author
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Astronautics.
Created at the dawn of the Space Age, this House committee helped shape the federal response to Sputnik and the rise of NASA. Its hearings and reports capture how Congress wrestled with science, technology, and America’s early ambitions in space.
1 Audiobook
The Practical Values of Space Exploration Report of the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Eighty-Sixth Congress, Second Session
by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Astronautics.
About the author
The Committee on Science and Astronautics was a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives rather than a single individual author. It officially began work on January 3, 1959, after earlier House efforts on astronautics and space exploration helped draft the Space Act of 1958, which established NASA.
For years, the committee played a central role in congressional oversight of the nation’s civilian space program and broader science policy. Its published hearings and reports cover subjects such as NASA authorization, American and Soviet space activity, and the scientific priorities that emerged during the Cold War.
The committee later continued under new names as its jurisdiction evolved, eventually becoming today’s House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. For readers of historical government documents, its work offers a vivid window into the moment when space exploration became a major national priority.