NASA's First A: Aeronautics From 1958 to 2008

"NASA’s First A: Aeronautics from 1958 to 2008" is NASA History series publication SP-2012-4412 by Robert G. Ferguson. Aeronautics, the first A of the NASA acronym, has always been a part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, but against the headline exploits of rocket launches, Moon landings, Space Shuttle missions, and Mars rovers, aeronautics is easily lost in the shadows of NASA’s marquee space programs. This relative obscurity belies what has been a remarkably creative, productive, and highly effective group of researchers who, at one time, even helped bring about the Space Age and invent a space agency. The list of accomplishments for NASA’s first A is long, and this book goes a modest way toward sketching these developments.

Aeronautics really might be called the “other NASA,” distinct in its charge, methodologies, and scale. Aeronautics research is not mission-oriented in the same way that going to the Moon or Mars is. It is interested in learning about physical phenomena, such as turbulence, and how to do something, such as quieting the noise of helicopter blades. Aeronautics’ mission is not about going somewhere specific or building one particular thing; it is about supporting the country’s commercial and military needs with respect to aviation. The contrast with the space program is telling: where NASA has gone to considerable lengths to justify the space program and explain how space innovations feed into the country’s more terrestrial needs, aeronautics research has had a direct and undeniable impact on commercial and military technology development.

Related products:

Leadership in Space: Selected Speeches of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, May 2005-October 2008 is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01314-1

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Chapter 1: The First A: The Other NASA ..................................1
Chapter 2: NACA Research, 1945–58....................................25
Chapter 3: Creating NASA and the Space Race ........................57
Chapter 4: Renovation and Revolution ................................... 93
Chapter 5: Cold War Revival and Ideological Muddle ............ 141
Chapter 6: The Icarus Decade ............................................... 175
Chapter 7: Caught in Irons ................................................... 203
Chapter 8: Conclusion .......................................................... 229
Appendix: Aeronautics Budget ....... 235
The NASA History Series ....... 241
Index ....... 259

Historians, aeronautics enthusiasts, space engineers and explorers will enjoy this rich history about the progression of the aeronautics field through the viewpoint of NASA, the leader in U.S. Federal Government funded projects and service to this industry.