17 Cool Facts about NASA

1.NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Aeronautics is the science of flying.

2.NASA was founded in 1958 as a part of the United States government when President Dwight D. Elsenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act.

3.The first human in space was Yuri Gagarin oApril 12, 1961.He is a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union(Russia).

4.NASA quarantined the astronauts who landed on the moon and when returned to Earth.NASA was concerned that astronauts may have picked up germs on the moon that don't exist on Earth.No one ever got sick,and after Apollo 14,the quarantines stopped.

5.Random Apollo command module names - Casper,Gumdrop and Charlie Brown.
NASA

6.Mercury-Atlas 6 was the NASA's first manned spaceflight.

7.The Apollo program was designed to send people to the moon.

8.Astronauts will grow in space.They become one or two inch taller when they are in space,This is because without gravity your spine straightens out ,causing you to stretch out.

9.On June 3,1965,Edward White was the first American to go on a space walk.

10.Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite in space.It was built and launched by the Soviet Union and marked the beginning of the space race.

11.The first  US American space shuttle is "Columbia", was launched in the year 1981.

12.The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs helped NASA learn about flying in space. This led to the first human landing on the moon in 1969.

13.NASA Headquarters is in Washington, D.C. There are ten NASA centers all over the United States. There are also seven test and research facilities. More than 18,000 people work for NASA!

14.NASA makes satellites which helps scientists to learn more about Earth.It works to make life on Earth better.

15.NASA sends humans to the moon and other planets.It also sends probes out into space. 

16.The space shuttles can be flown back to the Earth and sent into space again,while a new command module have to be built for each Appolo's mission.

17.NASA is responsible for aviation and spaceflight.It works to make air travel better for everyone on Earth.