{"product_id":"the-unknown-and-impossible-how-a-research-facility-in-virginia-mastered-the-air-and-conquered-space-9780984712144","title":"The Unknown and Impossible: How a research facility in Virginia mastered the air and conquered space","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat was it like to land on the moon? \"Like Langley \" Neil Armstrong replied. The first man to walk on the moon trained for his mission at Langley Research Center in Hampton  Virginia  as had so many before him. This is the laboratory where Americas space program was launched  and where its pioneering work helped change the course of military and commercial aviation. Today  it is taking aim at Mars. For a century  the men and women of Langley - first as the NACA  and later as part of NASA - have been conquering the unknown and achieving the impossible. This book takes a look at the beginning of this research facility in 1917  at first part of Langley Field  then becoming the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics  with only a few dozen employees. NACA Langley became the place to know about aeronautics  building wind tunnels  adding talent and soon hosting the top names of aviation including Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. After the launch of Sputnik  everything changed and NACA became NASA. Langley Research Center was tasked with the mission of sending men into orbit  heading up Project Mercury  where Hampton  Virginia  was home to the Mercury 7 and the Space Task Group. Neil Armstrong  Buzz Aldrin and dozens of other astronauts trained at Langley. Langley engineers helped design the space shuttle. Engineers from Langley led Viking  taking the first photos of Mars in the 1970s. NASA Langley next is working toward getting humans to Mars.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45276836200501,"sku":"ByrdShop_0984712143","price":96.74,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780984712144.jpg?v=1780565071","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-unknown-and-impossible-how-a-research-facility-in-virginia-mastered-the-air-and-conquered-space-9780984712144","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}