The Mercury program, which launched the first American astronauts into space in the early 1960s.

NASA is an acronym for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is the agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research1. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and has since conducted many groundbreaking missions in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics innovation. Some of the most notable achievements of NASA include:

The Mercury program, which launched the first American astronauts into space in the early 1960s.
The Gemini program, which demonstrated advanced capabilities such as orbital rendezvous, docking, and spacewalks in the mid-1960s.
The Apollo program, which landed the first humans on the Moon and returned them safely to Earth in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Skylab program, which operated the first U.S. space station in the mid-1970s.
The Space Shuttle program, which flew 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, carrying astronauts and payloads to low Earth orbit, deploying and servicing satellites, conducting scientific experiments,