’s
successors, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, was responsible for successful
and groundbreaking American achievements such as the Apollo 11 lunar
landing in 1969 and the development of the space shuttle, first launched in
1981. More recently, NASA has sent robotic exploratory missions to Mars and
launched a spacecraft to view Pluto. NASA’s research has also contributed to
advances in consumer-oriented goods such as telecommunications satellites and
computer technology.
Although NASA currently engages in cooperative
projects with other nations, Eisenhower at the time had to add a cautionary
note when signing the legislation that created the new agency. He warned that
NASA’s research into peaceful projects could be shared only when international
treaties outlining such projects were authorized first by the president and the
U.S. Senate. Ike, the former Army general who oversaw the Allied invasion of
Normandy in World War II, wanted to ensure that NASA would not share
information that was vital to national security.