NASA Advisory Council

About

The NASA Advisory Council provides the NASA Administrator with counsel and advice on programs and issues of importance to the Agency. The Council consists of nine committees, Aeronautics, Audit, Finance and Analysis, Commercial Space, Education and Public Outreach, Exploration, Information Technology Infrastructure, Science, Space Operations, and Technology and Innovation. Each committee conducts sessions throughout the year in an effort to gain a broad understanding of current NASA issues and future mission implementation plans. The committees then bring their proposed observations, findings, and recommendations to the full Council for deliberation and final decision on whether to send forward to the NASA Administrator.

The Council deliberates on topics raised by each committee in public sessions and presents any observations, findings, and recommendations to the NASA Administrator on a quarterly basis. 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has a long tradition of turning to accomplished citizens for advice and guidance on major program and policy issues before the agency. This tradition originates with NASA's predecessor organization, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Established in 1915, the NACA became the United States ' premier aeronautical research institution; it was governed by an advisory committee appointed by the President of the United States . The NACA's "main committee" served as a board of directors, and a group of research advisory committees guided the NACA's research in specific areas.

With the creation of NASA in 1958, the NACA was abolished, and its research centers-- Ames Research Center, Lewis Research Center , and Langley Aeronautical Laboratory--were incorporated within the new space and aeronautics agency along with some elements of the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, then engaged in rocket-related work. The tradition of turning to nongovernment sources for independent judgment and guidance survived, however, as NASA established new advisory committees to assist it with planning for its new and continuing responsibilities in aeronautics, space technology, space science and applications, and human space flight.

In 1967, the U.S. Congress directed NASA to form an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to advise the NASA Administrator on safety issues and hazards in NASA's aerospace programs. The Congress envisioned a continuity of membership and a degree of professional technical expertise for the ASAP that makes it unique in NASA's advisory committee structure to this day. By 1971, the principal sources of advisory committee support for the NASA Administrator, in addition to the ASAP, were the Space Program Advisory Council and the Research and Technology Advisory Council and their subcommittees focused on particular aerospace science and engineering disciplines. These two advisory committee structures, which enjoyed notable success in the approximately 6 years of their existence, were combined in 1977 to form the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) and its standing advisory committees focusing on particular program areas. The Council, first chartered on December 12, 1977, held its first meeting on May 1 and 2, 1978.

Current Council

On October 26, 2009, the NASA Administrator signed a new NASA Advisory Council (the “Council”) charter. The Council consists of nine committees, each chaired and populated exclusively by Council members. The committees are:

• Aeronautics Committee
• Audit, Finance and Analysis Committee
• Commercial Space Committee
• Education and Public Outreach Committee
• Exploration Committee
• Information Technology Infrastructure Committee
• Science Committee
• Space Operations Committee
• Technology and Innovation Committee

The NASA Advisory Council is chartered by NASA, its members are chosen by NASA, and it provides advice and makes recommendations to the NASA Administrator. NASA also receives advice from two other key external advisory committees, the National Academies’ Space Studies Board (SSB), and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB). The chairs of these two Academy Boards sit on the NASA Advisory Council as ex officio nonvoting members, to provide continuity and insight.