World War II was waged unlike any war before. Battles were fought not just on the land and at sea, but in the air. German rockets bombarded England. And the war ended with the use of the most destructive weapon the world had ever seen, the atomic bomb. World War II gave way to the Cold War, which soon saw another front: outer space.
Russia’s launch of the first human-made satellite, Sputnik, in 1957 prompted Congress to create the National Air and Space Administration in 1958. Before that, the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics provided research and testing on air travel, including the development of the jet engine. A NACA facility was in Cleveland, so it was natural that when NASA was formed, it, too, would have a presence in Northeast Ohio.
Related: Artemis Is NASA's First Step Toward Mars
Lewis Research Center (named for George W. Lewis, the longtime Director of Aeronautical Research of NACA) was dedicated in 1958, and its mission was to research and develop rocket fuel and propulsion systems. The campus adjacent to Hopkins International Airport included the $2.5 million (in 1950s dollars) Rocket Engine Test Facility, which would become crucial in the development of the United States’ space exploration. Engine technologies that propelled Apollo rockets — the first to land on the moon — as well as the space shuttles were tested here.
The facility’s value was so great that it was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Unfortunately, its proximity to the airport had threatened its existence dating to the 1970s, and finally, in 2004, it was torn down for a runway expansion. Lewis Research Center was eventually named NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center in 1999, and it remains integral to NASA’s aviation and space exploration missions.
For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.
Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.
