On Oct. 1, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officially began operations. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the
James Webb, who served as NASA s administrator from 1961-68, was chosen in 2002 to be honored by naming a telescope 25-years in the making after him. The decision has become controversial.
Type keyword(s) to search I Lived With the Astronauts : PM at the Beginning of U.S. Spaceflight
In December 1959, Popular Mechanics spent a week with the Mercury 7 astronauts and witnessed the beginning of U.S. human spaceflight.
By Joseph N. Bell CorbisGetty Images
On this day 60 years ago, Alan Shepard packed into the cramped Freedom 7 capsule atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket and blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The NASA astronaut climbed to an altitude of 116 miles above Earth s surface and became the first American to reach space. His flight lasted just 15 minutes, but it cemented his legendary status as one of the most daring explorers in our nation s history.