NASA Headquarters, officially known as Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters or NASA HQ and formerly named Two Independence Square, is a low-rise office building in the two-building Independence Square complex at 300 E Street SW in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The building houses NASA leadership who provide overall guidance and direction to the US government executive branch agency

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

, under the leadership of the

NASA administrator The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to ...

. Ten field centers and a variety of installations around the country conduct the day-to-day work. NASA Headquarters is organized into four Mission Directorates: Aeronautics, Exploration Systems, Science, and Space Operations. The James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium, named for NASA's second administrator

James E. Webb James Edwin Webb (October 7, 1906 – March 27, 1992) was an American government official who served as Undersecretary of State from 1949 to 1952. He was the second Administrator of NASA from February 14, 1961, to October 7, 1968. Webb led NAS ...

, hosts agency news conferences and

NASA Social NASA has hosted many events for its social media enthusiasts called NASA Socials (formerly NASA Tweetups) beginning in 2009. These events are targeted at the social media followers of NASA through platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, I ...

events. A lending library, the history office, archives, production facilities for

NASA TV The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...

, and a NASA gift shop are also housed in the building. The building, which opened in 1992, was designed by

Kohn Pedersen Fox Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is an American architecture firm that provides architecture, interior, programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. KPF is one of the largest architecture firms in ...

, with George How as the senior designer. It is currently owned by South Korean investment firm Hana Asset Management and leased to NASA through 2028. On June 12, 2019, the street in front of the building was renamed Hidden Figures Way in honor of some of NASA's black women mathematicians,

Katherine Johnson Katherine Johnson (née Coleman; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. ...

Dorothy Vaughan Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Vir ...

, and Mary Jackson, who were the central characters in the 2016 film ''

Hidden Figures ''Hidden Figures'' is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the 2016 non-fiction Hidden Figures (book), book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterl ...

''. On June 24, 2020, NASA Administrator

Jim Bridenstine James Frederick Bridenstine (born June 15, 1975) is an American military officer and politician who served as the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bridenstine was the United States representative f ...

announced that the agency’s headquarters building in Washington, D.C. had been renamed to Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters, after NASA's first black woman engineer, Mary W. Jackson. On February 26, 2021 a ceremony was held officially renaming the building. File:Day of Remembrance (NHQ201902070002).jpg, Main entrance File:Day of Remembrance (NHQ201902070001).jpg, Lobby during NASA's Day of Remembrance File:NASA history archives.jpg, NASA history archives

References

External links

Google Street View of building

NASA headquarters library

NASA History Program Office
{{NASA centers Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Office buildings in Washington, D.C. NASA facilities Southwest Federal Center Name changes due to the George Floyd protests