The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a research bureau of the Smithsonian Institution, which was created by Congress in 1846 to carry out the bequest of Englishman James Smithson "to found at Washington ... an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge..." As an independent trust establishment of the United States government, the Institution today conducts scientific and scholarly research, administers national collections, and provides public service, education, and outreach programs supported by Congressional appropriations, trust endowments and revenues, and private contracts, grants, and gifts.
It was not until 1890 that SAO was founded by Samuel Pierpont Langley, the Smithsonian Institution's third Secretary, primarily for studies of the Sun.
In 1955, SAO moved from Washington, D.C., to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to affiliate with the Harvard College Observatory and to expand its staff, facilities, and, most important, its scientific scope. Fred Whipple, the first director of SAO in this new era, accepted a national challenge to create a worldwide satellite-tracking network, a decision that would establish SAO as a pioneer―and leader―in space science research.
In 1973, the ties between Smithsonian and Harvard were strengthened and formalized by the creation of the joint Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).
Today SAO is part of what is arguably the largest and most diverse astrophysical institution in the world, where the combined staff now numbering more than 300 scientists carries out a broad program of research in astronomy, astrophysics, and earth and space sciences.
excerpted from
SAO History.