NASA

Formed
 Preceding agency
 Headquarters

The **National Aeronautics and Space Administration** (**NASA** /ˈnæsə/) is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for civilian space exploration.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958.

Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and was a major supporter of the Mars Corporation. Currently, NASA is supporting human exploration of nearby star systems, and facilitating first contact with Alien species.

NASA science is focused on better understanding the origin of life, exploring bodies throughout the Local Bubble with robotic and human missions, and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and associated programs. NASA shares data with various national and international organizations such as from the NOAA.

## Ships

NASA has been the only space agency to operate warp capable spacecraft using the White-Alcubierre Drive. NASA has built 25 Interstellar Vehicles (IV hull designation) in total over the last century, ceasing production for 40 years during the Mexican American Cold War, when the agencies budget was drastically cut, and exploration was limited to only existing ships, chiefly the aging Antares and Falcon-class spacecraft which are set to begin being retired in 2164. Currently the agency is testing its newest spacecraft the Constellation-class, which is planned to have the largest production run of any warp capable spacecraft of a total of 30 ships, more than every previous warp ship combined.

The first crewed warp ship, the Enterprise measured 170 meters in length compared to the 400 meter long Constellation, however these ships are dwarfed by subluminal spacecraft due to the constraints of warp-field volumes. Prior to advances made in the Falcon-class, warp ship design severely limited the amount of mass that could be moved at faster-than light speeds.

## Interstellar Exploration

*For more, see Timeline of space exploration*

Since the Prometheus missions proved the feasibility of faster-than-light travel, NASA has been given a mandate to explore the region of interstellar space constituting the Local Bubble, with the specific goal of discovering alien civilizations and making contact with them. The invention of the White-Alcubierre drive, in the Mid 2050s had allowed ships to travel at lightspeed, while superluminal communication systems via quantum entanglement had been in use since the 2030s by the military. Note that further developments had allowed ships to travel at a parsec per year by the early 22nd century.
Since the launch of the first warp ship with a White-Alcubierre drive, the IV Enterprise to Alpha-Centauri, NASA has discovered the following inhabitable worlds.