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

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our June speaker was Dr. Paul Mahaffy, Chief of Goddard’s Solar System Exploration Division. His presentation, entitled “Exploration of Martian Habitability with the Curiosity Rover,” provided us an up-to-date answer to the question, “Is Mars Alive?” Dr. Mahaffy is the Principal Investigator of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on the Curiosity Rover. Two earlier rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) were launched fourteen years ago with a planned lifetime of 90 days, and Opportunity is still working. Curiosity is a much more sophisticated rover, with several instruments, including SAM (the largest at 40 kilograms) which collects solid and gas samples, separates and heats them before analyzing them using a mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph, and a laser spectrometer. The landing of Curiosity into the Gale crater in 2012 was a feat in itself. The famous “Seven Minutes of Terror” landing used a sky crane with a tether in the thin Martian atmosphere (1% as thick as Earth’s) to accomplish the unprecedented type of landing. The 150 kilometer wide mid latitude Gale crater contains a 5 kilometer high central peak made of a diverse suite of rocks, minerals, and clay. Water existed on the surface as far back as 4.2 billion years ago. However, Mars lost the magnetic field that protected its atmosphere from erosion by the solar wind when plate tectonics froze out. Without the thicker atmosphere to protect it, the surface of Mars became subject to the effects of radiation, which began a biological breakdown that SAM is analyzing today. One interesting find is that Mars, known as the Red Planet, is actually gray just under the surface.

After going on nearly five years of roving and analyzing, Curiosity has uncovered some amazing findings. Since clay minerals are formed in the presence of water, it is a likely place to look for organics. Although there is no sign of life now, it appears that there was bacterial life in the past, but it disappeared with the thinning atmosphere and the resulting loss of water. In the ancient lake bed, there is evidence of multiple episodes of sediment that were moved by water and now turned into rock, transforming the lake bed before it dried up. So, compared to Earth, which is warm and wet, Mars has a heavy atmosphere and magnetic dynamo, which shields us from energetic radiation, and a moon to stabilize obliquity. Mars is now cold and dry, and its atmosphere is thin. The key to the lack of surface habitability on Mars is its climate evolution, the early intense EUV radiation, and the turn off of the core dynamo facilitated by the atmosphere loss. Dr. Mahaffy described many other fascinating discoveries of Curiosity over its exciting 16 kilometer journey and offered to speak with us again after SAM uncovers more Martian mysteries.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible donations from the following: Paul Karpiscak, Llewellyn Nicholson, and Karl Peters.

RECENT RETIREES: Onur E. Atabek, Israel A. Moya, and Eugene Waluschka.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN JULY: On July 13, 1995, Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-70) launched the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-7 (TDRS-G) from Kennedy Space Center, FL. TDRS-G was built by TRW as a replacement for TDRS-B, which was lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger accident on January 28, 1986. Its title changed to TDRS-7 after reaching geosynchronous orbit and was the last first-generation TDRS to be launched. TDRS-7 was based on a custom satellite bus which was used for all seven first-generation TDRS satellites. While similar to its predecessors, it differed slightly in that twelve G/H band (IEEE C band) transponders were omitted. It was the last communications satellite, other than amateur radio spacecraft, to be deployed by a Space Shuttle. TDRS-7 was deployed from Discovery about six hours after launch, and was raised to geosynchronous orbit by means of an Inertial Upper Stage. In May 1996 it was moved to where it was stored as an in-orbit spare. In December 2003, it was again moved to a different location to serve as a reserve satellite. In late 2009, TDRS-7 was moved to the Indian Ocean region as a replacement for TDRS-1, which was failing, and remains operational there today as part of the active TDRS constellation.

TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS TO GRAA ENCOURAGED: Please consider sending in a donation to help GRAA remain financially viable and be able to deduct it from your federal income tax for 2017. Keep in mind that we will be printing and distributing the next iteration of the Membership Directory in 2018 at considerable cost for printing and mailing. Donations should be sent to GRAA, P.O. Box 1184, Greenbelt, MD 20768-1184.

THOUGHT FOR JULY: We senior citizens occasionally talk to ourselves because sometimes we need expert advice.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• Eleanor J. Barber, of Durham, NH, (formerly of Temple Hills and Hillcrest Heights, MD) passed away at age 97 on June 12^th. She was a Contract Specialist at Goddard, and came to the Center in the early ’60s (after previously working for the US Air Force in procurement-related activities). In the early ’60s she worked in the Facilities Support Branch of the Procurement Division of the Office of Administration, which a short time later was changed to the Administration & Management Directorate. She supported some Apollo missions in the late ’60s and in the early ’70s, although still involved with the Procurement Division, she transferred to the Space Sciences Branch supporting the TIROS Project and retired in 1979.
• Harry D. Cyphers, of Bowie, MD, passed away on May 20^th. He was an Electrical Engineer at Goddard and came to Goddard in the mid-’60s where he was assigned to the Structural Dynamics Branch in the Test & Evaluation Division of the Office of Technical Services, remaining there through at least part of the ’70s and early -80s. He then was assigned to the Flight Support Branch in the Special Payloads Division of the Engineering Directorate for a time and still later moved to the Office of the Associate Director for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the Flight Projects Directorate, most notably worked on the HST repair mission.
• James C. Perry, Jr, of Bowie, MD, passed away on May 11^th. He apparently came to Goddard in the late ’60s or early ’70s and was first assigned to the Data Handling & Display Branch of the Network Engineering Division in the Networks Directorate. In the early ’80s, he moved to the Data Systems Branch of the same division and directorate. The directorate reorganized in the early ’90s and he was reassigned to the Telecommunication System Branch in the Networks Division of the Mission Operations & Data Systems Directorate.
• George A. Robinson, Jr., of Conway, SC, passed away on November 14, 2016. He came to Goddard in the early ’60s and was first assigned to the Electronics Test Branch of the Test & Evaluation Division in the Office of Technical Services. Later in the ’60s he was reassigned to the Engineering Support Office of the Test & Evaluation Division in the Systems Reliability Directorate into the ’70s and early ’80s. In the later ’80s he worked in the Environmental Test Engineering & Integration Branch of the Engineering Services Division in the Engineering Directorate and retired in 1995.

ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION UNDER CONSIDERATION AT WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY (WFF):: The next wave of construction at WFF may take it into new frontiers of unmanned technology and space cargo delivery. The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority is working with state lawmakers on developing a facility for unmanned waterborne vehicles and a new satellite assembly building. Apparently $20 million has been set aside in the recently approved budget to cover the cost of the upgrades and the funding is spread out over four years in the authority’s parent agency, the Department of Transportation. Both new facilities could bring more business and create more jobs at WFF. Long home to a NASA rocket range, the facility has expanded in recent years into the commercial sector with a $150 million spaceport for private launches and a 3,000-foot runway for aerial drones. It is perhaps best known as the main base of Orbital ATK’s Antares program, which ferries supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Many of WFF’s corporate clients for its aerial capabilities also have expressed interest in using unmanned boats and submarines. The authority has thought about retrofitting an existing dock on Wallops Island and dredging a deeper channel in the area to accommodate the unmanned boats and submarines. The unmanned technology can be useful in a variety of applications, including inspections of holds on large ships, analyzing aging bridges, and surveying underwater pipelines. Virginia is also hoping to construct a large warehouse for processing satellites. WFF currently has the capability to process payloads, but the complexity of the task requires the use of three different buildings on the property. Bringing those tasks under one roof would bring WFF on par with its competition at other space outposts in Florida, California and Alaska. The available funding is also expected to finance support buildings, such as laboratories and offices, for the new drone runway and dock. WFF is proud to continue upgrading its capabilities, missions and operations that apparently may be coming closer to fruition on the horizon.

TDRS-M SATELLITE TO JOIN THE TDRS CONSTELLATION:: The TDRS-M satellite is tentatively scheduled to be launched on an Atlas V rocket on August 3rd at Kennedy Space Center, FL. Orbiting 23,000 miles above Earth, the spacecraft will provide near-constant voice, data, video and telemetry services for low-Earth orbiting satellites, such as the HST and the ISS.