Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 19 Mar 2001
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on March 19, 2001. Mr. Goldin attended the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.
1. AA Reports
F/Novak: 1) NASA Centers have completed their review of student
applications for the NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP).
Over 1100 applications have been received from students in 49 States,
including Puerto Rico. Following an intense screening process, offer
letters have been mailed to 105 undergraduate students across the
country. The complete roster of the first USRP student class should be
finalized by mid-April. Over 80 students will start their summer
research assignments in late May; and some 20 students will begin their
fall assignments in August.
L/Kerwin: 1) The House Budget Committee is preparing a markup for FY
2002 Budget resolution. 2) Staff members from the House Science
Committee will visit JSC Thursday and Friday to review the International
Space Station (ISS) budget. 3) The Hearing on the ISS before the House
Science Committee has been rescheduled for April 4, 2001.
AS/Olsen: 1) Code U research scientists at Rice University used lasers
to drop the temperature of a mixture of two types of lithium atoms to 1
fourth of a million of a degree above absolute zero. One group of the
atomic particles shrank and the other stabilized during the cooling, a
quantum condition that simulates the same process that keeps dense cold
stars from completely collapsing under their own intense gravity,
according to investigators. These results are to be published in Science
Magazine.
M/Rothenberg: The Mir is scheduled to begin its deorbit on Wednesday,
March 21.
AO/Holcomb: On March 17, Mr. Holcomb was a guest on the WMAL Radio Show
called Tech Talk. A replay is available on the Internet at:
http://www.allnva.com/news/technology/techtalk/Tech_Talk_031701_16k.ram
K/Thomas: The NASA Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee will
meet on March 20 and 21 at JSC.
Y/Mike Luther: Headquarters employees are saddened by the death of a
fellow employee, Douglas Kahle, Office of Earth Science, who passed away
on Friday, March 16, 2001.
A-1/Blumberg: A Joint Symposium And Webcast Sponsored By NASA and the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), is scheduled for Monday, April 2, 9
a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the National Institutes of Health. Mr. Goldin will be
the keynote speaker. For details and to register, see
http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/JointSymposium.
P/Cleggett: Today at 1 p.m., there will be a 2001 Mars Odyssey L-30
Mission and Science news briefing at Headquarters.
2. AC/Gen. Armstrong
1) The next Senior Management Council Meeting will be held on Thursday,
March 29, 2001, at NASA Headquarters. 2) On March 20, from 1-2:30 p.m.,
the second in a series of NASA-University Cyber-conferences will be
broadcast over the Internet.
3. Center Directors
DFRC/Petersen: 1) Dryden is looking forward to hosting the NASA Equal
Opportunity Board this week. 2) The X-40A had a very successful first
flight at Dryden last week. It lasted 74 seconds and concluded with an
excellent landing on the Edwards main base runway.
GSFC/Diaz: 1) Mr. Diaz thanked JPL for hosting the Goddard Executive
Council.
JSC/Estess: 1) STS-102 flight has been extremely successful and was
extended a day. Currently, landing is scheduled for Tuesday at 11:55
p.m. CST. 2) There have been 124 hours of Extravehicular Activities
(EVAs) and 18 EVAs assembling the International Space Station (ISS) thus
far. 3) We have launched our first research rack on the ISS. 4)
Preparations for landing are underway. Currently, the weather is the big
factor under watch. 5) Space Shuttle STS 100 rolled over to the Vehicle
Assembly Building on Saturday and will go to the pad sometime this
weekend.
SSC/Craig: 1) SSC reached a milestone with the delivery of the Space
Shuttle Maine Engine 2051, their first Block II engine. 2) On March 22,
there will be a community leaders forum at SSC. 3) Special thanks to
Mike Mann for last week’s visit and briefing on the current NASA
financial management initiative.
4. Mr. Goldin
Mr. Goldin acknowledged the death of NASA employee, Douglas Kahle. He
encouraged all employees to focus on their health and safety, and to make
time for rest and exercise.
NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND
TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTERS CORRESPONDENCE MANAGEMENT OFFICE. SPECIFIC
QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO VANESSA COATES @ (202) 358-0906.
