Although best known for dramatic aerospace missions that push the boundaries of human achievement, NASA traces its roots to work of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics to advance aeronautics during World War I. Today, NASA is making highly significant contributions to aeronautics that will improve the lives of millions of air travelers. For instance, the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) recently developed technologies to significantly reduce airliner weight and drag while decreasing noise and pollution by a staggering 75 percent. During this session of the NASA Virtual PM Challenge we will look at The First “A” in NASA: Lessons Learned from NASA Aeronautics Projects. In addition to exploring how the work of ARMD positively impacts the American public, we will look specifically at the challenges, accomplishments, and lessons learned of the ERA project and ARMD’s Airspace Technology Demonstrations (ATD) project. We will be joined by Fay Collier—ERA project manager and Leighton Quon—ATD project manager.