G.R.A.A.
Goddard Retirees and Alumni Association
P.O. Box 163, Lanham, MD 20703-0163

 

June 2009 http://graa.gsfc.nasa.gov 25th Year of Publication

IMPORTANT DATES:

June 9

Mark your calendar for the GRAA Luncheon at 11:30 a.m.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Frank Cepollina, Deputy Associate Director of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Development Project (aka: Father of On-Orbit Servicing) will be able to attend and provide luncheon attendees with his personal synopsis of STS-125’s recent HST repair mission. Reservations are required, so call Alberta Moran at 301-890-0544 no later than noon on Friday, June 5th.

July 14

Mark your calendar for the GRAA Luncheon at 11:30 a.m.

 

COMMENTS FROM RON BROWNING, GRAA PRESIDENT:  Peter Hughes, Goddard’s Chief Technologist, provided May luncheon attendees an excellent overview of how technology advances are currently funded and managed at NASA.  The “Road to Mission Success” program he manages has $25M per year for development of instrument and spacecraft technology in support of Goddard’s lines of business in Heliophysics, Astrophysics, Earth Science, Planetary/Lunar Exploration, and world class communications.  The objective is to provide seed funding for early ideas and assist younger scientists/engineers in writing successful proposals.  Typical examples include measuring hydrogen at the lunar poles, on-board SAR data processing, low temp ASIC’s, X-ray communications, and collaborative on-orbit measurements.  Peter’s role is to focus limited R&D resources to achieve the biggest payoff.

 

GODDARD’S 50th ANNIVERSARY:  The first major event of Goddard’s 50th Anniversary took place on May 6th and 7th, when former Center Directors (Tom Young, Jack Townsend, Joe Rothenberg, and Al Diaz) participated in Town Hall meetings moderated by current Center Director Rob Strain.  Also, former Center Director Noel Hinners sent a letter noting his pleasure in managing Goddard and how he especially liked to meet with employees.  In response to questions, the former directors described their major challenges and personal observations during their tenure.  There was agreement that Goddard has always had the unique ability to plan missions from initial scientific concept through management and successful execution to published scientific results.  The Goddard culture was described as one of a “can do” attitude, a “do-it-ourselves” approach, and providing value-added leadership skills to managed contracts.  Throughout its history, it was also noted that Goddard has been a safe workplace for outrageous ideas while not being insular.  On the contrary, ideas have been well received from and communicated to individuals and organizations, both internally and externally.

 

Jack Townsend noted challenges in the early days ranged from finding land to locate Goddard in the Washington area and placing on orbit in just 53 days a spacecraft taken from storage and refurbished to successfully measure radiation in the atmosphere from a nuclear test.  Tom Young noted the challenges encountered with the Landsat-D Thematic Mapper and the TDRSS contract.  Joe Rothenberg cited as a challenge a 20 percent decrease in the number of civil servants without having to endure a Reduction-in-Force.  Al Diaz cited external attempts to cease HST operations in a cost-saving effort and Noel Hinners noted the near-impossible effort of the on-orbit recovery of TDRS-1 using 1-pound thrusters.

 

TIME IS FLEETING FOR TRANSITIONING TO DIGITAL TV:  If you have not yet decided what to do about your television, June 12th, the date (extended from February 17th) of the nation’s conversion from analog to digital signaling, is just around the corner.  For information about what options you have, take a look at the video at:  http://www.hulu.com/watch/36608/talkshow-with-spike-feresten-cable-psa.  If you still have questions after viewing the video, you can contact the FCC call center at 888-CALL-FCC.

 

RECENT RETIREES:  Wayne T. Kasprzak and Thomas L. Bell. 

 

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES :

• John K. Carl , of Westminster, MD, passed away on April 20th.  He joined Goddard in 1960 as an Aerospace Technologist and later became a Contract Manager responsible for the design, development and operation of large software systems.  In addition, he worked on such projects as the International Ultraviolet Explorer, High Energy Atmosphere Explorer, Solar Maximum Mission, and on the early stages of Apollo.  He retired in 1985.

• Carol Jo Crannell , of Silver Spring, MD, passed away from Alzheimer’s disease and related complications on May 10th.  At Goddard, she served from 1974 to 2004 as an Astrophysicist in the Solar Physics Branch and was also an adjunct professor of Physics at Catholic University from 1974 to 2005.

• Lavada Jane Lankford , of Charlottesville, VA, passed away on May 11th.  Before retiring in 1995, she served in the Communications Services Branch of Nascom.

• Patrick D. Logan , of Columbia, MD, passed away on April 20th from a heart attack while on travel.  Still employed at the time of his passing, he was Deputy Program Manager of the Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) Office.  Pat served in various other procurement roles throughout his career at Goddard.

• James M. Williamson , of Greenbelt, MD, passed away from lymphoma on April 25th.  An Engineer, he joined Goddard in 1959 and initially worked on the Explorer series of satellites studying the Van Allen radiation belts.  Later in his career he worked on small satellites such as the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment, Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, Cosmic Background Explorer, and Landsat, retiring in 1994.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT:  Bob Wigand reports that tax-deductible contributions were received from the following members:  Dave Douds, Bob Halli, Don Lokerson, Sue Prevost, Ralph Shapiro (in memory of Bill Stroud), and Ed Stengard.

 

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN JUNE:  Thor-Delta rockets launched the fifth and seventh satellites in the Television Infrared Observation System (TIROS V and TIROS VII on June 19, 1962, and June 19, 1963, respectively).  Both spacecraft were part of the first generation of American weather satellites.  TIROS V was operational for 161 days and TIROS VII was deactivated on June 3, 1968.          

 

COPIES OF “READ YOU LOUD AND CLEAR!” STILL AVAILABLE :  We still have copies of the Story of NASA’s Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network.  If you’d like to be sent a copy, send a check for $5.00 (to cover postage) to our Lanham address.  If you want to pick up a copy at the June luncheon, send an e-mail to Strat Laios (stratlaios@verizon.net) and ask him to reserve a copy for you.

 

SUPPORT GRAA:  If you live in MD, DC, VA, or WV and are upset about your current Internet Service Provider and thinking about purchasing Verizon FIOS, cable TV, Internet, or telephone services, place your order by calling 1-888-695-5299 and giving them GRAA Code 13142.  Depending on the type of service(s) you choose, Verizon will donate up to $65.00 to GRAA.  If family members or friends have decided on purchasing Verizon products, please pass this information along to them.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH:  Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.