WASHINGTON — NASA has turned 60.

An act of Congress on July 29, 1958 established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (You can read the act here.)

The United States had been in plans to enter space but was caught off guard by the Soviet Union launching Sputnik One first, launching the "Space Race."

"There were almost immediately congressional hearings, questions about how the United States should organize its space program to ensure that we would be a leading space nation, so discussions started in November of 1957," said Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

“If we look back, 60 years is the understanding that NASA is a civilian space agency, and it was really important that within the United States, we divided our civilian and military space efforts,” said Dr. Muir-Harmony. "It was a different approach than what the Soviet Union took, to be civilian, to be open, to share information and also to pursue international scientific cooperation."

Over the past 60 years, NASA has taken the United States to the moon and beyond, with its technologies permeating everyday life. NASA research has led to the development of common items such as CMOS camera sensors found in modern smartphones, vacuums, computer mice and LED lights. More advanced research continues to contribute to advancements in fields such as medicine and meteorology.

For its future, NASA is looking to go back to the moon and is planning ahead for an eventual mission to Mars. 

"We had a period of time when Apollo ended and we had eight years before the launch of the first space shuttle. Then, we had a period of time when the space shuttle has ended, and we're on the precipice of being able to launch commercial crew," said Jim Bridenstine, NASA's Administrator.

NASA is partnering with Boeing and SpaceX to deliver a new generation of supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station.