GRAA NEWSLETTER
P.O. Box 1184, Greenbelt, MD 20768-1184

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM RON BROWNING, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our May speaker, Dr. Jeffrey Newmark, Interim Director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, described the Earth/Sun system studies which are the focus of heliophysics missions. These studies analyze connections of various inputs and interactions within the Solar System. He showed real time data of coronal mass ejections (CME) viewed simultaneously over a three-day period by the two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft orbiting at one astronomical unit (which roughly equates to the distance between the Earth and the Sun). The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph satellite (IRIS) observed its first CME at 120 degrees from Earth. If it had been directed at the Earth, it would have caused major damage because it was similar in magnitude to a CME in September 1859 which affected telegraph signals worldwide. Ongoing studies and observations are looking at: the three Van Allen radiation belts, one of which fills and drains periodically; Sun corona heating causes coupled with small localized nanoflares; and high energy processes of the Sun. The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission is a new mission launched in March on an Atlas-5 rocket which placed five satellites flying in formation with 25 instruments each to provide data on magnetic reconnection. The next big mission is Solar Probe Plus, which is planned to fly through the Sun’s corona in 2018. The European Space Agency and NASA are looking at a future solar orbiter to be located 30 degrees above the ecliptic (i.e., the apparent path of the Sun on the celestial sphere). The four Heliophysics Program areas are: Solar Terrestrial Probe, Living with a Star, Explorers, and Research. Within these programs are 19 operating satellite missions.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible contributions from the following: William Carpenter, Dario Galoppo, Walter Gates, Glenn Harris, Ellen Herring, Elizabeth Jay, Ronald Muller, Audrey Rhodes (in memory of Carl Rhodes), David Schaefer, John Strekel, John Sudey, Jr., Richard Weber, and Ralph Welsh.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN JUNE: On June 1, 1990, a Delta-II rocket launched the Roentgen Satellite (aka: ROSAT) from Cape Canaveral, FL. ROSAT was an X-ray observatory developed through a cooperative program between the US, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Although launched by the US, the satellite was designed and operated by Germany and consisted of two coaligned scientific experiments, the X-ray telescope and the wide field camera. ROSAT discovered that almost all astronomical objects emit X-ray radiation, including some objects which were not expected. The spacecraft was turned off on February 12, 1999, and didn’t re-enter the atmosphere until October 23, 2011. Calculations developed at the time reportedly revealed that if the satellite had remained aloft for just an additional seven minutes, it would have landed on Beijing, China, instead of in the Bay of Bengal. Kind of a very scary thought!

CHANGE TO NASA’S LEADERSHIP TEAM: The April 3^rd retirement of GRAA Member Richard Keegan (who formerly served as NASA’s Associate Deputy Administrator and Associate Administrator for the Mission Support Directorate for several years) prompted changes to NASA’s leadership team. Deputy Associate Administrator Lesa Roe was designated as Acting Associate Deputy Administrator and GRAA Member Krista Paquin was appointed as Associate Administrator for the Mission Support Directorate.

WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY (WFF) TAKES STEP TOWARD MANNED SPACE FLIGHTS : The results of an upcoming environmental impact statement may one day lead the way to landing reusable booster rockets and manned spacecraft on Wallops Island, VA. For more information, check out http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/virginia/2015/05/12/nasa-environmenal-review/27168047/.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• Ronda P Bishop , of Greenbelt, MD, passed away on April 30^th. She was an Accountant at Goddard who worked in the Accounting Branch of the Financial Management Division when those organizations were either part of the Office of the Comptroller or the Management Operations Directorate during the 1980s and 1990s.
• Oliver N. Clark , of Lanham, MD, passed away on April 20^th. He worked as a Physicist with Project Vanguard at the Naval Research Laboratory and then moved to Goddard at its inception in 1958. He was part of an outreach team in a partnership between Goddard and the Bowie State University to mentor and teach undergrad students and retired in early 1984.
• Thomas W. Collinson , of Shady Side, MD, passed away on May 10^th. He was an Engineering Technician at Goddard who, over time, worked in the Sounding Rocket Division of the Space Applications & Technology Directorate, the Special Payloads Division of the Engineering Directorate, and the Guidance Navigation & Control Center of the Applied Engineering & Technology Directorate.
• Robert Eaves , of McCamey, TX, passed away on April 20^th. He was Chief Engineer at the Mission Control Center at Kennedy Space Center, later Manager at Goddard’s tracking stations in the West Indies. Bermuda and Guam, and still later was Deputy Director of the Network Test & Training Facility in the Network Operations Division of the Networks Directorate.
• Lorrel E. Popp , of New Richmond, WI, passed away on May 2^nd. He was a Mathematician and during his career at Goddard helped plan and build control centers for numerous satellite missions. For those efforts, over time he worked in the Space Data Acquisition Division and the Network Engineering & Operations Division of the Office of Tracking & Data Systems. He later worked in the Stadan Engineering Division of the Tracking & Data Systems Directorate, the Network Engineering Division and Networks Control Center Division of the Networks Directorate.
• Earl D. Quirey , of Henderson, KY, passed away of April 19^th. He was an Electrical Engineer at Goddard and was Head of the Operations Control Center Section and, over time, worked in the Operations & Support Division and the Network Engineering & Operations Division of the Office of Tracking & Data Systems. He later worked in the Project Operations Support Division of the Tracking & Data Systems Directorate and the Mission Operations Division of the Mission & Data Operations Directorate.
• William A. Richardson, of Keedysville, MD, passed away on April 18^th. He was an Attorney at Goddard who, over time, was Assistant Chief Counsel in the Office of Administration. He was later Patent Counsel and Assistant Chief for Research & Development in the Procurement Division of the Administration & Management Directorate.
• Marjorie R. Townsend, of Washington, DC, passed away on April 4^th. She was an Electrical Engineer at Goddard who became the first woman to manage a US spacecraft launch. She came to Goddard in 1959 and worked, over time, in the Office of Space Science & Satellite Applications, the Technology Directorate, and the Space Applications & Technology Directorate. She helped develop the first successful weather satellites, including TIROS-1 and the Nimbus satellite series. From the mid-1960s to 1975, she managed NASA’s Small Astronomy Satellite Program, where she was responsible for the design, construction, testing and orbital operations of NASA’s first astronomical satellites. She oversaw the development and launch of the world’s first X-ray astronomy satellite, Uhuru (which means freedom in Swahili and was launched by Italy off the coast of Kenya on Kenya’s Independence Day).

THOUGHT FOR JUNE: When we were children we thought “Nap Time” was a form of severe punishment, Now, as senior citizens, we are fully aware it is really more like a short vacation that the passage of time has somehow turned into a daily necessity!