National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, commonly referred to as NASA, was the most advanced human government space agency between the 20th and 22nd centuries. NASA was responsible for humanity's first manned landings on Luna, Mars, Venus, and Europa and launched the first probes to the Alpha Centauri and Barnard's Star systems.

History

The international landscape of Earth was tense throughout the 20th century, and one of the fiercest rivalries of the era was between the ancient nations of the United States and the USSR. In the year 1958 CE, the USSR launched humanity's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into low Earth orbit. While Sputnik was harmless, the United States feared that in the near future the USSR could just as easily launch nuclear weapons into space and rain them onto American territory. This led to the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and it was assigned by the United States government the task of launching the Americans into space as quickly as possible.

Prior to NASA, the United States operated the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) for primarily military purposes during the first and second World Wars. Near the end of its lifetime, NACA developed the first supersonic aircraft, such as the Bell X-1. One of NACA's final aircraft was the X-15 rocket plane, and after NACA was disbanded, NASA used the X-15 on its first tests. These tests reached heights up to 108 kilometers and developed the earliest spacesuit and spacecraft technologies.

In 1959 CE, NASA began the Mercury program, and its objective was to launch Americans into space as soon as possible and at the lowest cost available. That year, seven United States Air Force pilots were selected to become the nation's first astronauts. In 1961 CE, the first manned Redstone rocket was launched with astronaut Alan Sheperd inside the Friendship 7 capsule. The first orbital flight of the Mercury program launched in 1962 CE. Onboard the Mercury-Atlas rocket, inside was John Glenn, and he completed three full orbits of Earth. After Glenn, three more orbital missions were launched, the longest of which was led by Gordon Cooper with a total of 22 orbits.

Despite these accomplishments, the United States was falling short of the USSR. By 1962, the USSR had already launched four manned spacecraft, two of which, Vostok 3 and 4, had performed an orbital rendezvous with only a separation of four kilometers. In response, President John Kennedy issued a bold statement challenging NASA to land Americans on Luna before the end of 1960's and before the USSR could do so.

Now with a clear goal, NASA took larger steps towards more advanced space technology. After the Mercury program ended successfully, the Gemini program was initiated in 1961 CE. Gemini's goal was to develop long-duration spaceflight technology, perfect orbital rendezvous techniques, and master precision landing. The first manned Gemini flight, Gemini 3, launched in 1965 with astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young. Nine missions followed in the next two years. Some milestones were a 14-day endurance flight, the first-ever American EVA, and the first docking in history.

NASA's final program before their first landing on Luna was the Apollo moon program. Apollo, which had started simultaneously with Gemini in 1961 CE, introduced the Saturn rockets. Originally the Saturn rocket was planned to be used for the United States military, but instead, it was adapted for the Apollo program. NASA's first mission to Luna was Apollo 8, which launched in 1968 CE. Humans first landed on Luna in 1969 CE during the famous Apollo 11 mission, and it marked the first of six total landings on Luna before the last returned to Earth in 1972. Thus, it appeared the United States had "won" the space race.

NASA's next large program was the Space Shuttle program, which began in 1972 CE, and the focus of the program was re-usability in spacecraft. The four iconic Space Shuttles of Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis were built. In 1986 CE, Space Shuttle Challenger was lost, and Endeavor was built as a replacement. In 2003 CE, a second disaster destroyed Columbia. Overall, the Shuttles accumulated 135 flights before the end of the program in 2011 CE. The Space Shuttle's most famous missions included the launch and repair of the first Hubble Space Telescope and the transport of Spacelab.

1993 CE began NASA's International Space Station project. Originally NASA was intended to lead the Space Station Freedom program independently, but budget restrictions only allowed NASA to combine Freedom with Russia's Mir-2 project. After the International Space Station began construction that year, more space agencies such as Japan's JAXA, Europe's ESA, and Canada's CSA joined the program. Eventually, a total of 17 nations contributed, and the final module of the ISS was added in 2011 CE by Space Shuttle Discovery. After the Space Shuttle program ended, Russia's Soyuz rockets became the only rocket to transport astronauts to the ISS until the Space Launch System. Years later, the private space company SpaceX began using their Dragon capsules to transport supplies. A total of 65 Expeditions boarded the ISS before being deorbited in 2022 CE.

In 2014 CE, NASA began the "Journey to Mars" campaign, a series of programs designed to develop the technologies required for landing humans on Mars in the 2030's. The programs were the Orion program, the Hermes asteroid program, and the Ares Mars program.

Orion's objective was to land at least a dozen astronauts on Luna by 2025 CE. While Orion actually began in 2005 CE, the Orion capsule, the first of several parts of the full Orion spacecraft, was not built until 2014 CE. That year the capsule underwent its first successful in-space test. In 2020 CE, NASA completed the rest of the Orion spacecraft. The Orion I mission was launched in 2021 CE. Orion I was unmanned and simply performed a fly-by encounter of Luna. The first manned mission was Orion II, which entered low Luna orbit and scanned the Sea of Clouds for future landing sites. In 2023 CE, NASA built the first of three Luna landers, Artemis. Artemis was launched in 2024 CE during Orion VI, the first Orion mission to land on Luna. Only one mission was lost, Orion VIII, which ended tragically with a heat shield failure.

The landing of humans on Luna gained NASA the largest funding they had seen in decades. Thus, the Hermes program began sooner than expected in 2025 CE. Although at the surface Hermes' intention was to carry humans into interplanetary space for the first time and rendezvous with near-Earth asteroids, ultimately Hermes was to revolutionize old space technologies to be better suited for Mars missions. In total, there were three missions, the by far most famous being the Asteroid Redirect mission, otherwise known as Hermes II. Launched in 2026 CE, the main spacecraft of the program, Maia, attached to a small asteroid on a collision course with Earth roughly ten meters in diameter. After hours of thrust, Maia nudged the asteroid out of the collision course and into a path that would simply cause the asteroid to pass by Earth unaffected. During the program, the first practical ion engine for large spacecraft was developed, humanity's most efficient solar panels were invented, and life support systems could reach a duration long enough for Mars.

The final leg of the "Journey to Mars" was Ares, and, obviously, the goal of Ares was to land humans on Mars. Ares began in 2027 CE with the first module of the program's sole spacecraft, the Aeolus, being launched in low Earth orbit. By the end of 2028 CE, the entire spacecraft completed orbital construction. Roughly half the size of the International Space Station, up to that point in history Aeolus was the largest and most sophisticated spacecraft ever to fly. Originally, NASA planned to depart for Mars in 2031 CE; however, preparations for the mission were completed prematurely, and, to avoid the risk of Aeolus being damaged while in orbit, Aeolus launched in 2029 CE. On board were eight astronauts: five Americans, two Russians, and one French. Aeolus arrived at Mars late that year, and on December 18, American astronaut Laura Teller became the first human to set foot on Mars within the Holden crater. Two Ares missions followed, one landing alongside Mawrth Vallis and the other in Gale crater.