As the NASA Ames Research Center approached its 70th anniversary in December 2009, there was interest in updating the 60th anniversary history Atmosphere of Freedom: Sixty Years at the NASA Ames Research Center (NASA SP-4314). Much had happened in the decade from 1999 to 2009.Ames stayed focused on its historical mission of basic research and forward-thinking technologies-in information technology, aeronautics, reentry systems, space life sciences, and planetary science. Still, the Center confronted new challenges and new programs emerged. Notable was the growth of astrobiology, the birth and death of nanotechnology, the establishment of the NASA Research Park, the LCROSS mission to the Moon and the Kepler mission to hunt for Earth-sized planets. Perhaps the most important challenge was NASA's Constellation program, a full-bore effort to create a transportation system for human spaceflight to replace the Space Shuttle and return America to the Moon. Furthermore, events of the most recent decade shed new light on parts of NASA Ames' legacy. The renewed emphasis on small spacecraft, for example, prompted renewed interest in Ames' historical strengths in spacecraft engineering dating back to the1960s. The renewed emphasis on NASA research to resolve the common concerns of commercial space, likewise, prompted renewed interest in Ames work to support the information technology industry. This update also allowed for a reconfiguration of the text. The story here starts in1958 when the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), of which Ames was apart, was incorporated into the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The first twenty years of Ames' history-back to 1939, its NACA years-remains relevant. The NACA culture is firmly fixed with in Ames and often colored its work in the NASA years, especially in its continuing efforts in aeronautics and in how it provides research support to firms and other Centers pursuing larger projects. For those interested in Ames during the NACA years, that story is told well in Edwin P. Hartman, Adventures in Research: A History of the Ames Research Center, 1940-1965 (NASASP-4302, 1970). The 60th anniversary edition of Atmosphere of Freedom was organized largely chronologically, with topical areas broken into larges watches of time. This 70th anniversary edition begins with a history of the Center from the perspective of the Center directors- there have been ten since 1958.This ties the history of Ames into its larger context of space policy and politics, and addresses the impact of leadership on the history of the Center. Then the chapters are organized by the subjects that persisted throughout Ames' history: spacecraft projects, human exploration, planetary sciences, space life sciences, information technology, and aeronautical research. Each of these stories has a history dating back to at least 1958, so issues of overlap in the narrative remain-in that what Ames has done best is explore the fruitful interchanges of disciplines and capabilities. Computational fluid dynamics, for example, developed from iterative advances in aerodynamics, supercomputing and software development, and so will be addressed in various chapters. Astrobiology, likewise, grew along the shifting border between the space life sciences and planetary science. However, the larger themes relevant on its 60th anniversary remain relevant on the 70th anniversary of NASA Ames: the complex and constant intermingling and convergence of people, tools and ideas. Ames people value the perpetual reinvention of their careers and the cross-fertilization of ideas. Ames stands as an extraordinary repository of high-tech equipment, research laboratories, and facilities. That physical infrastructure supports what Ames truly is-a growing and evolving community of researchers and support staff who have given birth to new technologies, and thus enabled the human conquest of the atmosphere and the exploration of spa

This detailed and fully-illustrated history of the NASA Ames Research Center describes its organizational structure, research culture, institutional leadership, major facilities and research programs from its founding in 1939 through 1999. The first chapter discusses Ames' origins as the NACA's second laboratory, and wind tunnel construction and the development of aerodynamic theory from subsonic to supersonic to hypersonic flight. The second chapter discusses Ames' transition into NASA, its contributions to the Apollo program, exobiology, simulators construction, and the Pioneer series of planetary explorers. The third chapter describes Ames' positioning in NASA's Shuttle era, roughly 1970 to 1990. Specifically, it covers the growth of research expertise in gravitational biology and planetary sciences, Earth observation and infrared astronomy, tilt rotor aircraft and helicopter design, air safety and flight research, thermal protection systems and planetary probes, computational fluid dynamics and intelligent systems. The fourth chapter describes Ames' renaissance since 1990 in the era of "faster, better, cheaper," and specifically its work in information technology and astrobiology and its relationships with larger communities. Throughout Ames history, four themes prevail: a commitment to hiring the best people; cutting-edge research tools; project management that gets things done faster, better and cheaper; and outstanding research efforts that serve the scientific professions and the nation. More than any other NASA Center, Ames remains shaped by its origins in the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). Not that its missions remain the same. Sure, Ames still houses the world's greatest collection of wind tunnels and simulation facilities, its aerodynamicists remain among the best in the world, and pilots and engineers still come for advice on how to build better aircraft. But that is increasingly part of Ames' past. Ames people have embraced two other missions for its future. First, intelligent systems and information science will help NASA use new tools in supercomputing, networking, telepresence and robotics. Second, astrobiology will explore the prospects for life on Earth and beyond. Both new missions leverage Ames' long-standing expertise in computation and in the life sciences, as well as its relations with the computing and biotechnology firms working in the Silicon Valley community that has sprung up around the Center. Rather than the NACA missions, it is the NACA culture that still permeates Ames. The Ames way of research management privileges the scientists and engineers working in the laboratories. They work in an atmosphere of freedom, laced with the expectation of integrity and responsibility. Ames researchers are free to define their research goals and define how they contribute to the national good. They are expected to keep their fingers on the pulse of their disciplines, to be ambitious yet frugal in organizing their efforts, and to always test their theories in the laboratory or in the field. Ames' leadership ranks, traditionally, are cultivated within this scientific community. Rather than manage and supervise these researchers, Ames leadership merely guides them, represents them to NASA headquarters and the world outside, then steps out of the way before they get run over.

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