NASA logo
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The NASA 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. 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.
The worm logo is now reserved for special use (such as for commercial merchandising purposes) and must be approved by the Visual Identity Coordinator at NASA Headquarters.
In 1992, Administrator Dan Goldin brought NASA's meatball back from retirement to invoke memories of the one-giant-leap-for-mankind glory days of Apollo and to show that "the magic is back at NASA."
The original design and now official NASA Seal is to be reserved for use in connection with the NASA Administrator, such as for award presentations, formal events and activities which are ceremonial or traditional in nature. According to NASA Headquarters, the Seal should never be used with the NASA Insignia, since the two elements are intended for different purposes and are visually incompatible when seen side by side.
Most NASA images are public domain with the exception of these three: the "meatball" logo, the "worm" logo, and the NASA seal. These NASA emblems should be reproduced only from original reproduction proofs, transparencies, or computer files available from NASA Headquarters.
