Short answers, pulled from the story.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was established on the 3rd of October 1970. President Richard Nixon signed Reorganization Plan No. 4 to create the agency within the Department of Commerce.
Silver Spring, Maryland serves as the administrative heart of NOAA since 1993. The Silver Spring Metro Center complex houses over 40 sub-agencies across four buildings.
Neil Jacobs took office as Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere on the 7th of October 2025. He assumed leadership following a series of interim appointments during the first Trump Administration.
By 2021, the workforce included 11,833 civilian employees alongside 321 uniformed officers. In early March 2025, approximately 1,300 staff members faced layoffs representing roughly 10% of the total workforce.
Current operational platforms include NOAA-15, NOAA-18, NOAA-19, GOES 13 through 15, Jason-2, DSCOVR, and SWO-F1. NESDIS has managed polar orbiting satellites since 1966 and geosynchronous systems since 1974.