NASA Ames Research Center

Stop on Silicon Valley Tech Heritage Tour, a free self-guided tour.

NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View/Moffett Field has been a crucial part of Silicon Valley's technological ecosystem since 1939 (joining NASA in 1958). The 430-acre facility conducts research in aeronautics, space exploration, and astrobiology. Ames played vital roles in Apollo missions, Space Shuttle development, and current Mars exploration programs. The center's wind tunnels have tested virtually every U.S. commercial and military aircraft design. Ames pioneered computational fluid dynamics and supercomputing, maintaining some of the world's most powerful computers. The center's Exploration Center offers limited public access featuring exhibits on space exploration, aeronautics research, and future missions. The massive Hangar One, a dirigible hangar built in 1933, dominates the landscape and is a registered historic landmark currently undergoing restoration. The center collaborates extensively with Silicon Valley companies - Google leases portions of Moffett Field for its aircraft and the Planetary Ventures project to develop the area. The relationship between NASA Ames and Silicon Valley illustrates how government research facilities contributed to the region's tech culture, sharing expertise in computing, materials science, and systems engineering while benefiting from proximity to commercial innovation. Ames represents the aerospace and government research thread in Silicon Valley's DNA.