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

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our January luncheon speaker was Dr. Michael Ryschkewitsch, Head of the Space Exploration Sector at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) and former Goddard Deputy Center Director and NASA Chief Engineer. Mike’s talk, entitled “First to the Frontier: From the Corona to the Kuiper Belt,” traced the history of APL scientific research from James Van Allen’s instruments launched on captured German V-2 rockets in 1946 to this past New Year’s Eve New Horizon’s flyby of the asteroid, Ultima Thule, in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto. He showed photos of the oddly-shaped Ultima Thule, which is only 30 km long, but the most distant object ever encountered. The flyby had to be handled by the spacecraft autonomously because of the 13-hour roundtrip communication time with Earth. This required a navigation plan to fly the spacecraft within 2200 miles and point to the predicted target position at exactly the right time and direction to collect images while moving at 32,000 mph past the asteroid at 4 billion miles from Earth. This object has not changed much in its 4.5 billion year lifetime and will provide valuable insight into the building blocks that formed our solar system.

Mike also described the Parker Solar Probe launched in August 2018 to fly through the 2 million degree corona of the Sun to determine the heating mechanism and study solar storms. It will use seven Venus flybys to remove momentum in order to approach to within 3.8 million miles from the surface of the Sun, but still will be the fastest human-made object. A specially designed heat shield keeps the instruments at a 30°C operating temperature in spite of the intense sunlight.

APL is playing a big role in other solar system exploration as well. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, to be launched in 2021, will rendezvous with nearby Didymos A and B asteroids to evaluate methods for modifying their trajectory. APL is also teamed with JPL on the Europa Clipper mission, which is planned to launch in 2023 to investigate the large subsurface ocean on this moon of Jupiter. Its ice cap is thought to be up to 20-30 km thick with some spots as thin as 5 km. The spacecraft, when launched by the Space Launch System (SLS), will reach Europa in only 2 years vs. the 7-year trip of previous spacecraft.

Mike also described a competitive mission APL has proposed to study Titan’s prebiotic organic chemistry and habitability. Besides Earth and Venus, Titan is the only rocky body in the solar system with a thick atmosphere (1.4 times as thick as Earth with a temperature of 94K). Although there is no life on Titan, its atmosphere supports processes similarly to the early Earth, making it an ideal destination to study prebiotic chemistry. Mike plans to join GRAA, and judging from the many questions attendees asked of him regarding those he highlighted, we plan to have him update us on those as well as other missions in the not too distant future.

GRAA TO INVITE GODDARD PIONEERS IN CELEBRATION OF ITS 60^th ANNIVERSARY: GRAA will be inviting early Goddard employees to our April and May luncheons to help celebrate the Center’s 60^th Anniversary. For members who were around when Goddard began, or shortly thereafter, plan to share some of your early experiences and/or photos at our April meeting or just come to meet and enjoy hearing stories from other Goddard pioneers/colleagues in attendance. Center Director Christopher Scolese is scheduled to speak at our May luncheon as we celebrate six decades of achievements. We hope to get a memorable photo of the pioneers who attend both luncheons. Please advise GRAA Vice President Arlin Krueger (arjkrueger@gmail.com ) of your plans to attend and copy Alberta Moran (bertiemae90@gmail.com ) for your luncheon reservations.

THOUGHT FOR FEBRUARY: Ye Ed thinks that while we toss and turn at night while trying to get to sleep we must consider it as great exercise.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• Charles C. Casto, of Bowie, MD, passed away at age 102 on November 21, 2018. He was a veteran of WWII and Korea, retiring in ’66 and then hired by Goddard the same year and assigned to the Storage & Transportation Branch, Management Services & Supply Division, of the Administration & Management Directorate. In ’70 the branch title was changed to the Transportation Branch and later, in ’80 or ’81, was changed to the Logistics Management Division of the Management Operations Directorate, from which he retired in ’84.
• David L. Davis, of Henrico, VA, passed away on January 19^th. He worked at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) for 42 years as an Information Technology Specialist, but prior to ’82 WFF was under the auspices of Langley Research Center (LRC) and was then transitioned to Goddard. Following the change, he worked for the Information Processing & Analysis Branch of the Engineering Division in the Suborbital Projects & Operations Directorate. In ’98, he was reassigned to the Real-time Software Engineering Branch of the Information Systems Center in the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate (AETD). In ’03, he was reassigned to the Wallops System Software Engineering Branch in the Information Systems Division of AETD and retired in early ’06.
• James C, (Chris) Floyd, of Chincoteague, VA, passed away on November 6, 2018. He was initially hired at WFF in ’63, but prior to ’82 WFF was under the auspices of LRC and was then transitioned to Goddard. In ’82, he was assigned to the Technical Resources Management Office in the Suborbital Projects & Operations Directorate. In ’83 he was reassigned to the Sounding Rocket & Balloon Projects Office of the same directorate. In ’90, the office title was changed to the Projects Division and Chris retired in ’95.
• Laura D. Hancock, of Deltona, FL, passed away on August 27, 2018. Her last name was Smith when she came to Goddard at its inception after being Secretary to Dr. John P. Hagen, Director of the Vanguard Program at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, when the decision was made for the program to come under the auspices of NASA. At that time, Dr. Hagen moved to NASA Headquarters to lead the program until ’62 and Laura came to Goddard and served as Secretary/Administrative Assistant to Dr. Harry H. Goett, Goddard’s first Center Director in ‘59. For a period she also served in a similar role for Dr. John F. Clark, when he became Goddard’s second Center Director in ’65. After retiring, she moved to FL in the early ‘80’s.
• Fred L. King, of Solomons, MD, passed away on January 19^th. Prior to being hired by Goddard in ’62 as a Computer Programmer, he was a Machinist at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington, DC. He was first assigned to the Data Operations Branch in the Manned Space Flight Support Division of the Office of Tracking & Data Systems. In ’67, the same branch changed to the Manned Flight Planning & Analysis Division of the Manned Flight Support Directorate. Although the organization changed titles over several years, he was involved with computer-related responsibilities and retired in ’78.
• Nancy G. Roman, of Chevy Chase, MD, passed away on December 25, 2018. After joining NASA in ’59, she was the first Chief of Astronomy in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters and the first woman to hold an executive position there. In later years, she became affectionately known as the “mother” of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) for all the support she provided in making HST a reality. Following her NASA retirement in ‘79, Dr. Roman oversaw Goddard’s Astronomical Data Center and worked as a consultant to Goddard contractors until ’97.
• Granville L. Taylor, of Mears, VA, passed away on December 11, 1918. As an Engineering Technician at WFF, he was first assigned in ’82 to the Technical Support Branch of the Technical Resources Management Office in the Suborbital Projects & Operations Directorate. In ’96, he was transferred to the Mechanical Engineering Branch of the Engineering & Safety Division and then in ’98 he was transferred to the Guidance, Navigation & Control Center. In ’03, he was reassigned to the Mission Engineering & Systems Analysis Division of AETD and retired in ’05.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY: On February 18, 1979, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE-1) or Explorer 60 spacecraft was launched by a Scout rocket from WFF. It was the second of the Applications Explorer Missions (AEM). The objective of SAGE-1 was to obtain a global stratospheric aerosol, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide data base that could be used for the investigation of the spatial and temporal variations of these species caused by seasonal and short-term meteorological variations, atmospheric chemistry and microphysics, and transient phenomena such as volcanic eruptions. The spacecraft was designed for a 1-year life in orbit, but began experiencing power problems after May 15, 1979. SAGE operations continued until November 19, 1981, but when the battery failed on January 7, 1982, the final signal from the spacecraft was received. The spacecraft ultimately decayed in the atmosphere on April 11, 1989.