On March 3, 2015 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the global aerospace community commenced celebrating the centennial of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA – the original government entity that gave it birth.
NACA test pilot, Paul King, outfitted for high-altitude flight in a fur-lined leather flight suit and oxygen faceplate, prepares for a test flight in a Vought VE-7, 1925. NACA image
Faircount Media Group’s role was to produce a very special 100th anniversary publication titled NACA/NASA: Celebrating a Century of Innovation, Exploration, and Discovery in Flight & Space, just in time for the start of the anniversary celebrations.
In 1915 the U.S. Congress established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The committee was set up under the intense pressures of World War 1, predominantly to develop flight technology. Once established, the NACA immediately began creating world class research and testing facilities and recruiting the best and the brightest scientists in the world. Famously, in 1920 President Wilson appointed Orville Wright to the board of the NACA. Before long the formation of the NACA led to revolutionary research, the design and construction of the most advanced wind tunnels in the world, improvements in flight characteristics through the refinement of airfoil shapes for wings and propellers, new flight testing procedures, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, and much more. Eventually the NACA would provide the perfect launchpad from which the U.S. would begin its journey into space, through the NACA’s transformation in 1958 to NASA – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NACA/NASA100 was presented to guests attending the NACA Centenary: A Symposium on 100 Years of Aerospace Research and Development, being held at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C.
We invite you to learn more about the NACA and NASA, through interviews with current and past leadership, scientists, astronauts, and aviation notables. You will also be able to examine, through feature articles and photographs, the history and impact of the NACA; the current status and future of NASA, including, missions, programs, and projects that are ensuring the United States will remain the world’s leader in aviation, space exploration, and scientific discovery for years to come; and the critical advances being made in aeronautics, astronautics, and aerospace technology.