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Right Around the Corner
Goddard’s Small and Disadvantaged Business Conference to be Held May 24
This year marks the 28th Anniversary of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Annual Small Business Conference. The conference will be held on Thursday, May 24, 2001. Goddard’s Director, Mr. A.V. Diaz will open the conference. Speakers include Mr. Ralph Thomas, NASA Associate Administrator, Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and Ms. Rosa Acevedo, Head of Goddard’s Procurement Support Branch. Representatives from Goddard’s scientific, technical, and administrative areas will be available for discussions with small businesses. Over 500 companies are expected to participate.
Register online at: www.westoverconferences.com/sbcFor more information contact Ana Reis at (800) 634-6326, ext.113 or email at areis@westover-gb.com
Technology Showcase 2001 Set for June 14-16
Expanding Scientific Discovery through Innovation is the theme for Goddard’s upcoming Technology Showcase on June 14 and 15. This showcase will be similar to the 1998 showcase, as it will be open to the GSFC community, academia, industry and other government organizations. As with the previous showcases, we hope to increase understanding about ongoing projects and resources at GSFC and to promote communications and networking among GSFC employees and our community partners in industry, academia and government. This year, in conjunction with the Office of Public Affairs, we will be adding a third day to the Showcase to coincide with the Center's Open House on June 16, 2001. By doing so, the community will also get a chance to view the wealth of technology resources at Goddard. Please mark your calendars and plan to participate!
For more information visit the website at: http://techshowcase.gsfc.nasa.gov or contact the Technology Commercialization Office at 301-286-5810.
NASA Government Invention of the Year for 2000
The Optical Fiber Cable Chemical Stripping
Fixture invented by John Kolasinski and Alexander Coleman, both at Goddard Space
Flight Center, has been selected as the winner of the NASA Government Invention
of the Year for 2000.
The invention is used to remove coatings surrounding very small (125 microns)
optical fibers. Fiber coatings, such as acrylate (acrylic type) and polymide,
surround the glass fibers similar to the way insulation covers a copper wire.
The device prepares optical fibers for termination to a connector by controlling
the removal of the coating. The fixture also provides control over the stripping
length and resulting interface and eliminates damage to the fragile optical
fibers.
"Optical fibers are used for very fast communication links between
electronic devices," Kolasinski, a senior aerospace technology engineer
said. "A major benefit of the fixture is that it increases reliability over
mechanical techniques that nick fibers, saving time and money by reducing repair
and replacements."
Diaz Presents State of the Center Address
The Center Director’s "State of the Center Address" was presented by Mr. A.V. Diaz to all Goddard employees on February 1, 2001. The text of that speech can be viewed at the following web address:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/allhands2001.htmNASA Selects Ball Aerospace and Spectrum Astro to Develop Preliminary Design of NPP Satellite
NASA has selected Ball Aerospace and Technologies
Corporation, Boulder, Colorado, and Spectrum Astro, Inc., Gilbert, Arizona, to
perform spacecraft design studies for the National Polar-orbiting Operational
Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP).
Under terms of the $3 million delivery orders, Ball Aerospace and Spectrum Astro
will develop a preliminary spacecraft design culminating in a design review by
the end of 2001. Selection of a spacecraft bus for the NPP mission is expected
in 2002. The delivery orders were awarded by the Rapid Spacecraft Development
Office at Goddard Space Flight Center. Goddard's NPP Project Office is managing
the study contracts.
For more information about the NPP mission visit the following website: http://jointmission.gsfc.nasa.gov/
GSFC Chooses Contractors For Gamma-Ray
Spacecraft Design Analysis
Goddard has chosen the Lockheed Martin Corporation and TRW to perform its
spacecraft accommodation study for the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST)
Observatory. This premier space-science experiment, scheduled for a 2006 launch
into a low-earth orbit, will bridge the fields of astronomy and particle physics
in the study of black hole particle jets and other high-energy phenomena.
The two contractors, working independently, will each receive $600K to develop
an optimal design for a spacecraft to house GLAST's two main instruments, the
Large Area Telescope and the GLAST Burst Monitor.
"Much of the gamma-ray universe remains a mystery to us," said Dr.
Alan Bunner, director of NASA's Structure and Evolution of the Universe space
science theme. "NASA's Compton Observatory gave us a taste of this
fascinating world aglow in gamma-ray radiation. Now, GLAST will contribute
greatly to our understanding of enigmatic gamma-ray bursts and other phenomena
that we cannot yet identify."
Goddard Receives Award of Excellence for Education Programs
Goddard recently received the Foundation Award of Excellence from the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce for a host of educational programs Goddard offers in support of teachers and students in math, science, and environmental education. Center Director, A. V. Diaz, accepted the award from the Chamber Foundation’s President Larry Bormel.
Goddard Scientist Receives Heinz Award
Dr. Jim Hansen, Chief of the Goddard Institute
for Space Studies in New York, N.Y., and one of this year's recipients of a
$250,000 Heinz Award, received the award in March at a ceremony at the Folger
Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.
The award, bestowed annually by the Heinz Family Foundation since 1993, honors
the memory of Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa., who died in a plane crash in 1991. The
award is given in recognition of people who enhance the lives of others.
In announcing this year's winners, the Heinz Award cited Dr. Hansen "for
his exemplary leadership in the critical and often-contentious debate over the
threat of global climate change." In 1988, Hansen went before Congress to
explain how serious the potential for global warming really was. Dr. Hansen
courageously testified that the time had come to recognize that the
"greenhouse effect" was real and that new and cleaner sources of
energy had to be found. "I hope that this will encourage other scientists
to speak their mind about scientific matters of concern to the public",
said Hansen.
Student Experiments Fly High Thanks to NASA
A NASA education program will give high school students from across the country
the opportunity for their dreams to literally take flight when experiments
designed by the students fly on either a Space Shuttle or sub-orbital rocket.
The four Space Shuttle and four rocket experiments were selected in a nationwide
competition called the NASA Student Involvement Program (NSIP). NSIP is a
national program of five competitions for grades 3 - 12 that link students
directly with NASA's exciting missions of exploration and discovery.
Lynn Marra, NSIP Officer at NASA Headquarters said, "The flight
opportunities portion of this program provides for high school students to take
their experiments beyond the classroom and into space. In addition, students
work with an experiment throughout its life span - from proposal, fabrication
and flight through data analysis."
For a list of the winning entries, go to: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/032301/032301.htm#NSIP
Goddard Celebrates 75th Anniversary of First Liquid-Fueled Rocket Launch
Seventy-five years ago, March 16, 1926, Dr. Robert H. Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket. Milton Lehman's book about the life of Robert Goddard, "This High Man," notes that his flight of the first liquid-fueled rocket has been called "a feat as epochal in history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk."
"That flight became the underpinning of everything that we are able to do in space today, and which we take for granted," said William Townsend, Deputy Director of the NASA facility named after the rocket pioneer, the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Dr. Goddard was a true visionary, having already visualized flight in outer space by the time he was 21 (1903). He was also persistent, since it took him until 1926 to achieve the monumental accomplishment embodied in that first flight some 75 years ago." Visit our 75th Anniversary website at:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/75th/75th.htmWhat’s Happening at the Visitor Center?
May 3
- Celebrate Space Day at the GSFC Visitor Center. Demonstrations, model
rocket launches and guest speakers and much more.
June 16 – 2001 Open House - Bring the family, friends and neighbors for
a day of out-of-this-world fun, including special technology exhibits, center
tours, living in space demonstrations, model rocket launches and lots more. Call
301-286-3979 for details or visit our website at: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/vc/vc.htm
| Please Note: For general information questions, call our Visitor Center staff at (301) 286-8103, or access our Goddard's Visitor Center Homepage URL: |
The next issue of RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER will appear in June 2001. Please send your comments via Internet to: Nina.G.Harris.1@gsfc.nasa.gov Goddard's Homepage URL: |