Bringing back memories of NASA's early successes, this logo dates back to 1959, when the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) metamorphosed into an agency that would advance both space and aeronautics: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). After a NASA Lewis Research Center illustrator's design was chosen for the new agency's official seal, the head of Lewis' 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. Mr. Modarelli simplified the seal, leaving only the white stars and orbital path on a round field of blue with a red airfoil. Then he added white N-A-S-A lettering. In the "meatball" 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. Known officially as the insignia, NASA's round logo was not called the "meatball" until 1975, when NASA decided a more modern logo was in order and switched to the "worm"--a red, stylized rendering of the letters N-A-S-A. |
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