On October 1, 1958 NASA opened its doors for business, with T. Keith Glennan as its first administrator.
“For 40 years, the NACA (with each individual letter always pronounced, never as an acronym like “NASA'') conducted aeronautical research that was ultimately transferred to the nascent aerospace industry, which led the U.S. economy into the late 20th century. In the 1950s, as pilots were taking experimental vehicles like the X-15 faster and higher than ever before, to the edge of space, NACA engineers began thinking about sending humans into space. NACA developed a plan that called for a blunt-body spacecraft that would re-enter with a heat shield, a worldwide tracking network, and dual controls that would gradually give the pilot of the craft greater control” (NASA).
NACA (what is now NASA) was looking for ways to improve many different things such as the research programs and engineers. During this time they were also beginning to think of ways to get humans into space then onto the moon.