G.R.A.A.
Goddard Retirees & Alumni Association
P.O. Box 163, Seabrook, MD 20703

February 2000                                          http://gewa.gsfc.nasa.gov/~graa                    16th Year of Publication

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Feb. 8, 2000              ll:30 a.m., Rec Center-Regular GRAA Luncheon-Pls call Alberta 301-937-7762
Mar 14, 2000             ll:30 a.m. RecCenter- GRAA Luncheon-Pls call Alberta 30l-937-7762 for reservations
May 17-24,2000       Baltimore to Bermuda aboard the Crown Dynasty-Inside cabins from $1,025 and
                                  outside from $1,112. Docks at the Royal Naval Dockyard for the weekend. This
                                  trip sells out quickly – make reservations by calling Alberta 301-937-7762
Sept 28-Oct 2, 2000  Branson, MO trip. In planning stages. If interested, call Alberta 301-937-7762

MAD PRODUCTION: The 2000 Winter Show - "The Importance of Being Earnest"
                          Performance Dates: February ll, l2, l3, l8, l9, 20, 25, 26
                          Groups of 8 or more: Fri. $l0, Sat. $l3, Sun. $l0-- Less than 8 - Fri. $ll, Sat. $l4, Sun. $ll
                          Hot or Cold Hors D’Oeurvres - Beer/Wine/Sodas
                          Information & Tickets - Contact: Catherine Simkins, 30l-286-3304

GEWA TENTATIVE TRAVEL 2000 (Contact: GEWA 30l-286-8498 for further details)
TRIP                           DATES              DURATION                        FEATURES
New York City          May TBD            2 days/l night          Shopping, Broadway Show, Dinner, Overnight accs.,                                                                                            Bus, Baltimore Departure
Cruise to Nowhere    July 3-6               3 days/2nights         Baltimore Departure, SS Rembrandt
Niagara Falls &         Aug. 7-ll              5 days/4 nights        Casino, Maid-of-the-Mist, Motor Coach,Winery Tour,    Toronto                                                                            Toronto Harbor Cruise, 4 breakfasts, 4 dinners  
Myrtle Beach, SC      Oct 9-13             5 days/4 nights        3 Shows, Charleston tour, Motor Coach, Casinos gambling,
                                                                                           Waccamaw Pottery, 4 breakfasts, 4 dinners
Bethlehem, PA          Dec TBD             3 days/2 nights        Night Lights Spectacular tour, Motor Coach, Christmas                                                                                            Village, Longwood Gardens, Reading Outlets, 3 breakfasts, 
                                                                                           4 dinners                                                                                                                              Christmas Christmas in NY        Dec TBD             l day                       Radio City Music Hall, FAO Schwartz, Motor Coach,                                                                                            Dinner.

MAIL STUFFERS FOR DECEMBER; Agnes Smith, John Steckel, Bob & Mary Wilson, Eloise Tarter, Roland VanAllen, Frank Wrigley, Bob Wigand and Rose McChesney.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Donations were received from Al Payne, Ray Hesson, Joe Fedor, Jim Keene and Dave Manges. As of l2/3l/99, GRAA’s account balances totaled $l4,3l5.59 (includes $600.00 + int. in the Vaccaro Memorial Fund and $225.00 for copies of "Dreams, Hopes and Realities" on consignment, as of year end, at the GEWA Exchange). (All copies have since been sold and now should be ordered from the Supt. of Documents at GPO for the regular price of $33.00.)

COMMENTS FROM GRAA'S PRESIDENT, DR. PIEPER: It is a particular pleasure to report that my classmate and long time colleague and sometime boss, Jack Townsend, was presented the Edward A. Flinn III Award of the American Geophysical Union at their spring meeting honors ceremony in Boston last June. It is an award of great significance in the scientific community because it recognizes individuals who personify the Union’s motto "unselfish cooperation in research." The detailed (and to me heartwarming) citation says in part, "Throughout his career, Jack Townsend has excelled at visionary institutional leadership, innovating new institutions to meet new national challenges and opportunities, and at dedicated professional management that always enabled researchers and engineers to accomplish objectives that helped maintain U.S. leadership in science and technology." The citation describes Jack’s career from its beginning at Williams, through his upper atmosphere studies at NRL using captured V-2 and early American rockets, his role in the formation and direction of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and development of the Delta rocket. Jack’s career moved on to a l9-year stint as Associate Administrator of NOAA, then into the space industry as president of the Fairchild Space & Electronics Div., and eventually back to Goddard where he was Center Director for the last three years before his retirement. Jack was an outstanding dynamic leader, and as one of the many who blossomed under that leadership, it is a great pleasure for me to see him receive the AGU Flinn Award.

LETTERS WE GET LETTERS!
ALTON D. (BUDDY) PAYNE:Sends his new address in Florida and thanks for sending the Newsletter — looks forward to receiving it.
JOE FEDOR: Sends a Happy New Year's greeting to the people who keep GRAA operating. Lives in Hyattsville.
RAY HESSON: Presently living in Upper Marlboro, MD - worked at GSFC from l964 thru l985 - in the last decade he was Procurement Mgr. for MMS, Metsat, SMM, UARS, and several other flight projects - also served on the GEWA board for several years. At present is active in music, recording CDs of 5-string banjo music and playing in contests. Would love to hear from anybody that might remember him.
JAMES R. KEENE: Greatly enjoys receiving the current news about Goddard - relives an important part of his life - has moved to Colorado.

OBITS:
EUGENE YOUNG:former Networks Director for many Goddard flight missions, died last month after a long bout with cancer.
LUCILLE PARKER: of Bowie, died l/l8/00, of cancer.
DR. WARREN HOVIS; of Bradenton, Fla., died ll/9/99 - worked for NASA and NOAA.
JOSEPH W. O’CONNOR, SR., a NASA aerospace engineer for 35 years - retired in l988. Died of congestive heart failure at his home in Silver Spring, MD, l2/30/99. During his years with NASA , he was involved in such projects as the Hubble Space Telescope. In the 60's, he invented a right-angle screwdriver for use by NASA.
W. C. SCHNEIDER; an aeronautical engineer who served as program director of the Skylab Manned Space Station Project for NASA, died l2/24/99, in Silver Spring, MD, as a result of stroke complications. He joined NASA in the early 60's, where he helped organize the Gemini Space Program and the Apollo Moon Program. He retired in l980. He received NASA’s Distinguished and Exceptional Service Medals, the Robert Collier Trophy and the Outstanding Leadership Award. After his federal retirement, he was a vice president with Computer Sciences Corp. and then an aerospace consultant until l995.
BEATRICE S. BOCCUCCI: of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, died l2/25/99.

GRAA REMEMBERS HARRY J. GOETT

Goddard's first Director, Dr. Harry J. Goett, died January 6 at the Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, California, at the age of 89. Dr. Goett was born in the Bronx, New York, on November 14, 1910. He obtained a B.S. degree in physics from the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., in 1931 and an additional degree in aeronautical engineering from New York University in 1933.
Before becoming Director of the then Beltsville Space Center in September 1959, Dr. Goett had already had a distinguished career at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory and Ames Research Center of NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. At Ames, he was chief of the Full-Scale and Flight Research Division from 1948 to 1959, where he directed overall research and study of the complex aerodynamic problems encountered by aircraft in the upper atmosphere. He was also involved in research on automatic stabilization, guidance and control, and reentry heating. When the NACA was absorbed into the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958, Dr. Goett initially chaired the NASA committee that developed the nation's early space research agenda, including early work on the national booster program, work on reentry flight research, and planning for the man-in-space effort to include a moon landing and return as a major long range manned space flight goal.
Goddard's mission under Harry Goett focused on unmanned Earth-orbiting satellites, with responsibility for attaining objectives in space flight and scientific satellite programs and projects. These included design and development of scientific, communications, and weather satellites, sounding rockets, and two worldwide tracking and data networks for manned and scientific space missions. During his tenure as Director, some 35 Goddard satellites, carrying over 100 scientific experiments, were successfully placed into orbit, including numerous Explorers, Orbiting Observatories, and NASA's first international satellites.
After leaving Goddard and NASA in 1965, Dr. Goett became chief engineer at Ford Aerospace (later Loral). At Ford, he played a central role in the development of their world wide communications satellite program. After retiring from Ford in 1975, he continued as a consultant for nearly 15 years on numerous European and Latin American communications satellite programs.
In his book, "Beyond the Atmosphere: Early Years of Space Science", Homer Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications during Dr. Goett's tenure at Goddard, wrote: "Harry Goett assumed the directorship of Goddard in September 1959. As was his nature, he quickly entered personally into every aspect of the center's work. From his first day until he left, he kept in close touch with every project. As an untiring battler for the center and his people, Goett endeared himself to his coworkers. He was a warm, emotional person who showed a deep interest in the men and women working for him, and on both sides a deep affection developed. . . . Goett was beloved of his people; he had been a conscientious, hardworking, imaginative director, under whose regime the center had achieved most of the space accomplishments of NASA's first few years. . . Those accomplishments were, of course, the real story of the Goddard Space Flight Center, not the struggles over how to manage. . . Harry Goett's departure was a distinct loss to NASA."
In a career that lasted nearly 58 years, Harry Goett spent less than six years at Goddard, and he often said that the most enjoyed period of his life were his years at Ames. But those of us who had the privilege to know him and work for him at Goddard in those now long-gone days know that he set the course. The character of the Center is what he set it to be. He was a great leader.
Cards may be sent to: Barbara Goett, 13879 Ciceroni Lane, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022.
Expression of Sympathy: College of Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, MA 01610