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

UPCOMING LUNCHEONS: We meet at 11:15 AM on the 2^nd Tuesday of each month at the American Legion Post #136 at 6900 Greenbelt Road. Reservations are required; please contact graalunch@gmail.com (preferred) or call 410-709-8889 before Thursday, September 5.

September 10		George Chiu, Mission Operations Manager, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, “Operational Challenges for DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Test), the first Planetary Defense Test Mission”
October 8		Peter Hughes, Chief Technologist, NASA Goddard, “Goddard’s Technology Development Program”

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE AND CARL STAHLE

“Goddard 2040: Current and Future Vision of the Center”

Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, Goddard Center Director, discussed Goddard’s strategic vision for now and for the 2040 timeframe, which will allow Goddard to adapt and thrive in the future. The Goddard mission is to combine world-class multi-disciplinary science research, cutting edge engineering, and focused technology development to advance the knowledge of our universe. Specifically, the vision includes 7 vectors: 1) Advancing Multidisciplinary Space Science while supporting the Artemis mission as well as principal investigator-led missions; 2) Search for Habitable Worlds by developing the Habitable Worlds Observatory and the many key technologies for enhancing exoplanet characterization; 3) Serve as a hub for Earth System Science, leveraging partnerships with both NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey; 4) Enhance Space Weather Knowledge and Applications by developing a digital solar model to predict solar events; 5) Expand Goddard”s partnerships with academia, industry, government agencies, and other NASA centers; 6) Foster a Culture of Inclusion and Curiosity; and 7) Modernize the Goddard Campuses, which include Wallops, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Independent V&V Facility in West Virginia, the White Sands Complex, and the Columbia Scientific Ballon Facility.

We also had three Goddard Interns attend the luncheon. Chiara Villanueva (NASA Science Communicator), Kate Oberlander (Lunar Communications Systems Engineering), and Charlotte Zehnder (Optics). They shared their background, described their work at Goddard, and their plans for their careers.

Dr. Lystrup spent a considerable amount of time talking to our GRAA members individually and said that she looks forward to speaking to us again. She challenged us to engage more on social media and to build up our network so we can be more effective advocates for Goddard and NASA.

DIRECTORIES AND NEWSLETTERS. Send your email address to goddardretirees@gmail.com to get our monthly Newsletters, which include synopses of the talks, special community announcements, and obituaries. Past Newsletters and links to videos of the talks are on our website https://goddardretirees.org. Multi-month abstracts of Newsletters are mailed to the retirees with only residential addresses in our files. We depend on retirees to furnish their home addresses to be listed in the biennial GRAA Membership Directories; only available as mailed hardcopies to members. These mailings are supported by donations to GRAA, P. O. Box 1184, Greenbelt, MD 20768-1184.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received donations from Hongwoo Park, Raymond Mazur and Raymond Whitley.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES: Sixty years ago, September 4, 1964, Atlas Agena B launched OGO-1. The first Orbiting Geophysical Observatory was a series of 6 OGO modular satellites which contained 20 scientific instruments. It provided data till June 1969.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES

Samuel Eefa Archer-Davies, 77, died August 9, 2024, in Annapolis, Maryland. He was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone on November 11, 1946. From 1972 to 2017, he worked at Goddard in various positions, and for UNISYS. He served as Goddard’s Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer (CSO) until he retired from NASA in 2017.

Ernest "Buz" Busboso, 90, died on May 31, 2024 at his home in Durham Ridge, Virginia. After serving in the Air Force, he attended Indiana Tech, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1959. He joined Goddard in 1969, where he worked on satellite, rocket, and Space Shuttle payloads as an electronics engineer and Verification Manager. He also participated in the development of the initial concept for the space station and the investigation of the Challenger disaster. His most memorable project was with the Getaway Special (GAS) program, a 20-year NASA program that provided individuals and groups opportunities to fly small experiments aboard the Space Shuttle. Working with students from Utah State University, he designed an apparatus to contain their experiments, which were flown on the first GAS deployment, which occurred from Columbia during the STS-4 mission in June of 1982.

Joe Colony, 87, died on August 3, 2024, in Hagerstown, MD, from complications due to Parkinson's disease. Joe was born on December 31, 1936, and worked as a chemist at Goddard for most of his career on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Arlin Hogenson, 95, died August 3, 2024, in Bothell, Washington. Arlin was born in Winger, Minnesota, in 1928. He was an engineer working in space communications for the Mercury Project, then worked many years at the Gilmore Creek Satellite Tracking Station in Alaska, retiring in 1987.

James O'Leary, 69, died on August 2, 2024, at home in Annapolis, after a valiant 4-year battle with cancer. Jay graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1979 and worked at Goddard as a graphic designer for nearly 40 years from 1986-2024.

Rud V. Moe, 79, passed away on July 17, 2024. Rud worked for a variety of communications and aerospace companies before joining Goddard, where he served as Systems Manager and Shuttle Interfaces Manager for the Satellite Servicing Project and led satellite servicing studies for the NASA Office of Space Flight, culminating in his role as the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission Manager for the first four servicing missions. His Hubble work was recognized with the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. Rud also served as Systems Manager for Assembly and Servicing Systems in the Exploration and Operations Flight Systems Project, a think tank role for future space assets including very large telescopes and communication nodes for interplanetary projects. Rud retired from NASA after 28 years of service.

Thomas (Tom) J. Whelan, Jr., 82 of Crofton, MD died at home surrounded by his family on August 18, 2024, after a 10-month battle with kidney cancer. Tom was born on September 13, 1941, and graduated from the University of Maryland College Park, and began his career at Goddard. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor degree at Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. Upon passing the Bar Exam in Maryland and DC, he transferred to NASA Headquarters and had a distinguished career in procurement, earning the Exceptional Service Medal in 1991.

Update Your Information for the GRAA Directory

GRAA is working to update the GRAA Directory and wants to ensure that we have the most current and accurate information on our GRAA members. If any of your information has changed since the last Directory was published in September 2022, please update the following information and email to goddardretirees@gmail.com.

We appreciate your help in updating the GRAA membership Master Listing.