Atmosphere of Freedom: Sixty Years at the NASA Ames Research Center

This detailed and fully-illustrated history of the NASA Ames Research Center describes its organizational structure, research culture, institutional leadership, major facilities and research programs from its founding in 1939 through 1999. The first chapter discusses Ames' origins as the NACA's second laboratory, and wind tunnel construction and the development of aerodynamic theory from subsonic to supersonic to hypersonic flight. The second chapter discusses Ames' transition into NASA, it...