The Hypersonics Project of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Fundamental Aeronautics Program is committed to mastering the science of hypersonic flight in support of NASA's mission: "To pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research."

GRC manages the development of the Orion service module.

The Spacecraft Propulsion Facility at Plum Brook Station (PBS) is the world's only facility capable of testing full-scale upper-stage launch vehicles and rocket engines under simulated high-altitude conditions.

The Zero Gravity Research Facility at GRC is a vertical vacuum chamber used for microgravity experiments. The facility consists of a concrete-lined shaft, 28 feet in diameter, that extends 510 feet below ground level. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.

As early as 1951, researchers at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory were studying the combustion processes in liquid rocket engines.

The Glenn Research Center was initially named the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory after funding approval was given in June 1940. It was renamed the Flight Propulsion Research Laboratory in 1947, the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in 1948 and the NASA Lewis Research Center in 1958.

The Glenn Research Center (GRC) was established in 1942 as part of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and was later incorporated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a laboratory for aircraft engine research.

On March 1, 1999, the Lewis Research Center was officially renamed the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field after John Glenn (American fighter pilot, astronaut and politician) and George W. Lewis (head of NACA from 1919 to 1947). Within NASA, Glenn is often referred to by the acronym GRC.

The toughest moonwalk task? Planting the flag. NASA’s studies suggested that the lunar soil was soft, but Armstrong and Aldrin found the surface to be a thin wisp of dust over hard rock. They managed to drive the flagpole a few inches into the ground and film it for broadcast, and then took care not to accidentally knock it over.

The "one small step for man" wasn’t actually that small. Armstrong set the ship down so gently that its shock absorbers didn’t compress. He had to hop 3.5 feet from the Eagle’s ladder to the surface.

The Apollo’s Saturn rockets were packed with enough fuel to throw 100-pound shrapnel three miles, and NASA couldn’t rule out the possibility that they might explode on takeoff. NASA seated its VIP spectators three and a half miles from the launchpad.

The last assigned mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis is currently STS-132 in May of 2010.

Atlantis launched two interplanetary probes: Magellan to Venus and Galileo to Jupiter, both in 1989.

The launch window for STS-129 on its scheduled launch date of November 12th is only 10 minutes. This pretty much assured that any serious countdown hold would result in a launch postponement.

NASA originally planned to retire Atlantis in 2008, but a restructuring of the maintenance schedule allowed Atlantis to remain in service with Endeavour and Discovery until the retirement of the shuttle fleet in 2010

STS-129 is also the 31st flight of the Shuttle Atlantis.

STS-129 is the 31st Shuttle flight to the ISS.

STS-129 is scheduled to return astronaut Nicole Stott to Earth from the International Space Station. This is the last scheduled shuttle flight to or from the ISS to transfer crew.

Ames is currently working on the Kepler discovery mission. Kepler is a space telescope designed and built to search for Earth-like planets in the Milky Way. Found out more about Kepler at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html

Ames Research Center is leading the way in the development of very small satellites called nanosatellites that can be launched quickly and cheaply. Find out more about nanosatellites at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/index.html

Ames Research Center was the first to develop the swept wing concept that is used in all high-speed aircraft in the world today

Ames houses one of the world’s greatest collections of wind tunnels, including one of the only supersonic wind tunnels in the world.

The old Navy Airship hangers are still at Ames and have been featured on the Discovery Channel program Mythbusters.

Ames Research Center is located in Sunnyvale, California and is adjacent to Moffett Field. Moffett Fields was originally a Naval Air Station equipped to house the airship USS Macon. When the military base closed in 1994, it’s runways and hangars were given to NASA and folded into Ames.

NASA Ames Research Center was established in 1939 as the second laboratory for NACA and was named for the chairman of NACA, Joseph S. Ames. Ames is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

If all goes as planned, the Ares will put a crewed Orion vehicle in orbit to dock with the International Space Station no later than 2015.