National Aeronautics and Space Administration is abbreviated to NASA. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 as a civilian independent agency of the executive arm of the federal government of the United States.
Since then, NASA has been responsible for the majority of domestic space exploration efforts.
Apollo moon landings, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and the Beyond Low Earth Orbit program were all administered by NASA. Let’s learn some NASA facts for kids.
NASA Facts for Kids 1-10
1. President Woodrow Wilson established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics before establishing NASA (NACA).
The purpose of the program was to oversee and direct scientific research and analysis of aviation concerns.
2. NASA began operations in 1958, one year after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1. Sputnik 1 was the world’s first artificial satellite.
3. A number of satellites were launched into space in 1972. Their mission was to take photographs of the earth’s surface from space.
4. Neil Armstrong submitted his application to NASA one week late. His acquaintance snuck the application into the stack so that it would not appear to be late.
5. NASA is known to show the film Armageddon to new employees and quiz them on its inaccuracies. 168 or more have been identified.
6. Bill Nye the Science Guy, a popular television host, has frequently requested to be an astronaut, but NASA has consistently denied his requests.
7. In 1972, NASA and the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare launched The Learning Channel (TLC).
8. Because no insurance companies nor NASA deemed the Apollo astronauts eligible for life insurance, they signed “insurance signatures” prior to launch.
In the event of their passing, it was hoped that the autographs would be worth a great deal of money to their loved ones.
9. There have been numerous claims that the moon landing was a hoax.
In 2006, NASA acknowledged that the original tapes had been replaced and were no longer accessible.
10. Apollo 12 was struck by lightning, but John Aaron, a NASA flight controller, salvaged the mission.
He also rescued the Apollo 13 crew when he devised a method for safe re-entry using a power-up process.
NASA Facts for Kids 11-20
11. The Office of Planetary Protection is NASA’s program for dealing with extraterrestrial life, should it be discovered.
12. At the International Space Station are both American and Russian astronauts. They maintain different water sources.
13. In 2006, NASA launched a spacecraft to Pluto. It was expected to arrive in nine years.
14. NASA does not acknowledge a person as an astronaut until they have traveled 50 miles above the earth’s surface.
15. NASA created a spacecraft capable of deflecting an incoming asteroid using a nuclear explosion.
16. Three Yemeni men sued NASA for trespassing on Mars, saying they acquired the planet from their forefathers thousands of years ago.
17. An astronaut from NASA invented the Super Soaker spray gun.
18. NASA is in charge of the United States civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
19. The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 led to the establishment of NASA.
20. Project Mercury was the first NASA endeavor.
NASA Facts for Kids 21-30
21. Freedom 7 was the first manned spacecraft launched by NASA, carrying Alan B. Shepard Jr. into space on May 15, 1961.
22. The headquarters of NASA is located at 300 E Street SW in Washington, D.C.
23. NASA is funded by the United States Federal Government, with funding reaching a high point of 4.41 percent of the federal budget in 1966.
Aeronautics, Earth science, exploration, and planetary science received $19.3 billion in 2016 from NASA.
24. During the space race, NASA was the major opponent of the Soviet space program.
25. From 1961 to 1972, the NASA Apollo mission successfully put the first man on the moon.
Six moonwalking missions were accomplished by the Apollo program with success.
26. The NASA Space Shuttle program (1972-2011) was successful in developing a reusable spacecraft capable of orbital human flight.
While the program was a success, two shuttles were lost in accidents, resulting in the deaths of 14 astronauts.
The shuttles Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 were lost.
27. NASA pays individuals to spend extended periods of time in bed in order to explore the consequences of prolonged weightlessness.
28. NASA has launched two spacecraft named Tom and Gerry, which orbit the Earth in tandem.
29. The first lunar landing occurred on July 16, 1969.
30. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins comprised the first lunar landing crew.
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