Goddard is home to the nation’s largest organization of scientists, engineers, and technologists who build spacecraft, instruments, and new technology to study Earth, the Sun, the solar system, and the universe. Just outside Washington, Goddard is home to Hubble operations and a proving ground for the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope. Goddard manages communications between mission control and orbiting astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Goddard scientists stare into the Sun, grind up meteorites for signs of life’s building blocks, look into the farthest reaches of space, and untangle the mysteries of the changing world. Goddard engineers construct sensitive instruments, build telescopes that peer into the cosmos, and operate the test chambers that ensure those satellites’ survival. Named for American rocketry pioneer Dr. Robert H. Goddard, the center was established on May 1, 1959, as NASA’s first space flight complex. Goddard and its several installations are critical in carrying out NASA’s missions of space exploration and scientific discovery.