Center Director Al Diaz accepted the President's Medal of Excellence on May 5, the highest non-academic honor given by the President of Bowie State University. This medal is given for distinguished achievement and community leadership. Goddard was recognized for its long-standing commitment to and support of higher education.

STS-101 lifted off at 6:11 a.m. this morning on a 9-day mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis 7-member crew will deliver supplies to the International Space Station, perform a spacewalk and then reboost the station from 230 statute miles to 250 statute miles.

Among the payloads aboard Atlantis is a 21st century, space-age simulated Mars soil and one of the world's oldest food sources -- the potato. The experiment, designed by Native American science students, will test how well the soil supports plant growth.  The potato experiment will be one of 10 experiments flying as part of the Goddard Space Experiment Module (SEM) program, an educational initiative to increase access to space for students from kindergarten through college.  For the complete press release article, visit: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-079.txt

For more on the STS-101 mission, check out http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

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Board Finds Cause of HESSI Mishap

The HESSI Mishap Board released its final report last week saying the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) spacecraft was damaged because of a malfunction in the vibration test system at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. (The vibration tests simulate the stresses the spacecraft experiences during the rollout, release and flight to orbit aboard the Pegasus launch vehicle.)

The damage was caused when the test device, called a "shaker," delivered approximately 20 G's, ten times the appropriate level for the test, to the spacecraft. (A G is a unit of force equal to the gravity exerted on a body at rest.) As a result, the spacecraft's structure was damaged and three of the four solar arrays were severely damaged. Satellites are routinely subjected to vibration testing as part of preparing them for flight.

Daniel Worth, Code 549.2 and Scott Gordon, Code 542 served on the Mishap Board along with Mishap Board Chairman Denny Kross, Manager, Engineering Systems at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Kross said a misalignment between two pieces of the test stand led to an abnormally high level of static friction (what engineers call "stiction"). The computer used to control the test then tried to compensate and induced too large a shock into the satellite.

Cynthia K. Adams (Code 584), Joyce Brooks (Code 235) and Janet Ormes (Code 290), received awards at the 33rd Annual Baltimore Federal Executive Board's Excellence in Federal Career Awards Luncheon on May 5 in Baltimore.

The Federal Executive Board recognizes and celebrates the individual's outstanding contributions of public servants. The three Goddard recipients competed against 50 different federal agencies and installations in Maryland, which submitted nominations. This year, 50 federal agencies submitted 228 nominations for the Gold, Silver or Bronze awards. There were 80 finalists and 148 Bronze winners. The Gold winners among the finalists were announced at the event and the other finalists were Silver winners.

Cynthia K. Adams received the "Gold" in the category of Outstanding Professional - Technical, Scientific and Program Support. She was noted for her extraordinary support of such missions as the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and most recently the Landsat 7.

Joyce D. Brooks was saluted for her superior contributions as a Branch Secretary, Property Custodian and other duties in support of Goddard. She received a "Bronze Award" in the category of Outstanding Clerical.

Paul Richards, a former Goddard employee, has been named to the STS-102 crew. Richards was previously assigned to several sections within the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate, Code 500. He also was the Senior EVA Tool Development Engineer for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing Project and has several awards for his participation on the HST First Servicing Mission.

Veteran astronaut James D. Wetherbee (Capt., USN) will command the eighth Space Shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station on a flight in 2001 to rotate space station crews and continue space station assembly. Joining Wetherbee on the flight deck for STS-102 aboard Discovery will be Pilot James M. Kelly (Lt. Col., USAF).

Rounding out the crew are Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Ph.D., Richards, and previously assigned space station Expedition 2 crew members, Yuri V. Usachev, James S. Voss (Col., USA, Ret.) and Susan J. Helms (Col., USAF).

The major objectives of the mission are to replace the space station Expedition 1 crew members Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev with the Expedition 2 crew and perform two space station assembly spacewalks. The Shuttle also will deliver equipment for the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on the first flight of the Italian-built Leonardo logistics module.

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The nation's newest weather satellite, GOES-11, has sent back its first image from space, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA announced today.

GOES-11, a geostationary weather satellite that takes images of clouds and reads the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, sent back a clear, crisp image from its vantage point 22,300 miles in space. The GOES-L satellite was launched on May 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and became GOES-11 on May 11.

"The image clearly demonstrates that these important observations will continue to be provided," said Gerry Dittberner, NOAA's GOES program manager. "Fine-scale meteorological features stand out clearly; it's right on the mark."

Goddard manages the design, development and launch of the spacecraft. NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for government oversight of launch operations and countdown activities. NOAA's Systems Acquisition Office provides programmatic and acquisition guidelines to both Goddard and Kennedy. GOES-L, built by Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space and Communications Ltd., was launched on an Atlas IIA rocket, built by Lockheed Martin. The on-board meteorological instruments for GOES-L include an imager and a sounder manufactured by ITT Industries Aerospace/Communications Division.

For the complete press release on GOES-11, visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp/pub/PAO/Releases/2000/00-52.htm

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Goddard People and Projects in the News

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Activities

Mt. St. Helens 20 Years Later

This true color image of Mt. Saint Helens, Wash., was acquired by Landsat 7 on Aug. 22, 1999. It was produced at 30-meter resolution using bands 3,2, and 1 in order to display red, green, & blue, respectively ("true color"). Some of the effects of the massive eruption on May 18, 1980, can still clearly be seen. Landsat 7, an important part of NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise, is the latest mission in the Landsat series and is continuing the flow of global change information to users worldwide. Scientists use Landsat satellite data to gather remotely sensed images of the land surface and surrounding coastal regions for global change research, regional environmental change studies and other civil and commercial purposes.

Landsat 7 is a dual-agency program or "partnership" between NASA and USGS. The Landsat Project, located at Goddard, manages Landsat development for NASA’s Office of Earth Science in Washington, D.C. USGS operations are performed at a Mission Operations Center at Goddard and at the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. USGS is responsible for receiving, processing, archiving and distributing the data.

Landsat 7 was launched on April 15, 1999, from the Western Test Range/ Vandenberg, Air Force Base, Calif., on a Delta-II expendable launch vehicle. At launch, the satellite weighed approximately 4,800 pounds (2,200 kilograms). The spacecraft is about 14 feet long (4.3 meters) and 9 feet (2.8 meters) in diameter. It consists of a spacecraft platform, provided under a NASA contract with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space in Valley Forge, Pa., and the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument, procured under a NASA contract with Raytheon (formerly Hughes) Santa Barbara Remote Sensing in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The satellite orbits the Earth at an altitude of approximately 438 miles (705 kilometers) with a sun-synchronous 98-degree inclination and a descending equatorial crossing time of 10 a.m. The orbit was adjusted upon reaching orbit so that its 16-day repeat cycle coincides with the Landsat Worldwide Reference System. This orbit will be maintained with periodic adjustments for the life of the mission.

The Landsat ground system includes a spacecraft control center, ground stations for uplinking commands and receiving data, a data handling facility and a data archive developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) EROS Data Center (EDC), Sioux Falls, S.D. These facilities, augmented by existing NASA institutional facilities, communicates with Landsat 7, control all spacecraft and instrument operations, and receives, processes, archives, and distributes ETM+ data. The primary ground station, the data handling facility and archive are located at the EROS Data Center and falls under USGS management following on-orbit activation of the satellite. NASA manages flight operations from the control center at the Goddard Space Flight Center until October 1, 2000, when responsibility for flight operations transfers to the USGS as well. The ground system can distribute raw ETM+ data within 24 hours of its reception at the EROS Data Center.

The ground system at the Data Center is capable of capturing and processing 250 Landsat scenes per day and delivering at least 100 of the scenes to users each day. All 100 of these scenes can be radiometrically corrected to within five percent and geometrically located on the Earth to within 820 feet (250 meters). Uncorrected data that are ordered will contain sufficient information to allow a user to do the correction. Data captured will routinely be available for user ordering within 24 hours of its receipt at the EROS Data Center.

For further information on Landsat 7, visit the websites at: http://mtpe.gsfc.nasa.gov/landsat/default.htm   or http://landsat7.usgs.gov

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Look for Sun-Earth Connection Stories In the Media

Goddard Earth Science Technology Center Cooperative Agreement Signed

Back row: left to right:  Dr. Richard Hartle, Dr. Henry Plotkin, Dr. Robert Curran, Dr. Dorothy Zukor, Bill Hatchl Front row - left to right:  Dr. Scott Bass and Sue Gonser

Goddard officials signed a five-yearCooperative Agreement with the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) last week to create a Center of Excellence for Earth science research and forging a new partnership between government and university researchers. NASA calls the new entity the Goddard Earth Science Technology Center, or GEST Center. Goddard and GEST Center scientists and technologists will work together conducting research, developing proposals for new missions, building advanced scientific instruments, and gathering, processing and distributing scientific data.

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Administrator's Weekly Topic #18 -- Ergonomics

Ergonomics is the science of matching the physical requirements of the job and the physical capacity of the worker in order to achieve optimal safety and performance. When there is a mismatch between these two factors, illness or injury such as a work-related Musculo-Skeletal Disorder (MSD) can result. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is one of the most familiar examples of a work-related MSD, but injuries can occur in the back and the upper and lower extremities as well. Workers who must repeat the same motion throughout their workday, who must do their work in an awkward position, who must use a great deal of force to perform their jobs, who must repeatedly lift heavy objects, or who face a combination of these risk factors are most likely to develop MSD.

While NASA has one of the lowest worker injury rates in the Federal sector, back injuries and repetitive motion injuries are among the top five causes of disability in our workforce. We are currently seeing ergonomic injuries at every NASA location. An ergonomically faulty workstation can cause fatigue, physical strain, and poor concentration that can lead to reduced productivity and errors. We are one of the world leaders in the human factors and safety arena, and I believe we have the talent and expertise to address this area of health risk and to eliminate the ergonomics-related injuries occurring at each NASA Center. But every one of us must be aware of ergonomic risks and remedies.

I would like to see every NASA site take the approach being recommended by OSHA in its proposed ergonomics standard. There are six key program elements to help eliminate ergonomic injuries across the Agency. Those program elements are:

1- Management leadership and employee involvement,
2- Ergonomic hazard identification and information programs,
3- Job hazard analysis and control,
4- Training programs,
5- Medical management of emerging injuries, and
6- Program evaluation.

I am asking all Center Directors to ensure that they have an ergonomics program in place at their Centers that meets the intent of the proposed OSHA standard. Your assistance in ensuring that our workforce does not suffer from ergonomically correctable work related disorders is greatly appreciated.

Who: Keith Ogilvie from Goddard, Code 690
Topic: "The Day the Solar Wind Disappeared"
Where/When: Bldg. 3 auditorium,  May 26, at 3:30 p.m.
Website: http://scicolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/  
Intended for: People with a general scientific interest.

Who: Ron Parise of Computer Sciences Corp.
Topic: "Using the Internet Protocols in Space (And Other Unusual Locations!)"
Where/When: Bldg. 3 auditorium, Monday, May 22 at 3:30 p.m.
Website: http://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Intended for: Technical community of engineers and scientists but also a general audience

Who: Laura Berman Fortgang, Founder and President of Intercoach
Topic: Coaching Skills for High Impact Results and Promoting a Developmental and Coaching Culture
Where/When: Bldg. 3 auditorium, Thursday, June 8 at 10 a.m. in Bldg. 3, auditorium
Website: http://workforce.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdf/b2c1a.pdf
Intended for: General audience

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