Status Report

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center News 29 September 2000

By SpaceRef Editor
September 29, 2000
Filed under

WELCOME TO GODDARD NEWS ON-LINE FOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
 
Visit this week’s complete issue in easy-to-read html on the web at:
 
 
<http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/issue.htm>http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc /gnews/issue.htm>
 
Hispanic Heritage Month Is September 15 – October 15
 
**IN THIS ISSUE**
 
**************************************************************** Table of Contents
 
-HETE-2 Set for October 7 Launch
-Nima Arkani-Hamed to Present at today’s Scientific Colloquium
-Fountains of Fire illuminate Solar Mystery
-First Images Received from NOAA-16
-Express Bus Service
-Goddard Exhibit at Maryland Science Center
-Goddard in the News
!!!Upcoming Events at Goddard!!!
Latest Press Releases
**************************************************************** HETE-2 Set for a Oct 7 Launch
 
Goddard has project oversight for the High-Energy Transient Explorer 2 (HETE-2) mission, which is set to launch on Oct 7.  Goddard Mission manager, Gustave Comeyne and project scientist, Dr. Thomas Cline have worked with the science team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge to ensure that all pre-launch needs have been met. Dr. Cline will continue to work with the HETE-2 science team on post-launch science results from the mission.
 
A key feature of HETE-2 is its superior rapid response.  Within seconds, HETE-2 can catch a burst and notify other observatories both in space and on the ground of its approximate location.  Within minutes, HETE-2 may obtain a precise location.  Current telescopes take much longer to notify other observatories of a burst and hours more to obtain a location, if at all.
 
For complete details, go to:
<<http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/092900/092900.htm#HETE>http://pao.gsfc .nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/092900/092900.htm#HETE>
**************************************************************** Nima Arkani-Hamed to Present at Today’s Scientific Colloquium
 
Nima Arkani-Hamed from Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, is today’s Scientific Colloquium speaker.  The colloquium is at 3:30 p.m. in the Building 3 auditorium. The topic will be "How to Make Gravity Join the Other Forces of Nature at a Reasonable Energy:  Localizing Gravitions in an Extra Dimension.".
For information about todayÌs colloquium and the scientific colloquium series, go to:
<<http://scicolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/>http://scicolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/> **************************************************************** Fountains of Fire Illuminate Solar Mystery
 
Administrator Daniel S. Goldin released spectacular new pictures from NASA’s Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) this week in New York City. The images of fiery solar features were introduced at a news briefing with American Museum of Natural History President Ellen Futter.
 
This multimedia event was held at the museum’s Rose Center for Earth and Space.
 
The TRACE images for the first time reveal the location of the heating source for the Sun’s atmosphere, which burns at temperatures 1,000 times greater than the Sun’s visible surface.
 
Giant fountains of fast-moving, multimillion-degree gas in the outermost atmosphere of the Sun have revealed an important clue to a long-standing mystery — the location of the heating mechanism that makes the corona 1,000 times hotter than the Sun’s visible surface.
 
For the complete details, go to:
<<ftp://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2000/h00-146.htm>ftp://www.gsfc.n asa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2000/h00-146.htm>
**************************************************************** First Images Received from NOAA-16
 
An image from the countryÌs newest environmental satellite is available on-line. The image is from NOAA-16, which was launched on Sept 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., which was named NOAA-L before it was launched.
 
The image is the first visible image received at NOAAÌs Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md., from NOAA-16 via High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT).
 
For more information about NOAA-16 and the polar orbiting satellites, see: <<http://poes.gsfc.nasa.gov/>http://poes.gsfc.nasa.<http://poes.gsfc.nasa.go v/>gov> and <<http://www.osd.noaa.gov/>http://www.osd.noaa.gov> **************************************************************** Express Bus Service
 
Beginning October 2, 2000, Prince George’s County (PGC) will inaugurate a direct express TheBus service between GSFC and the Greenbelt and New Carrollton Metrorail stations.  This service will be provided by only one bus so the entire round trip cycle time will be approximately one hour. However, each segment (e.g., the Metrorail stations to GSFC) will be only fifteen minutes.  We would like to remind GSFC employees that in addition to the new express TheBus service, PGC also operates a regular TheBus route to GSFC from the Greenbelt Metrorail station to GSFC.  Furthermore, the existing Metrobus service to GSFC from the Greenbelt and New Carrollton Metrorail remains available for those not wanting to wait for the express TheBus.  For further information, please call Mike Taylor at X6-2607 or Michael.J.Taylor.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
**************************************************************** Goddard Exhibit at Maryland Science Center
 
The Space Weather Center doesn’t just live on the web…it is a real exhibit that is now touring North America. It was created by scientists, writers, and educators at the Space Science Institute and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The exhibit includes the hottest new images and movies of the Sun-Earth Connection, the latest science information, and a bunch of hands-on and minds-on activities. Link to website:
<<http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/exhibit/>http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/exhib it/>
**************************************************************** Goddard in the News
 
TRACE:  The release of the latest discovery from the TRACE spacecraft, including spectacular images of coronal loops, proved irresistible to the national media. More than 200 TRACE/SOHO stories appeared in network, cable, and top-40 market newscasts in the days that followed Administrator Goldin’s release of the images. This was clearly the most successful TRACE sequence to date. Some highlights included CBS and ABC both running the TRACE images during their evening newscasts. Both networks also mentioned the sunspots from SOHO’s MDI instrument. ABC ran another story the following morning on Good Morning America. CNN gave the images heavy play on several on its prime network, headline news, and the airport channel. The brilliant TRACE image made the front page of the New York Times with a caption and an article inside, and Kathy Sawyer’s article in the Washington Post was picked up by papers around the country, including the Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram and the Houston (TX) Chronicle, Seattle (WA) Times and the Standard-Times (New Bedford, MA). Among the web sites that featured the story prominently were the Washington Post, MSNBC, Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times.
 
For the complete Goddard in the News, go to:
<<http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/092200/092200.htm#news>http://pao.gsfc .nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/092200/092200.htm#news>
**************************************************************** !!! UPCOMING EVENTS AT GODDARD !!!
 
Scientific Colloquium
 
Who:  Michael Marder of Univ. of Texas
What:  Will speak on the topic entitled, " How to Things Work." When/Where: Friday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m. in bldg. 3 auditorium
For more info:
<<http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/users/djt/colloq/>http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.go v/users/djt/colloq/>
 
 
Engineering Colloquia
 
Who:  Bill Watson from Goddard’s Rapid Spacecraft Development Office What:  Will speak about "Using the spacecraft Supermarket:  Results and Lessons Learned." The talk also describe the experience with the QuickScat" and  "QuickToms" missions – for quick delivery to orbit of replacement instruments – and the experience with the "ICESAT" and "SWIFT" missions where payload instruments are being developed in parallel with the spacecraft build.
When/Where: Monday, Oct 2 at 3:30 p.m. in bldg. 3 auditorium
For more info:
<<http://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/>http://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/
 
 
Information Science & Technology
 
Who: Jon William Toigo
What: He is author of, "The Holy Grail of Data Storage Management", Founder and Director, Toigo Productions and will speak on Hyperscale Storage Trends When/Where: Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m. in bldg. 3 auditorium For more info:
<<http://isandtcolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/schedule.html>http://ISandTColloq.gsfc.n asa.gov/schedule.html>
 
 
 
MAD Fall Show — "South Pacific"
 
What: Tickets sale of the excitingly lively and romantic musical, set during World War II on a back-water island in the South Pacific, This
production is
presented by MAD, Goddard’s Music And Drama Club.
 
When/Where: On sale to the Goddard community on Monday September 11. 2000. Our first Goddard "On-Site" ticket sale will be held on September 14, 2000 in
the Building 1 Cafeteria. There will be two more, on October 5 and 18.  More details will follow about these two additional sales days.
 
Performances are: October 20, 21, 27, 28, and 29; November 2, 3, 4, 5, 9,10, 11, 12, 16, 17, and 18.
 
Cost: Ticket prices vary from $20 to $24, depending on the day, with $1 off for groups of 8 or more. A limited number of "After-Dinner" tickets at $10 less per ticket, are available on Thursdays and Sundays only.
 
For more info: Contact, sales Manager Catherine "Katy" Simkins at: katyzip@aol.com or by telephone at X6-3304, days, or (410) 672-1884, evenings and weekends.
 
 
 
Upcoming Launches
 
For a schedule of launches coming up in the next few months, check out: <<http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/newsroom/flash/flash.htm>http://pao.gsfc.nas a.gov/gsfc/newsroom/flash/flash.htm>
 
 
Press Releases from the past week can be found here:
<<http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/Newsroom/flash/flash.htm#release> gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/Newsroom/flash/flash.htm#release>
 
If you would like to make comments or ask questions concerning Goddard News for this week please address your email comment to:
Trusilla.Y.Steele.1@gsfc.nasa.gov

SpaceRef staff editor.