America’s gateway to the universe. Leading the world in preparing and launching missions to Earth and beyond.

July 31, 1998

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Vol. 37, No. 15

Spaceport News Sputnik I, the world’s firstartificial satellite that theSoviet Union launched onOct. 4, 1957, provided theimpetus for the founding ofthe National Aeronautics andSpace Administration. Justover 40 years later, we arebuilding an InternationalSpace Station with theRussians as partners. Although Cold Warrivalries prompted manyearly initiatives, thelegislation that enabledNASA’s creation called forthe peaceful exploration ofspace for the benefit of all. This pioneering spirit notonly reaches across theglobe today to unite cultures,it also spans generations —uniting both young and old. Within the first few yearsof NASA’s founding, theagency launched its firsthigh-profile programinvolving human space-flight: Project Mercury.John Glenn Jr. became thefirst U.S. astronaut to orbitthe Earth on Feb. 20, 1962,aboard a Mercury-Atlas 6 in“Friendship 7.” Today, Glenn is trainingwith the crew of STS-95 toagain launch into orbitaround the Earth to engagein research for the benefit ofall. A variety of experimentssponsored by NASA, theNational Space Develop-ment Agency of Japan(NASDA) and the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA) duringSTS-95 will focus on lifesciences, microgravityscience and advancedtechnology during the flight.

Alan Shepard’s candle continues to burn

Alan Shepard in his space suit inside the Mercury capsule. Waiting in the rocket asdelays postponed his flight, Shepard instructed the launch team to just “light this candle.”

Alan Shepard Jr., America’sfirst man in space and the fifthto walk on the moon, died atage 74 on July 21. After his historic space flightin 1961, amid a period of ColdWar rivalries and uncertainty,Shepard reinvigorated theAmerican spirit with hiscourage, tenacity andunflappable, can-do attitude. “Alan Shepard will beremembered, always, for hisaccomplishments of the past:being one of the original sevenMercury astronauts, for beingthe first American to fly in spaceand for being one of only 12Americans ever to step on themoon,” said NASA Administra-tor Daniel Goldin. “He should also be remem-bered as someone who, even inhis final days, never lost sight ofthe future.” Shepard was born on Nov. 18,1923, in East Derry, NewHampshire, where he studied ina one-room schoolhouse. There,he completed six grades in five

Where there’s smoke, there’s NASA research(See Shepard, Page 3)

As fires raged through Floridaearlier this month, creating averitable inferno across thesunshine state, a handful ofstudents were burning the midnightoil at Kennedy Space Center tohelp researchers develop bettersmoke and fire models. “We need to develop better toolsto more effectively manage fuelsthat can potentially ravageFlorida’s ecosystem,” said RonSchaub, ecologist and remotesensing analyst with the DynamacCorporation. Dynamac, under theLife Sciences Support Contract atKSC, conducts environmentalmonitoring and ecological research. “We’re seeking to reduce the riskand impact of wildfires to provide a (See Smoke, Page 4)

safer environment for people and tobetter manage it for wildlife,” hesaid. Working in the EcologicalProgram under the auspices ofNASA’s Biomedical Office at KSC,Schaub has been active in studentoutreach programs for years to helpdevelop young minds as well asresources to better predict whereand how fast fires spread. This summer, the EcologicalProgram enjoyed the assistance of10 interns through the SummerHigh School ApprenticeshipResearch Program (SHARP) andthe Summer Industrial Fellowshipfor Teachers (SIFT). “We need to develop a newgeneration of fire models,” Schaub

importance of controlled burns.More people today are living inareas of dense vegetation. Regionalplanning needs dictate that we needto burn with a much higher level ofprecision. Our interagency fire andsmoke modeling will allow us to dojust that.” The interagency fire and smokemodeling project was developed tocreate tools to predict the intensityand spread of wildland fire andsmoke. The project is sponsored byKSC’s Biomedical Office and theMerritt Island National Wildlife

pointed out. “Certainly theexperience of this summer inFlorida emphasizes the

1923-1998

SPACEPORT NEWS July 31, 1998Page 2

KSC stands for safety On July 16, Kennedy SpaceCenter employees took a stand forsafety — standing down from workfor the entire day to focusexclusively on safety. For the first time ever, about14,000 KSC employees, bothNASA civil service and con-tractors, departed from normalactivities, rescheduling Shuttle andspace station work, to participate ina panel discussion that wasbroadcast centerwide and to trainthroughout the day on safety-related issues. The afternoon eventsincluded vendor displays across thecenter as well as organizationseminars and training. Also participating in the SuperSafety Day activities wereemployees from Cape CanaveralAir Station and Patrick Air ForceBase. The theme of KSC’s firstSuper Safety Day was ‘Safety onthe Line.’ “This means that each one of usaccepts responsibility for our ownsafety, for the safety of ourcoworkers, our equipment and ourfacilities,” said Center DirectorRoy Bridges during openingremarks. “It means that each one ofus is proactive in creating safeworking conditions, that each oneof us will stop unsafe workpractices when we see themwithout hesitation, and that eachone of us will practice safebehavior both on and off-duty.” KSC’s goal, reminded Bridges,

is zero mishaps and zero injuries.He noted that the safety record ofDuPont employees off the job is asgood as KSC’s record on the job.The company is known as one ofthe world’s safest organizations. Senior NASA and contractormanagers have participated inDuPont safety training, held lastyear at KSC. During Super SafetyDay, Bridges summarized theessence of DuPont’s safetyphilosophy. “Unsafe behavior leads tomishaps and injuries,” Bridgessaid, “and safe behavior comesfrom safe thinking.” Model safe behavior, he noted,includes knowing our jobs, main-taining our workplace, keepingphysically and mentally fit, beingan active player in safety, beingpart of the total team and contri-buting our experiences to benefitothers. Bridges then introduced keynotespeaker C. Gordon Fullerton,NASA pilot and astronaut.Fullerton’s lively and entertainingopening remarks included theimportance of preparation, practiceand persistence in the regular taskswe perform every day. Briefpresentations followed Fullerton’stalk. Speakers who addressed theaudience on subjects ranging fromindividual responsibility to focusand discipline included KSCDeputy Director for Launch andPayload Processing Loren Shriver;

Air Force Brigadier GeneralRandall Starbuck; JSC AstronautOffice Chief Kenneth Cockrell;

KSC’s Biomedical Office istaking a poll to see how manyemployees at Kennedy SpaceCenter and Cape CanaveralAir Station are interested intraining to become certifiedby the American HeartAssociation in adultcardiopulmonary resuscita-tion (CPR). If you are interested inreceiving CPR training,please provide your name andmail code to Janie Marsh viae-mail at janie.marsh-1@ksc.nasa.gov, or internal

CPR and you

mail to BOC-005,Occupational HealthFacility. You also can call Marsh at867- 2027. The deadline isFriday, Aug. 21.

KSC workersparticipated in safety-

related demonstrationsthroughout the afternoon.

Panel moderator Loren Shriver, at podium, assisted in directing live questions to the panel that included, left to right, Roy Bridges,Randall Starbuck, Kenneth Cockrell, Tommy Holloway, Richard Blomberg and JoAnn Morgan.

JSC Space Shuttle Program OfficeManager Tommy Holloway;Aerospace Safety Advisory PanelChairman Richard Blomberg andKSC Associate Director forAdvanced Development andShuttle Upgrades JoAnn Morgan. Additional panel membersprovided insight into safety issuesacross the board, responding to livequestions from the KSC, CapeCanaveral Air Station, and PatrickAir Force Base audience. Morethan 150 phones calls, faxes ande-mails were sent in to the panellive during the morning session,and 100 questions were sent inprior to Super Safety Day. More than 100 displays aroundKSC included educational andinteractive activities related to firesafety, blood pressure screening,boating and water safety, householdchemicals, defensive driving,and more.

SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3July 31, 1998

airport, where he cleanedhangars and fanned a passionfor flying sparked by CharlesLindbergh's 1927 landmarkflight across the Atlantic. Following World War II,Shepard began training as anaviator and took additionallessons at a civilian flyingschool in his spare time. He later became one of theNavy’s top test pilots and tookpart in high-altitude flyingtests. When he was selected to beone of America’s first sevenMercury astronauts he wasregarded “as a top-notch Navyaviator, tough, quick-witted,and a leader,” wrote Tom Wolfein The Right Stuff. Although his flight onMay 5, 1961, was brief, it was amajor accomplishment duringan era when doubts abounded.On April 12, less than a monthbefore Shepherd’s scheduledliftoff, the Soviet Unionlaunched a spacecraft calledVostok I that carried 27-year-old cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin onone lap around Earth. The featnot only made Gagarin the firstman in space and the first toorbit the planet, but also gavethe Soviets bragging rights inthe Cold War’s space race. Delays pushed Shepard’slaunch back three days, andonce he’d been strapped intothe tight little Freedom 7 cap-sule perched atop a Redstonerocket, further complicationsdelayed the launch anotherfour hours. Shepard finallywas sent booming off into theFlorida morning sky at 9:34a.m. After his 15-minute, 302-mile flight, Freedom 7decelerated from 5,180 miles anhour to 500 miles an hour inabout 30 seconds, and Shepardwas squeezed by a tremendouspressure about 10 times theforce of Earth's gravity. Shepard splashed down 40miles from Bermuda, and thenext day, he was in Washing-ton, D.C., where President JohnF. Kennedy awarded him the

Distinguished Service Medal. An ear problem latergrounded Shepard and he wasput in charge of the astronauts’office for the next 10 years. Buthe refused to give up ongetting back into space, andwhen surgery corrected his earproblem, he was offeredcommand of the Apollo 14moon mission that waslaunched on Jan. 31, 1971. Shepard and Ed Mitchellspent 33 1/2 hours on themoon, much of which wasspent towing, pushing andeven carrying a cumbersomecart bearing tools and compart-ments for geological samples.When the work was finished,Shepard pulled out two golfballs and unfolded a collap-sible golf club. Despite thickgloves and a stiff suit thatforced him to swing the clubwith one hand only, he became

the first personever to hit golfballs on themoon. He wasthe fifth man towalk on themoon and theoldest at theage of 47. Shepardretired fromNASA in 1974and startedSeven FourteenEnterprises(for Freedom 7and Apollo 14),which servedas an um-brella companyfor several enter-prises. He also served for manyyears as the chairman of theMercury 7 Foundation — nowthe Astronaut Scholarship

All seven of the Project Mercury astronauts share breakfastprior to Astronaut Alan Shepard’s departure to Pad 5 for thefirst manned suborbital flight on the Mercury Redstone 7. Joiningthem for breakfast is Dr. William Douglas, far left. Facing thecamera from the left are Astronauts John Glenn, Alan Shepard,Scott Carpenter and Wally Shirra. With their backs to the cameraare Gordon Cooper, Gus Grissom and Deke Slayton.

years. On weekends, he rodehis bicycle 10 miles to a local

Listening to a briefing by ChrisJaskolka of Boeing, second fromleft, inside the SPACEHAB moduleare STS-95 crew members (fromleft) Payload Specialist ChiakiMukai, with the National SpaceDevelopment Agency of Japan(NASDA), Mission SpecialistStephen Robinson and PayloadSpecialist John Glenn Jr., U.S.senator from Ohio. STS-95 willfeature a variety of researchpayloads, including experiments onspace flight and the aging process.STS-95 is targeted for an Oct. 29launch aboard the Shuttle Discovery.

STS-95 crew members recentlyreviewed procedures in the

SPACEHAB Payload ProcessingFacility in Cape Canaveral. From

left are Payload Specialists ChiakiMukai and John Glenn Jr. and

Mission Specialists ScottParazynski and Pedro Duque with

the European Space Agency.

Training for STS-95 ... that was Glenn; this is now

Shepard ...(Continued from Page 1)

Foundation. “Alan Shepard lived toexplore the heavens,” Goldinsaid. “On this his final journey,we wish him Godspeed.”

SPACEPORT NEWS July 31, 1998Page 4

Smoke ...(Continued from Page 1)

behavior. So the students who worked inSchaub’s office assisted him in collectingsamples of Florida’s abundant ‘fuel’ around KSCto build a data model for scientists andresearchers to better understand the influences onfire behavior.

One twig at a time First, an area representative of a particularvegetation type, or ‘fuel,’ was selected. It was

refuge are managed with prescribed fire. To support fire and smoke modeldevelopment at KSC, test burns areconducted by the Dynamac Corporation incollaboration with the Los Alamos NationalLab, the Los Angeles County Fire Depart-ment, NASA’s Applied Meteorology Unit,the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and otherorganizations. The Los Alamos National Lab providessupercomputing capabilities to KSC tosupport more precise data modeling. TheLos Angeles County Fire Department isinterested in learning more about firebehavior and control for the safety andwelfare of its citizens. It is hoped that fire departments can usethe information to make decisions aboutwhere to deploy firefighters and equipmentwhen battling a wildfire. The AppliedMeteorology Unit is a tri-agencycooperative effort located at Cape CanaveralAir Station (CCAS). The unit provides weather forecasting,monitoring, and data collection andarchiving. This is important in profiling thebehavior of winds as well as lightningdetection. Since KSC and CCAS have some of themost sophisticated weather forecastingequipment in the nation, the wildlife refugewas chosen for an experiment earlier thisyear to check a computer simulation againstthe reality of a raging fire. The test was of such importance that itcaptured the attention of U.S. Secretary ofInterior Bruce Babbit. “I don’t think there’s another place in thecountry where you could do this type ofburn and learn so much,” Babbit said. It’s a project that could save lives andbillions of dollars in property, he added. The next controlled burn is scheduled totake place in late September. KSC’s Biomedical Office participateseach year in three educational outreachprograms: Space Life Sciences TrainingProgram, SHARP and SIFT.

Students from NASA’s Space Life Sciences TrainingProgram gather vegetation within a nine-square-meterfenced-in area to use as part of a Geographic InformationSystem that will help scientists and researchers betterunderstand and manage the influences of fire behavior.

Members of the U.S. .Fish and Wildlife Service use a flamethrower to ignite acontrolled burn at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

wildland fuels through ‘biomass harvesting’ andremote sensing using aerial imagery. Biomassharvesting involves the collection of groundvegetation that includes litter, herbs and woodyvegetation. This biomass provides a highlyflammable fuel. “Basically, fire requires fuel, oxygen and heat.That’s it,” said Schaub. “And essentially, allvegetation above water can burn; it’s all fuel.” Fire and smoke model development requireshighly detailed data on fuels, weather and fire

defined area andharvested inlayers. Every-thing from theground up wasthen collectedand categorizedby species, sizeand whether ornot it was deador alive (deadvegetation ismore flammable). Then, Schauband the studentsdried, weighedand photographedeverything, later scanning the samples into acomputer to create digital images. These data are used to generate fuel models,adding to an already extensive“GeographicInformation System.” With this information, theEcological Program is able to produce high-resolution computer-assisted modeling over avery specific area for analysis. “We take aerial imagery and classify it in away that allows scientists to query the data andlearn more about the behavior of wildfire,” saidSchaub. As seen from a photo taken from an airplane atabout 15,000 feet, the computer-rendered modelis able to define vegetation down to an individualpine tree. This level of detail should lead toimproved data modeling for high-level predictiveand perhaps preventive fire management.

Going for the burn Controlled burns are an essential part of theequation. “Fire is essential in the maintenance ofhabitat,” Schaub pointed out. As an example, theForida scrub jay is a bird that has evolved andcan only continue to subsist in a fire-maintainedecosystem. The birds require an environment of scrubapproximately three to four feet high, otherwisethey will not thrive or continue to reproduce, andeventually the species would perish. The Florida scrub jay’s population hasdeclined by at least 50 percent, a loss dueprimarily to habitat loss and degradation. “Fires prevent the scrub from becoming tootall and allow for patchy areas of clear land [suchas sand] that offer the birds a better view ofpredatory threats, such as hawks,” Schaub said. In addition to this maintenance of habitat forthreatened and endangered species, fire-relatedresponsibilities include the protection of KSCemployees, residents and visitors and also of thenatural, cultural and industrial resources aroundthe Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Approximately 95 percent of Kennedy SpaceCenter is managed by the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService, and about 63,000 acres of the wildlife

Refuge. The specific goals of wildland fire and smokemodeling are to more effectively conductcontrolled burns for fuel reduction and habitatmanagement, to more effectively suppressuncontrolled wildfires in areas where fuels haveaccumulated to hazardous levels as a result offire exclusion, and to better plan development ofcultural and industrial resources. In support of the fire and smoke modelingeffort, Dynamac ecologists are characterizing

partitioned into a

SPACEPORT NEWSJuly 31, 1998 Page 5

Award List by ProjectJuly 23, 1998

PROJECTS COMPANY

FTIR Spectrometer

Propulsion System Advisor

Simulated Hydrogen FireUltravioletóPortable Unit

Electronically Active Coatingsfor Corrosion Protection

OMS Pod Alignment ToolMechanical Version

Real-time Non-volatile Residue(NVR) Monitor

Lockheed Vision Inspection

Food for thought From soup to nuts,nutrients are essential forgood health, growth, vigorand sustaining life. But why exactly do weneed them? What are theirchief functions in the body?What are good foodsources? And what are thesymptoms of deficiency?How do we know if weneed to take supplements? The August packet ofinformation availablethrough KSC’s HealthEducation and WellnessProgram answers all of thesequestions and more. Specialemphasis is placed onantioxidants (vitamins C, Eand betacarotene) and whatrole they play in fightingcancer and heart disease. While every nutrient is

uniquely essential to your well-being, each one functions mosteffectively in combination withothers. Although present in onlyminute quantities in the body,vitamins and minerals act ascatalysts and antioxidants. Theyalso assist in biochemicaltransformations. They keepyour body functioning atoptimum levels andhelp prevent disease. Find out moreabout the impor-tance of vitaminsand minerals inyour life andwhat you cando to improvethe quality oflife throughbetter nutrition. Free packets of

information are availablethroughout the month ofAugust at all medicalfacilities or upon requestto Carol Roth, BOC-005.She can be reached at867-3414.

Space Act Award winners honored A Technology Awards breakfastwas held July 30 in the SpaceStation Processing Facilitycafeteria to recognize NASA andcontractor innovators whoreceived Space Act awards duringthe past year. A total of $83,000 inSpace Act awards was received by114 KSC workers this past year. The breakfast to honor theinnovators was held in con-junction with the center’s secondannual Technology Transfer Week,July 27 through 31, sponsored bythe Technology Programs andCommercialization Office. Space Act Awards include bothautomatic and board actionawards. Automatic awards include thosefor patent application, softwarerelease to the public or for havinga technical article published in theNASA Tech Briefs magazine. Board action awards includeawards for projects that have beenevaluated by the NASA Inventionsand Contributions Board at NASAHeadquarters in Washington,D.C., and found to have a tangible

value to NASA’s space andaeronautic mission, either throughuse at Kennedy Space Center and/or for having current or potentialvalue in the commercial market-place. All of these types of awardswere represented at the breakfast. Projects that received recog-nition included electronicallyactive coatings for corrosionprotection, a tile cavity measure-ment system, an environmentallycontrolled abrasive blasting suit, aknowledge-based reasoning toolfor Space Shuttle propellantloading, a paperless proceduresystem for flight hardware andpayloads, an ultrasonic bolt cage,the use of ultrasound to improvethe effectiveness of a permeabletreatment wall, a wirelessinformation network, a particlefallout activity sensor, a turbine/brush pipe cleaning system, anorbiter window illuminationdevice, a system for accuratelocation of lightning strikes, anincremental walking robot forlocomotion and inspection of verythin wall ducts, and others.

It’s still hurricane season An uncharacteristically dry summer this year veils the fact that we’rein the middle of hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30.Although El Niño has passed, it has been replaced by its little sister, LaNiña. La Niña turns the Pacific waters colder than usual and plays thesame weather tricks as its older brother, but often in reverse — wetwhere it was dry and vice versa. The climatological change could meanmenacing Atlantic hurricanes over the next few months.

Keep KSC Hurricane Center numbers handy. The center’s number is867-9200 or, for a 24-hour hurricane update, call 861-7900. Also, knowwhat the difference is between a hurricane watch and a hurricanewarning. Watch: Hurricane conditions are possible in the specifiedarea of the watch, usually within 36 hours. Warning: Hurricaneconditions are expected in the specified area of the warning, usuallywithin 24 hours. This view of Hurricane Emilia in the Pacific Ocean wastaken by the STS-65 crew in 1992 using a hand-held 70mm camera.

Want to know more about theOutsourcing Desktop Initiative forNASA (ODIN )? KSC has been named the Officeof Space Flight ODIN LeadService Center with responsibilityto issue an award for a singlecontractor to provide ODINservices. KSC intends to have thedelivery order issued this fall withthe ODIN contractor in place onDec. 1. At KSC, the ODINcontractor will provide desktop,server and remote communicationsservices. Six meetings are scheduled togive KSC workers opportunities toask questions. The meetings arescheduled:Aug. 38:30 a.m., LCC 1R29Aug. 41 p.m., O&C MBRAug. 111 p.m., LCC 1R29Aug. 128:30 a.m., O&C MBRAug. 178:30 a.m.,Training Auditorium

Updates on ODIN

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Managing editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce BuckinghamEditor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Susan MaurerEditorial support provided by Sherikon Space Systems Inc. Writers Group.Photographic support primarily provided by The Bionetics Corp.NASA at KSC is on the Internet at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov

USGPO: 633-112/80011

Spaceport News

Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy Space Center andis published on alternate Fridays by the Public Affairs Office in the interest ofKSC civil service and contractor employees. Contributions are welcome and should be submitted two weeks beforepublication to the Media Services Branch, AB-F1. E-mail submissions can besent to Susan.Maurer-1@ksc.nasa.gov

SPACEPORT NEWS July 31, 1998Page 6

NASA Alumni League meets at KSC On June 16, 42 membersof the NASA Alumni League(NAL) met with Center DirectorRoy Bridges and were providedwith information about thecurrent status of centerprograms and insight intofuture direction of KSC bythe spaceport’s topmanagement team. During the meeting, topics ofdiscussion included the Shuttleprogram, expendable launchvehicles and payloads, theInternational Space Station,future launch vehicles,advanced development andShuttle upgrades, and PublicAffairs activities.

The NASA Alumni Leagueis made up of more than 180NASA retiree members andwas created to maintain closeties with the agency —supporting its goals, objectivesand activities. Any NASA retiree is eligibleto become a member of theNAL. For more information aboutthe league and how to join,contact NASA Alumni LeaguePresident Norris Gray at (407)254-2161. You can also reach Gray bywriting him at 808 ThomasBarbour Drive, Melbourne, Fla.32935.

Scoring big for the future Eli Alper, a junior atTrinity Prep High School inWinter Park, Fla., recentlywas honored with winningone of eight regional prizesof the NASA StudentInvolvement Program, acompetitive program tofoster greater scientificliteracy among high schoolstudents. To do this, Alper beat outhundreds of other studentswho also submitted entriesfrom his region, whichincluded 12 states. The students had tosubmit a proposal regardingan experiment that eithercould be conducted on Marsor on the way to Mars.Alper’s proposal involveddetermining the evidence oflife through the presence ofamino acids. His proposalconcentrated heavily on

physics and chemistry. Winning this award meanta trip to Washington, D.C.,for Alper along with theseven other regional winnerswho presented theirproposals to NASA scientistsand members of Congress. As if that wasn’t enough,Alper also found out in Maythat he received a perfectscore on his SAT, whichstands for ScholasticAssessment Test, a standardmeasure of a student’sreadiness for and potentialsuccess in college. As an indication of howdifficult this is to achieve,of the 327,599 juniors whotook the test in 1997, theaverage verbal score was528 and the average mathscore was 532. Alper’sperfect scores were 800 ineach category.

Eli Alper holds hisaward at KSC’s

Saturn V Center.

STS-88 Mission Specialist Jerry Ross removes the cover from the Unity node inKSC’s Space Station Processing Facility so that he and Boeing Technician DougAdams (left) can inspect it. Training Technician Glenda Laws (right) looks on. TheSTS-88 crew recently participated in the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) atKSC. The CEIT gives astronauts an opportunity for a hands-on look at the payloadsthey will be working with on orbit. STS-88, the first Shuttle launch for theInternational Space Station, is scheduled for liftoff this December.