Happy 54th Birthday, NASA!

It's birthday time!  Not mine.  NASA's! 

Driven by the competition of the Cold War, on July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, providing for research into the problems of flight within Earth’s atmosphere and in space. The act inaugurated a new civilian agency designated the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The agency began operations on Oct. 1, 1958.

If you get a few moments, check out this amazing animated timeline of the history of NASA.  Set aside a bit of time to go through it all.  Not only has NASA done an amazing amount of exploration, both terrestial and in space, but the music on the animation is groovy!

And, I've mentioned it before, NasaTV is terrific!  Something happening all the time over at NASA.  This week, tune in for the launch of the SpaceX Dragon (scheduled for October 7th at 8:34 pm EDT). NASA and SpaceX have invited the social media to participate with the same rights and access as the regular media. Apparently, tweets and blogs have replaced (or at least tremendously augmented) corporate journalism in terms of getting the word out about the amazing things happening in the space program.  More at SpaceX and NMR.

While I'm thinking about it, let me put a plug in for the streaming internet radio, Third Rock Radio (America's Space Station!). I listen to them occasionally, and they have some interesting interviews.

Happy Birthday, NASA!