Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), located in Greenbelt, Maryland, was commissioned by NASA on March 1, 1959. View of GSFC campus (left) and of Goddard Institute for Space Studies location (right) On January 16, 2014, the center previously known as Dryden was renamed in honor of Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the Moon. It is also the home of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 designed to carry a Space Shuttle orbiter back to Kennedy Space Center if one lands at Edwards. Īrmstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC), established by NACA before 1946 and located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is NASA's premier site for aeronautical research and operates some of the most advanced aircraft in the world. The center's core competencies include air-breathing and in-space propulsion and cryogenics, communications, power energy storage and conversion, microgravity sciences, and advanced materials. A multitude of NASA missions have included elements from Glenn, from the Mercury and Gemini projects to the Space Shuttle Program and the International Space Station.

Glenn excels in researching and developing innovative technologies for both aeronautics and space flight. Glenn supports all of the agency's missions and major programs.

Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field after John Glenn, an American fighter pilot, astronaut and politician. In 1999, the center was officially renamed the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center (GRC), formerly the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, located in Brook Park, Ohio, was established in 1942 as a laboratory for aircraft engine research. It provides leadership in astrobiology, small satellites, robotic lunar exploration, intelligent/adaptive systems and thermal protection. Historically, Ames was founded to do wind-tunnel research on the aerodynamics of propeller-driven aircraft however, it has expanded its role to doing research and technology in aeronautics, spaceflight, and information technology. ARC is one of NASA's 10 major field centers and is located in California's Silicon Valley. The center was named after Joseph Sweetman Ames, a founding member of the NACA. View of ARC (left) and of Hangar One (right)Īmes Research Center (ARC) at Moffett Field was founded on December 20, 1939. The selection of Houston as the location of the Manned Spacecraft Center resulted in some controversy at NASA Langley and in the surrounding area at the time, given they had previously expected either for Langley to be expanded or for a nearby location in the Hampton Roads region to be selected for the center. Starting in 1958, when NASA started Project Mercury, LaRC housed the Space Task Group, which was expanded into the Manned Spacecraft Center and moved to Houston in 1961–1962. Both Langley Field and the Langley Laboratory are named for aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley. LaRC researchers use more than 40 wind tunnels to study improved aircraft and spacecraft safety, performance, and efficiency. Established in 1917 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the center currently devotes two-thirds of its programs to aeronautics, and the rest to space. LaRC focuses primarily on aeronautical research, though the Apollo lunar lander was flight-tested at the facility and a number of high-profile space missions have been planned and designed on-site. Langley Research Center (LaRC), founded in 1917, is the oldest of NASA's field centers, located in Hampton, Virginia. View of LaRC (left) and its research aircraft (right) Four of these were inherited from its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) two others were transferred to NASA from the United States Army and NASA commissioned and built the other four itself shortly after its formation in 1958. The OIG determined at least 33 of NASA's 155 facilities were underutilized. In 2013 a NASA Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) Report recommended a Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) style organization to consolidate NASA's little used facilities. NASA has used or supported various observatories and telescopes, and an example of this is the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. Some facilities serve more than one application for historic or administrative reasons. All other facilities fall under the leadership of at least one of these field centers.

There are 10 NASA field centers, which provide leadership for and execution of NASA's work. NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC provides overall guidance and political leadership to the agency. There are NASA facilities across the United States and around the world.

Inside nasa headquarters