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

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM RON BROWNING, GRAA PRESIDENT: At the April luncheon, Thomas Wysmuller, former Goddard employee, meteorologist and lecturer, updated his talk of June 2007, “The Colder Side of Global Warming”. He reaffirmed that melting polar pack ice causes “albedo” (reflectivity from solar rays) change which results in lower winter temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere. Colder air flowing down from the arctic meets gulf moisture, resulting in increased snow over the mid-Atlantic (typical of the 2010 winter). Tom provided a brief history of how temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) data are gathered, recorded and analyzed. Temperatures are shown to be cyclic over centuries; there has been a 1.8 degree rise from 1900 to the present, even discounting “Heat Island” effects. Warming oceans are pivotal to increasing CO2, which is still a lagging indicator of climate change. He spent an hour-and-a-half explaining his slides and video clips (some with very recent data) as well as answering many questions posed by curious attendees. No one in the room remained unaware of the role “albedo” plays in our planet's climate, especially since we shoveled a fair amount of it this past winter! For those who missed the luncheon, Tom's talk generated an immediate invitation to be main speaker at Goddard's Engineering Colloquium scheduled for October 18^th.

The 2010 edition of the GRAA Membership Directory accompanies this month's newsletter. We thank members for past tax-deductible contributions, as they make it possible for our volunteers to compile, print and mail both the near-monthly newsletters and the biennial directory. Since printing and postage fees for the Membership Directory are quite high, we encourage all members to consider making a tax-deductible donation to help restore our treasury. Checks sent to the GRAA address above will be greatly appreciated.

It is again time to elect the GRAA Board of Directors (BOD). You are encouraged to nominate any GRAA member, including yourself, to the seven-member BOD. The following current BOD members are willing to continue to serve, if elected, during the upcoming two-year term: Dick Baker, Charlie Boyle, Ron Browning, Barbara Hamilton, Strat Laios, and Bob Wigand. You are encouraged to fill out and send in the election ballot on the reverse.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES - IT HAPPENED IN May: On May 24, 1967, a Delta rocket launched Explorer 34, Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP) 4 or F. Like earlier IMPs, this spacecraft was instrumented to study interplanetary magnetic fields, energetic particles, and plasma. The optical aspect system failed on March 4, 1969, but useful data continued to be acquired until just before the spacecraft's reentry on May 2, 1969.

TREASURER'S REPORT Bob Wigand reports that tax-deductible contributions were received from Jeanette Baylor, Tony Comberiate, Bill McGunigal, Jaylee Mead (in memory of Charles Schnetzler), Bob Stanley, and Charlie White.

RECENT RETIREES Karen A, Blynn, Roger L. Counts, Gail R. McConaughy, Eric A. Smith, Carl L. Taylor, Thomas S. Toutsi, and Peter J. Wasiliewski.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH: The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down individuals and groups, side-stepping responsibilities, and pushing their luck!

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES

•  George L. Daelemans, Jr., of West River, MD, passed away on April 18^th. He was a Spacecraft Engineer at Goddard who principally worked on the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory satellites and the Explorers Program.

•  A. Martin Eiband, of New Carrollton, MD, passed away following a heart attack on March 29^th. An Engineer at Goddard, in 1959 he developed what came to be called “Eiband Curves”, which depict the magnitude of acceleration vs. the duration of uniform acceleration, plotted on a logarithmic scale. Mr. Eiband's research diagrams dramatically assisted engineers in determining the probability of survival and injury in aircraft and vehicle crashes and enabled the development of better safety measures.

•  Patricia A Magruder, of Mount Rainier, MD, passed away on March 1^st. Her last assignment prior to retirement was as Secretary for the Heliospheric Physics Branch.

STATUS OF NATIONAL POLAR-ORBITING OPERATIONAL SATELLITE SYSTEM (NPOESS) : On February 1^st, the White House announced a major restructuring of NPOESS. This decision resulted in the decoupling of the Department of Defense (DOD), specifically the Air Force, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the development of NPOESS due to budgetary, technical and management issues. NOAA and DOD will no longer continue to jointly procure NPOESS; however, the Air Force, NOAA and NASA will continue to partner in ensuring a successful way forward for their respective programs. When the separate systems become operational, NOAA, DOD and NASA will use a shared ground system and will split obligations to collect, disseminate and process data about the Earth's weather, atmosphere, oceans, land, and near-space environment. As such, NOAA and NASA will take primary responsibility for afternoon orbits, while DOD will take responsibility for morning orbits. NOAA and NASA are currently in the process of establishing a Goddard-managed Joint Polar Satellite System modeled after the procurement structure of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) systems. A 300-person project office at Goddard is included in this new effort and is currently being implemented.