In 1959 the House of Representatives approved H.R. 7007, authorizing $480,550,000 for staff, research, equipment, and other expenses of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The bill passed the Senate with additional funding. H.R. 7007 established Congress’s oversight of NASA, ensuring NASA’s focus on the goal of landing a man on the moon within a decade.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
H.R. 7007, A Bill to authorize appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, May 14, 1959
Congress Backs the Space Race
Spurred by the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, Congress organized to study all aspects of space exploration. The House Select Committee on Astronautics (later made the Committee on Science and Aeronautics) and the Senate Standing Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences together established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958, set its priorities, and oversaw the effort to put the first astronaut on the moon.
It was here in these halls that our venture really began.
Neil Armstrong, Address to a Joint Session of Congress, September 16, 1969
In 1959 the House of Representatives approved H.R. 7007, authorizing $480,550,000 for staff, research, equipment, and other expenses of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The bill passed the Senate with additional funding. H.R. 7007 established Congress’s oversight of NASA, ensuring NASA’s focus on the goal of landing a man on the moon within a decade.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
