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

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM RON BROWNING, GRAA PRESIDENT: Dr. Robert Farquhar both entertained and educated attendees at the September luncheon, drawing on excerpts from his autobiography, “Fifty Years on the Space Frontier: Halo Orbits, Comets, Asteroids, and More.” He described multiple missions and orbital maneuvers he proposed and implemented on various missions, but especially concentrated on the International Earth Sun Explorer (ISEE-3) as “Teaching Old Spacecraft New Tricks.” Early in his career, Dr. Farquhar became interested in the five Sun, Earth, Moon libration points as unique locales for scientific observations and pushed to make ISEE-3 the first to be placed in a halo orbit at L-1 where it provided data for four years. He then proposed to reposition ISEE-3 to encounter and observe a comet. It was decided that Comet Giacobini-Zinner was the choice for a five-month geotail excursion. He explained with illustrations the delta velocity maneuvers required to move ISEE-3 from L-1 toward the comet. Fortunately, there was excess fuel onboard that could be used for the needed velocity changes. Dr. Farquhar reminded attendees of his independent tendency to do what he thinks best in dealing with astronauts, fellow scientists and upper management when it comes to proposing and implementing space missions. He is still very active in space-related activities and is currently advising the Chinese on advantages and how to effectively maneuver to libration point orbits. They plan to place three satellites at L-1. In conclusion, he noted that even though ISEE-3 had been operating for over thirty-six years with no funding, two scientists tried a crowd funding activity over recent months for an ISEE-3 lunar recapture. Unfortunately, it could not be accomplished due to the loss of onboard fuel pressure. The crowd funding effort generated enough interest to raise $160,000.

UPDATE ON GODDARD RECREATION CENTER RENOVATIONS: President Ron Browning is expecting that Nancy Abell, Associate Center Director, and Pam Guzzone, GEWA Exchange Manager, will be providing an update at the October luncheon on renovations that have been made to the Goddard Recreation Center over the past several months.

GRAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS (BOD) UPDATE OF BY-LAWS APPROVED: As mentioned in the September newsletter, the GRAA BOD found it necessary to amend the by-laws by including a process for filling board vacancies that occur between biennial elections. Amendments to the by-laws were approved by members attending the September luncheon. After reaching his 90^th birthday this year and serving as the GRAA Treasurer for 18 years, Bob Wigand has decided to resign the lofty position and is now in the process of turning over financial files and mentoring his replacement, whose name President Browning will reveal in the next newsletter. Bob’s dedication as Treasurer was an obvious passion and he orchestrated efforts to obtain Internal Revenue Service approval for 501(c)(3) non-profit status and US Postal Service approval for bulk mail discounts. So Bob, on behalf of the GRAA family, you are now free to take a well-deserved vacation from your long-standing GRAA duties and responsibilities.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Bob Wigand received tax-deductible contributions from the following members: Robert Adams, Dale Fahnestock, Walter Gates, Donald Henry, Fred Kallmeyer, Robert Orff (in memory of Raymond Hibbs and William “Ed” Willis), Stephen Paddack, Ralph Shapiro, Marjorie Townsend, and Ralph Welsh.

RECENT RETIREE: Richard L. Rankin

GRAA MEMBER ROBERT HUDDLESTON PUBLISHES NEW BOOK: GRAA member Robert Huddleston announces the publication of his new book, “An American Pilot with the Luftwaffe: A Novella and Stories of World War II.” Bob, a WWII combat pilot, previously published the biography of his wife’s father, entitled “Edmundo: from Chiapas, Mexico, to Park Avenue.” Both books can be purchased from Virtual Book Worm at http://www.virtualbookworm.com or through Amazon at http://www.amazon.com.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

•  Clifton P. Brimer, of Crisfield, MD, passed away on August 22nd. He began his career as an Electronics Technician at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), but soon worked up the career ladder to become Radar Coordinator for all WFF radar systems. For most of his career at WFF he was assigned to the Operations Division of the Suborbital Projects and Operations Directorate.

•  Dr. Noel W. Hinners, of Littleton, CO, passed away on September 5^th. Dr. Hinners worked on the Apollo program from 1963 to 1972 for a contractor and focused on Apollo science and site selection in support of NASA Headquarters. From 1972 to 1974 he was NASA’s Director of Lunar Programs and from 1974 to 1979 was Associate Administrator for Space Science. From 1979 to 1982 he was director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and from 1982 to 1987 was Goddard Center Director. Upon retiring from NASA in 1989, he had served as Associate Deputy Administrator and Chief Scientist since 1987. At that time, he moved to Martin Marietta and then, after a merger, to Lockheed Martin Space Systems. He retired from Lockheed Martin in 2002 as Vice President of Flight Systems, with responsibility for several programs related to the exploration of Mars.

•  Paul G. Marcotte, of Silver Spring, MD, passed away on September 17^th. During his Goddard career he was assigned in the early '60s to the Office of Space Sciences & Satellite Applications, later during the ‘60s he worked in the Explorer & International Project Management Office of the Technology Directorate and in the early '70’s was Head of the Explorer Projects Office of the Space Applications & Technology Directorate. Over many years, he served as Project Manager for numerous Explorer missions.

•  Donald L. Margolies, of Silver Spring, MD, passed away on August 19^th. As an Engineer, during his Goddard career he was assigned in the early '60s to the Office of Tracking & Data Systems and later in the Tracking & Systems Directorate. He then moved to the Space Applications & Technology Directorate and then to the Flight Projects Directorate as Project Manager for at least two missions.

•  Perry Mason, Jr., of Topping, VA, passed away on August 14^th. He was an Electrical Engineer at Goddard and was assigned in the early '70s to the Systems Reliability Directorate and later in the '80s was Head of the Parts Branch in the Office of Flight Assurance.

•  Naomi M. Nichols, of St. Paul, MN, passed away on August 23^rd. She was a Security Specialist who worked in the Networks Division of the Mission Operations & Data Systems Directorate.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN OCTOBER: Fifty years ago, on October 10, 1964, a Scout rocket launched the Explorer 22/Beacon –B (aka: BE-B) satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. The objective of the satellite was to obtain worldwide observations of total electron content between the spacecraft and the Earth. Four years later, data acquisition from the telemetry channels was discontinued. In July 1969, tracking and world map production were discontinued by Goddard, and world map production based on North American Aerospace Defense Command orbit elements was subsequently assumed by the European Space Research Organization. The satellite failed in February 1970 and the BE-C satellite was turned on in order to partially replace use made of this satellite beacon experiment.

MARS ORBIT INSERTION: After a 10-month interplanetary journey of 442 million miles and right on schedule, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft made a successful insertion into Martian orbit late on Sunday, September 21^st. MAVEN will now prepare to study the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere as never done before. It is the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the tenuous upper atmosphere of Mars. A principal objective of the MAVEN mission is to determine how and why the Red Planet has been losing its atmosphere over billions of years.

THOUGHT FOR OCTOBER: While attending a Halloween party in his assisted living facility, a NASA retiree was overheard responding to a question posed by one of his female admirers by boasting, “Damn right I’m good in bed. I can stay there all day long!”