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

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our September luncheon speaker was Dr. Holly Gilbert, Astrophysicist and Director of the Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) of Goddard’s Sciences & Exploration Directorate. Her presentation, entitled “Touching the Sun – A New Age for Solar Science,” described our Sun’s corona and what we hope to learn from the recently launched Parker Space Probe (PSP), which will actually fly into the corona. The corona is an aura of plasma that surrounds the Sun, extending millions of kilometers into space and is actually 100 times hotter than the Sun’s surface. The PSP will try to uncover that mystery as well as determining why solar winds are continually accelerated in the corona and how solar energetic particles are generated. In order to do that the spacecraft, which was launched on August 12^th, will travel into the corona, within 4 million miles of the Sun. To get there, it will fly by Venus seven times, accelerating to 400,000 miles per hour and will become the fastest-ever human-made object. It will utilize a thermal protection system that will shield the spacecraft from the intense solar irradiance and the 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit environment.

Space Weather is the study of how the space environment is reacting to what is happening on the Sun, not just here on Earth but also in space and on other planets. Eruptions that are happening on the Sun are a consequence of magnetic connection, but we don’t know how they originate and, once they erupt, how they react with the solar wind. HSD scientists are developing models to predict when coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar storms will the Earth. CMEs can travel up to 4 million miles per hour and reach Earth in less than 3 days. Fortunately, the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere protect humans on the surface from these particles and the solar wind. However, these solar emissions can compress the Earth’s magnetic field and create a series of reactions that dump a lot of energy into the Polar Regions and sometimes even affect the lower latitudes. Energetic particles cause currents in the Earth’s magnetosphere, which in turn cause ground currents that can blow transponders and cause serious power outages. Air traffic over the poles can also be affected by high solar activity and relies on space weather forecasts for redirection to lower latitudes.

The International Space Station is relatively protected, but many other spacecraft are not. Goddard is working with NOAA and Johnson Space Center entities to increase the awareness of potential space weather impacts to astronauts who will travel to the Moon and Mars.

The PSP is named after Dr. Eugene Parker, who in the ’50s first defined the solar wind as consisting of complex plasmas, magnetic fields and energetic particles and theorized how the Sun’s corona could be hotter than the Sun itself. The PSP is the first mission named for a living individual, and Dr. Parker was a witness to the launch.

Dr. Gilbert also described the upcoming Solar Orbiter mission, a joint NASA and European Space Agency spacecraft to be launched in 2020, which will link magnetic structure back to the Sun’s surface. The Solar Orbiter will use Venus flybys to get 35 degrees out of the plane of the elliptic to observe the polar regions of our Sun for the first time. Joint observations by the two missions will provide simultaneous remote imaging and in situ measurements of the Sun.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible donations from Edward Bielecki, Ernest Busboso, Robert O’Brien, Sharon Rubin (in memory of Stanley Rubin), and Thomas Underwood.

THOUGHT FOR OCTOBER: For retirees, growing old turns out to be hard work. Our minds say “yes,” but our bodies ask “what were we thinking?” Most of us nowadays are aware that getting older takes a much shorter period than we initially may have anticipated!

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• John S. (Jack) Knoll, of Catonsville, MD, passed away on June 29^th. He came to Goddard in ’85 as a NOAA employee working on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) project in the Flight Projects Directorate (FPD). In ’87 he remained in FPD, but transitioned to becoming a NASA employee and worked on the Meteorological Satellite (METSAT) projects until retiring in ’98.
• Alton D. (Buddy) Payne, Jr., of Beverly Hills, FL, passed away on September 10^th. He came to the Goddard procurement community in ’64 and was initially assigned to the Facilities Support Branch in the Procurement Division of the Office of Administration (which shortly thereafter changed its title to the Office of Administration and Technical Services and a year later to the Administration & Management Directorate). In ’74 he worked in the Tracking & Data Support Office and then in ’77 became Procurement Manager for the Applications Directorate supporting the Resources Manager in the Functional Support Division until essentially until ’81. Through organization title changes, in ’85 he returned to the Procurement Division and was reassigned as Procurement Manager for several METSAT projects until retiring in ’93.
• Frank T. Wolf , of Stockton, MD, passed away on June 16^th. He served in the US Navy during WWII from ’44-’46 and then worked in Baltimore, MD, before moving to WFF in ’64 as a Machinist (which at the time was under Langley Research Center management). In ’82 WFF transitioned to being under Goddard management and he retired later that same year.

GSFC’S TAE KWON DO CLUB TO CELEBRATE ITS 50^TH ANNIVERSARY: For former TAE KWON DO Club participants, there will be a celebration of its 50^th Anniversary in mid-October and Master Mike Comberiate would like to know if you’re still out there or if you could be within commuting distance of Goddard for a get-together. Contact Master Mike either via email at nasamike@nasamike.com or his cell phone at 301-854-2937 to let him know and he will provide details about this special event.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (HST) CELEBRATES 25^TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FIRST SERVICING MISSION (SM-1): On December 7^th, there will be a seminar held in the Building 8 Auditorium re: the HST Servicing Missions and coordinated by Jim Jeletic. While the seminar in the auditorium will be open on a first come, first served basis, a reception to be held following the seminar at the Marriott Hotel in College Park, MD; however, due to space constraints, attendance must be limited to individuals who worked on SM-1. Please email Jimmy Barcus at james.w.barcus@nasa.gov if you worked on SM-1 and desire to be invited to the reception.

FLIGHT PROJECTS DIRECTORATE (FPD) OFFERS ITS LATEST EDITION OF “THE CRITICAL PATH” TO GRAA MEMBERS: GRAA members may recall it was publicized in the February issue of our newsletter that retirees could register with FPD to automatically receive a copy of its online newsletter, “The Critical Path,” when a new issue is published three times per year. Members who did not yet register, you may want to check out the latest issue at https://fpd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Critical_Path.html and consider signing up. For members who have email, send a request to Paula Wood at paula.l.wood@nasa.gov to be placed on automatic distribution for future issues. For members without email access, contact Paula at 301-286-9125 and request she send a printed version of “The Critical Path” to your home address.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN OCTOBER: On October 24, 1978, a Delta rocket launched the Nimbus-7 (and last of the series of Nimbus satellites) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. Like all Nimbus satellites, Nimbus-7 was a second generation robotic spacecraft designed to serve and collect atmospheric science data. Scientists conducted experiments from NASA aircraft and proved that atmospheric chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) released from refrigerants and aerosol sprays did destroy ozone. As Nimbus-7 observations accumulated between ’78 and ’94, it became increasingly clear that CFCs were creating an ozone hole during each winter season over Antarctica. Not only that, but despite some year-to-year variations, it appeared the hole was growing larger and Nimbus-7 measurements made it obvious how severe it was becoming. Nimbus-7 was turned off in ’95 after more than 16 years of service, during which the mission was regarded the single most significant source of experimental data from Earth’s orbit relating to atmospheric and oceanic processes. Nimbus-7 observations began to point to a drop in the ozone layer as early as ’80, with more extreme decreases developing in ’85.