GRAA NEWSLETTER
P.O. Box 163, Lanham, MD 20703-0163

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM RON BROWNING, GRAA PRESIDENT: Dr. Pamela Conrad, Deputy Investigator of the Sample Analysis on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity, updated members on scientific observations since Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012. A major science objective is to measure habitability and determine whether life evolved on Mars. Asteroid particles smashed into Mars four+ billion years ago, creating a rocky surface very different from other planets. These rocks were at one time beneath water. There is a slight atmosphere, but no protection from cosmic rays. The scientific team has conducted studies of signature of life in terrain and rocks in Antarctica, water evaporation in deserts, and volcanic materials in Sweden to understand what life would be like somewhere else. Microbial life, most abundant on Earth, may exist on Mars. Spatial and temporal requirements to sustain life are necessary. This requires certain chemical elements; carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sodium, and phosphorous. Findings to date show the Mars atmosphere has tiny amounts of nitrogen, but the light elements have been lost. Minerals are few, much less than on Earth, which is bad for habitability. Another difference is that rocks on Mars are fine-grained, leaving no place for embedded minerals (unlike rocks on Earth). Some other findings affecting habitability are daily temperature swings of 90 degrees Celsius, high radiation, and an ionized surface. Dr. Conrad and the science team will continue to collect and analyze spectrometer data from the MSL. The next rover mission to Mars is scheduled for 2020, but no Goddard instrument was selected for the mission. 2014 has been a very successful year for GRAA thanks to our many volunteers and the generosity of our members. We compiled, printed, and mailed about 2500 new Membership Directories. We changed the luncheon venue from the Rec Center to the Greenbelt American Legion without a hitch and attendance has steadily increased during the year. There are more opportunities to renew friendships with colleagues and we hope to see more members attending in the New Year.

Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) 25^th Anniversary Party: 200+ members of the COBE team attended its 25^th Anniversary party in Goddard’s Building 8 Auditorium on November 18^th. The focus was on science learned from the COBE mission, the following analyses that corroborated its results, and the pomp and pageantry of Dr. John Mather’s 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics (which he shared with Dr. George Smoot) in Stockholm, Sweden. The camaraderie exhibited during the party among COBE’s science, engineering, and management colleagues who attended was clearly obvious. Check out the 95 attendee photos at: http://dpfriedlander.smugmug.com/Events/NASA-Goddard-Space-Flight/COBE-25th-Anniv-Party-2014/45849367_2bRmpJ

RECENT RETIRE: Pamela S. Davila

GRAA CHANGES ADDRESS FROM LANHAM TO GREENBELT, MD: Please note that GRAA is now using the post office in Greenbelt, MD (rather than the post office in Lanham, MD). All GRAA correspondence should be addressed to: GRAA, P.O. Box 1184, Greenbelt, MD 20768-1184, but correspondence inadvertently sent to Lanham will be forwarded to Greenbelt for at least a year.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible contributions from: Edward Bielecki, Joseph Bredekamp, William Bryant, Ellen Herring, Janet & James Jew, Howard Kingman, Vernon Krueger, Jan Owings, David Pfenning, Clifford Shorter, Steven Smith, Barbara Sweeney, Thomas Underwood, and Richard Weiss (in memory of Donald Margolies). Jackie points out there are still a few more days for you to send in a tax-deductible donation and deduct it from your 2014 federal income tax. If you use GRAA’s new address for a donation, the more likely you will be to remember it for future correspondence. While the new address will be at the top of every newsletter, you may want to consider jotting it down somewhere inside or on the cover of your Membership Directory.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

•  Howard E. Estep, of Knoxville, TN, passed away on October 17^th. He was an Electrical Engineer at Goddard who was assigned to antenna tracking and microwave technology-related duties over time in both the Networks and Engineering Directorates.

•  Edward M. Fern, of Beltsville, MD, passed away on November 7^th. In the '60s he was an Engineering Technician in the Field Facilities Branch of the Tracking & Data Systems Directorate and spent much time as a project manager at the tracking stations and also installed many antenna systems of that era. Due to reorganizations, Ed moved to the Facility Engineering Division and later to the Facility Management Division (where he was a Contracting Officer’s Technical Rep on several construction projects).

•  Robert W. Halli, Sr., of Towson, MD, passed away on September 8^th. He worked as a Mechanical Engineer for the Air Force and Navy and became a Chief Structural Design Engineer before coming to Goddard in 1967. Prior to retiring in 1979, he worked on the Nimbus Atmosphere Explorer, Space Shuttle payload designs, and other projects.

•  Richard A. Reeves, of Boulder, CO, passed away on October 18^th. He started out with NASA as an Attorney at Marshall Space Flight Center and then moved up to ever more responsible senior management positions at Goddard, Ames Research Center, and NASA Headquarters. At Goddard, Richard was Deputy Director of the Management Operations Directorate.

•  Michael Roberto, Jr., of Bowie, MD, passed away on October 22^nd. He was a Systems Engineer at Goddard who contributed to several NASA missions and projects, most notably the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite.

•  H. John Wood, III, of Bowie, MD, passed away on October 23^rd. Dr. Wood was an Astronomer and Optics Engineer at Goddard and participated in the alignment testing of the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment on the COBE spacecraft as well as the optical prescription for the Hubble Space Telescope while in orbit. Dr. Wood also performed outreach for NASA, providing lectures and presentations all over the U.S. for schools, professional groups and clubs.

WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY (WFF) LAUNCH TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) EXPLODES: On October 28^th, Orbital Sciences Corporation’s launch from the WFF of its Antares rocket and the attached Cygnus cargo carrier destined for a resupply mission to the ISS) met with catastrophic results from an explosion just after liftoff. Orbital, WFF, and other federal and state agency personnel are continuing an investigation into the incident to determine the cause.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY:
December 10, 1974 - A Titan IIIE Centaur rocket launched the Helios-A spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, FL. The spacecraft was one of a pair of space probes developed by the Federal Republic of Germany in cooperation with NASA. The purpose of the mission was to make pioneering measurements of the interplanetary medium from the vicinity of the Earth’s orbit to 0.3 Astronomical Units.
January 22, 1965 - A Delta rocket launched TIROS-9 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, FL. It was a sun-synchronous meteorological spacecraft designed to develop improved capabilities for obtaining and using TV cloud cover images from satellites to test the TIROS Operational System concept.

UPCOMING NASA MISSION: The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite is targeted to launch on a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, on or about January 29^th. SMAP is an Earth satellite mission designed to measure and map Earth’s moisture and freeze/thaw state to better understand terrestrial water, carbon and energy cycles.

THOUGHT FOR DECEMBER AND JANUARY : As some locales around the country have already experienced, the Farmers’ Almanac has called for a colder and snowier winter than usual. Members are highly encouraged to carry with them and wear appropriate hand protection, especially since Ye Ed has already heard weather reports calling for intermitten flurries.