NASA Full Form - What is the Full form of NASA?

The full form of NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and it’s an administrator-led organization. From making satellites to sending probes into space and making new inventions, NASA does a lot of things to make life better on Earth. In addition to NASA's full form, there is a lot more you might like to explore about it. This article will help you learn interesting facts about NASA. 

What is the Full Form of NASA? 

NASA's full form is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is an independent agency for the civil space program. In addition to this, NASA is also responsible for aeronautics and space sciences of the United States Federal Government for airplanes or space. President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the foundation of NASA on 1 October 1958 as a part of the United States Government.

NASA Highlights

Space Flight Programs

In its over 60 years of journey, NASA has performed various crewed and uncrewed spaceflight projects. Some of the major Crewed and Uncrewed programs of NASA include:

NASA’s Crewed Programs 

• Project Mercury from 1958 to 1963
• X to 15 rocket planes in 1959 to 1968
• Apollo program from 1961 to 1972
• Apollo to Soyuz Test Project from 1972 to 1975
• Space Shuttle program from 1972 to 2011

NASA’s Uncrewed Programs

• Explorer 1 to First U.S Uncrewed satellite (1958)
• Pioneer 10 to First spacecraft to visit Jupiter
• Voyager 2 to First spacecraft to visit Uranus in 1986

What Does NASA Do?

NASA is an administrator-led organization that works hard to make air travel faster and safer. The existing administrator of NASA is Jim Bridenstine and James W. Morhard is the existing Deputy Administrator of NASA. The organization has four research directorates, including

1. Aeronautics Research which works for the improvement of new aviation technologies
2. Space technology, the major task of which is to develop space research and exploration technology
3. The Science that works on understanding the functionality of the cosmos, the solar system, and Earth
4. Human exploration and operations is the fourth wing that works on crew project management such as the International Space Station

NASA, full form of which is National Aeronautics and Space Administration has 20 centers and facilities where it studies Earth, Sun, Solar System, and a lot more. Research, testing, and development are the major initiatives at NASA to advance aeronautics, electric propulsion, and supersonic flight. In addition to this, NASA also leads a Moon to Mars exploration approach to develop new technology. 

NASA Grant Program

NASA runs various grant programs to provide financial, technological, and other support to educational institutions and other organizations. Major NASA grant programs include

Space Grant: Also known as a Space Grant, NASA introduced the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in 1989. In this, a network of colleges and universities work together to create opportunities for Americans and to motivate them to participate in space and aeronautics projects at NASA.

NASA Research Opportunities: The objective of this grant is to support research in the science and technology field. It gets multiple research proposals and chooses the most suitable proposal through the evaluation process. 

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs: These programs by National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA full form) fund the research, development, and demonstration of technologies that have a huge scope of commercialization. 

International Space Station Funding Opportunities: NASA provides funds through NASA Research Announcements (NRAs) that can be used by scientists for International Space Station (ISS) research and development, payload development, and a lot more.

Latest Discovery of NASA

The latest discovery by NASA is the never before seen images of the earliest galaxies. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope found a galaxy that is expected to have been formed 350 million years after the Big Bang. This is also called to be one of the biggest projects of NASA. As per the scientists, the newly found galaxies are so bright and dazzling that they can also challenge the understanding of how galaxies were formed. The learnings from the latest discovery by NASA were also published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters by the team led by Rohan Naidu. 

Greatest Achievements of NASA

1. Explorer 1, the First U.S. Satellite
2. Hubble Space Telescope, the Universe Unveiled
3. The Juno Spacecraft, a Trip to Jupiter
4. Apollo 13, Brilliance at Mission Control
5. The Space Shuttle, a Reusable Spacecraft

Unsuccessful Missions of NASA

• ISS Expedition 36: Water Leak in Astronaut’s Suit (July 16, 2013)
• STS-51-L: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (January 28, 1986)
• Mir-18: Exercise Equipment to the Eye (1995)

Interesting Facts About NASA

• NASA full form is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and it was created in response to the Soviet Union's first artificial satellite a year before.
• The first man walked on the moon on July 20, 1969, while the target to send a man to the moon was 1960. 
• The first shuttle - the Space Shuttle Enterprise never flew into space. 
• NASA trains teachers to help them learn interesting and innovative techniques to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
• NASA created a secretive spy aircraft the SR-71 or Blackbird in the late 1950s and used it first in 1964.
• Spare parts from Discovery and Atlantis were used to build Space Shuttle Endeavour.