NASA Goddard News for 12 January 2001
WELCOME TO GODDARD NEWS ON-LINE FOR JANUARY 12, 2001
Visit this week’s complete issue in easy-to-read html on the web at:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/issue.htm
**IN THIS ISSUE**
**************************************************************** Table of Contents
-Dr. Franco Einaudi Named Earth Sciences Director
-NASA’s Twentieth Century Renaissance Man Retires
-Classy Antarctic Balloon Captures Earliest Light of the Universe -NASA Balloon Research Rides to the Edge of Space
-A Newborn Star Offers A View to Our Past
-Astronomers Map Out Largest Structure In Distant Universe
>>>In the Safety Corner<<<
-TRMM’s Three Year Celebration
-Goddard in the News
-Education Summit
-Invention Convention Judges Needed
-Science and Engineering Fair Judges Needed
-ASAP and ASAP-TRS: Science and Technical Web Databases for the NASA Agency and The Public
!!!Upcoming Events at Goddard!!!
Latest Press Releases
**************************************************************** Dr. Franco Einaudi Named Earth Sciences Director
Dr. Franco Einaudi has been named the new Director of the Earth Sciences Directorate at Goddard. In his new position, Einaudi will be
responsible
for planning, organizing, and evaluating a broad program of scientific research, both theoretical and experimental, in the study of Earth sciences.
The program ranges from basic research to flight experiment development, to
mission operations and data analysis.
Prior to accepting this new position, Einaudi had been the Chief of the Laboratory for Atmospheres since 1990. Before that, he served as the Head of
the Severe Storms Branch, now called the Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Branch.
Einaudi’s career has included two years as a post-doctoral fellow at the Physics Department of the University of Toronto and 10 years with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Einaudi spent seven and a half years at the
Georgia Institute of Technology as Professor of Geophysical Sciences.
For more information on Dr. Einaudi, go to:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/GNEWS/011201/011201.htm#Einaudi
**************************************************************** NASA’s Twentieth Century Renaissance Man Retires
Goddard scientist Emmett Chappelle retired this month after 37 years of distinguished federal service.
Chappelle is the recipient of 14 U.S. patents and was recently
recognized as
one of the 100 most distinguished African American scientists and engineers
of the 20th Century.
"My years at NASA were extremely exciting and enjoyable and I am really going to miss it,Ï Chappelle said reflecting on his career here. He started
with NASA in 1966 in support of NASA’s manned space flight initiatives. He
pioneered the development of the ingredients ubiquitous in all cellular material. Later, he developed techniques that are still widely used for the
detection of bacteria in urine, blood, spinal fluids, drinking water and foods.
In 1977, Chappelle turned his research efforts toward the remote sensing of
vegetation health through laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). Working with
scientists at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, he advanced the
development of LIF as a sensitive means of detecting plant stress.
Throughout his career, he has continued to mentor talented minority high school and college students in his laboratories. Well over 100 students from diverse ethnic backgrounds, including African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and Caucasians have benefited from his guidance.
For more on Chappelle, go to:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/011201/011201.htm#Chappelle
**************************************************************** Classy Antarctic Balloon Captures Earliest Light of the Universe
McMurdo Station, Antarctica — If you think penguins in Antarctica look classy in their tuxedos, you should see a scientific balloon wearing a top hat.
TopHat, an innovative hat-shaped astronomy experiment that sits on top of a
balloon, launched successfully from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on January
4 at 8:00 p.m. local time (2:00 a.m. EST) and is now circling the frozen continent at 120,000 feet, collecting light from the cosmic microwave background radiation.
Tophat is the second balloon experiment currently flying over
Antarctica.
The first, launched Dec. 28, 2000, is carrying an experiment for Louisiana
State University, the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter, that is gathering data on galactic cosmic rays.
For the complete press release, go to:
ftp://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2001/01-06.htm
**************************************************************** NASA Balloon Research Rides to the Edge of Space
The countdown is underway for the launch of a revolutionary
research-balloon
designed to fly higher and longer than anything before it, and the flight
could open a new era in scientific research. NASA’s new Ultra-Long Duration
Balloon (ULDB) is scheduled to lift off Jan. 16 from Alice Springs, Australia, and will carry the hopes of many scientists who see balloon technology as an economical means of studying the Earth and space.
"Although balloons have been flying for more than 200 years and scientists
have long used them for a variety of research missions, the length of time
balloons can stay aloft has always constrained their efforts," said Steve
Smith, Chief of the Balloon Program Office, NASA Goddard’s Wallops Flight
Facility. "Thanks to greatly enhanced computer technologies, high-tech materials and advanced designs, longer-range balloons are poised to open a
new frontier for high-altitude research".
For the full article, go to:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/011201/011201.htm#ULDB
**************************************************************** A Newborn Star Offers A View to Our Past
Evidence that small dust grains are agglomerating into larger blocks inside
a persistent shell of gas and dust around a young, nearby star is giving a
team of astronomers a rare glimpse into the process that likely formed our
solar system.
The star, designated HD100546, is estimated to be a relatively young 10 million years old (if stars existed for a typical human lifespan of 70 years, this star would be about one year old). It is surrounded by a disk of
gas and dust, out of which planetesimals, the building blocks of planets,
may be forming. Additionally, it is the first system in which
astronomers
have evidence that large dust grains in the disk are forming from the agglomeration of smaller grains, a necessary step to build planetesimals.
HD 100546 is in our cosmic neighborhood at about 335 light years away, in
the direction of the southern constellation Musca (one light year is the distance light travels in a year, about six trillion miles). Like our Sun,
it is an isolated, single star.
"The envelope of infalling matter surrounding a star as old as HD 100546 is
not expected by models of star formation," said Dr. Carol Grady of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, who is stationed at Goddard.
For more about discovery of the star, go to:
ftp://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2001/01-P1.htm
**************************************************************** Astronomers Map Out Largest Structure In Distant Universe
By reading the light from the fiery heart of unimaginably remote galaxies,
astronomers have discovered evidence for an immense concentration of galaxies over 6.5 billion light years away in the largest known group of quasars, possibly the largest structure anywhere in the observable universe.
The galaxies were revealed by light they absorbed from the spectra of even
more distant quasars which are located behind the large quasar group.
Such huge structures in space are very rare. The universe at the distance of
the cluster is seen at only about a third of its present age. If the concentration of galaxies and quasars is caused by a larger than usual amount of matter in the area, traditional theories of the evolution of the
universe have difficulty explaining how gravity could pull extremely massive
structures together over such a large distance, in such a relatively short
time. Measuring the actual amount of matter connected with quasars and galaxies at such great distances is crucial to find out whether the theories
still hold.
For more information, got to:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC/SpaceSci/origins/largecluster.htm
****************************************************************
>>>In the Safety Corner<<<
Personal Protective Equipment
Use required PPE to protect yourself from hazards
OSHA has determined that the hazards addressed by Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are present in all workplaces-even yours. ThatÌs why you need to use required PPE.
– Safety eyewear protects your eyes from flying materials, dust, fumes, or light.
– Gloves, clothing, and footwear protect you from heat, cuts, chemicals, etc.
– Hart hats protect your head from blows, punctures, electrical shock and burns.
– Ear protectors prevent hearing damage.
– Respirators protect against inhaling dangerous substances
For more on protective equipment, go to:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/011201/011201.htm#Safety
**************************************************************** TRMM’s Three Year Celebration
Help celebrate TRMM’s first three years in orbit. Since its launch in late
November 1997, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) has revolutionized our understanding of tropical climate and precipitation processes. TRMM has been a scientific success, an engineering success and
an international collaboration success.
Join us at the Goddard Rec. Center January 24, 2001 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m..
The celebration is in honor of everyone’s contribution to TRMM’s success.
There will be refreshments and presentations on TRMM’s accomplishments by
Bob Adler (TRMM Project Scientist) and Marshall Shepherd (TRMM Outreach Scientist).
Please confirm your attendance (we need to know how many people) by contacting, Tricia Gregory X4-6310 or Lynne Shupp X6-2119
**************************************************************** Goddard in the News
EO-1: An article was featured in Spaceflight Now about the Hyperion instrument on the Earth Observing 1 satellite. The article described testing of the instrument’s imaging capability by a team using an Australian
salt lake.
Quasars: Discovery of the largest structure in the distant universe, announced this week at the American Astronomical Society meeting in San Francisco, Calif., was widely reported in a number of major news outlets,
including The New York Times, Space.com, CNN and ABC News web sites. Dr.
Gerard Williger is quoted in the articles.
For more Goddard in the News, go to:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/011201/011201.htm#News
**************************************************************** Education Summit
GSFC is sponsoring an Education Summit on January 29, 2001, bldg. 8 auditorium. This is an excellent opportunity to have dialogue with GSFC employees providing education services and products. Learn how to improve
your educational products and how NASA education resources are available to
help you enhance your talk to school students. This event is open to all
GSFC employees and contractors. Register via internet
http://internal.gsfc.nasa.gov Click on Summit
**************************************************************** Invention Convention Judges Needed
Goddard Education Programs has received a request for Judges for the Norwood
School Invention Convention, Wednesday, February 14, 2001. The Judge(s) will assist in the school’s program of reviewing/evaluating projects and displays representing detailed descriptions of inventions by 5th and 6th grade students. If you are interested in volunteering or for more information, please contact Kay Berglund Newhouse at 301-365-1211, ext. 121
or email at kay_newhouse@norwoodschool.org.
**************************************************************** ASAP and ASAP-TRS: Science and Technical Web Databases for the NASA Agency and The Public
The NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program introduces a new
version of the Aeronautics & Space Access Page (ASAP) on January 16th, 2001.
ASAP is a web-based version of the RECON plus sci/tech database. ASAP allows for searching over 3 million aerospace citations and over 75,000 (and
growing) full-text reports. ASAP allows for basic and advanced searching of
the database, giving users more flexibility in finding information. The Basic Search searches by author, title, and a general keyword search. More
specific searching can be done on the Advanced Search page where users have
more searching options. ASAP is password protected and designed for access
by on-site NASA civil servants and contractor personnel. Current users of
the beta-test version of ASAP can continue to use their login and passwords.
New users need to register to be able to access ASAP. Registration instructions are given below. ASAP is available at:
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/ASAP
For more information, go to:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/011201/011201.htm#Database
**************************************************************** !!!Upcoming Events!!!
Scientific Colloquium
Who: Donald Gurnett from the University of Iowa
What: Will speak on "Magnetospheric Radio and Plasma Waves Throughout the Solar System"
When/Where: Friday, Jan 19, bldg. 3 auditorium at 3:30
For more info: http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/users/djt/colloq/
Information Science and Technology Colloquium
Who: John Reif, Professor of Computer Science at Duke University.
What: Will speak on the topic entitled, "Experimental Demonstrations of Ultra-Scale Molecular Data Storage and Retrieval, Computation and Assembly"
When/Where: Wednesday, Jan 17, 2001
For more info: http://ISandTColloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Upcoming Launches
For a schedule of launches coming up in the next few months, check out:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/missions/projects/projects.htm
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc<http:/Newsroom/flash/flash.htm
