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NASA\u2019s official logo, nicknamed the \u201cmeatball,\u201d turned 65 on July 15, 2024. The insignia dates back to 1959, when the\u00a0National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics\u00a0(NACA) metamorphosed into an agency that would advance both space and aeronautics: the\u00a0National Aeronautics and Space Administration.\u00a0After a NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center illustrator\u2019s design was chosen for the new agency\u2019s official seal, the head of Lewis\u2019 Research Reports Division, James Modarelli, was asked by the executive secretary of NACA to design a logo that could be used for less formal purposes.<\/p>\n
In the design, the sphere represents a planet, the stars represent space, the red chevron is a wing representing aeronautics (the latest design in hypersonic wings at the time the logo was developed), and then there is an orbiting spacecraft going around the wing. The red, white, and blue design, which includes\u00a0elements representing NASA\u2019s space and aeronautics missions, became the official logo of the United States\u2019 new space agency in 1959.<\/p>\n