Status Report

News from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 5 Jan 2001

By SpaceRef Editor
January 5, 2001
Filed under ,

WELCOME TO GODDARD NEWS ON-LINE FOR JANUARY 5, 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
 
-"Superbowl of Astronomy" Opens in San Diego on Sunday -NASA Looks to Future Science Exploration Using Ultra-Long Duration Balloons -NASA Considers Discover Mission Proposals
-Status Briefings for STS-98 and Expedition One Set for Next Week -Honorable Walter E. Fauntroy to Visit for Commemorative King Event -Suzanne Lomax to Present at Today’s Scientific Colloquium
-Influenza Vaccinations Are Now Available ÝÝ
-In the Safety Corner
-Botball Mentors Needed
-Goddard in the News
-Educations Summit
-Science Fair Judges Needed
-Children’s Holiday Party Photos
!!!Upcoming Events at Goddard!!!
Latest Press Releases
**************************************************************** Safety Reminder:  Ice Skating or Walking on Ponds
and Other Bodies of Water on GSFC is Prohibited.
 
"Superbowl of Astronomy" Opens in San Diego on Sunday
 
The national meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), a  prime venue for announcements of celestial discoveries, will run January 7-11 at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego.  The Society’s national meeting (this will be No. 197 in the series) has been the site for numerous announcements of newsmaking findings in astronomy and cosmology, including many of the Hubble Space Telescope’s most exciting observations, and breakthroughs from other telescopes around and above the Earth.
 
Headline speakers at the AAS meeting include NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, who will address the astronomers on January 8.
 
Among the topics to be presented are:
 
"The Largest Structure in the Early Universe?" By Gerard M. Williger from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and Goddard, and;
 
The Black Holes Briefing – Findings from Hubble and Chandra, including "How black is a black hole?" and "Sensing perhaps the last gasps of matter falling into a famous black hole," by Michael Garcia & Ramesh Narayan from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Goddard’s Joseph Dolan. **************************************************************** NASA Looks to Future Science Exploration Using Ultra-Long Duration Balloons
 
Goddard’s Wallops Flight Facility is preparing to launch a revolutionary research balloon that could open a new era in scientific research. The test flight of NASA’s new Ultra-Long Duration Balloon scheduled for Jan. 17, 2001, from Alice Springs, Australia, will carry the hopes of many scientists who see balloon technology as an economical means of studying space and Earth science.
 
The upcoming launch will be the first global test flight of the full scale Ultra Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) that will carry scientific research to altitudes reaching 112,000 feet (34 kilometers) or 3 to 4 times higher than passenger planes fly. The balloon will carry an experiment called NIGHTGLOW that was designed for NASA’s Long Duration Balloon (LDB). While the test flight is expected to last about two weeks and circumnavigate the globe, the ULDB is designed to support missions for up to 100 days. A typical LDB flight may last for up to three weeks.
 
For information on the Ultra Long Duration Balloon mission, tracking of the balloon flight, as well as educational opportunities and activities, visit NASA’s Scientific
Balloon website at: http://www.wff.nasa.gov/pages/scientificballoons.html **************************************************************** NASA Considers Discover Mission Proposals
 
It’s a difficult decision: With about $300 million to spend, should NASA buy a spacecraft that could find Earth-sized planets around nearby stars? What about a mission that could peer deep inside Jupiter’s gaseous
atmosphere? Or
should the agency go with a mission to orbit the two largest asteroids in the solar system?
 
The answer to that question will have to wait about a year. In the first step of a two-step process, NASA’s Office of Space Science selected three proposals for detailed study as candidates for the next mission in the agency’s Discovery Program of lower cost, highly focused, rapid-development scientific spacecraft.
 
For the selected Discovery and Mission of Opportunity proposals, go to: http://discovery.nasa.gov/ **************************************************************** Status Briefings for STS-98 and Expedition One Set for Next Week
 
NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, will hold a series of briefings Jan. 11 to discuss the upcoming flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis to deliver the U.S. laboratory, called Destiny, to the International Space Station. Three of the astronauts (Robert Curbeam, Marsha Ivins, and Thomas Jones) are Baltimore, Md. natives.
 
The 11-day STS-98 mission will see the station continue to grow in both size and capability with the addition of its first research facility. The 28-foot long, 16-ton research and command-and-control center is the most sophisticated and versatile space laboratory ever built. It will ultimately house a total of 23 experiment racks for crew support and scientific research that can be removed and replaced periodically as experiment operations warrant. This versatility will allow researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in the unique microgravity environment of space as never before.
 
For more information, go to: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/010501/010501.htm#STS-98 ****************************************************************
 
Honorable Walter E. Fauntroy to Visit for Commemorative King Event
 
Rev Walter E. Fauntroy will visit Goddard for a Martin Luther King Commemoration.  This activity will be held here on January 9 from 12 – 1:30 pm
in building 8.  Employees are welcome to attend.Ý
 
Rev. Fauntroy is one of the genuine heroes of the civil rights movement. He
stood with, worked with, marched with Dr. King and the SCLC during the most turbulent era of the American civil rights movement.  His knowledge and experiences are first hand, and we’re fortunate to be able to have him share this history with us.
 
A native of Washington D.C., educated at Virginia Union University and Yale University, Fauntroy has spent more than forty years helping to
shape public policy.  He has been pastor of the church, New Bethel Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. since 1959.  He is also currently the President of the National Black Leadership Roundtable (NBLR), the national network vehicle of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
 
For more information on Mr. Fauntroy, go to:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/010501/010501.htm#STS-98
****************************************************************
 
Suzanne Lomax to Present at Today’s Scientific Colloquium
 
Suzanne Lomax from the National Gallary of Art, is today’s Scientific Colloquium speaker. Her topic is "The Application Of Chemistry to the Examination of Works of Art."  The talk will focus on the application of these various techniques to the examination of paintings and sculpture. Examples will be presented from the National Gallery of Art collection.
 
The colloquium is at 3:30 p.m. in the Building 3 auditorium.  For information about the scientific colloquia go to:
http://scicolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/
****************************************************************
 
Influenza Vaccinations Are Now Available
 
Beginning Monday January 8, 2001, the Health Unit will offer influenza immunizations to NASA civil servants every day from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., until January 19. After January 19, we will offer immunizations every Monday and Thursday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. If these hours are inconvenient, you may call the Health Unit and make an appointment. The flu is a virus that may change from year to year, therefore, a vaccination is recommended every year, especially if you are considered high-risk.
 
For the complete article go to:  http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/010501/010501.htm#Flu For more information refer to http://www.cdc.gov or call the Health Unit at 6-6666.
****************************************************************
 

>>>In the Safety Corner<<<

 
Fire Safety at Work
 
Would you know what to do in a fire?
 
If you have ever seen a building burn you know how quickly fires can spread and how destructive they can be.  But would you know what to do if a fire struck your workplace or your home?  Unfortunately, too many people do not.
 
Be Prepared at Work
 
Here are four questions about workplace fires you should be able to answer:
 
* Do you know your escape route?  Which are the nearest emergency exits from your work area?  Could you get there even if the  lights were out and the place was full of smoke?  Do you have at least two routes, in case one is blocked by fire?
* Do you know how to sound the alarm?  Where are the alarm boxes located?  Do you know how to activate them?  Do you know who to call in the event of a fire?
* Do you know where fire extinguishers are located?  Do you know how to use one effectively in a fire?
* Do you know where to meet outside for roll call?  If youÇre not where youÇre supposed to be, fire fighters might think youÇre still inside and risk their lives trying to find you.
 
For home fire safety reminders, go to: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/010501/010501.htm#Safety ****************************************************************
 
Botball Mentors Needed
 
The Goddard Educational Programs Office has received a request for mentors to support this year’s Washington D.C. Regional Botball Tournament. Botball pits area high schools against each other in intelligent robotic competition. This year’s contest will be held on April 21st. Mentors are needed starting March 9th. GSFC has been providing mentors to the Botball program for the last three years.  A list of schools that have signed up and need mentors will be provided on request.  Mentors advise students on various aspects of organization, schedule, strategy, design, building, and software control of their robot that must perform specific tasks in the competition. For more information on the Botball Tournament
see:  http://www.botball.org The site offers extensive information on Botball as well as a scrapbook of results, photos and videos of past tournaments. To find out more informationor to sign up contact Jim Green (6-7354) or Ron Erwin (6-7504).
****************************************************************
 
Goddard in the News
 
Balloons: Scientific balloons made the cover of World & I. Henry Cathey, Code 820 prepared the article for the feature.
 
Technology: Computer World featured an article about the recent capabilities of  communicating with an orbiting satellite by sending and receiving data via the Internet.  James Rash, Code 588 is quoted on the high security measures that are involved in this new channel of communication.
 
Contract: The Washington Post mentioned the recent award of a contract to Swales and Associates, Inc. , in a recent article about the Beltsville, Md.-based company. The five-year mechanical contract consolidates the services of two previous engineering support contracts at Goddard ****************************************************************
 
Education Summit
 
Registration for the Education Summit will end on January 12th, You are encouraged to register today via the Internet at:
http://internal.gsfc.nasa.gov . The Summit will provide a unique opportunity to dialogue with Center employees and contractors about formal education. Mark your calendar for January 29, 2001.
****************************************************************
 
Science Fair Judges Needed
 
The Goddard Educational Programs has received a request for a Science Fair Judge for the Martin Luther King Academic Center Science Fair, Beltsville, Md., Thursday, February 1, 2001. The judge(s) will assist in the school’s program of reviewing/evaluating projects representing a variety of science topics. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. If you are interested in volunteering or for more information, please contact Mr. Phil Brown at 301-572-0650 or email at pbeagles@yahoo.com
****************************************************************
 
Children’s Holiday Party Photos
 
The photos from the GEWA’s annual Children’s Holiday Party held last month are in the GEWA Store in Bldg. 1.  Please arrange to pick up your photographs by COB Friday, January 12.
****************************************************************
 
Scientific Colloquium
This Colloquium has been postponed, No Colloquium
For more info: http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/users/djt/colloq/
 
 
 
Center Director’s Colloquium
 
Who:  Edward Hallowell, M.D.
 
What:  Dr. Hallowell provides scientific evidence demonstrating the vital importance of connections, at all ages, and how to establish connections in our personal and business lives.  He will discuss how varied and truly vital these connections are, in our personal and business lives.
 
When/Where:  Wednesday, Jan 10, 2001
 
For more info: http://workforce.gsfc.nasa.gov/b2k.html
 
 
 
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/Newsroom/flash/flash.htm>


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                                                  Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II
    _/      _/  _/_/_/  _/_/_/  _/_/_/    _/_/   Mail Code 633
   _/_/    _/ _/      _/       _/    _/ _/   _/ NASA Goddard Space
  _/  _/  _/   _/_/    _/_/   _/    _/ _/            Flight Center
 _/    _/_/       _/      _/ _/    _/ _/   _/ Greenbelt, MD 20771
_/      _/  _/_/_/  _/_/_/  _/_/_/     _/_/  +1-301-286-1187
                                            ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov
           GSFC home page: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/
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SpaceRef staff editor.