www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th/main.html

Explore the amazing fifty year history of American’s space program as NASA celebrates it’s 50th Anniversary…

www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/historyLetter.html

http://history.nasa.gov/

50 Years of NASA History (The Space Agency Press Release:)

NASA’s birth was directly related to the launch of the Sputniks and the ensuing race to demonstrate technological superiority in space. Driven by the competition of the Cold War, on July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, providing for research into the problems of flight within Earth’s atmosphere and in space.

After a protracted debate over military versus civilian control of space, the act inaugurated a new civilian agency designated the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  The agency began operations on Oct. 1, 1958.

And life on earth has never been the same since.