Right Around the Corner
A Publication for the Baltimore/Washington Area
from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
October 2002

Former Goddard Employee Takes to the Sky on STS-112 in Early October

The STS-112 mission launched successfully on Oct. 7, from Kennedy Space Center. STS-112 set the stage for the outward expansion of the International Space Station with the delivery of the S1 (S-One) Truss. The STS-112 crew performed three space walks to install, activate and outfit the S1, which was attached to the starboard end of the S0 (S-Zero) Truss.

Astronaut Jeff Ashby is STS-112's commander and Astronaut Pam Melroy is the pilot. Astronauts Sandy Magnus, David Wolf and former GSFC employee, Piers Sellers and Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin are mission specialists. Wolf and Sellers conducted the spacewalks.

Piers J. Sellers (Ph.D.), a former GSFC employee and Bowie, Md., resident, worked on research into how the Earth's biosphere and atmosphere interact. His work involved computer modeling of the climate system, satellite remote sensing studies and fieldwork utilizing aircraft, satellites and ground teams in places such as Kansas, Russia, Africa, Canada and Brazil. Piers was selected as an astronaut candidate in April 1996. After completing two years of training and evaluation, he qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. He was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch, and most recently served in the Astronaut Office Space Station Branch. For more information, visit http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/

Satellites Help Track West Nile Virus

NASA scientists are giving U.S. public health officials a different look at how the West Nile virus spreads with the help of images from polar orbiting satellites.
"Variations in vegetation, temperature and moisture really dictate where mosquitoes and birds infected with West Nile virus are likely to thrive," said Robert Venezia, NASA program manager for Public Health Applications. "Scientists can then analyze variations in those factors for areas ripe for mosquito infestation."

Venezia said NASA has a long history of sharing information with the medical community. NASA scientists are sharing imagery with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and with public health officials in 33 states affected by the West Nile virus. Much of this research is done by scientists who are part of INTREPID, the International Research Partnership for Infectious Diseases. The group is based at Goddard.

The satellite images being shared with public health experts come from NOAA's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Instrument on board polar orbiting earth science satellites. That same technology is used to try to understand the seasonal migration of other diseases such as malaria and Lyme disease. It's also used to monitor air pollution, water quality and other environmental issues that affect public health.

Prince George’s County Celebrates World Space Week 2002

"Many more classrooms in Prince George's County and around the State of Maryland were abuzz during World Space Week 2002 (October 4-10), thanks to the combined efforts of the Prince George's County Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the Maryland Space Business Roundtable (MSBR), the Prince George's Tech Council and the Education Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,” stated EDC President and CEO, Joseph J. James. "We also applaud the Maryland State Department of Education for its helping us make World Space Week a statewide observance."

Building on last year's successful distribution of 250 World Space Week Teachers' Kits to Prince George's County schools, Goddard’s Education Office, headed by Dr. Robert Gabrys and MSBR worked together with Mr. James to provide improved World Space Week Teacher Kits and other materials to as many Prince George's County and Maryland school teachers as possible, in 2002.

"The Prince George's County Economic Development Corporation and the Maryland Space Business Roundtable are to be congratulated for taking this venture to the next level," said Goddard Center Director A. V. Diaz. "Putting these cutting-edge materials into the hands of teachers and students, not only in our County, but across the state is critically important to NASA and, we are proud to be a part of this exciting World Space Week celebration."

NASA Honors Outstanding Minority Contractors

NASA has named QSS Group, Inc., as its Minority Contractor of the Year; GB Tech, Inc., as its Minority Subcontractor of the Year; and TechTrans International, Inc., as its Women Owned Business of the Year. The three firms were honored at the agency's annual Minority Business and Advocates Awards ceremony September 24, 2002, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, presented the awards and talked about the state of small business at NASA as part of the presentation.

QSS is headquartered in Lanham, Md., and is a prime contractor at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. The company provides a broad range of research and development for the Computational Science Division in artificial intelligence, knowledge-based systems, autonomy and robotics, neuro-engineering and flight control, automated software engineering, and collaborative and assistant systems.

For more information and a full list of winners, visit the NASA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Web site at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codek/

SeaWiFS Team Wins Pecora Award

The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Team recently received the 2000 William T. Pecora Award during ceremonies on October 3, 2002 at the National Space Club's 21st Annual Fall Reception at Goddard. The award, sponsored jointly by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA, recognizes the SeaWiFS Team for outstanding contributions towards understanding the Earth's biology.

The Pecora Award has been presented annually since 1974 to honor the memory of Dr. William T. Pecora, who was a motivating force in the establishment of Earth resource sensing from space. The award recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals or groups toward the understanding of the Earth by means of remote sensing. For information and images from the SeaWiFS instrument, go to: http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html

Facilities Master Plan Status

On September 5, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) officially provided their comments on Goddard’s draft Facilities Master Plan (FMP) and Environmental Assessment (EA). NCPC had positive reaction for the thoroughness of the plan, and GSFC's outreach effort that includes local officials and the public.

Goddard is currently modifying the FMP and EA documents to respond to comments and plans to issue a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in November. GSFC will submit it’s final FMP and EA to the NCPC in mid-November. GSFC will continue with detailed design work for rerouting of Soil Conservation Service Road and its intersection with Good Luck Road. The Center will submit final road design to NCPC sometime in the Spring of 2003.

The next Community Council meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21 at 4:30 p.m. at the Glenn Dale Golf Course. For further information about the Facilities Master plan or related topics, please contact the Office of Public Affairs at 301-286-8141 or visit the web site at: http://gsfc-facilities.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html

NASA Launches New Educational Multi-Media Adventure for Children

NASA announces a new educational resource for teaching children the concepts of Earth science. "The Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon" project is a new interactive web site with supporting lesson plans and hands-on activities to illustrate science concepts to children in grades K-4.

The development of the web site is intended to better help introduce students to the science of NASA. "The use of satellite imagery is an essential tool in NASA's studies in Earth science," said Ginger Butcher. "NASA imagery will inspire our next generation of scientists at these early grades, when children form their opinions about science."

Butcher, with Science System Applications Incorporated, is an education specialist for the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the creator of the Amelia the Pigeon project. More information on the Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon project is available at: http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov

NASA Honored for Completing E-Government Security Program

The White House recently honored NASA for its successful completion of a program to ensure the security of federal e-government initiatives.

NASA was honored at a Cross-Certification Ceremony sponsored by the Federal Public Key Infrastructure Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA). By "cross certifying," NASA and three other agencies -- the Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center, the Department of Treasury and the Department of Defense -- will be able to send and receive secure e-mail across organizations. Secure government-wide information systems, and the secure exchange of information within the government, are essential elements of homeland security, said Paul Strassmann, NASA's Acting Chief Information Officer.