For the last 50 years thousands of people have been working across the globe trying to figure what is out there in space. How does one get there and what is beneficial to man. 
 
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), partially in response to the Soviet Union’s launch of the first artificial satellite in 1957. NASA emerged out of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), which had been researching flight technology for more than four decades.

By the end of the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy focused NASA and the nation on sending astronauts to the moon. Through the Mercury and Gemini projects, NASA developed the technology and skills it needed for the journey. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of the 12 men to walk on the moon, meeting Kennedy’s

Meanwhile, NASA was continuing the aeronautics research pioneered by NACA. It also conducted purely scientific research and worked on developing applications for space technology, combining both pursuits in developing the first weather and communications satellites.

After Apollo, NASA focused on creating a reusable ship to provide regular access to space: the space shuttle. First launched in 1981, the space shuttle has had 120 successful flights. In 2000, the United States and Russia established permanent human presence in space aboard the International Space Station, a multinational project representing the work of 16 nations.

NASA also has continued its scientific research. In 1997, Mars Pathfinder became the first in a fleet of spacecraft that would explore Mars in the next decade, as one tries to determine if life ever existed there. The Terra and Aqua satellites are flagships of a different fleet, this one in Earth orbit, are designed to help understand how the world is changing. NASA’s aeronautics teams are focused on improved aircraft travel that is safer and cleaner.

Throughout its history, NASA has conducted or funded research that has led to numerous improvements to life on Earth. Headquartered at Washington, NASA guides and directs the agency, under the leadership of the Administrator. Ten field centers and a variety of installations conduct the day-to-day work, in laboratories, on air fields, in wind tunnels and in control rooms.

Currently, NASA conducts its work in four principal organizations, called mission directorates:

• Aeronautics: pioneers and proves new flight technologies that improve our ability to explore and which have practical applications on Earth.

• Exploration Systems: creates capabilities for sustainable human and robotic exploration.

• Science: explores the Earth, solar system and universe beyond; charts the best route of discovery; and reaps the benefits of Earth and space exploration for society.

• Space Operations: provides critical enabling
technologies for much of the rest of NASA through the space shuttle, the International Space Station and flight support.

In the early 21st century, NASA’s reach spanned the universe. Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rovers, are still studying Mars after arriving in 2004. Cassini is in orbit around Saturn. The restored Hubble Space Telescope continues to explore the deepest reaches of the cosmos.The latest crew of the International Space Station is extending the permanent human presence in space. Earth Science satellites are sending back unprecedented data on Earth’s oceans, climate and other features. NASA’s aeronautics team is working with other government organisations, universities, and industry to fundamentally improve the air transportation experience and retain the nation’s leadership in global aviation.

Primarily with all this, NASA is making significant and sustained investments in:

• Transformative technology development and demonstrations to pursue new approaches to space exploration, including heavy-lift technologies;

• Robotic precursor missions to multiple destinations in the solar system;

• US commercial spaceflight capabilities;

• Extensions and increased utilisation of the International Space Station;

• Cross-cutting technology development in a new Space Technology Programme;

• Climate change research and observations;

• NextGen and green aviation; and

• Education, including focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

If you are planning to work at NASA then be clear that NASA is more than astronauts. They have scientists, engineers, computer programmers, personnel specialists, accountants, writers, maintenance workers and many, many other kinds of people. There are opportunities for all. Students can find opportunities for internships, co-operative programmes and summer employment.

Former astronaut Dr. Sally K. Ride in an advice to budding astronauts said that students must concentrate on math and science at school. Dr Ride was always interested in physics, astronomy and chemistry, and continued these subjects through high school and college in a bid to become an astronaut. Today, NASA is looking for people with a whole variety of backgrounds, beginning from medical doctors, microbiologists, geologists, physicists, electrical engineers.

Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second person of Indian origin to fly in space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who flew in 1984 in a Soviet spacecraft. On her first mission, Chawla travelled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 360 hours in space.

Kalpana Chawla, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, after the shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, had moved to US in 1982 and earned an M.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984. In 1986, she obtained a second M.S. degree followed by a Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

At the end of 1988, she took up a job at NASA Ames Research Center as vice president of Overset Methods, Inc. where she did CFD research on Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing. Chawla held a Certificated Flight Instructor rating for airplanes, gliders and Commercial Pilot licenses for single and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes and gliders. In March 1995, Kalpana Chawla joined the NASA astronaut corps and was selected for her first flight in 1998. Her first space mission began on November 19, 1997 as part of the six astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87.

On the other hand, in June 1998, NASA selected Sunita Williams as an astronaut candidate. Her training included orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. Sunita Williams surpassed Kathryn Thornton, who had three spacewalks, as the woman with the most spacewalks. Peggy Whitson later surpassed her for woman with the most spacewalks. Currently, Sunita Williams serves as NASA’s Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office and has been assigned as a backup crew member for Expedition 30 to the International Space Station to be flown next year and is expected to command Expedition 32 on a six-month mission scheduled to take off in the spring of 2012.

All permanent positions at NASA are for US citizens. Citizens of other nationalities can seek employment with some of the contractors who work alongside NASA.