NASA SATELLITE LAUNCHING PICTURES

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has truly taken the Beatles song "Across the Universe" to heart. The federal agency was founded in 1958 -- partly in response to Russia's launch of the Sputnik satellite -- to research space and flight technology and, in 1969, successfully landed two Americans on the moon. Today it manages the space shuttle program; partners with several nations, including Russia, to build and man the International Space Station; and does research and exploration via unmanned satellites and probes (including the Mars Rovers and the Hubble Space Telescope). NASA plans to retire the space shuttle program by 2010 and deliver man back to the moon by 2020.