The National Aeronautics and Space Act of
1958 (Pub.L. 85–568) is the United States
federal statute that created the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The Act, which followed close on the heels
of the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, was
drafted by the United States House Select
Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration
and on July 29, 1958 was signed by President
Eisenhower.
Prior to enactment, the responsibility for
space exploration was deemed primarily a military
venture, in line with the Soviet model that
had launched the first orbital satellite.
In large measure, the Act was prompted by
the lack of response by a US military infrastructure
that seemed incapable of keeping up the space
race.
The original 1958 act charged the new Agency
with conducting the aeronautical and space
activities of the United States "so as to
contribute materially to one or more of the
following objectives:"
The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena
in the atmosphere and space;
The improvement of the usefulness, performance,
speed, safety, and efficiency of aeronautical
and space vehicles;
The development and operation of vehicles
capable of carrying instruments, equipment,
supplies and living organisms through space;
The establishment of long-range studies of
the potential benefits to be gained from,
the opportunities for, and the problems involved
in the utilization of aeronautical and space
activities for peaceful and scientific purposes.
The preservation of the role of the United
States as a leader in aeronautical and space
science and technology and in the application
thereof to the conduct of peaceful activities
within and outside the atmosphere.
The making available to agencies directly
concerned with national defenses of discoveries
that have military value or significance,
and the furnishing by such agencies, to the
civilian agency established to direct and
control nonmilitary aeronautical and space
activities, of information as to discoveries
which have value or significance to that agency;
Cooperation by the United States with other
nations and groups of nations in work done
pursuant to this Act and in the peaceful application
of the results, thereof; and
The most effective utilization of the scientific
and engineering resources of the United States,
with close cooperation among all interested
agencies of the United States in order to
avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, facilities,
and equipment.
In 2012, a ninth objective was added:
The preservation of the United States preeminent
position in aeronautics and space through
research and technology development related
to associated manufacturing processes.
The Act abolished the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA), transferring its activities
and resources to NASA effective October 1,
1958.
The Act also created a Civilian-Military Liaison
Committee, for the purpose of coordinating
civilian and military space applications,
and keeping NASA and the Department of Defense
"fully and currently informed" of each other's
space activities.
To this day, the United States has coordinated
but separate military and civilian space programs,
with much of the former involved in launching
military and surveillance craft and, prior
to the Partial Test Ban Treaty, planning counter-measures
to the anticipated Soviet launch of nuclear
warheads into space.
In addition, the new law made extensive modifications
to the patent law and provided that both employee
inventions as well as private contractor innovations
brought about through space travel would be
subject to government ownership.
By making the government the exclusive provider
of space transport, the act effectively discouraged
the private development of space travel.
This situation endured until the law was modified
by the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984,
enacted to allow civilian use of NASA systems
in launching space vehicles.The phrase "We
came in peace for all mankind", inscribed
on a plaque left on the Moon by the crew of
Apollo 11, is derived from the Act's declaration
of NASA's policy and purpose:
The Congress hereby declares that it is the
policy of the United States that activities
in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes
for the benefit of all mankind.The Act was
subsequently amended to remove gender bias,
so that this policy statement now reads:
Devotion of Space Activities to Peaceful Purposes
for Benefit of All Humankind.--Congress declares
that it is the policy of the United States
that activities in space should be devoted
to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all
humankind.
== See also ==
Spinoff history
