Glenn Research Center

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The Glenn Research Center is located in Cleveland, Ohio between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Rocky River Reservation (part of the Cleveland Metroparks). Its current Director is Dr. Woodrow Whitlow Jr. and its Deputy Director is Richard S. Christiansen.

It was established in 1942 as part of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and was later incorporated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a laboratory for aircraft engine research.

It was initially named the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory after funding approval was given in June 1940. It was renamed the Flight Propulsion Research Laboratory in 1947, the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in 1948 and the NASA Lewis Research Center in 1958.

Glenn is a research center, with a mission of developing technology for aeronautics and space missions. Some of its best known technology developments include the design and development of the hydrogen rocket engine, which Werner von Braun credited as being the critical technology leading to the Apollo moon landing, and development of the ion thruster, a high-efficiency engine for spaceflight.

On March 1, 1999, the Lewis Research Center was officially renamed the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field after John Glenn (American fighter pilot, astronaut and politician) and George W. Lewis (head of NACA from 1919 to 1947). Within NASA, Glenn is often referred to by the acronym GRC (not to be confused with GSFC, the Goddard Spaceflight Center).

[edit] Future of Glenn

Since 2004, NASA has begun shifting its focus towards space exploration as mandated by the Vision for Space Exploration. It has been perceived by some that in doing so, the regional NASA centers focused on research and technology, such as Glenn, are becoming more and more marginalized in terms of resources and relevance [1]. The future of these research centers is of course uncertain, and will have a lot to do with the evolution of NASA itself over the coming decades.

On May 13th, 2006, it was announced that NASA Glenn Research Center had secured management of the Crew Exploration Vehicle's service module, which promises to generate billions of dollars and hundreds of jobs for the center, which will control management and budgeting for the project. This work will secure the center's future in the near term, and signals a shift in priority for the center from aeronautical research to space exploration, aligning itself closer with NASA's new mission.