The
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (
NASA) is the
United States government agency that is responsible for the civilian
space program as well as for
aeronautics and
aerospace research.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (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 U.S. space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the
Apollo moon-landing missions, the
Skylab space station, and later the
Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA is supporting the
International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the
Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the
Space Launch System and
Commercial Crew vehicles. The agency is also responsible for the
Launch Services Program (LSP) which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches.
Murray Chotiner (1909–1974) was an American
political strategist,
attorney, government official, and close associate and friend of
President Richard Nixon during much of Nixon's political career. He served as
campaign manager for the future president's run for the
United States Senate in 1950 and for his vice presidential bid in 1952, and managed the campaigns of other
California Republicans. He was active in each of Nixon's two successful runs for the
White House in low-profile positions. After Congress investigated Chotiner in 1956, suspecting the attorney was using his connections to Nixon for
influence peddling to benefit his private clients, the Vice President and his former campaign manager temporarily parted ways. Nixon recalled him to work on his 1962
gubernatorial campaign and again for his successful
1968 presidential bid. After Nixon was inaugurated in 1969, Chotiner received a political appointment to a government position and, in 1970, became a member of the
White House staff. He returned to private practice a year later, but was involved in
Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign. He remained an informal adviser to Nixon until he died in
Washington D.C. following an auto accident in January 1974, and Nixon mourned the loss of a man he described as a counselor and friend.
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