NASA, A brief history

[International Desk, DIU]

Full Name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Establishment: July 29, 1958

Focused On:  Earth Observing System,
                   Advancing heliophysics
                   Exploring bodies throughout the Solar System
             and Researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang.

NASA mission:

                   Manned
                        1) X-15 rocket plane (1959–1968)
                        2) Project Mercury (1959–1963, manned missions from 1961)
                        3) Project Gemini (1962–1966, manned missions from 1965)
                        4) Apollo program (1961–1972, manned missions from 1968)
                        5) Skylab (1973–1979)
                        6) Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (1975–1981)
                        7) Space Shuttle program (1981–2011)
                        International Space Station (1998–)
                       
                Unmanned

                Lunar missions


    Clementine
    Lunar Prospector
    Lunar Orbiter program
    Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
    Moon Mineralogy Mapper – instrument for ISRO's Chandraayan-1
    Ranger program
    Surveyor program
    Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)
    Pioneer 0
    Pioneer 1
    Pioneer 2
    Pioneer P-1
    Pioneer P-3
    Pioneer P-30
    Pioneer P-31
    Pioneer 3
    Pioneer 4

Mars missions

    Mariner 4
    Mariner 6 and 7
    Mariner 9
    Mars Exploration Rovers – (Spirit and Opportunity rovers)
    Mars Global Surveyor
    Mars Odyssey
    Mars Pathfinder – (Sojourner rover)
    Mars Polar Lander
    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
    Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) – (Curiosity rover) – planned arrival at Mars in August 2012[4]
    Phoenix
    Viking program

Asteroidal/cometary missions

    NEAR Shoemaker
    Deep Space 1
    Stardust
    Deep Impact

Interplanetary missions

    Cassini–Huygens – Saturn and its moons
    Dawn – Vesta in 2011-2012, and Ceres in 2014
    Galileo – Jupiter and its moons
    Juno Spacecraft Mission – Jupiter-bound for polar orbit in 2016[5]
    Magellan – Venus orbiter
    Mariner program – Venus, Mars, and first to Mercury
    MESSENGER – Mercury
    New Horizons – Pluto and its moons in 2015
    Pioneer 5 – interplanetary space between Earth and Venus
    Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9 – Solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays
    Pioneer 10 – first to the asteroid belt and Jupiter
    Pioneer 11 – asteroid belt and Jupiter, first to Saturn
    Pioneer Venus project
    Voyager 1 – Jupiter, Saturn
    Voyager 2 – Jupiter, Saturn, first to Uranus and Neptune

Sun observing missions

    Solar Maximum Mission
    SOHO – ESA partnership
    Ulysses – ESA partnership
    STEREO
    Solar Dynamics Observatory
    Genesis (spacecraft)

Earth satellites

    Biosatellite 1, 2 and 3
    Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
    Earth Observing-1 (EO-1)
    Einstein Observatory (HEAO-2)
    Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)
    High Energy Astronomy Observatory 1 (HEAO 1)
    Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE)
    Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS)
    Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
    Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR)
    NanoSail-D & NanoSail-D2
    Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)
    Space Technology 5 (ST5)
    Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS)
    Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED)
    Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS)
    Uhuru
    Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)

Earth Observing System

    Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
    Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
    NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) – National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)[7]

Landsat

    Landsat 1
    Landsat 2
    Landsat 3
    Landsat 4
    Landsat 5
    Landsat 6
    Landsat 7

Great Observatories program

    Hubble Space Telescope – ESA partnership
    Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
    Chandra X-ray Observatory
    Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, SIRTF)

Small Explorer program

Small Explorer (SMEX) individual mission cost not to exceed $120 million.

    Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM)
    Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST)
    Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
    Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)
    Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) – Sun observing, Earth satellite
    Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX)
    Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS)
    Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) – Sun observing, Earth satellite
    Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)

Suborbital

    Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) – five consecutive launches, 80 seconds apart on March 27, 2012, studied the high-altitude jet stream .

Planned missions

    James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) – ESA partnership – launch scheduled for 2018[12][13]
    Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) – next key decision point anticipated November 2012, after assembly.
    Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) – set to launch in late 2013[15][16][17]
    Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) – opportunity to launch in June 2012[18][19]
    Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) – launch scheduled for 2016[20]
    Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) – launch planned for August 2012[21][22]

Cancelled missions

    Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF)
    Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO)
    Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C)
    Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO)
    Pluto Kuiper Express (PLUTOKE) – replaced by New Horizons