The year 1960 was an exciting yet turbulent time in history. John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the United States; protests raged against segregation in the South and the Vietnam War; the American Football League was formed to rival the National Football League; FORTRAN was the standard computer programming language; and Chubby Checker introduced "The Twist."

It was also the year NASA -- a new federal agency dedicated to civilian space exploration -- created the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The key date in the Center's founding occurred Sept. 8, 1960, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the Center that had been activated by NASA on July 1, 1960.

Over the course of 40 years, the Marshall Center has helped shape history through its key contributions in areas from landing humans on the Moon, to lifting Space Shuttles into orbit, to inventing new technologies and engineering processes for future space travel and space benefits.

"This 40th Anniversary is a reminder -- from the Wernher von Braun early days of rocketry all the way up to the Chandra X-ray Observatory's launch last summer -- of the great adventures we've had over the years at Marshall," said Marshall Center Director Art Stephenson. "We're taking a great tradition started by Dr. von Braun and carrying it into the future."

40 Years of Excellence

George C. Marshall

U.S. Army Gen. George C. Marshall was a leader and strategist whose patriotism and human compassion earned him admiration around the world. He perhaps is best known for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his "Marshall Plan" -- the 1948 European Recovery Program drafted to help rebuild war-torn Europe after World War II.

Marshall served as U.S. Army chief of staff during World War II, and, after retiring became special ambassador to China, secretary of state, president of the American Red Cross and secretary of defense.

Marshall leadership

Dr. Wernher von Braun, leader of the original German rocket team, became the Marshall Center's first director in 1960 - leading the team that landed humans on the Moon.

Nine more directors have followed in his footsteps, managing successful projects such as the Skylab orbital workshop, and the Space Shuttle propulsion systems -- which unleashes about 6.4 million pounds (28.5 million newtons) of thrust each time America's first reusable launch vehicle blasts off.

Under current Director Art Stephenson, Marshall successes include last year's launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory -- now celebrating its first year of ground-breaking X-ray astronomy.

The Adventure Continues

Today, Marshall is NASA's lead Center for development of space transportation and propulsion systems. New technologies are being explored to make space more accessible by reducing the cost of launching space vehicles.

Currently it costs roughly $10,000 to put a pound (over $20 per kilogram) of payload into space, and NASA's goal is to reduce that cost to $1,000 per pound -- or less -- while improving flight safety.

Marshall is also NASA's leader in microgravity research -- conducting unique scientific studies in the near-weightlessness of space. New technologies derived from space science and research help industry create new medicines, manufacturing processes, electronics and more -- improving life on Earth.

"I believe we need to embrace the past and bring forward the great tradition stated by Dr. von Braun, as we embrace future that's directed toward new systems and new ways of doing business," said Stephenson.

Marshall Center's current and retired employees will mark the 40th anniversary Sept. 21 with a series of events, including a tribute to Gen. Marshall, a visit by Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan and the placement of a time capsule at the Center.

Highlights in the History of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center

July 1, 1960 -- The Marshall Space Flight Center, a field installation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is activated in Huntsville, Alabama, with the transfer of buildings, land, space projects, property, and personnel from the U.S. Army. Dr. Wernher von Braun became the Center's first director.

September 8, 1960 -- President Eisenhower visits Huntsville to dedicate the Marshall Center in honor of General George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff during World War II, Secretary of State, and Nobel Prize Winner for his world-renowned "Marshall Plan."

May 5, 1961 -- Marshall's Mercury-Redstone vehicle boosts America's first astronaut, Alan B. Shepard, on a suborbital flight.

May 25, 1961 -- President Kennedy commits the United States to landing a human on the moon, "before this decade is out." As a result, national attention focuses on the Marshall Center where Wernher von Braun's rocket team initiates an unprecedented research and development effort aimed at one objective -- provide the launch vehicle that can boost humans to the moon.

July 16, 1969 -- In answer to President Kennedy's challenge, a mammoth Saturn V moon rocket, developed by the Marshall Center, launches the Apollo 11 astronauts on their journey to the lunar surface.

1969 -- The Marshall Center is assigned responsibility to develop a Lunar Roving Vehicle. Lunar Roving Vehicles or "moon buggies" were used on the last three Apollo lunar landing missions.

May 14, 1973 -- A Saturn V moon rocket launches Skylab, the United States' first crewed orbiting space station.

July 1975 -- A Saturn rocket is used to send American astronauts to rendezvous in space with Russian cosmonauts onboard a Soyuz spacecraft.

August 17, 1977 -- The first of three High Energy Astronomical Observatories developed by the Marshall Center is launched that will provide revolutionary insights into celestial objects by studying their x-ray emissions and other forms of high-energy radiation from space.

April 12, 1981 -- A new era in space flight begins on April 12, 1981, when Marshall-developed propulsion systems unleash almost six million pounds of thrust to launch America's first Space Shuttle.

November 28, 1983 -- The first Spacelab mission is launched aboard the Space Shuttle. Spacelab is a modular scientific laboratory designed to fit inside the Shuttle's cargo bay, providing a "shirtsleeve" workplace for astronaut-scientists. Marshall played a key role in Spacelab development, operations, and management. The mission in 1983 marks the first of more than 20 Spacelab missions during the 1980s and 1990s.

January 28, 1986 -- The Challenger accident results in the loss of a Space Shuttle orbiter and its crew of seven astronauts. NASA and the Marshall Center commit to an intense Shuttle redesign effort that returns the fleet to flight in 1988.

April 24, 1990 -- The Hubble Space Telescope, developed by the Marshall Center and intended to open a new era in astronomy, is carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle. Not long after launch, however, scientists detect an optical distortion resulting from an incorrectly shaped mirror. To correct the problem, NASA launches a highly successful repair mission in 1993. In addition, servicing missions in 1997 and 1999 maintain NASA's premier optical space observatory at full capability.

December 4, 1998 -- The first U.S. International Space Station element -- the Unity connecting node, built by the Boeing Company at the Marshall Center -- is launched aboard the Space Shuttle.

July 1999 -- NASA launches Chandra, the world's most powerful x-ray telescope -- packed with the strength and accuracy to read a newspaper from one-half mile away or see the letters of a stop sign from 12 miles. Chandra, developed by the Marshall Center, is identifying never-before-seen astronomical phenomena and is leading researchers toward a better understanding of the structure and evolution of the universe.

NASA Marshall's 40th anniversary: Paving a highway to space for ordinary people to 'live the adventure'.

Astronauts journeying to the Moon stands as the acme of the first 40 years of excellence at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. As "the adventure continues," the legacy of the next 40 years is likely to be ordinary people venturing into space.

The Marshall Center's first director, Dr. Wernher von Braun, and his team of rocket scientists masterminded the mammoth Saturn V rocket that launched humans to the Moon. Today, as the Marshall Center marks its 40th Anniversary, a new rocket team at Marshall is developing revolutionary technologies that will make space transportation as safe, reliable and affordable as today's airline travel.

"Within the next 40 years, I think traveling around in near-Earth orbit and to nearby planets will be a lot like air travel is now," says Garry Lyles, manager of Marshall's Advanced Space Transportation Program. "It won't be unusual to catch a ride on a spaceliner to your job on Mars or even to a month-long asteroid-mining mission."

Hospitals, business parks and solar electric power stations that beam clean, inexpensive energy back to Earth are likely to dot the "space-scape" 40 years from now. Space adventure tourism and travel, orbiting movie studios, and worldwide, two-hour express package delivery also appear just over the horizon.

By 2040, it's expected to cost only tens of dollars per pound to launch humans or cargo to space; today, it costs as much as $10,000 per pound. Bridging that gap requires intense research and technology development focused on accelerating breakthroughs that will serve as keys to open the space frontier for business and pleasure. Space transportation technology breakthroughs will launch a new age of space exploration, just as the silicon chip revolutionized the computer industry and made desktop computers commonplace.

The Marshall Center is working today to pave a highway to space by developing a wide variety of propulsion and vehicle technologies that could enable a true spaceliner, capable of making daily commutes to space. Rocket engines that breathe oxygen from the air, spaceliners that get a running start on a magnetic levitation track, propulsion tethers that require no fuel, and smart, self-healing spacecraft are among the technologies already being developed by NASA and its industry and academic partners.

Lyles expects a lot of people will be working and playing in space in 40 years. Human journeys to the outer planets and robotic probes to other star systems are also part of his vision for the 2040 time frame. "Propulsion systems for deep space missions of the future probably haven't even been thought of yet," he said, "or if somebody's thought of them, they may be considered science fiction now."

Space sails, high-power electric propulsion, antimatter drives and laser propulsion belonged to science fiction when NASA's Marshall Center was created 40 years ago. Today, Marshall engineers are conducting hands-on experiments to prepare those technologies for use in space flight. And fundamental research is under way to gain credible knowledge that could transfer faster-than-light travel from the pages of science fiction to the journals of new millennium space travelers.

Marshall is NASA's Lead Center for Space Transportation Systems Development. Marshall's Advanced Space Transportation Program is NASA's "Technology Central" for future space transportation systems.