This is a history of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and its successor agency the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Main chapters included are: (1) "NACA Origins (1915-1930)"; (2) "New Facilities, New Designs (1930-1945)"; (3) "Going Supersonic (1945-1958)"; (4) "On the Fringes of Space (1958-1964)"; (5) "Tortoise Becomes Hare (1964-1969)" (including the landing on the moon); (6) "Aerospace Dividends (1969-1973)" (describing the era in which many science programs were cut after the Apollo mission); (7) "On the Eve of Shuttle (1973-1980)"; (8) "Aerospace Flights (1980-1986)"; (9) "New Directions (since 1986)" (describing the area of astronautics, aeronautics and spinoff); and (10) "Summary." An appendix contains a bibliographic essay related to the history of NACA and NASA. (YP)