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

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our May luncheon speaker was Dr. Steven Volz, NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for Satellites and Information Services. His presentation was entitled “The Evolution of Weather Observations: What’s Next?” Dr. Volz, a Goddard alumnus with a Ph.D. in Physics and three decades of experience in Earth observation satellites and database management at Goddard, industry, NASA Headquarters, and NOAA, is uniquely qualified to lead the organization responsible for timely access to global environmental data for the nation’s needs, acquisition and operation of the civil operational satellite system, and R&D for the national environmental data centers. NOAA’s investment of $30B in these capabilities produces order-of-magnitude larger benefits to the nation.

Dr. Volz described the complementary partnership of NASA’s “broad” and NOAA’s “deep” observing roles from the early TIROS and ESSA satellites in the ‘60s to the present through a series of 20 NOAA polar orbit and 17 GOES geostationary satellites. He reminded attendees of the dictum of the father of meteorological satellites, Verner Suomi, that “weather moves; our satellites should not” in advocating geostationary platforms. The NOAA fleet also includes the JASON ocean height satellite; DSCOVR solar weather platform at L1; and COSMIC GPS occultation sounding satellites. The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) maintains partnerships with the European satellite weather organization, EUMETSAT, and the US Department of Defense satellite programs for complementary global data.

The latest series of NOAA JPSS polar orbiting satellites carries advanced sensors, such as the VIIRS camera that succeeds the NASA series of MODIS instruments, and the OMPS ozone mapper to extend the NASA TOMS and the Dutch OMI, flying on NASA’s Aura satellite, long-term database. The new GOES-R series includes the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) with much better ground and time resolution of meteorological features, and the new Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), used to identify the most active parts of storms that produce severe weather, such as tornadoes.

Earth science and information are now an integral component of our daily lives. NESDIS planning for the future observing system considers tradeoffs between legacy vs. hybrid architectures that could include Tundra (Molniya) orbits for pseudo-geostationary coverage and advanced solar weather tools. Dr. Volz emphasized the importance of the ongoing partnership between NASA and NOAA in the areas of technology and bringing research products to operations for the benefit of society.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible donations from: Enid Chandler, Beverly Dinn (in memory of her nephew, Bill Witt), Carroll Dudley, Charles Fuechsel, Ellen Herring, George Hogan, David Jones (in memory of Marty Davis and Phillip Sabelhaus), and Thomas Underwood.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN JUNE: On June 10, 1973, a Delta rocket launched the Radio Astronomy Explorer B (RAE-B), aka: Explorer 49, from Cape Canaveral, FL. It was the second of a pair of RAE satellites and placed in a lunar orbit to provide radio astronomical measurements of the planets, the Sun, and the Milky Way galaxy. A lunar orbit was selected so that radio waves from Earth would not create as much interference as RAE-A discovered. (Note: the first, RAE-A/Explorer 38, was launched by a Delta rocket on July 4, 1968, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA). A mechanical flaw in the lower V-antenna of the RAE-B caused the leg to only deploy to a length of 183 meters instead of 229 meters, but was able to be extended to its full length in November 1974. The end of the RAE-B mission occurred in August 1977. Dr. Nancy Roman was Program Scientist for both missions.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• William G. Dewell, of Huntingtown, MD, passed away on April 23^rd. He came to Goddard as an Engineer in ‘63 and was assigned to the Manned Space Flight Support Division of the Office of Tracking & Data Systems. A year or so later he worked in the Manned Flight Operations Division of the same office. In the late ‘60s he moved to the Manned Flight Engineering Division in the Manned Flight Support Director until ’72, when he transferred to the Network Engineering Division of the Networks Directorate and apparently worked there until retiring in about ’83.
• Dennis K. McCarthy, of Chestertown, MD, passed away on April 21^st. He was an Aeronautical Engineer at Goddard in ‘63 first assigned to the Spacecraft Integration & Sounding Rocket Division in the Office of Space Science & Satellite Applications. The office names were changed in ’68 to the Technology Directorate and in ’71 was assigned to the Mechanical Division of the Space Applications & Technology Directorate. In ’74 he was reassigned to the Systems Division of the Engineering Directorate until ’83, when he was assigned to the COBE Project in the Flight Projects Directorate. In ’85 he worked in the COBE Project Management Office in the Engineering Directorate until ’91, when he became Assistant Director for Operations of the Space Sciences Directorate. In ’92 he became Deputy Project Manager of HST Flight Systems in the Flight Projects Directorate, from which he retired a year later.
• Betty F. Thomas, of Huntingtown, MD, passed away on May 15^{th. She came to Goddard in ’63 as a Secretary and later an Administrative Assistant/Officer in the Technical Information Division of the Office of Administration (which later changed its title to the Technical Information & Administration Systems Division of the Administration & Management Directorate and later still to the Management Operations Directorate). Her name was Betty F. Felter during her time at Goddard and she retired in the mid-‘80s.}
• Charles F. Rice, Jr, of Solomons, MD, passed away on April 12^th. He came to Goddard in ’61 as an Electrical/Aerospace Engineer and was first assigned to the Payloads Systems Division in the Office of Space Sciences & Satellite and then in ’63 changed its title to the Technology Directorate. In ’71 he worked in the International Projects Office of the Space Applications & Technology Directorate. From ’74 to ’78, he was assigned to the Systems Division of the Engineering Directorate prior to retiring in the late ‘70s.
• William R. (Bill) Witt, Jr. of Bowie, MD, passed away on May 14^th. He came to Goddard in ’61 as an Engineer and was assigned to the Spacecraft Systems & Projects Division of the Office of Space Science & Satellite Applications and in ’65 became Head of the International Programs Office. In the early ‘70s he was again involved with the International Projects Office of the Space Applications & Technology Directorate, from which he retired in the mid-‘70s.

GODDARD’S FLIGHT PROJECTS DIRECTORATE (FPD) PUBLISHES SPRING EDITION OF “THE CRITICAL PATH” NEWSLETTER:: The FPD published the spring edition of its online newsletter, “The Critical Path,” in early May. We suggest you check out the latest issue for items of interest to you at the following link: https://fpd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Critical_Path.html For members using email, you can send an email to Paula Wood at paula.l.wood@nasa.gov and request that she add your name and contact information and she will automatically send you a link to the newsletter each time a new edition is published (3 to 4 times each year). For retirees without email access, you may contact her at 301-286-9125 and request a copy of “The Critical Path” be sent to you by snail mail.

THOUGHT FOR JUNE: Aging appears to be about the only viable way to live a longer life!