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National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

May 2005

www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/astrogram/2005/05astrograms.html

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin visits Ames-- fields questions from employees, news media

NASAph

otobyTomTrower

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin visited NASA Ames Research Center on May 23. During hisvisit, Griffin met with Ames senior management, held a media opportunity in the ExplorationCenter with Bay Area news media, met with Ames employees during a town hall meeting in themain auditorium and toured a variety of key research facilities, where he met with scientistsand discussed their research. Shown with Griffin (center) is Ames Center Director G. ScottHubbard (right) and Ames scientist Carol Stoker (left). Also shown behind Griffin are (left toright) Ames scientist Chris McKay, Ames Deputy Director for Research Steve Zornetzer andAmes Deputy Center Director Stan Newberry.

Nanotechnologyconference setfor June 7 - 8

See item on page 14

During h is first official visit to Am esas NASA's new administrator on May23, Michael Griffin assured both em-

ployees and visiting repor ters that Ameswill not close, although a chan ge of di-rection and some hardship are on thehorizon.

Ames Director G. Scott Hubbardintroduced Griffin to employees in theCenter's main auditorium. "Today is agreat day. We have a visitor wh o needsno introd uction," Hu bbard said. Griffinlooked casual and relaxed as Hu bbardnoted that "It's a delight to introd uce ournew adm inistrator."

The auditorium was jammed andpeople were animated as Griffin satdow n on a stool on the stage. "You d idn'tprovide an ything I could slouch w ith,"

Griffin quipped. "Certainly, this is myofficial visit as ad ministrator," he said ,"bu t not the first time I've been here." He

explained that he had been at Ameswhen h e was working on his graduatethesis about computational fluid dy-namics.

"This is your time It's your op por-tun ity to ask qu estions," Griffin noting,declining to give an y op ening remarks.

The first questioner asked theadministrators thoughts about up-graded technologies and the Crew Ex-ploration Vehicle (CEV) being devel-oped to replace the space shuttle.

"We've got a team of peop le work-ing that issue," Griffin said, and he p re-sented a "coup le of though ts It is im-portant to bring a CEV on as soon as

possible." He ad ded that he is "a fan ofmodular design," and later continued"Having a modular design . . .you can(add) systemic upgrades when thosetechnologies come around."

CEV designers "have to d ecide if it'sre-useable or expend able," according toGriffin. "If it's expend able, then I'm notso worried about m odu lar design," hesaid.

In response another question about

roles and respon sibilities, Griffin notedthat "NASA is a research and d evelop-ment institution for the nation." Headd ed, "We exist to do pu blic good onpu blic do llars." Some h ave said th e role(of NASA) is just to farm out work toprivate industry, according to Griffin"That is a part of w hat w e do, but I don 'believe it's the most imp ortant thing w edo," he ventured .

He ad ded that people at NASA cannot be effective stewards of public

continued on page 10


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Astrogram May 20052

Hubbard optimistic about NASA Administrator and Ames future

NASAphotobyTomTrower

NASA Ames Center Director G. ScottHubbard at the April All Hands at Ames.

BYMICHAEL MEWHINNEY

Theres a new NASA Administra-tor at the helm of the good ship Trans-formation, and w hile there may be somestormy seas ahead, it looks like muchsmooth er sailing for Ames. That w as theprediction of Ames Center Director G.Scott Hu bbard just w eeks prior to MikeGriffins first visit to Ames as NASA

administrator.

Thanks to the leadership of thenewly appoin ted Gr i f f in , whomHubbard has known since 1989 andmaintained a good collegial relation-ship with over the past 16 years,Hubbard told a standing-room onlycrowd gathered in the main aud itoriumon Ap ril 26 that the Centers futu re lookspromising.

Hes a truly fine individual andvery bright, as witnessed by his manydegrees, Hubbard said. I feel very

upbeat about his appointment as ad-ministrator and I look forward to work-ing with him.

However, although Hubbard saidhe was optimistic about Ames future,he w arned that there are still some chal-lenges that lie ahead . Many of our chal-lenges are still there, but I feel veryupbeat about where we are going,Hu bbard ventured.

Along with the new ad ministrator,Hu bbard said that there also have beenseveral other significant changes madeat NASA Headquarters that bode wellfor Ames over the course of the nextthree years and n ine months the termof Griffins appointment by President

George W. Bush .Center directors now rep ort directlyto Griffin, rather than to the H eadqu ar-ters directorate associate adm inistratorsas they did previously und er Griffinspredecessor, Sean OKeefe. Hubbardsaid this will facilitate a matrix ap-proach to the interaction between policyset by associate administrators, and th escience and technical expertise of thecenter directors.

Management of day-to-day activi-ties will be handled by a new associateadm inistrator, the third highest admin-i s t ra tor a t NASA Headquar te r s .

Courtney Stadd will temporarily servein the new job un til a perm anent succes-sor is named .

Another major change at NASAHeadquarters cited by Hubbard is thecreation of a new Program An alysis andEvaluation Office, headed by Scott Pace,which will be responsible for adv anced

and strategic planning, budgeting andcost analysis for the agency.NASAs advisory committees, in-

clud ing the Aerospace Ad visory Panel,will be reconfigured into a single unitand will report directly to Griffin. TheOffice of Education will now report tothe Office of Strategic Comm un ications,which will includ e the offices of publicaffairs, legislative a ffairs, inter nal affairsand education.

Other changes noted by Hubbardinclud e a policy to pay bud get earmarksas early as p ossible; an effort to p rovidefeedback loops to determine whetherany change is occurring in N ASAs cul-ture; and a n ew focus on enabling em-

ployees to be free to engage in open,technical dialog. A new team will beformed to travel to field centers to stud ythe culture changes and report back toPace.

Hubbard said Griffin has made acommitment to meet the internationalobligations for the space station and toretire the sp ace shuttle by 2010. He saidGriffin has appointed Pat Ladner tostudy the need to re-orient the currentspace shuttle manifest for its best pos-sible use.

In the Crew Exploration Vehicle(CEV) program , Griffin said the gap inhu man spaceflight capab ilities between2010 when the space shuttle is retired

and 2015 wh en the CEV is expected to becompleted is unacceptable.Hu bbard said Griffin wan ts to pu sh

the CEV developm ent earlier, and closethe gap when the shuttle is retired.Although the CEV Request for Propos-als (RFP) is still planned to go forward ,Hu bbard said, it will be modified a bitfor the earlier timeframe.

Hu bbard said Griffin has app ointedChris Shank an d astronaut Marsha Ivinsto wor k with field center systems engi-neers to stud y how to minimize the gapin hum an spaceflight and named BrianOConn or to lead a stu dy to investigatenew mod els to ensure they are safe.

In the financial accounting arena,

Hu bbard said the Integrated FinancialManagement Plan (IFMP) will be pro-vided with the resources to achieve aclean audit.

Regarding transformation, Hu bbardsaid Griffin did not consider it a priorityto change field centers organizationalstructure to become federally fundedresearch and development centers(FFRDCs). How ever, Hu bbard said Grif-fin does consider creation of a robustspace industry, including non-tradi-tional launch serv ices, as a priority.

Hubbard said the new administra-tor believes that very large pr ojects, such

as a launch vehicle, do not lend them-selves to efficient competition, whilesmaller space science missions can beeffectively competed. Hubbard saidcompetition will be balanced with di-rected fun ds w here it doesnt make senseto have competition, but that every center should h ave some competition.

Centers a re not companies ,Hu bbard said. Federal R&D organizations are created to d o specific jobs. Hesaid th e Space Explorat ion Initiative RFPwill be postponed indefinitely and wilbe hand led internally by N ASA. He alsosaid that the agencys roadm app ing efforts will be brought to a reasonableconclusion, although the Science Mission Directorate does plan to use theroadmaps in formulating its sciencebudget.

Turn ing to a recent success story aAmes, Hubbard noted that th e centersNew Business Office was selected byKenned y Space Center to cond uct somedebris field modeling work, instead

of sending the job to an outside com-pany after being informed that Ameswas fully capable of doing th e job. KSCin the OneNASA spirit, was delightedto agree and Ames got the business,Hubbard said.

Another Am es success story men-tioned by Hubbard involves development of the Ames Budgeting System(ABS) for use in compiling an d calculat-ing the centers budget submissionsunder full-cost accounting proceduresHe said the new tool was built usingfoundation code and business rules fromLangley Research Center and that sev-eral other field centers, including Dryd enFlight Research Center, Stennis Space

Center and the Glenn Research Centerhave expressed interest in using the toofor their budgeting process. Hubbardsaid Ames has also modified and in-stalled a fund distribution d atabase developed at Glenn Research Center tohelp w ith its accounting system.

In conclusion, H ubbard said that 30Ames individuals have volunteered towor k at other locations ou tside the SanFrancisco Bay area and expressed appreciation for the sacrifices these em-ployees made by working elsewhereMany of those work details are now u pfor renewal and H ubbard urged Am esemployees to volunteer as rep lacements

During a question-and-answer ses

s ion fo l lowing h i s presenta t ionHu bbard respond ed to several questionson top ics ranging from the d ifficulties ocompeting w ith un iversities for fundsto dealing w ith reduced bud gets for the2006 fiscal year.

Hu bbard said that th e agencys 2006budget guidelines were still in flux,and that steps were being taken to dealwith the various funding issues facingthe field centers.

Were on a pa th to fix the p roblembut w e havent solved it yet, H ubbardsaid, so stay tun ed.


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3Astrogram May 2005

KAO marks 30th anniversary of its dedicationcontinued from front page

Onboard the C-141 Kuiper Airborne Observatory, the Jupiter Impact ofComet Shoemaker - Levy 9 flight on July 22, 1994, out of Melbourne,Australia. Onboard is Susan Stolovy (center) with the Cornell UniversityKEGS payload, the Kuiper Echelle Grating Spectrometer.

Dr. Fred Witteborn and the Ames science team onboard the C141Kuiper Airborne Observatory for CAT experiment in 1980.

continued on page 9

Thirty years ago, the worlds firstmajor airborne astronomical researchlaboratory launched an am bitious jour-ney that would take it on more than1,400 flights through the Earths upp eratmosphere and along the way, yielded

exciting discoveries that helped scien-tists deciph er mysteries of the universe.

Dedicated on May 21, 1975, theKuiper Airborne Observatory, oftencalled the Kuiper or the KAO, was basedat NASA Ames. Converted from aLockheed C-141 military cargo plane,the KAO carried a 36-inch reflectingtelescope capable of conducting infra-red astronomy, and flew at altitudes of41,000 to 45,000 feet, above 99 percen t ofthe Earths infrared-absorbing watervapor.

Named after the late astronomerGerard P. Kuiper, the KAO has a 160-foot wingspan, measures 145 feet long

and stan ds 39 feet high. The airborneobservatory h ad a cru ising speed of 506miles per hour and provided a stableplatform for the seven-and-a-half-hourmissions. A typical flight crew con-sisted of two pilots and a flight engineer,in add ition to th e mission staff and thescience team . Science team s from for-eign and U.S. institutions, including

Ames, competed for the privilege ofobserving from the KAO.Over the course of its 20 years of

operation from 1975 to 1995, the KAOplayed a major role in nu merous scien-tific achievements, including the dis-covery of rings around Uranu s and un -expected infrared luminosity of galax-ies. Much of the science pr odu ced bythe KAO concerned the birth of starsand the conditions in space that affectformation. Before the KAO, little wasknow n about star birth. The KAOopened u p the entire infrared spectrum

and today star formation is a major dis-cipline in curren t astronom ical research.

Ames KAO team w as a d iverse, butextremely close-knit group of about 50scientists, engineers, aircraft technicians,astronomers, mission planners and m an-

agers, whose com-m o n b o n d w a stheir dedication tothe observa toryand its science mis-sion. Flying allnight and w orkingfor days or weeksat a time often fromfar-off dest ina-tions, they devel-oped a camarade-rie and an easy fa-miliarity with eachother tha t re -s em bl ed t ha t

found in a family.It was a specialbond that enduresto this day. Seeingthe KAO on theramp still elicitspangs of nostalgiafrom former KAO participants.

Wendy Dolci, who spent eight-and -a-half years from1987 to 1995 work-ing on the Kuiperteam, descr ibesthe experience asprod ucing a richand colorful cul-

ture. Everyonefel t l ike theyowned i t ; therewas a real sense ofpride and owner-ship throughoutthe commun ity ofscient is ts andc r ew m em ber swho worked onthe Kuiper, Dolciventured.

Recal l ing amission operatingou t o f NewZealand back in

1986 or 1987, Gene Mon iz rem embereda time w hen the Kuiper did nt take off at9 p.m. as schedu led.

I was a t the Trave lodge inChristchurch where we stayed, whichwas right across the street from the air-port, Moniz wrote in a short sum maryof the inciden t. I had gone out to wa tchthe aircraft take off that evening andthere were other people all around thehotel. It taxied out, but then it did nttake off. People started coming out ofthe hotel, because everybod y in the ho-tel knew take-off should occur, but yet

they hadnt heard itroar down therunw ay. Everybody was coming out othe hotel and head ing back over to thefacility. And sure enough , there hadbeen a p roblem. The aircraft taxied backand as soon as it stopped, everybody

myself included jum ped on board . Ire-did the flight plan, while the otherpeop le were doing this. We just re-dideverything . It took off abou t a half anhou r late.

Moniz recalled that a visiting engineer from Rhod esia was am azed at thegroups united resp onse to the aircraftsproblem. This gentleman w as abso

lutely floored . He couldnt get overseeing this. He just kept saying Howdid they know? How d id they know?Everybody just knew it was sup posed totake off, but they did nt hear it take offso they show ed up. He just marveledthat everybody w orked together so welland then jumped on nobody was sitting aroun d waiting for d irections.

To help red uce the stress associatedwith the long hours of flying and thepressures of meeting any number ofscientific and operational challengesDolci said scientists and crew som etimeswrote poetry and sang songs they hadcomposed about the observatory. After

the airborne observatory was retiredDolci compiled a small blue bookletThe Lonely Dark Night Sky containing a collection of songs and poemscomposed by the KAO team mem bersThe 30-page booklet was dedicated totwo of the KAO teams devoted leader sCarl Gillespie and Jim McClenahan .

Allan Meyer, who served as a staffscientist aboard the KAO for 20 yearsestimates that h e flew on som e 800 to 900f l ight s , opera t ing the a i rborneobservatorys telescope. He attributed


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Astrogram May 20054

On April 21, the Ames Environmen-tal Services Division hosted the EarthDay event at the Mega Bites Cafe. Her eone could find information about theways in w hich N ASA Am es is movingtoward more sustainable operations.

Ames representatives were on han dto answer questions about the Center'snew recycling program , onsite drinkingwater, its environmental managementsystem, Am es wildlife and mu ch more.

Entries in the Earth Day p hoto con-test were displayed and winners wereselected by par ticipant votes. Visit theWeb a t h t tp :/ / q .a r c.na sa.gov / qe / events/ ED/ ED2005/ to see the submit-

ted photographs and winning photos.In celebration of Earth Day 2005,

Christopher Alderete, a wildlife biolo-gist at NASA Ames, led three interpr e-tive nature walks to showcase Amesun ique wildlife, includ ing the d ifferentavian species and the western pondturtle.

NASA Ames celebrates Earth Day

NASA photo by Jon-Pierre WiensNature walks held at Ames during Earth Day.


NASA photo by Jon-Pierre Wiens

Earth Day booths at the Mega Bites cafe whereAmes representatives answered questions aboutthe Centers recycling and other programs.

NASAphot o

byJon-PierreWie

ns

Canada geese at Ames seen during the nature walks held on Earth Day.

NASAphot

obyJon-PierreWie

ns


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5Astrogram May 2005

Ames Hanwant Singh awarded prestigious WIF fellowship

Ames emp loyees and their fami-lies, along w ith other mem bers of thepu blic, attended a free lecture in May,featuring au thor and former director

of life sciences at NASA Ames Dr.Joan Vernikos.Vernikos worked atAmes from the 1960s to the 1990s.

At this second NASA ResearchPark (NRP) lectur e, she discussed theconnection between space explora-tion, space biology research and theaging process. She spoke abou t howto live a v ital, healthy life, as ou tlined

Vernikos presents NRP lecturein her latest book The G-Connection:Harn ess Gravity and Reverse Aging.

During h er early years as a spacebiology researcher at NASA Ames,Vernikos noticed the connection be-tween what happens to the body inspace and the symptoms of normalaging. Her pioneering work at N ASA

Ames focused on spaceflight analogstudies, in which healthy hum ans un-derwent long periods of bed rest, asituation that mimicked the micro-gravity conditions in sp ace. This break-through research created a deeper un -derstanding of the hormonal and be-havioral mechanisms that u nd erlie hu-man response to long-du ration space-flight and aging on Earth.

The intent of the N RP lecture se-ries is to highlight exploration, in keep -ing w ith N ASA's Vision for Space Ex-ploration, said NRP Division ChiefMejghan Haider. Stay tuned . Ourtopics will include everything from

new technologies that support hu manmissions to the moon and Mars, toautonomou s robots and Earth analogresearch, she said . The lectur e seriesfocus is on three main themes: ex-plore, discover and u nd erstand.

The N RP Exploration Lectur e Se-ries was launched in Spring 2004 andtakes place three times a year.

For information about future lec-tures in the ser ies, visi t ht tp: / / researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

NASA Ames ' senior sc ient i s tHanw ant Singh recently was elected Fel-low of the World Innovation Founda-tion (WIF).

The goal of WIF is to develop aholistic scientific vision of the future

world. Toward s that end , WIF advisesorganizations and governm ents on mat-ters of science and technology.

WIF has some 1,000 Fellows world-wide that include 75 Nobel Laureates.

Its current president is Nobel laureateDr. Jerome Karle.

The mission of the WIF is to helpbring about a new world order based onequality, a sharing environment, hum andignity, self-worth and the economic

co-operation of nations as one nation.WIF views this as the only w ay that theworld can evolve peacefully in futuretimes and where scientists and engi-neers are the only individuals wh o canphysically achieve this global state.Accordingly, und erstanding emergingproblems that face humanity is crucialto the success of the world in th e future.

WIF members are increasingly in-volved with national and global deci-sion making policies. Inpu t from Fel-lows of the institution is sough t onaverage of once every year.

Singh is the recipient of numerous

honors and awards. He is a Fellow ofthe American Geophysical Union and

NASAphotobyDominicHart

Hanwant Singh

Joan Vernikos at a recent lecture at Ames,discussing space exploration, space biology

research and aging-process connections.Vernikos was director of life sciences at NASAHeadquarters frm 1993 to 2000.

Professor Jonathan Dorfan, di-

rector of the Stanford Linear Accel-erator Center, presented a director's

colloquium called The New Uni-verse recently.

In his talk, he illustra ted the revo-lutionary new challenges facing par-ticle physics. Recent informationfrom cosmological measurementshave show n that over 95 percent of

the un iverse is dark and that all thematter that has been so preciselystudied by physicists in the post-war period represents only 5 per-cent of the total mass of the universe.

Dorfan concentrated on threeprinciple questions: What is darkmatter? What is dark energy? andwhere is the anti-matter? He alsoexplained what is being done in high-energy physics worldwide to ad-dress these questions and also wh atfacilities are planned for the futur e.

Stanford LinearAccelerator directorvisits Ames


Stanford Linear Accelerator Director Prof.Jonathan Dorfan spoke recently at a directorscolloquium at Ames about new challengesfacing particle physics.

an executive editor of the internationajournal Atmospheric Environment.


6/16

Astrogram May 20056

NASAs fifth annual Aero Expo focused on future of flightMore than 3,000 Bay Area studen ts

learned abou t aeronau tics first-hand atthe 2005 AeroExpo at NASA Ames du r-ing the four-day event held April 27 to30. The event featured fun , edu cational

aeronautics presen tations, hands-on ac-tivities and displays.

AeroExpo V had three venu es: Ca-reer Central, an interactive presentationby aeronautics and aviation experts;Aero Village, wh ich included h and s-onexhibits and dem-onstrat ions; andNASA flight line,which fea turedstatic displays ofvar ious ai rcraf t .Students rotatedthrough the threevenues.

S p e a k e r s

inc luded JaniceVoss, NASA as-t ronaut ; Ceci l iaAragon, NASAcomputer scientistand cham pi onaerobatics pilot;Dennis Sullivan,FAA air t raff iccontrol ler ; and

BYJONAS DINO

Recently, Tom Roellig of theAmes Astrophysics Branch wasrecognized with a OneNASA PeerAward for his work on the SpitzerSpace Telescope an d for h is ded ica-tion to the success of the mission,which spanned across Ames, JPL,GSFC and the contracting organi-zation.

The OneN ASA center-best Peer

Award recognizes ind ividu als andteams of NASA contractors and/ orcivil servants who go above andbeyond the call of duty to bu ild aOneN ASA culture through out theagency.

Roellig contributed importantknow ledge and expertise in his roleon the project and his actions andtechnical judgments were alwaysaimed at the overall success of themission.


Roellig receivesOneNASA Award

Tom Roellig

Sandra Clifford, a Bay Area corporatepilot.

"The pu rpose of AeroExpo is to provide students w ith an immersive experience in the field of aeronautics andaviation, to ignite their interest in sci-

ence, technology, engineering and mathematics and excite them abou t careers inthese fields," said Wendy Holforty, aNASA research engineer an d AeroExpoproject manager.

For addi t iona l informat ionabout AeroExpo V, v i s it h t tp : / /q u e s t . a r c. n a s a .g o v / p r o j e c t s /aeroexpov/

NASAphotosbyDominicHart


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7Astrogram May 2005

Veterans of U.S. Navy FighterSquadron 51 (VF-51) from the KoreanWar toured NASA Ames recently.

Before being d isestablished in 1995,VF-51, known a s The Scream ing Eagles,was th e oldest fighter squadron in con-tinuous service in the Pacific fleet. TheScreaming Eagles, sailing aboard theU.S.S. Essex, were the first opera tionalNavy squadron to fly jets aboard an

aircraft carr ier as w ell as the first to fly jetaircraft in combat.

On July 3, 1950, a VF-51 F9F-2 Pan-ther claimed its first aerial victory over aSoviet-built Yak-9 in Korea. VF-51sKorean-era alumni include such lum i-naries as astronaut Neil Armstrong;Medal of Hon or recipient Ad miral JamesB. Stockdale; and retired Adm iral TomHayw ard, w ho served as chief of navaloperations from July 1978 to June 1982.

Early in his career, Admiral Hay-

William Ballhaus, former Ames centerdirector, during a recent Directors

Colloquium.

In April, Dr. Bill Ballhaus pre-sented a director's colloquium in themain auditorium entitled The TenMost Important Lessons You Didn'tLearn in Engineering School.

His talk, wh ich includ ed tw o vid-eos, was both un derstandable andrelevant to the culture changes thatwere recommend ed for the agency bythe Columbia Accident InvestigationBoard (CAIB).

Ballhaus is now th e president andCEO of the Aerosp ace Corporation, anorganization w idely known as the ar-chitect of national-security space.Aerospace has had a hand in everygovernment launch vehicle and satel-lite program since 1960, and is heavilyinvolved in helping transform everysector of military space with next-gen-eration systems.

Prior to joining Aerospace in 2000,

he had an 11-year career with LockheedMartin Corporation. At Lockheed Mar-tin, Ballhaus served as corporate of-ficer and v ice pr esident of engineeringand technology. Prior to the mergerwith Lockheed, Ballhaus served aspresident of two Martin Marietta busi-nesses, Aero and Naval Systems an dCivil Space and Comm un ications. Healso was vice president and programdirector of Titan IV Centaur opera-tions at Martin Marietta Space LaunchSystems.

Ballhaus began his career at NASAAmes as a research scientist in 1971and rose to become director of Amesfrom 1984 to 1989. He also served asacting associate adm inistrator for aero-nau tics and sp ace technology at NASAHeadquarters in Washington, D.C.(1988-1989). Ballhau s ha s been electedan hon orary fellow of AIAA.

Veteran Korean War Squadron 51 pilots visit Amesward served two tours at Moffett Field,one as a flight instructor and the secondas a squadr on officer.

On th e tour, the former fighter p i-lots saw the latest in Ames-developedtechnologies, their first stop , natu rally,being the Aviation Systems Division.Her e, Heinz Erzberger, senior scientist,Aviation Systems Division, detailed th eAmes-developed Center-TRACON Au-

tomation System (CTAS) and its comp o-nent tools. The ex-Navy fliers spent agreat deal of time viewing the TrafficManagemen t Advisors Final ApproachSpacing Tool.

Live air traffic rad ar d ata was fed toAmes, upd ated every 12 seconds, show-ing airliners on ap proach to and d epart-ing Dallas/ Fort Worths air traffic con-trol center. In addition, the Future AirTraffic Management Comepts Evalua-tion Tool (FACET) showed computer

models of air traffic over the entireUnited States d uring a 24-hour p eriodErzbergers demonstration concludedwith CTASs User-Preferred Routing/Descent Advisor conflict p robe, a com-pu ter algorithm that estimates conflicting air tra ffic and helps a ir traffic controllers plan the most efficient routearound it.

After seeing the Ames-developed

air traffic control technologies, one othe VF-51 pilots remarked It sure m akesyou feel a lot safer wh en you re flying.

At the Vertical Motion Simulator(VMS), Hayw ard was given the op por-tun ity to fly the sp ace shuttle. The VMSis the wor lds largest amplitud e simu lator, hav ing a 60-foot vertical and 40-foolateral range of motion. Using inter-changeable cabs, the VMS can also beconfigu red to simu late blimps, helicop-ters, the latest in jet fighters, as w ell aslarge multi-engine aircraft such as theC-17. On Haywards flight, he landedthe space shuttle orbiter twice, rightdown the runway centerline. Thomas

Alderete, assistant d ivision chief, Simulat ion Faci l i t ies , remarked thaHaywards landings were excellent.

The group conclud ed its tour with astop at FutureFlight Central (FFC)hosted by Nancy Dorighi, FFC manager . FFC is a two-story, 360-degree fu llscale simulation facility, customizableto mod el any airport in the world in 3-DMost recently, FFC has been used toshowcase 360-degree 3D images takenby the Mars rovers Spirit and Op portunity.

BYNICK VERONICO

NASAphotoby

TomTrower

Former Ames director addresses Ames employees


Veterans of U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 51 (VF-51) from the Korean War visit FutureFlight Centralduring a recent visit and tour of Ames.


8/16

Astrogram May 20058

NASA developing robots with human traitsWill robots that help astronauts in

space be as friend ly and likeable as thefictional 'R2-D2' android portrayed inthe original 'Stars Wars' motion p ictur e?

NA SA scientists say robots w ill be-have more like human beings in the

future, even if like R2-D2 these ma-chines do not look like peop le.

NA SA researchers envision futuris-tic robots that 'act' like people, enablingthese mechanical helpers to work moreefficiently with astronauts. Human-ro-bot cooperation, in tu rn, w ill enable ex-ploration of the moon and Mars, andeven large-scale construction in extra-terrestrial places, accord ing to scientists.Because hu man crews will be limited tosmall teams, astronauts will need robot'helpers' to do mu ch of each team's work,scientists reason .

"Our goal is not for robots to havethe same 'thought p rocess' as hu mans,but rather for them to act, respond andinteract more 'naturally' in ways thathumans do with other humans. Thisrequires that robots possess traits suchas self-awareness (recognition of theirlimits and when they need to ask forhelp), and h um an-awareness (know ingto whom they are talking, and wh en it isan ap prop riate time to ask a qu estion),"said Illah N ourbakhsh, a scientist wh oleads a group d eveloping hum an-robotteams at NASA Ames.

Though remotely controlled ma-chines and robots that work entirely ontheir own are valid goals, the NASA-Ames team p lans to focus on robots thatare partly controlled by peop le and op -erate independ ently the rest of the time,Nourbakhsh said.

There are three main areas that

Nou rbakhsh's team w ill develop. One iscalled 'collaborative control,' duringwhich the human being and the robotwill speak to one another and work aspar tners. "A key benefit of collaborativecontrol is that the robot is able to askquestions of the hu man in order to com-pensate for (the robot's) limitations,"Nourbakhsh explained.

A second area that NASA Amesresearchers will develop is to build ro-bots that have reasoning mechanismsthat work similarly to human reason-ing. "Of primary interest is making thehuman and r obot understand able to eachother," Nou rbakhsh said.

Thirdly, the researchers will con-duct field tests of people and robotsworking together. Many experimentsalso will occur in a sp ecial, ind oor labo-ratory under con-struction at Ames,featuring a controlroom with a win-dow looking out onrobots working ina large area thatwill simulate thesurface of a moonor plan et. The con-trol room w ill imi-tate a hum an habi-tat on the moon orMars. Scientists aretargeting comple-tion of the robotlaboratory for thefall of 2005.

The robots willhelp assemble buildings, test equipm ent,weld structures and dig w ith small tools.Hu man -robot teams will use a checklistand a plan to guide their joint efforts,according to NASA Ames scientistTerrence Fong. Hu man beings and ro-bots will use "par tner-to-partner" inter-action to share information an d to sup-port one an other. "It is the w ay hu manconstruction and maintenan ce crews fre-quently operate," Fong explained.

"We will perform detailed w orkflowand critical incident analysis to under-stand the imp act of partner-to-partner,human-robot interaction on tasks, toidentify failure mod es and learn h ow toimprove execution," said N ourbakhsh."We w ill place significant emp hasis onassessing system p erformance, hum anperformance and robot performance,"he add ed.

The group's robot developmentwork w ill focus on sp ecific tasks essen-tial for basic exploration mission op era-tions includ ing: shelter and work han-gar construction, piping assembly an dinspection, p ressure vessel construction,habitat inspection and resource collec-tion and transp ort. "Each of these opera-tional tasks d emand s effective hum an-robot teamwork and requires extensiveinteraction between hum an and robot,"Fong observed.

Scientists say human-robot coop-

eration will result in a better outcomethan h um an- or robot-only teams couldaccomplish.

To make human-machine teaminga reality, a NA SA mu lti-pron ged efforis underway to develop robot intelli-gence. Similar to hu man th inking, it'sdesigned to improve the mechanicaworkings of robots and to standard izehum an-robot comm un ications.

"We believe that by building robotswith reasoning mechanisms and representations that are similar to what humans use, we can make human-robotinteraction more natural and human-like," said Nourbakhsh.

"These teams will include humansand robots working in close quarters aswell as humans controlling and inter-acting with robots over medium dis-

tances and from ground control ,"Nourbakhsh predicted. "The effectiveness of human-robot interaction wilhave a major impact on productivitycost and risk reduction in explorationmissions," he explained .

"Conventional human-robot dialogue is limited to 'master-slave' com-manding and monitoring," Fong saidspeaking of how robots generally havebeen controlled to date. "As a resultsystem perform ance is strictly boun d tothe opera tor's skill and the quality of the(comp uter) u ser interface."

In contrast, partner-to-partner op-eration redu ces the need for fine-grainedplanning an d resource schedu ling, according to Fong. Another advantage ofpartner-to-partner operation is that it"does not require the hu man to continuously engage in robot teleoperation orsupervision," Fong said. "To improvesystem capability, increase flexibility andcreate synergy, hum an-robot dialogueneeds to be richer and w ork both ways.

The system under development atNASA Ames will enable robots to inter-actively supp ort one another so that they"can quickly jum p in and help the other(hum an or robot) resolve issues as theyarise," Fong continued. NASA Amesresearchers w ill initially focus on d eveloping robots that will operate more like

continued on next page

NASA photo by Dominic HartNASAphotobyTomTrower

Lead hardware engineer Susan Young Leeand computer scientist Eric Park working onthe NASA K-10 rover.

NASAs scorpion rover in the Ames Mars pit.


9/16

9Astrogram May 2005

NASA developing robots with human traitscontinued from previous page

hu man beings du ring construction andmaintenance tasks.

Robots have wor ked as field geolo-gists during previous field tests, but inthe future, these h um an-like machines

will also do non-scientific work. Theywill not only look for raw materials onplanets, but also process those materi-als, according to researchers. Other ro-bot jobs may include scouting, survey-ing, carrying equ ipm ent, inspecting andmaintaining machines and habitats.And roids could w ell serve as field m ed-ics, monitoring, helping an d transport-ing injured astronauts.

Human-robot teams must be reli-able, sur vivable, reusable and low -cost,according to scientists, who hop e to en-able robots to receive general comm and s,such as, "inspect habitat." The human-like machines wou ld then autonom ouslyperform tasks and seek help only wh enthey encounter problems they cannotsolve by themselves.

"A challenge that scientists face isenabling robots to perform tasks on theirown as much as possible, and givingthese and roids the ability to ask for hu -man help and knowledge only whennecessary," observed Fong.

Even so, robots will need to un der-stand specific instructions in the sameway that hu man beings often comm uni-cate them in "spatial term s," accord ingto scientists. "We (will) focus on spatialreasoning, so that humans and robotscan converse more like hum ans d o witheach other, such as, "move that pan el tomy left," Fong explained .

Two robot characteristics are thatthese machines will communicate byspeaking and gesturing. In p laces with

KAO marks its 30th anniversary dedicationcontinued from page 3

little or no atmosphere, sound cannottravel well, and without rad io comm u-nications, a gesture might be the mostpractical way for a robot and a hu manbeing to commu nicate, according to re-searchers. Trying to communicate in avery noisy area is another obvious rea-son to enable robots and hu mans to usegesturing to 'talk.'

"Because spacesuits are restrictive,they don't allow the astronaut to usedev ices such as small comp uters. There-fore, we are investigating the p ossibilityof using pointing gestures to commu ni-cate with robots," Fong said.

Robots and human beings need toclearly converse about goals, abilities,plans and achievements, according toFong. People and robots need to "col-

laborate to solve problems, especiallywhen situations exceed (robot) autono-mou s capabilities," Fong explained .

According to Fong, human-robotcommun ications need to take place onthree levels: in a sha red space, line-ofsite (from a hu man being in a habitat toa robot outside on the planetary sur-face), over the hor izon and even at inter-planetary distances. To date, probablyno one single robot system is capable ocommu nicating on all these levels, Fongadded.

Fong said that a robot that couldwork autonomously would enable astronau ts to "focus on th e task, instead ofrobot control and monitoring."

BYJOHNBLUCK


The NASA snakebot rover maneuversaround rocks in the Mars pit at Ames.

mu ch of the airborne observatorys suc-cess to the charismatic leadership ofMcClenahan, who died in 2000. Oftendescribed as the driving force thatenabled the observatory to get the datafor astronomers worldw ide, Meyer saidMcClenahan was a truly unique indi-vidual.

He was from up north somewherein the mountains and had a sense ofhumor like Will Rogers, Meyer said.He h ad a sense of charisma and couldmeld together all kind s of peop le --military crew m embers, scientists, engi-neers, computer programmers and ad-ministrators -- and somehow, he was

able to get them all to work together.Under McClenahans leadership, theKAO comp leted a total of 1,417 flights,many of them from Ames, but othersfrom N ew Zealand , Australia, Samoa,Panam a, Japan, Guam , Brazil, Equad or,Chile, Houston and Haw aii.

While many of the KAOs flightswere memorable for the scientific dis-coveries they made, some of them areremem bered for other reasons. Some-times the aircraft had m echanical prob -lems; other times the telescope or scien-tific instruments malfunctioned.

Ed Erickson, a scientist on th e KAOfor 20 years, recalls a flight in 1978 tha ttook off from American Samoa when

two of the observatorys four enginesfailed soon after takeoff. The aircraftstaggered and instrument power wasshut down, but the mission crew andscientists didnt know imm ediately whatwas going on. Soon we banked, and theflight engineer came back to crank dow nthe landing gear manually, Ericksonsaid.

That was a pretty exciting ad ven-ture, he added . Everybody was wor-ried, but we had a good crew and w e gotback okay.

On anoth er m ission flying at 41,000feet over Haw aii, Erickson said th e air-

craft encountered a d ense layer of cloudsa very rare occurrence at that high altitud e, that mad e it impossible to see starsmuch less to conduct astronomical observations.

But mostly KAO veterans remem-ber the amazing scientific discoveriesmad e on the KAO by scientists from alover the U.S. and abroad . Meyer vividly recalls the 1977 flight from PerthAustralia and flying over the IndianOcean w hen the n ine thin rings of Uranus w ere discovered.

During the course of its two decadesof cond ucting aerial observations, KAOastronomers also probed the planets to

discover water in Jupiters thick atmo-sphere and self-lum inosities of Jup iterSatu rn an d P luto. Scientists also uncov-ered embryonic stars hidden insidedense d ust clouds, mad e the first detection of a natu ral interstellar infrared laser, and found evidence of a massiveblack hole at the center of the MilkyWay.

But in addition to a ll the science thait conducted, what most people whoworked on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory rem ember is the experience theyhad w orking as a team with a group oftalented, d edicated p eople, under goodleadership, doing w hat they liked to do

Its nice to be doing what youre

interested in, said Meyer, whose job onthe KAO w as to point its telescope at thenight sky. Scientists will pu t up withwh atever inconveniences or hassles theymay encounter in order to d o their science, Meyer said. It was a great experience to be part of the team an d one Iwon t ever forget.

The KAO was decommissioned inthe fall of 1995 to make way for theStratospheric Observatory for InfraredAstronomy (SOFIA) now in develop-ment und er Ames management.

BYMICHAEL MEWHINNEY


10/16

Astrogram May 200510

Silver Snoopy awarded to John Hines

Astronaut Dr. Scott E. Parazynski, left, John Hines, center, andMrs. Laura McArthur-Hines.


John Hines, a ph ysical scientist inthe Fundamental Space Biology Re-search Integration Office at NASAAmes, was p resented the Silver Snoopyaward by astronaut Dr. Scot t E.Parazynski recently.

Hines w as recognized for his out-standing sup port to space programs in

his position as an in-

sp i r ing leader andmentor to generationsof technologists fromNASA, Stanford andseveral other institu-tions.

With a sharp fo-cus on ap plied, realis-tic technology prod-ucts and a daily con-nection to N ASA's ex-ploration m issions, hehas developed a widevariety of systems forflight and terrestrialuse and has encour-aged and supportedtheir use in civilianmedicine with greatsuccess.

An astronaut al-ways presen ts the Sil-

ver Snoopy because it is the astro-nauts own award for outstandingperformance, contributing to flightsafety and mission success. It is a spe-cial honor to receive this aw ard. Fewerthan 1 p ercent of the space programworkforce receives it annu ally.

continued from front page

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin visits Ames

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin answersquestions from the audience at the May 23town hall meeting at Ames.

NASAphotobyDomin

icHart


money if they do not know how to applyand understand relevant technologies

and science. "We're talking abou t beingon the moon in the next decade and onMars in 25 years," he continu ed. "In thattime companies merge -- go out of busi-ness."

"Some of what w e do m ust stay hereso we can do it in house," he said tospontaneous applause from the audi-ence.

Another employee asked Griffin

how familiar he is with Am es work andcapabilities. "I'm fairly familiar withAmes' p ortfolio," he rep lied. "I'm here toimplement" the (president's and theCongr ess' policy), Griffin added , notingthere would be less wind tunnel workand most likely more thermal protec-tion work at the Center.

He said th at he saw interesting cel-lular biology work at Ames and "somestuff on extraterrestrial core drilling"during his tour of Ames. Griffin saidthat the Center shou ld look at "the stuffAmes needs to do for exploration" andconcentrate on those areas.

Asked about how N ASA should uti-lize employees who traditionally haveworked in the wind tunnels, Griffinspoke about how times change, and h owpeople also need to change with thetimes. He related how h e had been outof a job on tw o occasions. "I know whatit is like," he rem embered . "It isn't fun, soI'm not minimizing it." He added thatNASA management is studying how

the agency hand led the transition fromthe Apollo missions using Saturn rock-ets to flight on the space shuttle. "We aregoing to try very hard to transition ourpeop le," he stated.

"If we m ove on, we d o new things,he exp lained. "We can't hold still. In fac. the obligation o f a research center isto know wh en to let go of the past."

A qu estion about fu ll-cost account-ing followed. "In ou r science enterprisewe compete for these dollars with col-leagues in u niversities . We have fu lcost accoun ting."

"Certainly I can level the playingfield," Griffin retorted . He said that th ecost of facilities "should be removedfrom the equ ation, and keeping a facilityopen or closing it "shou ld be decided atthe national level."

The next question focused on system engineering and on Griffins priorcomments "that system engineeringshould go back in h ouse."

"The system engineering an d archi-tecture must be in house," Griffin said"What w ould be the role of the d ifferencenters, I don't know," he add ed. "Typi-cally, the large missions would havesystem engineering," he said, addingthat one m ight hand off thermal protection to a research center, and Am es possibly would be the place to do thermalprotection w ork.

Another employee shared a comment rather th an a qu estion. "I want tomake you aware of something that isgood. I've been here 23 years thesituation h as changed dram atically overthe last few weeks. morale has gonefrom the worst to the best." The audi-ence applauded loudly at these comments.

Addressing another query aboutfull-cost accounting, Griffin said, "I'mgoing to try n ot to sacrifice peop le on thealtar of full cost accounting." But headded, "Full-cost accounting is not thevillain," because It tells you what it

really costs (to cond uct an activity.)""It costs me a certain am oun t to keep

an ar c jet open ," he said. "I need to knowwh at it costs (so I can) ask Con gress formoney," he explained. "First of all, Ishould not put that overhead on theback of som e researcher," Griffin contin-ued . "I've already decided I want to keepit open."

He further explained, "I don't w antto charge as a business would because I


11/16

11Astrogram May 2005

David Feller, a biochemical re-searcher, passed aw ay on April 6 in PaloAlto at the age of 82. Feller was born July25, 1922, in San Francisco and moved toSanta Monica as a teenager, later gradu -ating from UCLA. H e worked for Shell

Developm ent Comp any in Emeryville,later joining the Navy to train as anaviation electronic techn ician.

After World War II, he earned gradu -ate degrees in ph ysiology and biochem-istry at UC Berkeley and m oved to PaloAlto in 1962. Feller held un iversity po-sitions at Tufts University School ofMedicine, the University of Washing-ton School of Medicine and StanfordUniversity. He entered federal civil ser-vice at the Veteran's AdministrationHosp ital in Seattle and then w orked at

Former Ames scientist David Feller passes onNA SA Am es for 23 years, retiring h erein 1985.

Feller pu blished m ore than 90 scien-tific papers in th e fields of intermed iarymetabolism, thyroid physiology, glu-cose metabo lism in d iabetes and the ef-

fects of artificial gravity on body me-tabolism.

His hobbies included ph otography,videograp hy, fishing, sports, woodcarv-ing, walking an d computer technology.He coached little league baseball andwas the pr esident of the Palo Alto BabeRuth League and the Mountain ViewSenior Center Woodcarver's Club.

Feller is survived by h is wife of 58years, Bernice; his child ren , Barbi, Richand Steve; and six grandchildren.

The day long awaited by exiting

employees and all those wh o mu st signthe employee checkout form has ar-rived. Thanks to a collaboration be-tween Protective Services (Code JP),App lied Information and TechnologyDivision (Code JT) and App lication De-velopment and Services (Code JTA),the employee checkout process hasgone electronic.

No longer will employees need tospend days tru dging to various officesto get the signatures requ ired for check-out. No longer will the form signersneed to stop an d sign a form becausesomeone has just ap peared in the officedoorway.

As of May 11, 2005 the electronicemployee checkout form becameaccessible on the Inside AmesWeb page loca t ed a t h t t p :/ / insideames.arc.nasa.gov/ ) and the Pro-tective Services Emp loyee badging Webpage at http:/ / jp.arc.nasa.gov/ SM/emp_badging.html#checkout.

The new p rocess is hand led prima-rily through the use of the e-mail sys-tem. The employee, supervisor or ad -ministrative staff mem ber can generate

the checkout record. Once the record

is generated , e-mails are sent to eachcheckout station alerting them of theimpend ing checkout. Each station hasthe option of clearing the employeeor replying to the emp loyee with in-structions regarding actions requiredprior to clearing.

In some cases, the emp loyee maystill need to v isit a station in p erson inorder to be cleared. Once each sta-tion has cleared the employee, theemployee can then proceed to theEmployee Badging Office to turn inhis/ her badge and sign the completedcheckout form.

Hopefully, this new electronicprocedure will facilitate the checkout process for both the employeeand the checkout stations and allowall involved to minimize the timespent completing the process.

Any questions regarding thenew procedu re should be directed toMary Williams at her e-mail atMary .P.Will iams@nasa .gov orcontac t Donna Cetera a [email protected] .

ACCC 10th Annual Charity Golf tournament scheduled

Electronic employee checkout has arrived!

David Feller

This years Ames ChildcareCenters charity tournam ent format willbe a four-person scramble (best shotfrom your team u sed for each stroke).Prizes will be awarded to the teamswith the lowest three net scores and thelowest gross score.

Date: Friday, Jun e 17Place: Moffett Field Golf CourseTime: 12:00 p.m. - Registration

1:00 p.m. - Shotgun start5:00 p.m. - Hors d Oeuvres

and post-tournamentraffle

The registration fee is $70 per per-son . Teams of fou r is $280 (registra tionsare d ue by Jun e 10). The fee includes theround of golf, lunch before the tourn a-ment and one raffle ticket per player.

Registration forms can be down-loaded from the ACCC Web site at http:/ / accc.arc.nasa.gov. Spon sorship infor-mation is also available on th e Web site.Current sponsors include Golden BayFederal Credit Union, Aerospace Cor-por ation Inc., and Systems Electric.

The proceeds from this tournam entwill be used to complete the playground sat the new ACCC facility, which the

ACCC anticipate to occupy by th e timeof the tournam ent.

Visit the Web site, or [email protected] for m oreinformation about the tournament, orabou t the ACCC, an N AEYC-accreditedchild care and preschool serving theNASA Ames civil service and contractor em ployees.


12/16


Do you produce materials in-tended to comm unicate to the publicand/ or your colleagues about thegreat programs an d p rojects you are

wor king on here at Ames? If so, areyou aw are of the NASA Commu nica-tion Material Review (CMR) pr ocess

NASA Communication MaterialsReview (CMR) System established

continued from page 10

BYJOHNBLUCK

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin visits Ames

that was established to implementunifying elements in all NASA-funded commun ication materials?

Learn m ore about the CMR andi t ' s r equi re -ments by visit-ing the internetat: http:/ / com-m u n i c a t i o n s .nasa.gov.

For yourconvenience, alink to the CMRcan a l so befound on theOnline Toolssect ion of I n s i d e A m e sWeb site.

If you h aveq u e s t i o n sabout the CMR,or need any as-

sistance using the system, contactLaur a Lewis at ext. 4-2162.

want to keep it open." According to Grif-fin, he w ould charge less for its use. "Fullcost accounting is not an excuse for abad decision," Griffin said. Peopleclapped v igorously following that com-

ment.Marc Cohen, Ames Federal Employ-ees Un ion (AFEU) officer, asked Griffinabout the "twists and turns" of the "de-velopment of the Exploration Program"and civil service salary im pact. "You'renot com peting for your salary," Griffinreplied. "I'm tu rning that all off."

He added that "because we don'thave a good ab lative (heat shield) tech-nology" in the United States, NASA willprobably have to develop it "right h ereat Ames."

According to Griffin, he would liketo restore som e space mission capabilityto Ames. "The last was Lunar Prospec-tor," he no ted. "If some things at Ameshave gone aw ay -- I have two th ings todo I find some other things to d o, orshut it down." He avowed, "We're notgoing to shut it down ."

Steve Hipskind, acting director ofthe Earth Science Division, asked abou tNASA's role in Earth science. Griffinobserved that the "astronomy commu -nity" has w orked ou t priorities and se-cured expert support for those priori-ties, adding th at the Earth science com-mu nity should d o the same. "My chal-

lenge to Earth science is get on the ball,"Griffin said .One employee expressed concern

abou t the first A in N ASA.""Right now , aeronau tics enjoys less

pr iority than it once did ," Griffin said. "Iknow you don't want to hear it, butthat's how I see it."

Griffin received loud and sustainedapp lause at the end of the question-and-answer session.

Prior to addressing Ames emp loy-ees at the tow n ha ll meeting, Griffin m etwith Bay Area news med ia in the Explo-ration Center, where he fielded ques-

tions from reporters from KGO-TV(ABC), KNTV-TV (NBC), KGO-newsradio (ABC), the San FranciscoChron icle, the San Jose Mercury N ews,the Palo Alto Daily N ews, Wired m aga-zine, the Mountain View Voice, the MingPao Daily New s and Zu ma Press.

Accompan ied by Hu bbard, Griffintold the news med ia that there were noplans to close NASA Ames and that theCenter has a bright future ahead of it,although some p rograms, such as aero-

nau tics, wou ld be scaled back in accor-dance with the nations Vision for SpaceExploration. While returning the spaceshu ttle to flight remains the top pr iorityfor the agency, Griffin vow ed to supp ort

science progr ams, such a s the astrobiol-ogy research being cond ucted at A mes,and said that Ames w ill continue to playa key role in implementing the Visionfor Space Exploration.

Griffin w as swor n in as N ASA's 11thadministrator on April 14, 2005. He w asnom inated by President George W. Bushon March 14, 2005, and confirmed by theU.S. Senate Ap ril 13.

Griffin prev iously served as NASAschief engineer and associate adminis-trator for exploration at NASA Head-quarters. He also worked at NASA's JetPropulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,Calif.

Prior to his app ointment as adm in-istrator, Griffin was serving as space

departm ent head at Johns Hop kins University Applied Physics LaboratoryBefore that, he was president and chieoperating officer of In-Q-Tel, Inc., andhas held several positions within Or-

bital Sciences Corporation, includingchief executive officer of Magellan Sys-tems Inc.

Griffin earned a bachelor's degreein physics from Johns Hopkins; amaster's degree in aerospace sciencefrom Cath olic University of America; adoctorate in aerospace engineering fromthe University of Maryland; a master'sdegree in electrical engineering fromthe Un iversity of South ern Ca lifornia; amaster's degree in ap plied p hysics fromJohns Hopkins; a master's degree inbusiness administration from LoyolaCollege; and a master's degree in civilengineering from George WashingtonUniversity.


13/16


NASA Astrobiology Institute holds 2005 biennial meeting

NASA Astrobiology Institute Director Bruce

Runnegar (right) presented the Gerald Soffenaward for best student poster to AbhishekTripathi from UCLA.

An unusual spring snow storm providedbeautiful views of Boulder, but disruptedarrivals at the NAI 2005 meeting.


Nearly 500 people attended theNASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)fourth biennial meeting in Boulder,Colo., in Apr il.

Hosted by the University of Colo-rad o, the meetings twin objectives wer eto learn about the latest science beingaccomplished by N AI members and toencourage contacts between individu-als and teams that w ill pay of in futur ecollaborations. At the conference ban-quet, NASA Ames Center Director G.Scott Hubbard said that this meetingmade him feel that astrobiology hadcome of age.

The NAI is headqu artered at Ames,and both N AI Director Bruce Runnegarand Deputy Director Rose Grymes re-port to H ubbard . Ames was selected tooperate the NASA Astrobiology Insti-tute for NASA because of its unique corecompetency in astrobiology, the studyof life in the un iverse. In ad dition to themanagement responsibility for NAI,Ames also has one off the 16 competi-tively selected member teams, withDavid DesMarais as the pr incipa l inves-tigator.

Since astrobiology is a h ighly inter-disciplinary field, meetings like this p ro-vide an ideal opp ortunity to learn aboutresearch in m ultiple d isciplines. Unlikemost science meetings today, NAI 2005had no multiple or parallel sessions.This structure encouraged everyone toattend every session, not just thoseclosely related to her or his specialty.One ou tstanding attribute of this meet-ing was th e large number of youn g sci-entists attending.

Organizers and speakers at this con-ference recognized the sp ecial challengeof presenting their work in a way th atwould be comprehensible to scientistsfrom o ther disciplines. Jargon control

is one way to enhance cross-disciplinecommunications. For example, manyattendees came away conscious of thethree separate meanings of the commonwords radiation and terrestrial meanings that dep end on the discipline

und er discussion.Cross-discipline communicationwas also encouraged by providingprimer talks the day before the meet-ing to explain some of the basics forscientists in other fields. Nick Woolf(University of Arizona) presented theprimer on astronomy, Chris House (PennState) and David Kring (University ofArizona) talked about geology, andAmes Lynn Rothschi ld and MaxBernstein covered the fundamentals ofbiology.

The scientific meeting itself boththe 50 oral presentations and more than250 posters was organized according

to scientific them es, as described below .In a d eparture from earlier meetings, thepapers on education and public out-reach w ere not p laced in a separate ses-sion but were distributed throughoutthe prog ram . Abstracts of all the pap ersand posters were pu blished in the jour-nal Astrobiology (Volum e 5, No. 2, April2005), which was distributed to all at-tendees.

The first them e of the meeting wasthe formation and evolution of plan-etary systems, which is also the initialstep in creating w orlds su itable for life.The lead invited talk on the formationand evolution of habitable worlds w asgiven in two parts, by Steve Mojzsis(Colorado University) and MichaelMeyer (University of Arizona ). The leadpresentations served both to introdu cethe topic and to place the followingshorter pap ers in context.

Theme 2 on extrasolar planets wasintroduced by Norm Sleep (StanfordUniversity) and Jim Kasting (Penn State),wh o asked how common are habitableplanets in the galaxy connecting bio-chemistry, astrophysics and geophys-ics. Many papers in this session dealtwith the biosignatures that might beuseful when we d evelop the capabilityto observe the spectra of rocky planetsaround solar-type stars.

Theme 3 d ealt with the origins of life(note the plural, since we assume lifehas begun many times). In his introdu c-tion to the top ic, Norm Pace (ColoradoUniversity) discussed how genetic stud -ies have greatly advanced our under-standing of evolutionary relationships,and this theme was echoed in severalother papers.

Future technologies, exploration,and societal issues associated with as-trobiology were the topic of session 4.Dan Werthimer (University of Califor-

nia at Berkeley) led off with a wideranging talk abou t SETI, the Fermi Para-dox (Why arent they here?) and thefuture of our civilization. This sessioncontained the greatest variety, with top-ics ranging from entropy to astrobiol

ogy and the sacred.Topic 5 was the evolution of life

Steve DHond t (University of Rhod e Island ) spoke on how life interacts with itsenvironm ent, wh ile most of the contrib-uted pap ers in this session focused ongeochemical exploration of the p ast history of Earth, its atmosphere, and itsoceans to investigate the changing interactions between microbial life and theenvironment.

Tracing life was the theme of ses-sion 6. Marilyn Fogel (Carnegie Institu-

tion) began with a discussion on d istin-guishing tru e biology from non -biological look-alikes, followed by several p apers abou t the search for microbial fossils from early Earth. This work to identify specific fossils complements thegeochemical and biochemical studiesreported in th e previous session.

The final theme was evolution inthe solar system, introduced by MitchSogin (Marine Biological Lab). Papers inthis session included the stud y of ana-log habitats on Earth, as well as discussion of the significance as a possiblebiosignature of the methane recentlydiscovered in the m artian atmosphere.

Other even ts in this fast-paced meet-ing includ ed four public lectures, a ban-quet featuring remarks by Hubbard andby Carl Pilcher of NA SA Head quartersdaily pr ess briefings, a special pap er byJonathan Lunine (University of Arizonaon the latest news from Titan, smallergroup meetings of several NAI focusgroups and working groups on education and commun ications, and two gettogethers by the gradu ate stud ents andpostdoctoral fellows at the conferenceFor many attend ees, the scientific high-


14/16


Events Ca lendar

Ask theexport expertQuestion:

Answer:

It certainly can be. E-mail is a

method of transferring information.Simplistically put, if that informa-tion is export controlled (or has notbeen approved for public releaseand the recipient is a foreign entity),then the e-mail is an export. Be-ware.

Do you hav e a question for theexport expert? Send it care ofkw [email protected]. An d, visitthe Web at http:/ / jp.arc.nasa.gov/EC/ EC.html.

Is e-mail an export?

Topic:If Sustainability is the goa l,how do we get there?: Generat-ing specific environmental im-provements for your work andlife.

Presenter: John Scarbaro,Environmental Managem ent Sys-tems Coord inator, SAIC

Date: June 2, 2005

Place: Building 221, Room 155Time: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Security/Law Enforcement Activity Fire Protection Activity

A statistical summ ary of activitiesof the Protective Services Division'sSecurity/ Law Enforcement and Fire

Protective Services monthly activity

Protection Services units for themon th of April 2005 is shown below.

Ames Amateur Radio Club, third Thursday ofeach month, 12 noon, N-T28 (across from N-255).POC: Michael Wright, KG6BFK, at ext. 4-6262.

Ames Ballroom Dance Club. Classes onTuesdays. Beginning classes meet at 5:15 p.m.Higher-level class meets at 5:50 p.m. Held in Bldg.944, the Rec. Center. POC: Helen Hwang at

[email protected], ext. 4-1368.Ames Bowling League, Palo Alto Bowl on

Tuesday nights. Seeking full-time bowlers andsubstitutes. Questions to sign up: Mike Liu at ext. 4-1132.

Ames Child Care Center Board of DirectorsMtg, every other Thursday (check Web site formeeting dates: http://accc.arc.nasa.gov), 12 noon to1:30 p.m., N-210, Rm. 205. POC: Cheryl Quinn, ext 4-5793.

Ames Contractor Council Mtg, first Wednesdayeach month, 11 a.m., N-200, Comm. Rm. POC: LindaMcCahon, ext. 4-1891.

Ames Diabetics (AAD), 1st & 3rd Weds, 12 noon to1 p.m., at Ames Mega Bites, Sun room. Support groupdiscusses news affecting diabetics. POC: Bob Mohlenhoff,ext. 4-2523/e-mail at: [email protected].

Ames Federal Employees Union (AFEU) Mtg, thirdWednesday of each month, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Bldg. 221,Rm 104. Guests welcome. Info at: http://www.afeu.org.POC: Marianne Mosher, ext. 4-4055.

Ames Mac Support Group Mtg, third Tuesday ofeach month, 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m., Bldg. N262, Rm 180.POC: Julie ext. 4-4694 or Tony ext. 4-0340.

Ames Model Aircraft Club, flying radio-controlledaircraft at the north end of Parsons Ave. on weekendmornings. POC: Mark Sumich, ext. 4-6193.

Ames Sailing Club Mtg, second Thursday of eachmonth (Feb through Nov), from 11.30 a.m. -1 p.m. in thespecial events room in the Ames Visitor Center in N-223.

All are welcome. POC: Jeff Smith, ext. 4-2586.

Environmental, Health and Safety InformationForum,first Thursday of each month, 8:30 a.m. to 9:30a.m., Bldg. 221/Rm 155. URL: http://q.arc.nasa.gov/qe/events/EHSseries/ POC: Stacy St. Louis at ext. 4-6810.

Environmental,

Health and SafetyForum set

The Hispanic Advisory Committee forExcellence HACE Mtg, first Thurs of each month inN255 room 101C from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.POC: Eric Kristich at ext. 4-5137 and Mark Leon atext. 4-6498.

Jetstream Toastmasters, Mondays, 12 p.m. to 1p.m., N-269/Rm.179. POC: Becky Brondos at ext. 4-1959, [email protected] or Bob Hilton atext. 4-1500, [email protected].

Nat'l Association of Retired Federal Employees,(NARFE). Former and current federal employees. Youronly contact with Congress. Join to protect your

federal retirement. Chptr #50 will then meet on thefirst Fri. of each month at HomeTown Buffet, 2670 ElCamino (at Kiely), S. Clara, 11 a.m. lunch. POC EarlKeener (408) 241-4459 or NARFE 1-800-627-3394.

Native American Advisory Committee Mtg,fourth Tues each month, 12 noon to 1 p.m., Bldg. 19,Rm 1096. POC: Mike Liu at ext. 4-1132.

This years NASA Tech BriefsNanotechnology 2005 conference is

continued from front page

Nano Tech 2005 conference set

Date: Jun e 7 to 8Location: Westin Hotel,

Santa ClaraRequired application:

ARC Form 301Coordinator: Mark Sutherlund ,

ext. 4-5617, MailStop 241-3Cost: $250 (special rate for

NASA Ames)

Course code: Non e

sponsored by the N ASA Ames Technology Partnerships Division.

Keynote speakers will include: Matthew Nordan, Lux Research; BannyBanerjee and Craig Lawrence, IDEOand Pau l Saffo, Institute of the Futu re.

Industry rep resentatives from Ap-plied Mater ials, IBM, Agilent , JP Mor-gan an d Nan oStellar will present at thisevent and more exciting speakers arebeing add ed each day.

This is an ideal venue to discoverand discuss potential R&D partnerships

Register for the conference by contacting Mark Sutherlund to qualify forthe sp ecial rate.www.techbriefs.com/nano


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Ames ClassifiedsAds for the next issue should be sent to

[email protected] must be resubmitted foreach issue. Ads must involve personal needs or items; (nocommercial/third-party ads) and will run on a space-available basis only. First-time ads are given priority. Adsmust include home phone numbers; Ames extensions andemail addresses will be accepted for carpool and lost and

found ads only. Due to the volume of material received,we are unable to verify the accuracy of the statementsmade in the ads. Caveat emptor!

Housing

Exchange InformationExchange InformationExchange InformationExchange InformationExchange Informa tion

Beyond GalileoBeyond GalileoBeyond GalileoBeyond GalileoBeyond GalileoN-235 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873Ask about NASA customized gifts for special

occasions.

Mega BitesMega BitesMega BitesMega BitesMega Bites N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969

Visitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift Shop N-943N-943N-943N-943N-943(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) e xt. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) e xt. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) e xt. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) e xt. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) e xt. 4-5412

NASA logo merchandise, souvenirs, toys, gifts andeducational items.

Open 7 days a week, 7:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ratesfrom $40 - $50.

Vacation OpportunitiesVacation OpportunitiesVacation OpportunitiesVacation OpportunitiesVacation Opportunities

Check web site for discounts to local attractions,http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov and click on tickets.

Information about products, services andopportunities provided to the employee and contractorcommunity by the Ames Exchange Council. Visit theweb site at: http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov

NASA LodgeNASA LodgeNASA LodgeNASA LodgeNASA Lodge (N-19) 603-7100(N-19) 603-7100(N-19) 603-7100(N-19) 603-7100(N-19) 603-7100

Tickets, etc...Tickets, e tc...Tickets, etc...Tickets, e tc...Tickets, etc... (N-235, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)(N-235, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)(N-235, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)(N-235, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)(N-235, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873ext. 4-6873

Lake Tahoe-Squaw Valley Townhse, 3bd/2ba, Viewof slopes, close to lifts. Per night: $250, two nightminimum. Includes linens, cleaning, propane fireplace,

fully equipped. Call (650) 968-4155,[email protected]

South Lake Tahoe cottage w/wood fireplace, hottub. Rates $50 to $130 per night. Call (650) 967-7659or (650) 704-7732.

Vacation rental, Bass Lake, 4 mls south ofYosemite. 3bd/1.5 ba, TV, VCR, MW, frplc, BBQ, priv.boat dock. Sleeps 8. $1,050/wk. Call (559) 642-3600or (650) 390-9668.

Big Sur vacation rental, secluded 4bd/2ba housein canyon setting. Fully eqpd kitchen. Access to priv.beach. Tub in patio gdn. Halfway between Carmeland Big Sur. $175/night for 2; $225 for 4 and $250

for more, plus $150 cleaning dep. Call (650) 328-4427.

Tahoe Donner vacation home, 2 bd/2ba. trees,deck. Access to pools, spa, golf, horseback riding,$280 wkend, $650 week. Call (408) 739-9134.

Pine Mountain Lake vacation home. Access togolf, tennis, lake, swimming, horseback riding, walk tobeach. Three bedrooms/sleeps 10. $100/night. Call(408) 799-4052 or (831) 623-4054.

Incline Village: Forest Pines, Lake Tahoe condo, 3bd/2ba, sleeps 8. Fireplace, TV/VCR/DVD, MW, W/D,jacuzzi, sauna, pool. Walk to Lake, close to ski areas.

Visit Web page for pictures: http://www.ACruiseStore.com. $120/night low season,$155/night high season (holidays higher) plus $156cleaning fee and 12% Nevada room tax. Charlie (650)366-1873.

Disneyland area vacation rental home, 2 bd/1ba.Nearing completion completely remodeled w/new

furniture. Sleeps 6 (queen bed, bunk beds, sleepersofa). Air hockey and football tables. Introductoryrate $600/wk, once completed rate will be $1000/wk.Security deposit and $100 cleaning fee required. Call(925) 846-2781.

Ski Park City Utah, NASA Ski Week XIV, Feb 5 - 12,2005. Space limited. E-mail Steve at [email protected] or call (408) 432-0135.

New York, 5th Ave. One fully furnished bedroomin 24 hour security bldg. overlooking WashingtonSquare Park, $1,000/wk or $3,600/mo. negotiable.Call (650) 349-0238.

Paris/France: Fully furnished studio, 5th Arr, LatinQuarter, Notre Dame and Ile-St. Louis., $1,400/wk.negotiable. Call (650) 349-0238.

See daily menu at: http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov

Ames emergencyannouncements

Safety Data

Civil ContractorsServants

Not recordable,first aid cases 12 4

Record able nolost-time cases 3 3

RecordableLOST-TIME cases 0 0

Lost wor kday s 0 0

Restricted du ty days 0 82

Data above is as of 5/ 13/ 05. Maybe subject to slight ad justm ent in th eevent of a new case or new inform-ation regard ing an existing case.

NASA -Ames Occupational

Illness -Injury D ata for Calendar

Year-to-Date 2005

Jan. 1, 2005 April 30, 2005

MiscellaneousThe Ames Cat Network needs help finding homes for

cats trapped at Moffett. They range from feral toabandoned/lost pets. Tested, altered and inoculated. Cal lIris at ext. 4-5824 if you or someone you know areinterested in fostering or adopting a cat.

Stand up freezer Kenmore $50. Two white pinecomputer/bookcases - $50 each. Joy (650) 965-4926.

Starter PC: Windows2000, 333MHz, 164MRAM, 15GBHD, 52x CD-ROM, USB, keyboard, mouse and speakers(no monitor). Perfect for first computer. $95. Call (408)295-2160.

Free - you haul. Refrigerator. Good condition. Sandyor Tom. Call (831) 338-7532.

TREK Jet 20 boys bike, blue, 2-1/2 years old.Excellent condition. $140 new. $75 or B/O. Call (408)246-8432.

Pool table. Solid maple. Dark blue cloth. Exc. cond.4x8 Custom. $1,300. Call (408) 269-2063.

87 Honda Shadow 1100cc motorcycle, 46K mls,$1,500 or B/O. Barry Cunningham (510) 793-4457.

97 Geo Metro. Approx 147K mls. 5 spd. New tires.Good condition. $1,350 or B/O. Sandy (831) 338-7532.

Transportation

Seeking carpool from Mission district of Fremont toAmes. Work hours are somewhat flexible. Nancy ext.4-3258.

Car Pool

BYDAVID MORRISON

NAI meeting

To hear the centerwide statusrecord ing, call (650) 604-9999 for in-formation annou ncements and emer-gency instructions for Am es employ-ees. You can a lso listen to 1700 KHzAM rad io for the sam e information.

Good-sized room in 4 bd/2 ba home. Excellent, quietMtn View area, close to Ames. W/D, microwave, wired forcable modem. Tidy person and N/S. Easy access to Ames,H85, 237 and 101. $475 plus dep. and share utils. Avail.June 1, possibly sooner. Call (650) 964-1900.

Student interns looking for housing while interning atAmes. Must be close to Ames, be able to car pool intoAmes or close public transportation. [email protected] with rent information.

Shared housing room for rent in excellent, quiet LosAltos area near Ames. Share house w/prof'l males/females.Large house and yard w/gardener. W/D, partly furnished,N/S/pets, $565/mo plus dep. and 1/4 utilities. Call (408)

243-7750.

continued from page 13

lights were the poster sessions that tookplace every a fternoon . The scientific con-ference was followed by a full-day meet-ing of the NAI executive council. Theonly blow to the conference was a shortbut severe spring snowstorm, whichwiped out the planned p re-meeting ge-ology field trips and delayed the arrivalof many attendees.

The prim ary organizers of NAI 2005were Steve Mojzsis, chair of the Pro-gram Organizing Comm ittee, together

with Bruce Jakosky an d Emily CoBabe-Ammann of Colorado University andthe staff from NAI Central under theleadership of Karen Bradford of Ames.The next biennial meeting of the NAIwill be in H aw aii in 2007.


16/16


Nat ional Aeronaut ics and SpaceAdministration

Ames Research CenterMoffe tt Field, CA 94035-1000

Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use

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The Ames Astrogram is an official publication ofAmes Research Center, National Aeronautics andSpace Administration.

Editor-in-Chief......................... Gregory Gibbs

Managing Editor..........................Ann Sullivan

Editor, Layout and Design...........Astrid Terlep

You can reach the Astrogram Office at:[email protected] or by phone at(650) 604-3347.

KAO marks 30th anniversary of its dedication

The Kuiper Airborne Observatory staff and scientists in 1995 who travelled from across the country to participate in the airborne scienceprogram located at NASA Ames.

NASAphotoby

TomTrower

I must up to the skies again, to the lonely, dark night sky,And all I ask is a telescope, and a star to steer her by,And turbulence, and compressors whine and PFC shaking,And a grey mist in the tracker field, fore the grey dawns breaking.

-- By Jim Cockrell, KAO Electrical EngineerFrom The Lonely Dark Night Sky a Collection of Songs,Poems, and Other Writings from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory

See sto ry on page 3

nasa 116795main 05 05astrogram b

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