Fast Facts for Kids
NASA Fact for Kids

NASA Facts for Kids

  • Agency Name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
  • Agency Type: Space and Aeronautics Research Agency
  • Agency Formation Date: July 29th, 1958
  • Preceding Agency: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (1915 to 1958)
  • Agency Headquarters: 300 E Street SW in Washington, D.C.
  • Agency Achievements: Human Spaceflight and Space Explorations
  • Funded By: The United States Federal Government

24 NASA Facts For Kids

  1. NASA is the acronym or short name for the United State National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
  2. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States federal government.
  3. NASA was established in 1958 to oversee the civil space program, space research, and aeronautics research.
  4. NASA has led the United States and the world in human spaceflight, space research and space exploration.
  5. NASA was created by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 with an annual budget of $100 million dollars.
  6. The first NASA administrator was Doctor Thomas Keith Glennan and held the position between 1958 and 1961.
  7. Technology developed by NASA has found its way into our lives, like memory foam, camera phones, wireless headphones, and the computer mouse.
  8. NASA was part of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Un
  9. NASA officially approved and started Project Mercury on October 7th, 1958, its first human spaceflight mission.
  10. NASA launched its first space probe, Pioneer 1 (Able 2), on October 11th, 1958. It failed its mission to orbit the Moon due to guidance system issues.
  11. NASA took the first photograph of Earth from space using the Explorer 6 satellite on February 28th, 1959.
  12. NASA launched its first astronaut into space, American Alan Shepard, using the Mercury-Redstone 3 spacecraft on May 5th, 1961.
  13. NASA and the United States were the first to successfully flyby a planet (Venus) using the Mariner 2 space probe on December 14th, 1962.
  14. NASA was the first to successfully flyby the planet Mars using the Mariner 4 space probe on March 1st, 1966.
  15. NASA was the first to successfully put humans in orbit around another celestial body (the Moon) with the Apollo 8 mission on December 21st, 1968.
  16. NASA was the first to put humans on the Moon with the Apollo 11 mission on July 20th, 1969.
  17. NASA was the first to orbit another planet using the spacecraft Mariner 9 on November 14th, 1971.
  18. NASA was the first to flyby the planet Jupiter using spacecraft Pioneer 10 on December 3rd, 1973.
  19. NASA was the first to flyby the planet Mercury using spacecraft Pioneer 10 March 29th, 1974.
  20. NASA was the first to flyby the planet Saturn using spacecraft Pioneer 11 on September 1st, 1979.
  21. NASA was the first to launch and return a spaceplane, the Space Shuttle, on April 12th, 1981.
  22. NASA was the first to have an astronaut do an untethered spacewalk on February 7th, 1984.
  23. NASA was the first to flyby the planet Uranus using spacecraft Voyager 2 on January 24th, 1986.
  24. NASA was the first to flyby the planet Neptune using spacecraft Voyager 2 on August 25th, 1989.

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