![This is a photo of a large group of people, attendees at the 8th Annual Aircraft Engineering Research Conference, sitting in bleachers in the Full-Scale Tunnel. A U.S. Navy scouting aircraft hangs from the ceiling above the attendees.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?w=1536)
History of NASA Langley
NASA Langley Research Center is a place where past discoveries meet future innovations. Welcome to NASA’s first field center.
OVER A CENTURY OF INNOVATION
years since Langley’s founding
facilities
HISTORIC FACILITIES
Historic Facilities
Get to Know Past Facilities at Langley
For over a century, NASA Langley Research Center has been home to groundbreaking facilities where history was made. As new facilities are built on center to help usher in the next century of innovation, over the years, these historic facilities have been demolished. Learn about some of these past Langley facilities and the scientific achievements they lead to.
Read More![A NASA Langley employee stands in front of the 16 Foot Transonic Tunnel. The guide vanes of the tunnel, which form an ellipse 58-feet high and 82-feet wide, cut across each cylindrical tube at a 45-degree angle.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/16_foot_transonic_tunnel_turning_vanes_dvids706451.jpg?w=736)
The Hall of Honor
Celebrating the Achievements of NASA Personnel
The Hall of Honor was established by members of the Langley Alumni Association and NASA Langley as a way to pay tribute to individuals who built exemplary careers at Langley, persevered against the status quo when required, and achieved revolutionary scientific understanding and technological progress on the frontiers of the aerospace sciences.
Read More![The Hall of Honor was conceived by members of the Langley Alumni Association and NASA Langley as a way to pay tribute to individuals who built exemplary careers at Langley.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/lrc-2022-0714-h1_p_hall_of_honor-2-000258.jpg?w=1024)
Celebrating Our Centennial
A Storied Legacy, A Soaring Future
The NASA you know today was established in 1958. But its historical roots reach back to 1915–just 12 years after the Wright Brothers’ flight and two years before America’s entry into World War I–when the U.S. Congress created the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA.
In 2017, NASA Langley Research Center celebrated 100 years of excellence in aerospace achievements, scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs. Learn more about our rich history and what to look forward to in our second century.
![This is an aerial photo of NASA Langley Research Center's hangar in 2017. To celebrate Langley's centennial, Langley personnel stood outside the hangar and formed the number "100."](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/hangar_100_centennial.jpg?w=1024)
Langley Research Center Directors
Langley's Centennial: A Storied Legacy, A Soaring Future
Katherine Johnson: A NASA Trailblazer
One of NASA's famous "human computers," Katherine G. Johnson stands among NASA’s most inspirational figures.
Learn More about Katherine Johnson: A NASA Trailblazer![NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson is photographed at her desk at Langley Research Center in Hampton](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?w=1213)