The U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America’s
activities in space, on July 29, 1958.

NASA has since sponsored space expeditions, both
human and mechanical, that have yielded vital
information about the solar system and universe.

It has also launched numerous earth-orbiting satellites
that have been instrumental in everything from weather
forecasting to navigation to global communications.

NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union’s
October 4, 1957 launch of its first satellite, Sputnik I.