The Johns Hopkins Universi t y Applied Physics Laboratory Civ i l ian Space Newslet t er

Fall 2006 • Volume 2 • Issue 1

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The Executive’s NoteGreat OpportunitiesOne of the great things about the space business is that you often get chances to perform extraordinary work. Several of those opportunities came to APL over the past few months.

On Oct. 25, the STEREO spacecraft roared into the night skies above Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta II rocket. APL designed, built and is operating the twin observatories during their 2-year mission, which NASA Goddard Space Flight Center manages. Through STEREO, scientists will finally see the Sun in three dimensions and enter a new frontier in solar research.

A day before STEREO’s launch, the Mercury-bound MESSENGER

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Twin APL-Built, Solar-Studying STEREO Spacecraft LaunchedNASA’s STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) spacecraft— the first mission designed to view the Sun in 3-D—launched on Oct. 25, aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 8:52 p.m. EDT.

The two nearly identical spacecraft, which APL designed, built and operates for NASA, separated from the launch vehicle 25 minutes following liftoff. After receiving the first signal from the spacecraft 63 minutes after launch, mission control personnel at APL confirmed that each observatory’s solar arrays successfully deployed and were providing power to the spacecraft. The initial radio signals were forwarded to the APL-based STEREO Mission Operations Center from NASA’s Deep Space Network antennas in Canberra, Australia.

During their 2-year mission, the twin observatories will explore the origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of coronal mass ejections. Continued on page 8

STEREO operators at APL cheer the launch of the twin spacecraft.

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY2

Executive’s Note,Continued from page 1

spacecraft used the tug of Venus’ gravity to change its trajectory and shrink the radius of its orbit around the Sun, bringing it slightly closer to its main target. Designed, built and operated at APL, MESSENGER is on track to begin orbiting Mercury—another spaceflight first—in 2011.

In late September, our Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), riding aboard NASA Jet Propulsion Lab’s powerful Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, opened its protective cover and started searching for chemical hints of past water on the red planet—information that NASA will use to direct future Mars landers and, one day, human visitors.

And we recently kicked off the design of NASA’s newest Living With a Star mission—Radiation Belt Storm Probes. These two spacecraft, to be launched in 2012, will examine how the Sun interacts with Earth’s radiation belts.

Great science aside, in late September we strength-ened our ability to more efficiently provide NASA with critical contributions. With a NASA Management Office already located at APL, the Lab and NASA signed a contract that allows us to provide the agency with up to $750 million in research, development and engineering support over the next 5 years.

Leading us into this new era is Rob Strain, who we congratulate on his appointment as head of the APL Space Department. We also thank Larry Crawford, Rob’s predecessor, for his leadership and wish him all the best in his retirement.

These are exciting times in the Civilian Space Business Area, where, in true partnership with NASA, industry and academia, we’re building on our success while defining the future.

Walt Faulconer Business Area Executive for Civilian Space

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Strain Named Space Department HeadRob Strain is the new head of the APL Space Department and leads its two business areas: Civilian and National Security Space. He assumed these roles on Sept. 4, taking over APL’s second-largest department.

Strain says the Civilian Space Business Area will continue to oversee world-class science missions while strongly supporting NASA’s vision for space exploration. He also expects an increase in APL’s contribu-tions to National Security Space programs.

“Rob has been a key part of the ongoing transformation of the APL Space Department and is a well-respected member of the space development community,” says APL Director Rich Roca. “His leader-ship will be critical during the coming years as we continue our transformation to meet future space challenges.”

Strain came to APL in 2004 as assistant Space Department head for Operations. In 2005, he was named associate department head, and this year he became the department’s managing executive. He has more than 25 years of experience in the aerospace business, including executive positions at Orbital Sciences, where he led its Satellite and Electronic Sensors divisions, and Fairchild Space and Defense Company, for which he served as Chief Financial Officer and in various other operational roles.

Strain has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Michigan University. He succeeds Larry Crawford, who plans to retire from APL after nearly four decades of service. Crawford became head of the Space Department after Mike Griffin left APL to become NASA administrator in April 2005.

“During the past year, Larry has done an outstanding job in leading the Space Department through exciting achievements, including the launch of New Horizons and completion of the STEREO spacecraft,” says Strain. “His term as Space Department head has been productive, and we are grateful to Larry for his many years of contributions to APL and our sponsors.”

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In the early hours of Oct. 24, NASA’s Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft came within 2,990 kilometers (1,860 miles) of the surface of Venus during its second planetary encounter. The spacecraft used the tug of the planet’s gravity to change its trajectory significantly, shrinking the radius of its orbit around the Sun and bringing it closer to Mercury.

MESSENGER, short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, is the seventh mission in NASA’s Discovery Program of lower-cost, scientifically focused exploration projects. APL designed, built and operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

The spacecraft will conduct the first orbital study of Mercury, the least explored of the terrestrial (“rocky”) planets that also include Venus, Earth and Mars. Over 1 Earth year—or 4 Mercury years—MESSENGER will provide the first images of the entire planet and collect detailed information on the composition and structure of Mercury’s crust, its geologic history, the nature of its atmosphere and magnetosphere and the makeup of its core and polar materials.

The spacecraft is relying on multiple planetary flybys to “catch” Mercury and begin orbiting the planet. Another flyby of Venus in June 2007 will further alter the spacecraft’s orbit so that it will fly by Mercury in January 2008. Three close approaches to Mercury will be required to bring the velocity of MESSENGER close enough to the planet’s orbital velocity such that its main

engine can brake the spacecraft into Mercury orbit in March 2011.

Shortly before the Venus flyby, the spacecraft entered superior conjunction, placing it on the exact opposite side of the Sun from Earth, making communication between MESSENGER and mission operations difficult, if not impossible. “So we are not making any scientific observations at the time of this flyby,” says Sean Solomon, the mission’s principal investigator from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. “We shall conduct a full suite of observations surrounding the second flyby in June 2007.”

Earlier in October, the Mercury Dual Imaging System aboard MESSENGER snapped pictures of Venus from a distance of about 16.5 million kilometers (10.3 million miles). Those images are available online at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/pictures/pictures.html. Despite the low resolution of the images, it’s possible to see that Venus is shrouded in a thick blanket of clouds that hides its surface. Also available online are updated animations, one showing Venus from the spacecraft from 90 minutes before to 90 minutes after the flyby, including the time of the eclipse. Those images are online at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/movies.html.

For more information, visit the MESSENGER Web site at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu.

MESSENGER Completes Venus Flyby

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From NASA to APL: Dantzler Leads Living With a Star Andy Dantzler’s first assignment as a Space Department program manager will be to head APL’s

Living With a Star (LWS) Program Office.

Dantzler comes to APL from NASA Headquarters, where he was director of the Solar System Division in the Science Mission Directorate. Overseeing the Discovery, New Frontiers and Mars exploration programs at NASA closely acquainted him with APL space programs, such as the MESSENGER and New Horizons missions and the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars instrument. He also has more than 22 years of NASA program management experience.

Dantzler assumes the LWS program role from Ken Potocki, who is retiring.

MESSENGER will become the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY�

Double Vision: Reynolds Leads Two Twin Spacecraft Missions

Space Views

Continued on page 7

Ed Reynolds, of APL’s Space Department, has a rather unique item on his resume—project manager for two NASA missions using twin probes launched aboard single rockets. For the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission, he oversees overall development and operation. He also is responsible for the design and implemen-tation of the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission.

Reynolds has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and an extensive background in systems engineering stemming from his experience in spacecraft integration and testing. Prior to the STEREO mission, he played key engineering roles in several projects, including the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), the first mission in NASA’s Discovery Program, which orbited and eventually landed on the asteroid Eros. He has also collaborated on a number of assignments involving satellites and sounding rockets with engineers from Russia.

Reynolds has received an Outstanding Achievement Quality Award at APL and has authored or co-authored several technical papers. He is a member of the Project Management Institute.

Here, Reynolds discusses the challenges and similarities of working on the twin-spacecraft missions and APL’s role in each.

What is STEREO?

STEREO is a 2-year NASA mission using two nearly identical space-based observatories that will provide the very first 3-D “stereo” images of the Sun to study the nature of coronal mass ejections. These powerful solar eruptions are a major source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and a key component of space weather, which can greatly affect satellite operations, communications, power systems, the lives of humans in space and global climate. STEREO is the third mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program. The twin observatories launched aboard a single Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Oct. 25.

What is APL’s role in the STEREO mission?

APL designed and built the observatories, designed the overall

Ed Reynolds

APL’s project manager for STEREO

and Radiation Belt Storm Probes

missions

mission plan, including placing the two spacecraft onto one rocket for launch, fabricated and tested the two spacecraft buses, conducted a series of environ-mental tests at APL and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and carried out prelaunch tests in Florida. We’re operating the observatories for NASA at the APL-based Mission Operations Center here in Laurel, Md.

Describe the challenges of building two nearly identical spacecraft.

The challenge isn’t the nearly identical aspect but in building

two spacecraft simultaneously. There’s a mind-set that it’s half as much work to build a second one. For parts of the buildup and test, that’s true—some activities are a little easier after doing these things for the first spacecraft. But having the two spacecraft stacked, one atop the other, adds another level of integration, requiring a focus on the structural design of two vehicles, one with a clamp-band mechanism to hold the two together. There’s also the issue of moving two spacecraft around inside the same cleanroom facility.

Is this the first time lunar swingbys are being used to place spacecraft into orbit?

Lunar gravitational assists have been used for a single spacecraft, but not two. We determined it was more efficient and cost-effective to launch the observatories on one rocket. Lunar swingbys enable us to redirect the observatories to their respective orbits—opposite each other—something the launch vehicle alone couldn’t do. Initially the observatories will fly in an orbit from a point close to Earth to one that extends just beyond our Moon. In December, our mission operations personnel will direct one observatory, using a lunar swingby to escape Earth’s orbit and move into its position drifting ahead of Earth. In January 2007, the second observatory also will be redirected, again using a lunar swingby, to its position trailing Earth.

What is the RBSP mission?

Part of NASA’s Living With a Star Program, the RBSP mission will examine how solar activity affects Earth’s radiation belts—doughnut-shaped bands of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field that extend some 32,000 kilometers (20,000 miles) around our planet. The two identical space-craft will chase each other in their orbits, gathering data to

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CRISM Gets to Work at MarsThe APL-built Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), one of six science instruments aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), opened its spring-loaded protective cover on Sept. 27 and began its search for traces of past water on the red planet.

Scientists hope the MRO mission will answer questions about the history and distribution of Mars’ water by combining data from CRISM—the most powerful mineral mapper ever sent to the planet—with data from the orbiter’s high-resolution camera, context camera, ground-penetrating radar, atmospheric sounder, global color camera, radio, and accelerometers.

CRISM takes pictures both in visible-light and infrared wavelengths useful for identifying the composition of its targets, and from Sept. 29 though Oct. 6, the instrument captured images of several sites that reflect different episodes in Mars’ history. In Chasma Boreale, a valley that juts into the north polar ice cap, CRISM spotted layers that vary in soil composi-tion and in how much ice is mixed with the soil. A dark under-lying layer contains little ice, but just beneath it lies ice-rich material resembling higher layers.

“You see more ice-rich and less ice-rich layers, which tells you that conditions changed from the time one layer was deposited to the time another layer was deposited,” says APL’s Scott Murchie, CRISM principal investigator. “These layers are geologically young—on the order of thousands or millions of years—and may hold clues about climate cycles.”

Murchie also added that CRISM examined Mawrth Vallis as well, where clay-rich areas show some of the best evidence for

conditions possibly favorable for life on ancient Mars.

The observations marked the science payload’s first test at Mars. MRO begins its primary science mission phase in early November.

For CRISM information and images, visit http://crism.jhuapl.edu. For more on the MRO mission, visit http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro.

One of CRISM’s first “targeted” high-resolultion images of the Martian surface.

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APL team members celebrate CRISM’s cover opening.

Events Calendar CRISM: Let the Science Begin! Nov. 7, 2006

The APL-built CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) instrument, flying aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, starts its primary science mission to scour the red planet for traces of past water.

TIMED Marks 5 Years in Space Dec. 7, 2006

The TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) mission marks 5 successful years of studying Earth’s upper atmosphere. Since launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Dec. 7, 2001, TIMED has returned unprecedented data on the atmospheric regions located 60–180 kilometers (40–110 miles) above the surface.

New Horizons Jupiter Flyby Feb. 28, 2007

New Horizons, the first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, gets a gravity assist from Jupiter that sends it toward the distant planet. The spacecraft will also test its seven science instruments in the Jupiter system.

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY6

In Appreciation: James Van Allen, Internationally Recognized Research Pioneer Long before James Van Allen discovered the radiation belts around Earth that bear his name, he worked on high-altitude research at APL which laid the groundwork for projects that later made him famous.

When Van Allen died on Aug. 9 at age 91, the international science community mourned the loss of a research pioneer, whose revolutionary discovery of the radiation belts ushered in the field of magnetospheric physics and planetary exploration.

Van Allen began working at APL in 1942 on the development of the VT fuze and was later commissioned by the Navy to help introduce the fuze into the fleet. After the war, he led the Laboratory’s high-altitude research group, which used captured German V-2 rockets (and later, smaller Aerobee rockets) to study and recover information from Earth’s upper atmosphere, such as important data on cosmic rays, the composition of the atmosphere, measurements of Earth’s magnetic field and spectroscopy at high altitudes.

Van Allen left APL in 1951 and went on to an illustrious career in planetary exploration and research. He published more than 200 papers and was principal investigator on more than 25 space missions. His instruments traveled to the Earth’s Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. He served on important advisory boards and commissions and directed the disserta-tions of scores of doctoral candidates in space physics at the University of Iowa.

Bill Innanen of the APL Space Department was one of those graduate students. Van Allen was his thesis advisor, and it was

Left: James Van Allen in his University of Iowa office. Below: Van Allen (left) and Tom Krimigis (right) at the University of Iowa, 1966.

his recommendation that sent Innanen to APL in 1972 as a post-doc. Innanen remembers that Van Allen’s office was always piled floor to ceiling with data. “No one was allowed to clean it,” he says. He also recalls printing out his thesis on larger-than-usual paper and turning it in to Van Allen. “He used all that extra white space for red marks,” jokes Innanen.

“Van has been a teacher, mentor and colleague for me over the past 45 years; he was a clear thinker, had a keen eye for what was unusual in the data and truly unique intuition,” says Tom Krimigis, former APL Space Department head, who also was a Van Allen student.

Krimigis says his most vivid memory of working under Van Allen was when, as a graduate student in 1965, he watched data stream back from the Mariner 4 spacecraft, a Mars mission that had an instrument designed to detect possible “Van Allen belts” around the red planet. “It turned out that the Sun was sending out a stream of electrons, the first ever observed in space, and as I described the data to him, he immediately recognized the uniqueness of what we were seeing and became very excited,” Krimigis recalls. “He asked me to rush back to Iowa City with the tape, and within days we had prepared a paper announcing the new phenomenon. He lived and breathed these kinds of discoveries—they were central to his life and sense of accomplishment.”

Though the world commanded his attention, Van Allen continued a healthy relationship with APL, returning many times to participate in talks and reunions. In 1997 he contrib-uted an article, “My Life at APL,” to the Technical Digest (http://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/td1802/vanallen.pdf).

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APL, NASA Sign Research, Development and Engineering DealAPL and NASA have entered into a 5-year contract that allows APL to provide the agency up to $750 million in research, development and engineering support.

The contract, which includes an option for a 5-year exten-sion, covers areas such as systems testing and evaluation, space science and engineering, information technology and mission simulation, modeling and operations.

“This creates an environment in which we can quickly respond to NASA requests for support and will enable a more seamless relationship with the agency,” says APL Space Department head Rob Strain.

APL is one of just three government or university-affiliated institutions that can perform all aspects of robotic space missions, and the contract provides a means to preserve this essential capability at the Laboratory, consistent with NASA’s evolving needs. The contract does not guarantee funding; NASA can award work to APL through competed vehicles (such as Announcements of Opportunity) as well as noncompeted, sole-source task orders.

“Our expertise in space science, planetary missions and related engineering and technology fields was developed for NASA missions and remains valuable to the agency,” says Strain. “This contract will allow NASA to draw on that expertise more efficiently as it tackles increasingly more complex missions to support its Exploration Initiative. It will also allow us to team cooperatively with NASA centers on a variety of critical challenges.”

The contract is not expected to prompt an influx of new jobs for the Space Department, APL’s second largest, where nearly 600 people already work on a range of tasks for NASA and the Defense Department. Strain says he does expect that the Civilian Space and National Security Space Business Areas will be teaming with other APL business areas to support NASA under the contract.

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) touted other benefits in an Oct. 3 statement announcing the deal. “This agreement will make APL an international center of excellence in space science and usher in a new era of discovery and innova-tion,” she said. “This is exactly the kind of collaboration I have been fighting for to bring together our federal labora-tories and the private sector to propel Maryland’s economy into the future.”

Double Vision, continued from page 4

help the scientific community understand space weather prediction and its effects to better design and operate new technology on Earth and in space. NASA plans to launch the RBSP spacecraft in 2012.

APL’s role in RBSP is larger than with STEREO. We’re performing the same functions but will also be responsible for acquiring the instruments, for the quality of the instru-ments, for integrating them onto the observatories and for ensuring their proper operation.

How will your STEREO experience help with the challenges of building the two identical RBSP spacecraft?

STEREO taught us much about the processing flow and organization of the team associated with simultaneously working on two spacecraft. As with STEREO, we’ll have one team working on both observatories rather than two separate teams, each dedicated to a specific observatory. The way we communicate what we’re doing on each spacecraft and how we document activities on each will carry over from our experience with STEREO. The RBSPs have to be electromag-netically clean like STEREO, so a lot of the same techniques used on STEREO will apply to this mission, as well.

How do you design spacecraft to operate in a harsh radiation belt?

The RBSP spacecraft will operate in a 100-kilorad environment, requiring 10 times greater radiation protection than for STEREO. Since the spacecraft will live in the radiation belt, they will be susceptible to charged particles collecting both inside and out, which could cause an arc that’s like lightning inside your spacecraft. So to properly protect the spacecraft, we must select appropriate materials and do some special techniques with our wiring harnesses and its circuitry.

Early on in the project, we were asked to look at going outside APL to build the spacecraft, including what industry had done and if there was anything off-the-shelf we could use. The quick answer was no. And APL had some expertise with building and operating spacecraft in high-radiation environments via the AMPTE (Active Magnetospheric Tracer Explorers) Ion Release Module spacecraft—a comet experi-ment in the mid-1980s. Through AMPTE, we understand the radiation belt operating environment and have the capabilities to build electronics in-house to accommodate that environment.

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY�

The Civilian Space Explorer is published quarterly by the Space Department’s Education and Public Outreach Office

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory 11100 Johns Hopkins Road • Laurel, Maryland 20723-6099 Washington (240) 228-5000 / Baltimore (443) 778-5000

www.jhuapl.edu and http://civspace.jhuapl.edu

Send updates & inquiries to: kerri.beisser@jhuapl.eduWalt Faulconer, Civilian Space Business Area ExecutiveKerri Beisser, E/PO and Explorer ManagerMike Buckley, Senior WriterKristi Marren, Contributing WriterPaulette Campbell, Contributing Writer Margaret Brown, Contributing WriterRonnie Good, Copy EditorMagda Saina, Design CoordinatorSteve Gribben, IllustratorEd Whitman, PhotographerBill Rogers, Photographer

STEREO Launched, continued from page 1

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The STEREO spacecraft will use the Moon’s gravity to swing into position around Earth.

These powerful solar eruptions are a major source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and a key component of space weather, which can greatly affect satellite operations, communications, power systems and the lives of astronauts in space.

For the next few weeks, the spacecraft will fly in an elliptical orbit that extends from Earth just beyond our Moon. During this time, mission operations personnel at APL will place the spacecraft in flight mode, turn on and check out all instruments and subsystems and ensure that all systems are operating nominally as they prepare to collect data.

In mid-December, mission operations personnel at APL will synchronize spacecraft orbits and direct one observatory to its position ahead of Earth. In late January 2007, the second observatory will be redirected to its position trailing Earth. Just as the slight offset between our eyes gives us depth perception, this placement will allow the STEREO observatories to obtain 3-D images and particle measurements of the Sun.

During lunar swingbys, the Moon’s gravity will redirect the observatories to their respective orbits—something the launch vehicle alone can’t do. This is the first time lunar swingbys have been used to manipulate the orbits of more than one spacecraft.

Each STEREO observatory is carrying two instruments and two instrument suites, providing more than a dozen instruments on each

spacecraft. APL designed and built the spacecraft platform housing the instruments. When combined with data from observatories on the ground or in space, STEREO’s data will allow scientists to track the buildup and liftoff of magnetic energy from the Sun and the trajectory of Earth-bound coronal mass ejections in 3-D.

STEREO’s instruments were built by numerous organizations worldwide with a principal investigator (PI) leading each instrument team. The instruments and PIs are: Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI)—Russell Howard, Naval Research Laboratory; In situ Measurements of PArticles and CME Transients (IMPACT)—Janet Luhmann, University of California, Berkeley; PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC)—Antoinette Galvin, University of New Hampshire; and STEREO/WAVES (S/WAVES)— Jean-Louis Bougeret, Paris Observatory, Meudon.

STEREO is the third mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program, and is sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. NASA Goddard’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program Office in Greenbelt, Md., manages the mission, instruments and science center.

For more information, visit http://stereo.jhuapl.edu.