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Following two reorganizations in which many science agencies with related missions were
brought together in one agency, NOAA and the NOAA Corps came into existence in 1970
following a short stint as the Environmental Science Services Administration and the ESSA
Corps (1965-1970).
NOAA today is comprised of five offices: The National Weather Service; National Marine
Fisheries Service; Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; National Environmental
Satellite, Data and Information Service; and National Ocean Service. Through the Office of
Marine and Aviation Operations, NOAA Corps officers operate NOAA's fleet of research and
survey vessels and aircraft; they also serve within each of NOAA's five line offices.
Today's NOAA civilians and officers are equally at home under the sea, on the sea,
surveying the land, charting the airways, flying into hurricanes and other dangerous
weather phenomena, monitoring environmental spacecraft, and studying the most important
star, our sun. They serve on all the oceans of the world and represent the United States
in many nations. One can only wonder what Ferdinand Hassler would think about the
organization that he helped found so many years ago.
For more information about the history of the U.S. Coast Survey and other agencies that
make up NOAA today, please visit the NOAA Library, where there are links to sites such as:
NOAA's History
NOAA's Photo Library
NOAA's Historical Map and Chart Collection
and Treasures of the Library
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