translated from Spanish: 60 years of NASA: 6 key moments in the history of the United States Space Agency

on 1 October 1958 began operations of the institution which would have again and again in vilo to millions of people the world over six decades.
The arrival of man on the Moon, the Challenger tragedy, the first images of our planet as a tiny and “pale blue dot” in the universe and the exploration of Mars, among many other events, marked the history of agency Aeronautics and space of United States, NASA.
President Dwight Eisenhower had been enacted on 29 July of the same year the law that created NASA, in the midst of a fierce race for superiority between the United States and the then Soviet Union.
Moscow had beaten once in Washington placing in orbit the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in 1957, four months before the release of the first American satellite, Explorer 1.
NASA joined the birth of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, absorbing not only your budget and laboratories, but all of its 8,000 employees.
More than 18,000 people now work for the agency that explores the mysteries of the universe, including our own planet.
BBC world we remember six key chapters in the history of NASA.
1. 1969: Apollo and the landing on the Moon missions.
The Soviet Union returned to come to the United States when Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into outer space on April 12, 1961, a month before the American Alan Shepard repeat feat.
NASANeil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, the crew of the historic Apollo mission 11.NASAHuella one of the first steps on the Moon, left by Aldrin. The historic moment was followed by about 530 million viewers around the world. That same year President John F. Kennedy made his famous speech: ‘I believe that this nation should commit to achieve, before the end of the Decade, the goal of putting a man on the Moon and get it back healthy and save the Earth’.
The Apollo program began two years later, but his beginnings were marked by tragedy.
Apollo 1 was never realized. A fire in the command module during a test at the launch pad killed the three tripulates, the astronauts, Vigil Grisson, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, on January 27, 1967.
Personal NASAEl of the NASA ashore during the tense moments of communication with the crew of the Apollo 11. most famous la of the Apollo missions was the 11, who on July 20, 1969 for two astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first be It is human to walk on the lunar surface.
NASAGus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, crew it had been hoped would be the first manned mission of the Apollo program. The three men died due to a fire during tests on the launch pad. Nearly 530 million people saw on television Armstrong and heard their historical words “one small step for a man, one giant step for mankind”.
2. 1977: the Voyager probes and a “pale blue dot” Voyager 1 and 2 probes were launched by NASA in 1977 and are sent by humans instrument that has further come. In 2013, Voyager 1 became the first object created by man to reach interstellar space (the region between the stars).
NASAUna illustration of Voyager 1, the first object created by man to reach interstellar space. NASA/JPLVoyager 2 captured so Neptune, the eighth planet from the Sun, which is located at a distance of more than 30 times higher than that which exists between the Earth and our star. Both probes carry “Sounds of Earth”, a gold disc which includes recordings of greetings in different languages, and music from around the world, including compositions by Beethoven and Bach, and a song by Chuck Berry.
In 1990, NASA, at the suggestion of the astronomer Carl Sagan, made probe to turn toward back only once before continue deep into space to capture an image of the Earth.
NASAJohn Casini, director of the Voyager project, shows the small flag and disk gold with greetings and world music that continues its journey through the universe on Voyager 2.NASA/JPL-Caltech “this is our home, that is us, there all people that live” you know and love and all those that have existed,”said astronomer Carl Sagan on the picture of the Earth taken by Voyager 1 known as”pale blue dot”. The famous photo taken about 6,000 million km of our planet inspired the book “Pale blue dot” of Sagan and shows a tiny dot on the cosmic vastness.
“That is our home, that we, live there all the people that you know and love and all those that have existed,” said Sagan on the image in a speech at Cornell University.
“There is perhaps better demonstration of the folly of human pride that this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to treat each other more friendly and compassionately, and preserve and love that pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known”.
3. 1986: the Challenger disaster.
The era of the space shuttles had begun in 1972, following the end of the Apollo missions.
On January 28, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after launch, killing the seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe, first teacher selected for the “teacher in space program “.”
NASALa crew of Challenger: Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith A. Resnik, Francis Scobee, Ronald McNair, Mike Smith and Ellison Onizuka.El famous American physicist Richard Feynman joined the Commission that investigated the disaster.
The Commission determined that the tragedy was caused by a faulty rubber seal, called o-ring. The function of the Board, in English o-rings, was sealed two-compartment fuel rockets external using the ferry.
The final report also highlighted a catastrophic lack of communication between engineers and NASA administrators, subject to the pressure of launching a mission especially media.
Engineers believed best to postpone the launch, since he knew from the Decade of the 70 that low temperatures the seals could have problems. And the day scheduled for the release was unusually cold in Cape Canaveral.
ReutersEl shuttle disintegrated 73 seconds after launch. While NASA managers stated that there was a 1 in 100,000 chance of a serious flaw, Feynman discovered that NASA’s own engineers had estimated the probability of catastrophe in about 1 in 200.
In a dramatic hearing, Feynman illustrated the shortcomings of the rubber gasket by putting a piece of material compressed by a small press of Carpenter in a glass with ice. By releasing the press board material did not regain its original form, in other words, low temperatures affected their behavior.
The physicist summed up its conclusions in a phrase that became famous: “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, nature can not be deceived.”
You can see the demonstration of Feynman at this link.
4. 1990: telescope Hubble Space Telescope, named in honor of American astronomer Edwin Hubble, was placed in orbit on April 24, 1990.
NASA, Jeff Hester and Paul ScowenLos “Pillars of creation”. The image was taken by the Hubble telescope in 1995 and shows columns of gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula, a wedge of about 7,000 light-years of the Tierra.NASA/ESA/HubbleLas star of this “Butterfly” wings measured three years light. The dying star at the Centre of the Nebula NGC 6302 has a surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees Celsius. The photo was taken in 2009, after that installed a new camera on the Hubble Hubble.NASAEl orbit the Earth at an altitude of 593 km above sea level. The Hubble telescope, which has an orbital period of between 96 and 97 minutes and which lies at an altitude of 593 km above sea level, has taken some of the most iconic and breathtaking, as the “pillars of creation” spatial images.
The successor to the Hubble will be the James Webb Space Telescope, whose launch is planned for 2020.
5. 1998: International Space Station ISS is a joint project among the United States, Russia, Japan, the European Space Agency and the space agency of Canada.
The first part of the station was launched in 1998, and the last module was placed in 2011.
NASALa station is a Center for research and scientific experiments. It measures 109 meters and 88 meters wide and orbits the Earth at an altitude of 400 km. NASAAlexander Gerst of Germany, Sergei Prokopyev of Russia and Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Cuban American, three of the six current crew of the ISS. More than 200 astronauts from 18 countries have visited the station, which is divided into two sections, the Russian Orbital segment and the US Orbital segment. Both sections have funding until 2024.
The station measures 109 meters and 88 meters wide. Orbit the Earth every 91 minutes at an altitude of 400 km. This means that within 24 hours the ISS astronauts see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets.
6. 2004: exploration of Mars ship Mars Pathfinder, launched in 1996, was the first to land on the red planet from the Viking program in 1976.
In 2004 reached the red planet vehicles explorers Mars Spirit and Opportunity, equipped with panoramic cameras and spectrometers for geological research.
NASACuriosity landed on Mars in 2012, and is as popular as Instagram stars by their numerous selfies. NASA lost communication with Spirit in 2011 and there is no news of Opportunity since a sandstorm will affect their solar panels in junior this year.
Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012, and is as popular as Instagram stars by their numerous selfies.
In Gale Crater in 2015, the Rover found evidence of seawater near the surface of Mars. And this year found complex organic molecules in rocks of 3,000 million years old indicating that the planet could host life in the past.
NASAEl Rover Mission Mars 2020 will have 23 cameras, will be equipped with a drill and will be able to select and save soil samples. Mars 2020 mission will be the new stage of the life on Mars exploration.
The vehicle will have 23 cameras, will be equipped with a drill and will be able to select and save samples of soil which could be brought to Earth in future missions.
NASAEl President Eisenhower enacted the law that created the space agency on July 29, 1958, but NASA celebrates its anniversary on October 1, when it opened its doors. Now you can receive notifications of BBC News World. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.

Original source in Spanish