NASA Fast Facts
There are 10 major NASA facilities, including the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Timeline
October 1, 1958 – The official start of NASA.
October 7, 1958 – NASA announces Project Mercury. The Mercury project’s objectives are to place a human spacecraft into orbital flight around Earth, observe human performance in such conditions and recover the human and the spacecraft safely.
April 9, 1959 – The Mercury Seven are introduced as the first US astronauts: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton.