NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE 

 ADMINISTRATION 



Submitted by A.M. Lovelace, Deputy Administrator 



NASA Mission 



The National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- 

 tration (NASA) is the civilian agency of the United 

 States Government charged, in Section 203 of the 

 Space Act, I with the responsibility to: 



(1) Plan, direct, and conduct aeronautical and 

 space activities; 



(2) Arrange for participation by the scientific 

 community in planning scientific measure- 

 ments and observations to be made through 

 use of aeronautical and space vehicles, and 

 conduct or arrange for the conduct of such 

 measurements and observations; and 



(3) Provide for the widest practicable and appro- 

 priate dissemination of information concern- 

 ing its activities and the results thereof. 



These activities are defined in Section 103 of the 

 act as: 



.(A) research into, and the solution of, prob- 

 lems of flight within and outside the earth's at- 

 mosphere, (B) the development, construction, 

 testing, and operation for research purposes of 

 aeronautical and space vehicles, and (C) such 

 other activities as may be required for the explo- 

 ration of space; .... 



Section 102 of the act defines the objectives to 

 which these activities should contribute as: 



(1) The expansion of human knowledge of phe- 

 nomena in the atmosphere and space; 



(2) The improvement of the usefulness, per- 

 formance, speed, safety, and efficiency of 

 aeronautical and space vehicles; 



(3) The development and operation of vehicles 

 capable of carrying instruments, equipment, 

 supplies, and living organisms through 

 space; 



(4) The establishment of long-range studies of 

 the potential benefits to be gained from, the 



iNational Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. 72 Stat. 426 

 Amended (42 U.S.C. 24.S2). 



1 84 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 



opportunities for, and the problems involved 

 in the utilization of aeronautical and space 

 activities for peaceful and scientific purpos- 

 es; 



(5) The preservation of the role of the United 

 States as a leader in aeronautical and space 

 science and technology and in the applica- 

 tion thereof to the conduct of peaceful activ- 

 ities within and outside the atmosphere; 



(6) The making available to agencies directly 

 concerned with national defense of discover- 

 ies that have military value or significance, 

 and the furnishing by such agencies, to the 

 civilian agency established to direct and con- 

 trol nonmilitary aeronautical and space ac- 

 tivities, of information as to discoveries 

 which have value or significance to that 

 agency; 



(7) Cooperation by the United States with other 

 nations and groups of nations in work done 

 pursuant to this Act and in the peaceful ap- 

 plication of the results thereof; and 



(8) The most effective utilization of the scientific 

 and engineering resources of the United 

 States; with close cooperation among all in- 

 terested agencies of the United States in 

 order to avoid unnecessary duplication of 

 effort, facilities, and equipment. 



The mission of the NASA thus is to conduct a 

 program of research and development aimed at 

 contributing to the Nation's broad objectives in 

 aeronautics and space as defined in the quoted 

 excerpts from the Space Act. NASA has devel- 

 oped a set of functional goals, one for each of its 

 program areas, to serve as ends toward which its 

 programs and projects should strive. These func- 

 tional goals, with the program areas in italics, are: 



• To observe the physical and chemical pro- 

 cesses occurring in the universe, in order to 

 determine the origin and the evolutionary 

 processes of the universe as a whole, the 

 solar system, and of the earth, as well as the 

 origin and distribution of life in the universe. 



