The Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite, Sputnik 1, spurred Congress to establish committees with jurisdiction over space exploration. Committees in both houses crafted legislation that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law on July 29, 1958.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
H.R. 12575, National Aeronautics and Astronautics Act of 1958, June 3, 1958
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
The Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite, Sputnik 1, spurred Congress to establish committees with jurisdiction over space exploration. Committees in both houses crafted legislation that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law on July 29, 1958.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
