10 Secrets You Didn’t Know About NASA
The space agency has more secrets than there are stars in the sky.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA for short, was founded in 1958 to explore the great unknown that is outer space. Over the years, the organisation has conducted ground-breaking research, developed incredible technology, and landed 12 men on the Moon.
Or did they... yeah, they almost certainly did.
NASA is one of America's greatest modern institutions, a globally recognised symbol of scientific excellence and dedication towards a better future. But, like any big organisation, it has its fair share of secrets.
Rumours and mysteries orbit the agency like they were bits of old satellite and some of the stuff you think you know about NASA isn't actually true at all. Conversely, there's stuff that you never would have guessed about it that is as solid as Moon rock.
We've launched our own mission to bring back ten astonishing facts about the world's most famous rocketeers. Some will make you smile, some might make you laugh out loud, and there's one that will fundamentally change the way you see NASA forever.
Get your helmets on and hit that David Bowie track, we're off to see the Starmen.
10. It Doesn't Have Its Own Weather System
It might seem strange to start this list off with something that isn't true, but this rumour is so persistent that many people believe it to be fact.
The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is a huge complex located at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It's 526ft (160m) tall, which makes it the largest single-story building in the world. It's also one of the largest buildings of any kind according to volume, with over 3.5 million square metres of space inside.
All this room is needed for what goes on within its walls. It is here that the components of rockets, space shuttles, and other impressive bits of kit are put together, ready for their journey to the stars.
As a result of the VAB's giant size, whispers began to circulate that it had its own internal weather system with some speculating that clouds could form at the top of the building.
Well, according to an interview from 2019, this is false. Fog has been known to roll into the VAB on particularly humid days, but no internal clouds have ever been reported.
Sorry to be a buzzkill.