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

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our January luncheon speaker was Dr. Henning Leidecker, Goddard’s Chief Failure Analyst in the Electrical Engineering Division of the Applied Engineering & Technology Directorate. His talk, entitled “Adventures Fixing Spacecraft,” covered his many experiences as both a Physics professor at American University (1968-1984) and problem solver extraordinaire at Goddard for the past 32 years. He discussed highlights from his university research, including computation of the second virial coefficient of water vapor, computation of microwave absorption caused by water dimers, and how intense radar pulses, each heating too little to be judged dangerous to brain tissue, actually supply enough pressure to break down the blood-brain barrier (the same phenomenon as occurs with prize fighters). Well, that kind of background turned out to be the perfect foundation for troubleshooting some of Goddard’s toughest spacecraft problems over the past three decades. One of Dr. Leidecker’s memorable adventures was increasing the lifetime of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite’s incandescent lamps and LEDs from 2 to 15 years. On another occasion, while testing electrical fuses, he discovered that no one had ever studied their behavior numerically across a myriad of physical properties. As he was finishing his analysis, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) experienced problems with its more than one thousand fuses. Although they passed inspection four times, they were incorrectly wired, bypassing the fuses with 14 gauge copper wire. His expertise was utilized in studying the HST gyros, which have a history of failure and have been replaced twice during servicing missions. HST intended to purchase the same (almost zero failure rate) gyros that were used on the Minute Man program, but unknowingly bought gyros built by a different manufacturer, which had a 10% failure rate, and just discovered this recently. Dr. Leidecker also shared some amazing stories of his experience with the Space Shuttle, including finding and fixing problems with sensors and wires on the turbines, which were causing expensive launch delays. His closing thought was, quoting Einstein, “Nature is subtle, but it is not malicious,” so get behind the physics and you can figure it out. However, he noted, “Einstein never worked as a Failure Analyst. Nature is malicious and will figure out ways to fail that completely outwit all attempts to figure it out on the ground. Only during integration and testing will you really begin to figure it out”.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible donations from the following members: James Baker, Ronald Barasch, Elaine Blazosky, Ormon Bloxom, Carol Boquist (in memory of William Woodyear), Sandra Brown (in memory of Paul Villone), Ronald Browning, Joyce Buswell, Michael Calabrese, William Case, Jr., Wilma Chigas, JoAnn Clark (in memory of Jacques Knox and David Lewoc), Richard Costa, James Costrell, Edward Danko, Karen Defazio, Carroll Dudley, Denise Duignan, Marlene Forster, Theodore Goldsmith, James Guthrie, Vern Hall, Ellen Herring, Eugene Humphrey, John Kiebler, John Klineberg, Thomas Lavigna, Edward Lawless, Patricia Mackey, Ivan Mason, Michael McCumber, Raymond Melcher, Dillard Menchan, Robert O’Brien, Jr., Carmie Peavler (in memory of Robert Peavler), George Smith (in memory of Virginia Smith and Sebastian Costa), Frank Snow, Richard Strafella, William Struthers, Barbara Sweeney, H. Anne Thompson, Mary Trainor, Roberta Valonis, Vernon Weyers, Lynda Willingham, Robert E. Wilson, and David Zillig.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY: On February 14, 1980, a Delta rocket launched the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite from Cape Canaveral, FL. SSM was designed to investigate solar phenomena, particularly solar flares. SMM’s payload consisted of eight instruments that provided broad spectral coverage of radiation produced by solar flares. The High Altitude Observatory provided a coronagraph/polarimeter to study the relationship of the corona to the flare process. The instrument obtained coronal images from March through September before suffering an electronics failure that rendered it inoperative. A few weeks later, a power failure in the Altitude Control System (ACS) of the spacecraft, requiring it to be placed in standby mode, at which it remained for more than three years. On April 6, 1984, the Challenger Space Shuttle was successful in retrieving, repairing/replacing the ACS and the coronagraph’s Main Electronics Box, and redeploying the spacecraft. Atmospheric friction slowly caused the altitude of the spacecraft’s orbit to decline. Consequently, the satellite lost altitude control on November 17, 1989, causing re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean on December 2, 1989.

THOUGHT FOR FEBRUARY: Beware, because as senior citizens it can be pretty darned scary when we start making the same noises as our coffeemakers or vacuum cleaners.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• Richard (Dick) J. Allenby, of Fort Walton Beach, FL, passed away on January 11^th. He was a Geophysicist who started at NASA Headquarters in 1962 as Deputy Director of Manned Flight Experiments and Assistant Director of Lunar Programs. He transferred to Goddard in 1975 to conduct research on crustal dynamics and tectonics in the Earth Survey Applications Division of the Applications Directorate. He retired in 1987, but continued working at Goddard as a consultant for the University of Maryland in the Crustal Dynamics Project and its successor, the Crustal Dynamics Data Information System, with his final retirement being in 2000.
• John H. Berbert, of Rockville, MD, passed away on December 24^th. He came from the Naval Research Laboratory to Goddard at its inception as a Physicist with the Vanguard Program. In the early 1960s he served in the Office of Tracking & Data Systems as Head of the Analysis & Evaluation Office in the Tracking Systems Division and soon after as Head of the Operations Evaluation Branch in the Network Engineering & Operations Division. In later years, until he retired in 2003, he served in a myriad of responsible assignments and organizations, including the Trajectory Analysis & Geodynamics Division of the Mission & Data Operations Directorate, the Information Extraction Division of the Applications Directorate, the Space Data & and Computing Division of the Earth Sciences Directorate, the Earth Science Data & Information System Project of the Mission Operations & Data Systems Directorate, and the Information Systems Center of the Applied Engineering & Technology Directorate.
• Charles (Charlie) P. Boyle, of Annapolis, MD, passed away on November 17^th. He came to Goddard in 1962 as an Information Specialist assigned to the Office of Administration, and then became Head of the Public Affairs Office in the same Directorate two years later when the organization changed its name to the Administration and Management Directorate and he became Head of the Special Programs Office two years later when the organization’s name was changed again several years later to the Management Operations Directorate. In that position, he collaborated with NASA Headquarters to explain NASA’s mission and projects to a wide variety of audiences. In the 1990s he transferred to the Earth Sciences Directorate where he was Manager of Environmental Education and retired in 1995.
• Violet M. Dawes, of Tarpon Springs, FL, passed away on January 1^st. She came to Goddard in the early ‘60s and became a Budget Analyst in the Data Sciences Division and later the Computation Division, both of the Office of Tracking & Data Systems. In the ‘70s she worked in the Computation Division of the Mission & Data Operations Directorate. In the ‘80s, she worked on the Advanced Planning Staff in the Office of the Director, and in the early ‘90s was assigned to the Financial Management Division of the Management Operations Directorate and later worked in the Office of the Comptroller prior to retiring in ‘94.
• Michael B. Feldman, of Karrinyup, Western Australia, passed away on December 19^th. He came to Goddard in the mid-‘60s as an Engineer in the Project Operations Support Division of the Tracking & Data Systems Directorate. In the ‘70s he worked in the Network Procedures & Evaluation Division of the Networks Directorate and in the ‘80s moved to the Special Payloads Division of the Engineering Directorate, and before retiring in ‘98 he was Spacecraft Manager for the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Project in the Flight Projects Directorate.
• John W. Lovelace, Jr., of Greencastle, PA, passed away on December 21^st. He came to Goddard as an Aeronautical Engineer in the mid-‘60s and worked in the Aeronomy & Meteorology Division of the Office of Space Science & Satellite Applications and later moved to the Nimbus Project in the Projects Directorate (with the name later changing to the ERTS/Nimbus Project when the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was added). In the early ‘80s, he was reassigned to the TDRS Project in the Flight Projects Directorate (from which he retired, but continued to support the project through the mid-‘90s as a contractor).
• Robert E. Orff, of Crofton, MD, passed away on December 30^th. He came to Goddard in the mid-‘60s as a Sub-systems Engineer in the Manned Flight Operations Division of the Manned Flight Support Directorate. He first worked on Project Gemini and traveled extensively to several network ground stations and tracking ships, performing systems integration in the conversion of Gemini telemetry to the new Apollo requirements. He later worked in the Network Engineering Division of the Networks Directorate. After transferring to the National Security Agency in the ‘80s for several years to work as a Project Manager for systems designed for field site installation, and then returned to Goddard in the early ‘90s to serve as Facility Operations Manager for the Building 3-13-14 Mission Control Center Complex in the Mission Operations & Data Systems Directorate.
• Gilbert W. Ousley, Sr., of Orange Park, FL, passed away on December 30^th. He was an Engineer who came to Goddard once it opened in 1959 and initially worked in the Office of Space Sciences & Satellite Applications. In the ‘60s, he served as Staff Engineer in the Technology Directorate. In the ‘70s, he was Chief of the International Projects Office in the Space Applications & Technology Directorate. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s he was Project Manager for several satellites, including Magsat, Helios A & B, Lageos II, AMPTE, and ROSAT.