NASA turns 60: achievements, discoveries and tragedies – 29/07/2018

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is celebrating its 60th anniversary today, a milestone that marks the moment when the US government began to look at the stars with as much scientific curiosity as military suspicion. 19659002] Today, just sixty years ago, Dwight Eisenhower, then President of the United States, signed the legislation that gave birth to the iconic space agency, although its implementation has not been implemented. Occurred on October 1 of the same year. Year

However, the history of NASA goes back more than half a century, to the dawn of aviation, when in 1915 Washington established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), whose main mission was looking for practical solutions to the challenges presented by these first flights.

"He did not limit himself to the study of flights in the atmosphere, so over the time, its engineers and scientists began studying rockets and Richard Hallion, historian and Pentagon consultant for air and space affairs

In 1926, the American physicist and inventor Robert Goddard captured the attention of the whole world by successfully launching the first liquid fuel rocket.

This milestone was a scientific achievement of great value, but also an opportunity obvious military.

During the Second World War (1939-1945), Germany took a big step forward in developing ballistic missiles they could travel more than 300 kilometers, which terrified the citizens of London

"At the end of the war, the development of rockets became a subject of great interest to the US and the US Soviet Union," said Hallion, adding that in a nutshell , "it was essentially the genesis of what would later be called the space race."

At that time, space research had two clear aspects: a soldier, who aspired to develop rockets capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and another scientist, who was trying to put a satellite into orbit.

The Americans were again in tow and had to observe how, on October 4, 1957, the Soviets were crowned with a satellite. : Sputnik 1.

This new disappointment has led the US government to rethink what should be the way forward in space research. Congress then decided to create a new agency that would merge NACA and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA).

"The result of this marriage was what eventually became NASA," adds the historian, adding that while it is true that the Armed Forces have maintained "their own interests in space This decision allowed NASA to "focus on the civil aspects and exploration".

From this moment, the historical achievements of the aerospace agency began to accumulate, as the arrival of the On the Moon, July 20, 1969; Although he also suffered setbacks such as the Challenger shuttle blast, in 1986, in which his seven crew members died.

These accidents and the high cost of the special race have led Washington in recent years to bet on putting one's feet on the ground and not looking at the stars.

However, the arrival at the White House of Donald Trump once again set the conquest of the Space in the foreground. ligne A conquest that, yes, is both scientific and military

His promise that the United States will be the first country to place a man on Mars now seems more distant than his commitment to creating a space force, whose mission will be to protect national interests in the stratosphere.