Happy birthday to us! On this day (#OTD) October 1, 1958, NASA began operations, making this year our 59th anniversary. After the launch of Sputnik and Sputnik 2 in October and November 1957, there was much debate about how the U.S. should respond. Among a number of measures to improve education, competitiveness, and international understanding the U.S. Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act in July 1958. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Act July 29, 1958, creating NASA.
Just over two months later, NASA began its work to bring the US into the Space Age. NASA was created on the basis of the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) with the addition of several other government Space Research and development organizations.
In this video, the first Administrator of NASA, Thomas Keith Glennan, addresses the employees of the NACA after it had been brought under the fold of the newly created NASA.
