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

Advanced Communications Satellite to Speed Up Space-Based Data

NASA is ready to launch the third advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, named TDRS-J, which will have the ability to transfer data 5,000 times faster than a computer's 56K modem, transmit near real-time audio and high-resolution digital video from Earth-orbiting spacecraft and provide tracking services for expendable launch vehicles.

TDRS-J is scheduled to launch Dec. 4 aboard an Atlas IIA rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at the beginning of a 40-minute launch window, which opens at 9:42 p.m. EST. The new trio of satellites joins forces with the original TDRS constellation to support the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and a host of other Earth-orbiting spacecraft.

"This state-of-the-art communications system will support NASA's mission by providing a communications backbone for astronauts aboard the Shuttle and Space Station, as well as relay vital data from several Earth and space science missions," said Robert Jenkens, Jr., Goddard's TDRS Project Manager.

For more information on the TDRS-J mission visit:http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/Tdrsproject/

ICESAT and CHIPS Set for Launch in December

The month of December will see the launch of three NASA research missions to help us better understand and protect our home planet while continuing to search for life in our universe and inspire the next generation of explorers. The ICESat, CHIPS and SeaWinds missions will help improve life here while searching for life beyond Earth.
ICESat (Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite) is the benchmark NASA mission for measuring ice-sheet mass balance -- knowledge vital to understanding and protecting our home planet.The ICESat mission will use a laser instrument to provide multi-year elevation data needed to determine ice-sheet mass balance. ICESat is due to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Dec. 19 at approximately 7:45 p.m. EST.

Launching with ICESat is NASA's first University-Class Explorer mission, a suitcase-sized satellite called the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS), designed to explore the birthplace of solar systems. CHIPS will study very hot, very low-density gas in the vast spaces between the stars, known as the interstellar medium, searching for important clues about formation and evolution of galaxies. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops, Va., manages the CHIPS project, through the Explorer Programs Office at Goddard.

More information on the ICESat program is available at: http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/intro.html More information on the CHIPS is available at http://chips.ssl.berkeley.edu

Facilities Master Plan Update

Goddard's Facilities Master Plan team has completed the revision of the Eastern alignment drawing for the Environmental Assessment. The drawing is being coordinated with Maryland's State Highway Association and Prince George's County Department of Public Works and has been approved for inclusion in the final Environmental Assessment document.

The Master Plan team is completing the Facilities Master Plan, Transportation Management Plan, Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact documents for a December submission to the National Capital Planning Commission in Washington D.C.

The next meeting of the Community Council will be December 3 at 4:30 p.m., at Glenn Dale Golf Club. For background and other information on Goddard's Facilities Master Plan, visit the website at: http://gsfc-facilities.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Goddard Scientist Honored by the World Meteorological Organization

Dr. Joanne Simpson, a research scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center has been awarded the prestigious International Meteorological Organization Prize by the Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the first woman ever to win this prize.

Simpson, internationally acclaimed for her 54 years of pioneering work on cloud modeling, observational experiments on convective cloud systems and hurricane research, is being honored for her role as a leading participant in the aircraft aspects of several WMO Global Atmospheric Research Programme experiments and for helping to establish a basic understanding of tropical circulation and heat balance.

Simpson is currently chief scientist for Meteorology at Goddard. Previously, she served as the project scientist for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Observatory.

NASA Selects SSAI to Support Goddard's Terrestrial Physics Laboratory

NASA selected Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI), of Lanham, Md., for a $67.1 million contract to support the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Under terms of the cost-plus-award-fee contract, SSAI will provide the Terrestrial Physics Laboratory at Goddard with support services, including research, computing, science instrumentation, administration, and calibration and validation. Subcontractors to SSAI under this effort are Decision Systems Technologies, Inc., of Rockville, Md., and Science Applications International Corporation in Beltsville, Md.

The Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics advances NASA's mission of understanding and protecting our home planet through the exploration of the physics and dynamics of the Earth, as well as of other planets and their satellites. More information about the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics is on their web site at: http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/ltp/about.html

NASA Helps Visually Impaired to "Touch the Universe"

A new book of majestic images, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), brings the wonders of our universe to the fingertips of the visually impaired.

The 64-page book, titled "Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy," presents color images of planets, nebulae, stars, and galaxies. Each image is embossed with lines, bumps, and other textures. The raised patterns translate colors, shapes, and other intricate details of the cosmic objects, allowing visually impaired people to feel what they cannot see.

"I think this book will help the blind community to better understand the variety of objects in space," explains the book's author, Noreen Grice, operations coordinator for the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Boston Museum of Science.

"For the last 12 years, Hubble discoveries have not only rewritten the science textbooks, the stunning images from HST have also become a part of American culture. But while these images have wowed the world, until now, there was still one group - the blind - who could not share in this marvel," said Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science.

NASA, which helped fund the book, and the publisher, the Joseph Henry Press, trade imprint of the National Academies Press (publisher for the National Academy of Sciences), publicly released "Touch the Universe" on November 21. "Touch the Universe" information is on the Internet at: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2002/28

Goddard Scientist Receives Nordberg Award for Outstanding Leadership for NASA's Earth Observing System

Dr. Vincent V. Salomonson, a senior scientist for NASA's Earth Science Directorate, is the 2002 recipient of the William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Sciences. The award was presented recently at Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Salomonson is the ninth recip-ient since the Goddard honor was first introduced in 1994.

Dr. Salomonson's career has spanned 34 years of outstanding scientific and managerial achievements at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In addition to his position as a Senior Scientist for the Earth Sciences Directorate, Dr. Salomonson is also the Science Team Leader for the Earth Observing System's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (EOS/MODIS), a position he has held since the formation of the MODIS Science Team in 1989. As Team Leader, he has overseen all aspects of the MODIS sensor during the 18-year development process.

NASA Selects Innovative Small Business Projects

NASA selected 295 research proposals for negotiation of Phase I contract awards for its 2002 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs.

The goals of the SBIR and STTR programs are to stimulate technological innovation, increase the use of small business (including women-owned and disadvantaged firms) in meeting federal research and development needs and increase private sector commercialization of results of federally funded
research. The 2002 SBIR and STTR solicitation closed on August 21, 2002. NASA received more than 2,200 SBIR and STTR proposals from small, high technology businesses in 48 states and the District of Columbia. The combined award total for the Phase I contracts is expected to be approximately $21 million.

The NASA SBIR/STTR Program Management Office is located at the Goddard Space Flight Center with executive oversight by NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology, Washington. Individual SBIR and STTR projects are managed by the NASA field centers. A listing of the selected companies is on the Internet at:
http://sbir.nasa.gov.