About the Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt:

1958: National Aeronautics and Space Administration founded.
1959: Goddard Space Flight Center established as NASA's first space flight center.
1960: TIROS I, first weather observation satellite.

Wallops Island:

 

1945: Wallops Flight Facility established under the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

1958: Wallops Station created under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

1975: Wallops Flight Center established.

1982: Wallops Flight Facility created in consolidation with Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Facility

Greenbelt:

 

1121 acres of land.

50 buildings.

 

Wallops Island:

 

6188 acres of land.

84 major buildings including aircraft hangars.

• History
• Major Contributions
• Organization
• Workforce
• Facilities

   

Goddard History

Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of
today and the reality of tomorrow."

				The father of modern rocket propulsion is the American, Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard. Along with Konstantin Eduordovich Tsiolkovsky of Russia and Hermann Oberth of Germany, Goddard envisioned the exploration of space. A physicist of great insight, Goddard also had an unique genius for invention. By 1926, Goddard had constructed and tested successfully the first rocket using liquid fuel. Indeed, the flight of Goddard's rocket on March 16,1926, at Auburn, Massachusetts, was a feat as epochal in history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Yet, it was one of Goddard's "firsts" in the now booming significance of rocket propulsion in the fields of military missilery and the scientific exploration of space. Primitive in their day as the achievement of the Wrights, Goddard's rockets made little impression upon government officials. Only through the modest subsidies of the Smithsonian Institution and the Daniel Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the leaves of absence granted him by Worcester Polytechnic Institute of Clark University, was Goddard able to sustain his lifetime of devoted research and testing. He worked for the U.S. Navy in both World Wars. Eighteen years after his successful demonstration at Auburn, Goddard's pioneering achievements came to life in the German V-2 ballistic missile. Goddard first obtained public notice in 1907 in a cloud of smoke from a powder rocket fired in the basement of the physics building in Worcester Polytechnic Institute. School officials took an immediate interest in the work of student Goddard. They, to their credit, did not expel him. He thus began his lifetime of dedicated work. In 1914, Goddard received two U.S. patents. One was for a rocket using liquid fuel. The other was for a two or three stage rocket using solid fuel.
		Dr. Robert H. Goddard, Rocket Pioneer for whom the Goddard Space Flight Center is named. Photo courtesy of Mrs. Robert Goddard.

At his own expense, he began to make systematic studies about propulsion provided by various types of gunpowder. His classic document was a study that he wrote in 1916 requesting funds of the Smithsonian Institution so that he could continue his research. This was later published along with his subsequent research and Navy work in a Smithsonian Miscellaneous Publication No. 2540 (January 1920). It was entitled "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes." In this treatise, he detailed his search for methods of raising weather recording instruments higher than sounding balloons. In this search, as he related, he developed the mathematical theories of rocket propulsion.

Towards the end of his 1920 report, Goddard outlined the possibility of a rocket reaching the moon and exploding a load of flash powder there to mark its arrival. The bulk of his scientific report to the Smithsonian was a dry explanation of how he used the $5000 grant in his research. Yet, the press picked up Goddard' s scientific proposal about a rocket flight to the moon and erected a journalistic controversy concerning the feasibility of such a thing. Much ridicule came Goddard's way. And he reached firm convictions about the virtues of the press corps which he held for the rest of his life. Yet, several score of the 1750 copies of the 1920 Smithsonian report reached Europe. The German Rocket Society was formed in 1927, and the German Army began its rocket program in 1931. Goddard's greatest engineering contributions were made during his work in the 1920's and 1930's (see list of historic firsts). He received a total of $10,000 from the Smithsonian by 1927, and through the personal efforts of Charles A. Lindbergh, he subsequently received financial support from the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation. Progress on all of his work was published in "Liquid Propellant Rocket Development," which was published by the Smithsonian in 1936.

Goddard's work largely anticipated in technical detail the later German V-2 missiles, including gyroscopic control, steering by means of vanes in the jet stream of the rocket motor, gimbal-steering, power-driven fuel pumps and other devices. His rocket flight in 1929 carried the first scientific payload, a barometer, and a camera. Goddard developed and demonstrated the basic idea of the "bazooka" two days before the Armistice in 1918 at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. His launching platform was a music rack. Dr. Clarence N. Hickman, a young Ph.D. from Clark University, worked with Goddard in 1918 and provided continuity to the research that produced the World War II bazooka. In World War II, Goddard again offered his services and was assigned by the U.S. Navy to the development of practical jet assisted takeoff (JATO) and liquid propellant rocket motors capable of variable thrust. In both areas, he was successful. He died on August 10, 1945, four days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.

Goddard was the first scientist who not only realized the potentialities of missiles and space flight but also contributed directly in bringing them to practical realization. This rare talent in both creative science and practical engineering places Goddard well above the opposite numbers among the European rocket pioneers. The dedicated labors of this modest man went largely unrecognized in the United States until the dawn of what is now called the "space age." High honors and wide acclaim, belated but richly deserved, now come to the name of Robert H. Goddard.

On September 16, 1959, the 86th Congress authorized the issuance of a gold medal in the honor of Professor Robert H. Goddard.

In memory of the brilliant scientist, a major space science laboratory, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, was established on May 1, 1959.

GODDARD'S HISTORIC FIRSTS

Robert H. Goddard's basic contribution to missilery and space flight is a lengthy list. As such, it is an eloquent testimonial to his lifetime of work in establishing and demonstrating the fundamental principles of rocket propulsion.

• First explored mathematically the practicality of using rocket propulsion to reach high altitudes and even the moon (1912);
• First proved, by actual static test, that a rocket will work in a vacuum, that it needs no air to push against;
• First developed and shot a liquid fuel rocket, March 16, 1926;
• First shot a scientific payload (barometer and camera) in a rocket flight (1929, Auburn, Massachusetts);
• First used vanes in the rocket motor blast for guidance (1932, New Mexico);
• First developed gyro control apparatus for rocket flight (1932, New Mexico);
• First received U.S. patent in idea of multi-stage rocket (1914);
• First developed pumps suitable for rocket fuels;
• First launched successfully a rocket with a motor pivoted on gimbals under the influence of a gyro mechanism (1937).

Construction of the rocket used in the flight of April 19, 1932.

For a listing of more Goddard Firsts see our 40th Anniversary website at http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/40th/40th.htm

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Major Contributions

Goddard's role as a leader in technology and science is as alive today as it was in 1959 when Explorer Vl, under Goddard project management, provided the world with its first image of Earth from space.

Goddard is the lead Center in NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), which is NASA's long term, coordinated researcheffort to study the Earth as a global environmental system. The Earth Observing System (EOS) is the centerpiece of the Enterprise and is managed by Goddard. EOS features a series of polar orbiting and low inclination satellites for global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmospheres and oceans. The first EOS satellite, EOS Terra (formerly known as AM1), was launched in December 1999.

The end product of Earth Science Enterprise will be the ability to develop and implement environmental policies based on a better understanding of how our environment works. To develop that understanding, MTPE will rely on the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS). The EOSDIS has been designed to archive, manage and distribute MTPE data worldwide.

Goddard managed the highly successful first servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in December 1993. The mission to correct the vision of the telescope's optical components, was described as the most challenging satellite servicing mission NASA has ever attempted. The 11 day mission included five days of astronaut spacewalks to service the telescope in space. The second HST servicing mission is scheduled for 1997. Goddard is also the home of the Space Telescope Operations Control Center (STOCC).  The STOCC is the nerve center for HST where all commands for the telescope originate. From this location, project managers and engineers control the observatory, retrieve data, and maintain an around-the-clock vigil of HST.  The health and safety of HST, efficient operation and flight system engineering of the observatory also are the responsibility of Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute, a user facility where the scientificobserving program is formulated on behalf of the astronomical community, is likewise managed by Goddard.

Goddard is also responsible for the procurement, development and verification testing of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). GOES is a geostationary weather satellite system developed and launched by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The latest and most sophisticated satellite, GOES-L (11), was launched in May 2000. GOES provides atmospheric image, temperature and humidity profile, wind velocity data and severe storm coverage of the Earth's western hemisphere. NASA and NOAA are in a cooperative program to continue the GOES system with the launch of new generation GOES spacecraft throughout the decade.

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Organization

The Center is managed by a system of directorates. The directorates and their functions are as follows:

Goddard Organization

Under the leadership of its director, Goddard is managed by a system of directorates. The directorates and their functions are as follows:

• Office of the Director - Provides overall management and coordinates control over the diversified activities of the Center. Coordinating the Center’s space science program activities is the Associate Director for Space Science Programs. The Office of Earth Science Systems Programs, coordinated by the Associate Director of Earth Science Systems Programs, will lead NASA in its goal to advance the understanding of the entire Earth system on a global scale. Supporting the Center’s organizational and programmatic responsibilities are the  Office of Human Resources and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

• Office of Human Resources - Develops and administers programs and activities to serve the interests of management, employees, and the general public by promoting sound and enlightened human resources management and human resources development and utilization at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

•   Earth Sciences - Conducts scientific studies in the Earth sciences leading to a better understanding of processes affecting global change and the distribution of natural resources through research, development and application of space technologies.

• Space Sciences - Plans, organizes, directs, and evaluates a broad spectrum of scientific research both theoretical and experimental in the study of space phenomena. Provides scientific counsel to other directorates that are working on space science projects.

• Systems Technology and Advanced Concepts - Provides end-to-end and life cycle systems engineering; supports advanced mission conceptualization and early development; leads the agency technology planning and commercialization activities; and infuses advanced technologies into all programs and projects. 

• Applied Engineering and Technology - Provides discipline expertise for science conceptualization, end-to-end mission development and space communications support. Develops advanced technology to meet current and future science needs. 

• Management Operations - Provides business and institutional support and services necessary for the successful accomplishment of the Center’s Earth science, space science, and technology management activities.  

• Office of Flight Assurance - Responsible for safety, reliability and quality assurance programs to ensure flight mission success. This includes the control of electronic parts, materials and processes. The directorate also is responsible for independent design reviews of technical and flight safety aspects of spacecraft and instruments.  

• Flight Programs and Projects - Plans, organizes, and directs the management of the Center's major flight projects, new start studies, international projects, and the small and medium class expendable launch vehicles.   

• Suborbital and Special Orbital Projects - Responsible for the overall management, operation and support of NASA's sounding rocket and balloon programs and the conduct of aeronautical research. This function is located at the Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia.

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Workforce / September 2000

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Facilities

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is located within the City of Greenbelt, Maryland, approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Washington, D. C. The suburban campus is situated approximately 1 mile northeast of the Capital Beltway/Interstate 495. 

This NASA field center is a major U.S. laboratory for developing and operating unmanned scientific spacecraft. The Center manages many of NASA's Earth Observation, Astronomy, and Space Physics missions. GSFC includes several other properties, most significantly the Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague, Virginia.

The GSFC Greenbelt Facility encompasses 514 ha (1,270 acres) and in addition to the Main Site, maintains the adjacent Magnetic Test Facility and Propulsion Research site; and the outlying sites, including the Antenna Performance Measuring range and the Optical Tracking and Ground Plane Facilities. NASA has ownership of 454 ha (1,121 acres) of land at Greenbelt. The remaining 60 ha (149 acres) are the outlying sites and are held by revocable lease from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Main Site of the Greenbelt Facility has the principal boundaries of Greenbelt Road to the south, Good Luck Road to the east, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway to the west, and the agricultural land of the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) to the north.

This Main Site is separated and divided in a north-south direction by Soil Conservation Service Road (SCS Road) forming two distinct parcels of secured land, the East and West Campuses. Combined, these grounds form a campus environment including 33 major buildings providing more than 278,000 m sq (3,000,000 sq ft) of research, development and office space. GSFC is unique in that these facilities provide for the construction and development of spacecraft software, scientific instruments as well as the spacecraft themselves. 

The West Campus is where GSFC development originated and until recently was primarily concentrated. The buildings are typically laid out on grids relating to a network of roadways and resulting parking areas. There is a well-defined natural buffer at the perimeter of the West Campus, and areas of undeveloped woodlands within. The grounds provide a natural habitat for deer, geese, and other wildlife. The buildings generally are two to three stories high, often brick, and simply detailed. There are many on-site amenities which reinforce the campus-like atmosphere, including food services, health services, and recreation activities. The arrangement and placement of the buildings and amenities has created an environment encouraging free pedestrian circulation within reasonable travel distances.

The East Campus, which occupies approximately 170 ha (422 acres), has a visual character very different from that of the West Campus and is heavily influenced by its natural, relatively undeveloped setting. This setting offers an array of visually positive features including rolling topography, dense tree stands, and native flora. 

The northern area of the East Campus contains several, sparsely developed buildings that are surrounded by wooded areas. These buildings support maintenance, utilities, tracking, or communication operations and typically have flat roofs and metal or masonry brick construction. For the most part, the design of these buildings reflects their functional use. Antennae, satellite dishes, and other communication equipment that support the operations of these facilities are also dispersed throughout this area. The wooded areas that surround these facilities currently serve as visual buffers to the activities and their locations.

The southern area of the East Campus has experienced much recent development. As the lead Center for NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, GSFC has located this coordinated research effort in newly-constructed facilities on this site. These facilities include Building 32/ Earth Observing System Data Information System (EOSDIS) and Building 33/ Earth Systems Science Building (ESSB). In conjunction with this development, a new Central Chilled Water and Generator Plant, Building 31, has been constructed to serve the area. 

Although occupying only a portion of the East Campus, these relatively large buildings have altered the visual character of the site. The remaining East Campus is still largely wooded, and any new facilities planned for this area will likely continue to change this visual character. Important issues in addressing the future of the East Campus are the unification of design elements; views onto the site from SCS Road, Good Luck Road and Greenbelt Road; integration of parking into the site; conservation of significant pockets of open space including wooded areas; and the creation of pedestrian linkages and a pedestrian scale environment appropriate to a campus environment.

For a more detailed view of GSFC's facilities and services, visit the Facilities Management Division Homepage.

Major 25 Contractors at Goddard, Greenbelt, Maryland for FY 2000

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We are interested in what you think, so please send us your comments.

Curator: Lynn Jenner
Author: Darlene A. Ahalt   

Last Revised: 20 December 2000