Appendix 1: NASA Research Center responsibilities [Part Two, NASA at 50]

During the summer of 1958, in response to the Russian (USSR) space launches, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which was quickly signed into law so that the new organization, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, could start functioning on October 1, 1958, less than one year after the launch of Sputnik 1. NASA, with headquarters in Washington, DC, was eventually supported by nine centers that directed US human space exploration initiatives of the US ever since.