100 years ago: NASA's forerunner established
When we think about the history of the space program, we think about the 1950s. Soviet advances, specifically, Sputnik 1, kick-started American efforts. But as it happens, 100 years ago, leaders were already worried about how quickly other countries were developing aviation. Here are the origins of the U.S. space agency.
The Great War: On July 28,1914, World War I started. It quickly became apparent that European powers were getting ahead in aviation. Consider that in August 1914, a monoplane used for reconnaissance had a “decisive effect at the Battle of Tannenberg,” a German victory, according to the book, World War I, The Definitive Visual History, (Smithsonian; 2014).
Mounting concern: While the U.S. was not yet part of the war, leaders were concerned that the country was falling behind. “The United States trailed Europe in its accomplishments, its lack of organized research, and also in the amount of funds allocated to military aviation,” recounts the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission.
March 3, 1915: Congress established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.” NACA was approved with little notice and little money -- $5,000 -- appended to a naval appropriations bill. One month later, President Woodrow Wilson appointed the first 12 unpaid members.
1917: To get the country competitive again, in 1917, NACA established the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Virginia.
1920: Orville Wright was appointed to serve on the committee. (Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912). Orville remained active through 1948.
1958: One year after the launch of Sputnik 1, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration replaced NACA. “NASA absorbed NACA intact,” according to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, “its 8,000 employees, an annual budget of $100 million, three major research laboratories—Langley and Ames aeronautical laboratories and Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory—and two smaller test facilities.”
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