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

September 2005

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

Combined Federal Campaign launches

On Sept. 19, NASA AdministratorMichael Griffin released the results ofthe agency's Exploration Systems Ar-chitecture Study - a blueprint for thenext generation of spacecraft to take

humans back to the moon and on toMars and other destinations.

The study makes specific designrecomm end ations for a vehicle to carrycrews into space, a family of launchvehicles to take crews to the m oon andbeyond, and a "lunar mission architec-ture" for landing on the moon. It also

recommends the technologies NASAshould pu rsue in the near term.

The study will assist NASA inachieving President Bush's Vision forSpace Exploration, which calls for theagency to safely return th e space shuttleto flight, complete the InternationalSpace Station, return to the moon, andcontinue exploration of Mars and be-yond . Am erica's next generation space-craft w ill use an improved, blunt-bodycrew capsule, and w ill accomm odate u pto six people. "This spacecraft and itssystems w ill build up on the found ationof the proven designs and technologiesused in the Apollo and space shuttleprogram s, while having far greater ca-pability," Griffin said . "It will be able tocarry larger and heavier cargos into spaceand allow more people to stay on themoon for longer p eriods of time."

The new spacecraft can be config-ured either to supp ort hum an explorersor fly unpiloted to carry cargo. Its de-sign allows the flexibility to ferry crewsof three astronauts, plus ad ditional sup -plies, to and from the International Space

Administrator unveils strategy for space explorationStation, take four crew members to lu-nar orbit, and eventually maintain u p tosix astronauts on a mission to Mars.

Crews and cargo will be carriedinto orbit by a space shuttle-derived

launch system, consisting of a solidrocket booster and an up per stage pow-ered by a shuttle main engine that canlift 25 metric tons. The spacecraft alsowill be 10 times safer than the space

shu ttle because of its in-line design andlaunch-abort system. NASA chose theshu ttle-derived option for its laun ch system due to its superior safety, cost andits availability.

Specifically, the space shuttle's mainengines and solid rocket boosters arereliable and rated for hum an space flightMuch of the industrial base and hard-

Members of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) team hold the CFC banner. Left to right:Former representative for the CFC Bay Area board Herb Finger; deputy chairperson AndyHocker; Ames campaign chairperson Larry Lasher; loaned executive to the CFC office DennisRomano and Ames representative for the CFC Bay Area board Don Durston. Acting DeputyDirector Steve Zornetzer was unavailable for the picture.

NASAphotobyTomTrower

continued on page 8

The new ship will be able to ferry crew and supplies to the International Space Station. Plans call for as many as six trips to the outpost a year. In themeantime, robotic missions will lay the groundwork for lunar exploration. In 2018, humans will return to the moon. Here's how a mission would unfold: Aheavy-lift rocket blasts off, carrying a lunar lander and a "departure stage" needed to leave Earth's orbit (above left). The crew launches separately (abovecenter), then docks their capsule with the lander and departure stage and heads for the moon (above right).

continued on page 6

NASA Ames has an ambitiousgoal of raising $240,000 for the Com-bined Federal Campaign (CFC) thisyear to allow it to stand out as an

outstanding and generous memberand super hero of the community.Ames can be a good neighbor and


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Astrogram September 20052

Technology Development

Edw in F. EricksonRobert E. McMur ray

Technician

Kent A. Stednitz

Technical Support

Patricia B. Hu dsonJohn F. Schipper

Supervisor/Manager

Daniel M. BuftonMark H . KlissEugene L. TuSerdar Uckun

Student

Brooke H . Cole

Scientist/Researcher

William J. Boru ckiViktor Stolc

Safety and Environment

Richard H. MogfordCheryl M. Quinn

Project Manager

Howard N . Cannonand Stephen E. Dunagan(co-winners)

NASA EmployeeReynaldo J. Gomez

(JSC Employee)

MentorChristopher P. McKay

Group/Team

Airspace Concept Evaluation TeamAmes Child Care Center New

Facility ProjectManagement Team

Ames Management SystemDevelopm ent andCertification Team

NASA Am es Video Prod uctionGroup

Life Sciences Hyper-G TeamThe New Business Office GroupSystem Evaluation and

Assessment Data Analysis TeamUnitary Plan Wind Tun nel

- MMA Test Team

EEOTravis A. Liggett

Contractor Employee

David W. Bogdanoff, ELORETNathalie A. Cabr ol, SETI InstituteSergio Castellanos, Solution Qu estBrian H . Day, Planners

CollaborativeCharissa S. Kolar, Mu niz

Technologies, Inc.Celeste J. Merrym an, Lockheed

Martin EngineeringPepsi Phounrath, Muniz

Technologies, Inc.Michael D. Wong, Raytheon

Community Service/Volunteer

Kevin L. Jones

Commercialization/Tech Transfer Award

Futu re Air-Traffic-Managemen t Concepts Evalua tion ToolMeyya Meyyappan and Jun Li

Best First Paper at Ames

Shannon J. Zelinski

Administrative ProfessionalBetsy RobinsonLupe M. Velasquez

Ames lauds recipients of 2005 Honor Awards

Engineer

Wayne R. JohnsonJoseph P. Lavelle

NASA Ames Center Director G. Scott Hubbard personally thanked the Ames teams who supportedthe return to flight (RTF) for the monumental effort put forth by the teams to make RTF possible.He addressed them at a reception held in the lobby of Bldg. 200 on Sept. 8 honoring thecontributions of the people in the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, debris transport team, thermalreentry analysis team, Project Columbia, wind tunnels and public affairs office.

NASA photo by Tom Trower

Ames RTF teams acknowledged

The 2005 Ames Honor Award s w erepresented at a recognition ceremony onSept 1. This center-sponsor ed prog ramfeatures a p eer nomination process andis consider ed one of Ames' most p resti-gious honors. Congratulations to all

honorees!


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3Astrogram September 2005

Gathering of Eagles. From left to right: Former NASA Ames Center Director Hans Mark (thirddirector, 1969-1977); former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin; former NASA Ames Center DirectorHenry McDonald (eighth director, 1996 - 2002); Jack Boyd with his grandson Zachery Hovey;

former NASA Ames Center Director Sy Syvertson (fourth director, 1977-1984); and former NASAAmes Center Director Bill Ballhaus (fifth director, 1984-1989) at Boyds 80th birthday partycelebration bash held at Ames in August.

I would like to thank mymany friends at Ames for anunforgettable 80th birthdayparty. Those who believethey have accomplished

something in their livesshould pause for a momentand consider all those whohelped them along the way.I certainly had thatopportunity on my birthday,when you all helped me andmy family to celebrate it. Itwas truly the pinnacle of themany events I havecelebrated at NASA. I am

honored and proud to be apart of this incrediblefamily. I thank you!

-- Ol Jack

NASA Ames celebrates historian Jack Boyds birthdayFew peop le have influenced the cul-

tur e and eth os of NASA, and especiallyof NASA Ames, as profoundly as JackBoyd.

Throughou t his first 58 years of pub-

lic service, Boyd's work, words andsmiles have welcomed us all into theAm es family. Perhap s he is like a finewine, that only gets deeper and moreenjoyable with age.

For all that he is, his dedication tothe center has earned him countlesscircles of friend s aroun d th e center, andthese circles of friend s joined together atAmes to celebrate his 80th birthday on

Aug. 19 in the NASA Ames ConferenceCenter.

Like Boyd 's office door , the invita-tion was open to everyone -- to all thosehe has m entored, inspired, ad vised, re-lied upon, calmed, researched besideand comm itteed with.

NASAphotosbyDominicHart

Several members of NASA Ames'Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team(DART), representing several special-ties, have respond ed to calls for on-the-scene support of rescue and recoveryefforts in the aftermath of HurricaneKatrina.

Shortly after the disaster occurred,

the N ASA Am es Emergency Op erationsCenter (EOC) was activated an d w orkedwith the NASA Headqu arters EOC andwith other EOCs throughou t the agencysupporting NASA's hurricane relief ef-forts. Robert J. Dolci, director of emer-gency services at Ames, was called tosupport the Stennis Space Center EOCled by Bill Parsons, who was recentlynamed the new director of Stennis, nearGulfport, Miss.

Both Stennis and the Michoud As-sembly Facility near N ew Orleans, La.,

were hit hard by the hurricane. Ap-proximately 3,500 NASA civil serviceand contractor employees work at thetwo facilities, in ad dition to some 4,600emp loyees of other federa l agencies.

On Aug. 30, DART water rescuespecialist John Preston w as dep loyed aspar t of a 14-person flood r esponse teamsent to the hu rricane zone by CaliforniaTask Force 3 out of Menlo Park. Theteam retu rned to the Bay Area on Sept.16.

Ames assists hurricane relief effortsDART rescue specialists Mark

Tangney, Roger M iller, Lynn Bala, PauBrown, Eric Mueller, Kelly Kasser andErik Rockwell deployed with the 70person California Task Force 3 on Au g31 to supp ort the search an d r escue andrecovery efforts in the N ew Orleans areaOn Sept. 16, CNN covered the rescue ofa 71-year old man by members of thetask force. Tangney, deputy chief ofDART, reported that the team w as accompanied by the Coast Guard, U.SFish and Game, and the National Guardfor security.

A three-person emergency communications team from NASA Ames flewto Hu ntsville, Ala., to help establish com-mu nications at Michoud . The team alsoshipped emergency communicationsequipment and purchased $50,000 osatellite time to support satellite com-

munications. Team members includedBill Notley and Bill Hunt (QSS) of CodeJTN, and Code TN network engineerDave H artzell. Michael Wright also deployed to supp ort the emergency communications team in early SeptemberThe Ames team qu ickly and efficientlyset up an emergency satellite/ networkand voice communications services atMichou d, p roviding th e first stable com-

continued on page 4


4/16


More than 40 volunteerdocents and their guests were

welcomed at Chase Park onSept. 14 in appreciation oftheir valuable contributions tothe operation of the AmesExploration Encounter (AEE).Many of the AEE docents alsosupport the Ames ExplorationCenter, JASON Project, AeroExpo, as well as various otherNASA events.

Team NASA holds annual recognition picnic in Chase Park

NASA photo by Astrid Terlep

munications available to local rescuepersonnel.

A water purification team fromAm es - IAP contractors Jill Moud y, Matt

Clapp, Ian Vines and Danny Garo --rolled out th e gate on Sept 7, headed forStennis. Their equipment included awater pu rification unit, sup plies for thatun it, water, provisions, med ical packetsprovided by the Ames Health Unit andother sup port equ ipment. After a 46+-hour drive, the team arrived at Stennis.

The next morning they w ere escorted bya military convoy to the Michoud As-sembly Facility, where they qu ickly setto work prov iding potable water (at 3000

gallons per h our) for the many em ploy-ees wor king to restore that facility. Theycontinue to p ur ify mor e than 50,000 gal-lons of potable water every d ay.

As the area slowly recovers fromthe destruction of Hurricane Katrina,and as Hurricane Rita bears down onthe sam e area, members of DART stand

continued from page 3

Ames assists hurricane relief efforts

ready to p rovide continuing assistancein a variety of areas, as they have following other natu ral disasters and terrorisattacks. DART members remain on

stand-by, and as m any as 50 additionaDART members could be deployed ifrequested by the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency.

For more information abou t DARTvi si t: h t t p :/ / da r t . a r c.na sa .gov /index.html

BYANNSULLIVAN

NASA photo by Jon-Pierre Wiens

NASA transformation creates challenges, opportunitiesDuring an all-hands meeting on

Aug. 26, NASA Ames Research Cen-ter Director G. Scott Hubbard out-lined the changes and challenges fac-ing Ames during NASA's transfor-

mation to meet the requirements ofthe Vision for Space Exploration.Hubbard assured employees that"Ames is not closing or being starvedout." Non etheless, Hu bbard alsowarned that som e of the effects of thetransformation w ould be painful forAmes over the next few years as N ASAmakes the m ost sweeping changes in35 years.

Among the challenges facingAmes is a budget shortfall of some$250 million in FY 2007, comparedwith FY 2004. As a result, Ames hasan u nfund ed w ork force of about 700people in FY 2006 - 300 civil servants

and 400 contractors, according toHu bbard. Although the center didget a very important boost from theagency through the commitment tocreate an agency-wid e transition pro-

cess that will help take unfundedcivil servants through FY 2006,Hu bbard said Ames w ill initiate re-du ctions in its on-site contractor workforce and begin developing a new

transition work force pool for civilservants."We will make every effort to

find new work for our civil servantstaff either at Am es or elsewhere inNASA," Hu bbard vowed . He notedthat the centers that are primary ben-eficiaries of the Vision for Space Ex-ploration cannot hire new employ-ees to support the Vision withoutfirst consulting with other centers,like Ames, to see if the wor k can bedone there.

Positive news included the factthat Ames has been assigned the newRobotic Lunar Exploration Prog ram

and will play a m ajor role in NASA'snext lunar mission. In addition,Ames w ill be on the critical path forthe CEV with respect to thermal pro-tection systems and information tech-

nologies. Hu bbard predicted thatother opportunities will follow as

Ames d emonstrates it can d eliver."If we all work together, w e can

manage our way throu gh this valleyand come out the other side strongerand healthier," Hubbard asserted.


5/16


Question:

What types of contraband itemsare located during random vehicleinspections?

Answer:

The following items have beenfound during vehicle inspections:Firearms, un lawful knives, unlawfulweap ons (brass knu ckles, billy clubs,etc.), drugs and dru g parap hernalia.

Per the Code of Federal Regula-t ions, Ti t le 14, Volume 5,(14CFR1204.1003) Unau thorized in-trodu ction of weap ons or dangerousmaterials is pr ohibited on N ASA realprop erty or installations. Unless spe-cifically authorized by NASA, youmay not carry, transport, introduce,

Ask the Protective Services Wizard

store or use firearms or other dan ger-ous weapons, explosives or other in-cend iary devices, or other dan gerousinstrument or material likely to pro-du ce substantial injury or dam age topersom or prop erty.

Per section 12020 PC, these dan -gerous weapons include: any canegun or w allet gun , und etectable fire-arm, a firearm w hich is not immed i-

ately recognizable as a firearm, anycamouflage firearm container, ammu -nition which contains or consists offlechette dart, any bullet containingor carrying an explosive agent, ballis-tic knife, mu lti-bur st trigger activator,nun-chaku, short-barreled shotgun,short-barreled rifle, metal knuckles,

belt buckle knife, leaded cane, zipgun, shuriken, un conventional pistol,lipstick case knife, cane sw ord , shobi-zue, air gauge knife, writing p en kn ife,metal military practice hand-grenad eor metal replica han d-grenade, or in-strument or weap on of the kind com-monly known as a blackjack slung-shot, billy or sand-club, sap, sandbag,or dirk or d agger.

Do you have a question for theProtective Services Wizard ? Thenforward your security question tokw [email protected]. You canalso visit the Protective Services Website at http:/ / pso.arc.nasa.gov forfurther information.

From Sept. 6 to Sep t. 9, NASAAmes observed Security Week, aNASA-wide event designed to p romoteinformation and physical securi tyawareness through out the agency. In

sup por t of Security Week, Code J CenterOperations sponsored a 2-day, center-wide security event, planned and hostedby subject matter experts from the Cod eJT Inform ation Techn ology (IT) Secur ityAwareness team and the Code JP Pro-tective Services Aw areness team .

Together, the teams staffed tablesin the Ames Cafeteria, providing secu-rity-related materials, answering ques-tions, show ing security videos anddistributing small give-away items tohelp keep everyone mind ful of security

on a day-to-day basis. Other NASAcenters also took par t in Security Week,hosting their own center-wide eventsfor the week.

Staffing the tables during the two-day event, representing both Protective Services and ITSecurity Awareness Teams are: (seated left to right) Karol Broussard, Elizabeth Mulleda,Tony Damian (standing), Kimberley Walsh, Nicole Le (standing), Suzanne Meyer, HelenStewart and Rosalind Miller. Ames historian Jack Boyd (far right) takes the IT security quizchallenge to win additional give-away items.

Security Week events hosted at NASA Ames

BYROSALIND MILLER

NASAphotos

byTomTrower

Contraband found during vehicle inspections


6/16


Green sand found on the big islandof Haw aii resembles olivine crystals inthe icy interior of comet Tempel 1, ac-cording to a NASA Ames astrophysi-cist.

Scientists revealed tha t they d etectedgreen silicate crystals (olivine) in Temp el1 similar to, but smaller than, Hawa iiangreen sand particles, according to ar-

ticles by th e researchers in the Sept. 15,2005, issue of the journal Science Ex-press. They made their observationsbefore, during an d after the N ASA DeepImpact spacecraft's 820-pound 'impac-tor' collided with the comet in ear ly July2005, as planned, so astronomers cou ld

determine w hat is in comets. The papersoutline findings scientists made usinginfrared detectors on the Gemini andSubaru telescopes in Hawaii.

"The silicate crystals are talcum pow -der-size, but they are mad e of the samematerials as the green sand beaches inHawaii," said Ames' Diane Wooden, aco-auth or of both papers. The principalau thor of the Gemini Telescope pap er isDavid H arker, University of California,San Diego. Seiji Sugita of the Univer sityof Tokyo is the principal author of thesecond Subaru Telescope pap er.

"Following the collision of the cometwith th e 'impactor,' there w as a short-lived gas geyser associated with theimpact site that carried th e crystals fromTempel 1 into sp ace," Wooden said. "TheGemini and the Subaru telescopes aretwo of the biggest in the world, and wewere able to focus in on the green d ustpa rticles in the jet and ejecta - somethingthat m ost space-borne telescopes couldnot see in infrared light," she noted .

The insides of comet Temp el 1 lookvery much like the outsides of cometsthat have n ot been 'cooked' by passagesclose to the su n," Wooden said . She ex-plained that there might be green sili-

cates on the surfaces of comets thatswarm in the outer reaches of the solarsystem an d are n ot exposed to intensesunshine.

Anoth er comet, Hale-Bopp , was soactive that it released green silicate crys-tals as it passed close to the sun in 1997,according to Wooden.

"However , the Deep Impactspacecraft's 'impactor' had to blast thegreen silicate crystals from th e interior

of the comet Tempel 1 for u s to see themwith our ground-based instruments,"she noted.

Tempel 1 travels close to the sunduring part of the comet's orbit, andstrong sunlight hits the comet, causingits surface gases and other particles tofly off into space. These particles are

wh at make up a comet's tail, which formsnearer th e sun . "In Tempel 1's case, it haspassed near the sun so many times thait has lost mu ch of its surface gases andpar ticles," said Wooden.

"What's incredible to me is that thesurface - or maybe the fluffiness of thebody of Tempel 1 -- is protecting theprim itive particles and gases just belowthe sur face from being out-gassed ," ven-tured Wooden.

"We discovered crystalline silicatesin the d ust that flew from the comet afterits collision with the Deep Impact 'im-

pactor.' We don 't usu ally see these silicates in comets that h ave been 'cookedby the su n," Wooden explained.

Digital images of olivine particlesfrom a green sand beach in H awaii andother images related to this story can befound at :ht tp:/ / www .nasa.gov/ centers/ ames/ multimedia/ images/ 2005/olivine.html

A movie is available on-line thashows the collision of the comet withDeep Impact 's project i le: ht tp: / /w w w . n a s a . g o v / m o v /121527main_MRI_impact.mov

NASA finds green crystals in Comet Tempel 1

BYJOHNBLUCK

Gemini mid-infrared, false color images of comet Tempel 1 minutes before impact (left), 3 hours after(center) and 24 hours after impact (right.)

Photos courtesy of Gemini Observatory/AURA.

ware to sup port this option are alreadyin p lace, which w ill significantly lowerdevelopment costs. Futur e lunar explo-ration missions w ill be supp orted by aheavy cargo launch vehicle consistingof five space shuttle main en gines, andtwo five-segment shuttle solid-propel-

lant rocket boosters. This combinationyields a lift capab ility of 106 met ric tonsto low Earth orbit, and 125 metric tons,if it incorporates an Earth-departurestage. Although primarily designed tocarry cargo, this system can be h um an-rated to carry crew into orbit.

The study lays out a d eliberate, mile-stone-driven journey to the moon forNASA. Returning to the moon an d su s-taining a presence there will demon-strate that humans can survive on an-

other world, an d will build confidencethat astronauts can venture still fartherinto space and stay for longer p eriodsNASA's return to the moon will openopportunities for fundamental sciencein astrobiology, lunar geology, exobiology, astronomy an d physics.

The journey will start with roboticmissions between 2008 and 2011 to stud ymap and learn about the lunar su rfaceThese early missions will help determine lunar landing sites and whetherresources, such as oxygen, hydrogenand metals, are available for use inNASA's long-term lunar explorationobjectives.

Griffin stated that all NASA fieldcenters will participate in the new exploration initiative.

Space exploration strategy unveiledcontinued from front page


7/16


Retired NASA scientist finds place in history twiceWhen Dr. Delbert Philpott began

his Ames career in the basement of build-ing 214 in 1964, working on electronmicroscopes, neither he nor his col-

leagues realized Philpott would findhimself in the m idst of world events notjust once, but twice.

Philpott eventually went on to h eadthe electron m icroscope facility and re-tired in 1990. But long before NASA,Philpott was an Army foot solider inWorld War II wh en fate pu t him squarelyin the mid dle of one of the great turningpoints in 20th centur y history, 60 yearsago this year.

On April 25, 1945, Russian andAmerican troops joined forces in Torgau,Germany, on th e Elbe River. The link-upun ified the eastern and western frontsof the war in Europe and effectivelydivided Germany in two. It marked thebeginning of the Cold War . As one of the69th Infantry soldiers gathered there that

day, Philpott was photographed in agroup of American and Russian soldiers( see above photo) happily reaching ou tto greet each other. This historic mo-ment was captured by camera and ap-peared in newspapers around the world.

Sixty years later, former soldiersfrom 50 coun tries were invited to Russiafor a grand commemor ation of the GreatPatriotic War, as the war is known toRussians. Philpott was one of the 10

American veterans believed to partici-pate in a hu ge celebration in Moscow onMay 9. Philpott felt that this 60th ann i-versary gathering w ould be a great and

hear twarming

experience. Healso felt someresponsibility inrepresenting theveterans, espe-cially those wh owere k i l l ed .70,000 troopswere brought infor tightened se-curi ty in RedSquare. Aftermany speeches

by world lead-ers and miles ofmi l i t a ry pa-rades, the v eter-ans w ere invitedto the Kremlinfor an officials tate banquet .

Philpott though t he wou ld be sitting at atable with his fellow vets, but uponarriving, he wasasked to sit at thePresid ents Tablewi t h heads o f states as the repre-sentative of theve terans group.To his surprise,Ph i l po t t wasseated alongsidethe presidents ofChina and Russia,as well as Presi-den t Bush. He hadthe p leasure of sit-ting next to FirstLady Laura Bush.

I turned toMrs . Bush andasked her if shecan do me a fa-vor. She looked at me with astonish-ment. Can you pinch me, because Idon t believe this is happening, Ph ilpottsaid.

Mrs. Bush was very gracious andeasy to chat with. Philpott was inform-ing her about a book that h e and his wife

had edited called Hands Across theElbe, and that he had been trying togive a copy to President Bush and Russian President Putin. Mrs. Bush raisedher hand and her assistant ran to her

She stated, Make sure President Bushand President Putin get a copy of thisbook.

Philpott then asked Mrs. Bush if itwas possible to get a picture of him withPresident Bush . Mrs. Bush , once againraised her hand and this time, caughtMr. Bushs eye. Mrs. Bush let Mr. Bushknow that Philpott wanted to take apicture with him. The president respond ed you d ont want a picture withjust one president, so President Bushasked President Pu tin to join in the pic

ture. Philpott was ecstatic.Since retiring from N ASA, Philpot

has periodically worked at Ames w ithvisiting Russian scientists on the Cosmos program. His space radiation studies were flown on three of the RussianCosmos satellites. Philpott also participated in flying five pocket mice to themoon on Apollo 17 and had experimen ts on several shuttle flights. H e and

his wife later edited th e Hand s Acrossthe Elbe book, a collection of some ofthe Russian American link-up stories

(Left to right) Delbert Philpott, President Bush and Russian PresidentPutin during Philpotts visit to Moscow in May for the grandcommemoration of the Great Patriotic War.

Delbert Philpott, 69th Infantry soldier, second from left, reaches out toRussian soldiers on April 25, 1945.

BYTERRYPAGADUANANDKELLYGARCIA


8/16


Larry Lasher (front, center) CFC chairperson for Ames, at the food bank exhibit in Oakland.

BYLARRYLASHER2005 CFC CHAIRPERSON

Combined Federal Campaign kick off event held recently at the courtyard of the OaklandFederal Building.

sensitive to those in need around us;Ames has proven in the past to be themost generous government donor in theBay Area - a reputa tion to live up to. TheAm es camp aign will run from Oct. 12 toNov. 1.

There are two important changes inthe way Combined Federal Campaign(CFC) operates this year. For the firsttime, to improve the efficiency of thecampaign, there has been a 2005 CFCmerger by the Santa Clara/ San Benitocounties CFC (those canvassed by Ames)with the Gr eater San Francisco Bay Ar eaCFC. This will lead to better coord ina-tion of the fund-raising efforts and af-ford su bstantial cost savings in financialaccounting and auditing. The secondbig change is the introd uction of eCFC,

wh ich enables a simp le and p rivate wayof contribu ting to you r favorite charitieselectronically by using WebTADS.

The Combined Federal Campaignallows you to specify the agencies ofyour choice to donate to or you maywish to give to the CFC in general, whichthen distributes the money in propor-tion to the mon ies received by the chari-ties designated by other donors. TheCFC brochure lists hundreds of agen-cies to consider and can be viewed on

continued from front page

Be a superhero - support CFC

the Inside-Ames Web site. Check foryour favorite agencies by using thesearch engine.

A stirring video on th e CFC can beseen on t he Web a t h t t p :/ / www.cfcsfbaysv.org/

There are several good reasons togive to the CFC:

Assist the Gulf states hu rricaneand flood relief effort;

Exhibit NASA Ames pride in sup -

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)

porting the comm unity; Help the less fortun ate; and Benefit from IRS ded uction for

charity d onation.If you have any questions, contac

the campa ign chairperson, Larry Lasherat ext. 4-3076 or the depu ty chairpersonAnd y H ocker at ext 4-4120.

Greater San Francisco Bay A rea/Santa Clara and San

Benito Counties


9/16


Ames Safety Week, Sept. 19-22, featured a number of programs andtraining opportunities to increase employee safety awareness. The weekbegan with a celebration of Ames achievement of VPP recertification atthe STAR level for maintaining an excellent safety and health program.

In recognition of the accomplishment, Occupational Health and SafetyOrganization (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) managerPauline Caraher presented a plaque to Ames center management andemployee union representatives. Left to right: NASA Ames DeputyCenter Director (acting) Steven Zornetzer, Suzanne Meyer, ChristopherKnight, Pauline Caraher, Michael Dudley, chief, Safety, Environmentaland Mission Assurance Office and Dora Herrera.

NASA photo by Tom Trower

Ames safety week kicks off with VPP STAR recertification

N

ASAphotosbyDominicHart

NASA Research Park event highlights robotics

Students demonstrate speedy,student-built robots.

Guests at the NRP open house enjoy theexhibits.

The NASA Research Park (NRP)Division hosted an open hou se andNRP lecture at Ames on Sept. 20.The well-attended open house in-cluded exhibits from a variety ofNRP partners and robotics demon-strations from NASA's Robotics Al-liance Project and Carnegie MellonUniversity's West Coast Campus.

The NRP lecture, presen ted toa standing-room-only crowd, fea-tured famed robotics expert, Dr.William "Red" Whittaker, w ho d is-

cussed 'Racing for the Future,' histeam's efforts to w in the $2 millionDARPA Grand Challenge Prize.

"Red" Whittaker describes the GrandChallenge race to be run Oct. 8.


10/16


Aeronautics Director Leroy Skip Fletcher bids farewell to Ames

BYJONAS DINO

Astronomer Cynthia Phillips willgive a non-technical, illustrated talkon: Jup iters Tantalizing Moon: Water(and Life?) Under the Ice of Europ a.

Date: Oct. 5, 7 p.m.Place: Smithwick Theater

Foothill CollegeEl Monte Road an dFreeway 280

Los Altos Hills

Silicon Valley Astronomy lecture presents

Mike George (right) deputy director ofAeronautics, presents Skip Fletcher with a wind

tunnel clock as a farewell momento atFletcher's retirement party. Fletcher started hiscareer at NASA working in the Ames windtunnels.

The event is free and open to thepu blic. Parking on campu s costs $2.Call the series hotline at (650) 949-7888 for m ore informa tion.

The event is co-sponsored byNASA Ames, the Foothill College As-tronomy Program, the SETI Instituteand the Astronomical Society of thePacific.

Leroy Skip Fletcher

During h is six-plus year tenure asAmes' director for aeronautics, Leroy'Skip' Fletcher faced the d aun ting task ofbalancing the aeronau tics traditions andcapabilities developed as a part of the

National Advisory Comm ittee for Aero-nautics with a need to invest in newareas. Under Fletcher's leadership, Amespu rsued research opportu nities in fledg-ling areas of aeronau tics.

"When Skip Fletcher came to Am es,he inherited an aeronau tics program ina state of transition," said N ASA AmesResearch Center Director G. ScottHubbard. "He took on the tough chal-

lenge of helping the organization trans-form itself with determ ination, courage,vision an d skill. Skip's hard work andleadersh ip are an inspiration to u s all."

"Dr. Fletcher has been a valuableasset to Ames and to the agency duringhis time at Ames. His knowledge offundamental aerodynamics, coupledwith a ready und erstanding of new are-nas for research such as air traffic man-agement modernization, have helpedmaintain Ames's continued contribu-tions to aeronautics," said Associate Ad-ministrator for Aeron autics Research atNASA Headq uar ters, J. Victor Lebacqz.Lebacqz served as Am es' deputy aero-nautics director under Fletcher beforetaking his post at headqu arters.

Because of these efforts, the FederalAviation Administration (FAA) looksto Ames as the leader in the develop-ment of decision supp ort software and apartner in the transformation of theNational Airspace System. Today, soft-ware tools such as Surface Managem entAd visor and Multi-Center Traffic Man-agement Ad visor are installed at some

of the nation's major airports with fur-ther p lans for expansion.

Ames also has actively pu rsued thedevelopm ent of remotely controlled andautonom ous aircraft and strengthenedthe capabilities of Ames' world-class

simulation facilities.With advances in compu ter simu la-

tion and the imp lementation of 'full costrecovery,' physical facilities like windtun nels, ballistic ranges and arc jets de-creased in importance for many deci-sion makers. Under Fletcher's leader-ship, Ames was able to maintain m uchof that expertise and capability. Amesstrengthened partnerships with tradi-tional aeronau tics partners and activelypu rsued partn erships with other NASAcenters non-traditional partners.

This foresight paid dividend s du r-

ing the Mar s Exploration Rover missionand NASA's Return to Flight efforts.The wind tunn el, ballistic range and arcjets wer e integral in verifying the com-pu ter models used in the redesign of thespace shuttle and subsequent missionsupp ort, includ ing emergency wind tun-nel tests on the shuttle's therma l blanketto determine its safety for re-entry.

In addition to his contributions toAmes, Fletcher has mad e significant con-tributions to the aeronautics and engi-neering commu nity. He is a mem ber ofnumerous professional organizations in-clud ing the Am erican Institute of Aero-

nau tics (AIAA) and th e Amer ican Soci-ety of Mechanical Engineers and hasbeen recognized n um erous times for hisleadership and accomplishments.

"Through his leadership r ole in theAIAA and wide range of professionalacquaintances in that regard, he has ex-pand ed N ASA's impact in the aerospacecommu nity," said Lebacqz.

As aeronautics director and earlieras a bud ding engineer in the Ames wind

tunn els, Skip has mad e a lasting impression.

"I have known Skip for about 50years when w e were both a lot younger

working in Ames wind tunnels," saidJack Boyd , NASA Am es historian . "Eventhen he had th e Aggie mentality (TexasA & M) which w as 'if it is broken , fix inow', 'if it is not broken, fix it anywaybecause it probably will be broken bytomorrow'".

"Skip d id u s a great service by com-ing to Ames and I wish him the best inhis new/ different endeavors. Take careSkip, and 'H ook em H orns'."

Fletcher held the post of Ames director for aeronautics from Feb. 1, 1999to Aug. 28, 2005. He returned to theDepar tmen t of Mechanical Engineeringat Texas A&M to assume his duties asRegents and Thom as A. Dietz professor

"It has been a real pleasu re workingwith th e Ames family over the past sixplus years - and my wish is that thecenter will continue to be the excitingsuccessful center that we have been inthe p ast," said Fletcher. "It will take teamwork un der the new parad igm of NASAbut I know that you all can do it!"


11/16


An u ncommon comm on man d iedin Palo Cedr o, Calif. Jacob Smith p assedaway on June 28, 2005, surrounded byhis wife, his five children, and several

grandchildren, as they sang hymnsaround his bedside. Smith w as 91 yearsold, and h ad been m arried to h is wife for65 years.

Smith was bor n in Brewton Ala., onJun e 3, 1914. His father d ied w hen Smithwas very youn g, and he spent his child-hood being raised by his mother. Lifewas d ifficult for Smiths family, but hehad a wonderful relationship with hisbrother, Gordon, and his two sisters,Althea and Vivian. Soon after his gradu -

ation from h igh school, he left Alabamafor Chicago, where he lived briefly be-fore making the trek to California.Shortly after arriving, he m et the love ofhis life, Helen Beatrice Evans. And thatlove affair continued un til he drew hisfinal breath, as she held his hand. Inother words, when Smith and Helensaid Til death d o us p art, they meantit.

Smith and Helen had been resi-dents of the Redding area since theyretired from Ames, moving from theBay Area to Palo Cedro in 1971. Prior tothat, Smith (his friends called h im Jake)

worked for NASA at the Am es ResearchCenter at Moffett Field, serving as chiefaircraft inspector for m ore than 30 years.During that time, he traveled all over theworld as part of the Ames Researchteam, doing scientific studies on variou sphenomenan in the atmosphere sur-round ing Earth, includ ing the northernlights. Smith loved flying airplanes andscientific expeditions, and he enjoyedtraveling. But w orking at Moffett Fieldand anyone who knew Smith couldtell you this was not h is only love and

passion. Smiths other real passion, andthe center of his life was his undyinglove for his family and his God.

Dur ing his tenur e at Moffett, and inaddition to holding a full-time position

there, few of the people who workedwith Smith every day knew that he alsoserved as the superintendent of thePeniel Rescue Mission. The skid-rowmission (wh ich is no longer in existence)provided food and clothing for men liv-ing on the streets of San Jose. Andseven-nights-a-weekfor 12 1/ 2 years Smith d irected the caring ministry ofthat mission. Each night, he w ould go tothe mission, often w ith his wife and h ischildren, and oversee the preparation ofa hot meal, and cond uct a gospel servicefor the street peop le of San Jose. Smithwas not a preacher. He was, however,

someone who cared about people. Andthat concern for peop le was an incred-ible motivating theme throughout hisentire life.

One of the p rimary reasons Smithmoved to Palo Cedro to retire was sohe and his wife could begin a fosterhome for troubled kids. His beautifulhome and acreage in the rolling hillseast of Redding provided a wonderfulsetting for such an end eavor. For sev-eral years after their retirement, Smithand H elen provided a h ome for troubledkids. They called it Blue Oak Ranch.

Later in their retirement, workingwith kids and teens became less feasiblefor them, and th ey decided to focus their

attention on helping small churchesThey purchased a motor home and became a part of MAPS, a volun teer orga-nization that provides construction as-sistance for chu rches who need it. Smith

and Helen traveled throughou t California and Oregon, working alongside othervolunteers, bringing encouragement anda helping hand to small or strugglingchurches that needed assistance withremodeling or n ew construction.

In recent years, Smith and Helenwere a part of Gideons International, aBible distribution organ ization that pro-vides free copies of the scriptures tohotels and m otels, hosp itals and those inthe med ical profession, and the Arm edForces of the Un ited States. Smiths caror van always had several copies of theBible handy for distribution to anyone

he might happ en to see. Smith loved togo to church on Sundays, and for thepast several years, he and h is wife calledBethel Church in Redding their churchhome.

Most people may not be aware thatone out of a hundred people in the UnitedStates has Smith as a last nam e. Butmake no mistake abou t it. Jake Smithwasnt one in a hun dred . He wasneven one in a thousand, or one in amillion. An uncom mon common mandied this summ er in Palo Cedro. Andthe best epitaph th at can be wr itten abouhis life is a four-word ph rase, He w asquite simp ly: One of a kind .

One of a kind Jacob Smith passes away in Palo Cedro

BYKENJONES

Jacob Smith

Festival patrons travel to Mars

NASA photo by Astrid Terlep

Throngs of visitors stopped bythe NASA tent at theMountain View Art and WineFestival on the weekend ofSept. 10 to Sept. 11 to learnmore about NASA and for a

chance to appear that theyhad visited Mars. The AmesPublic Affairs and Life SciencesDivisions organized the exhibitthat featured a photo boothwith a mock Mars landscapebackground. Photos of over1,100 prospective 'Marsastronauts' were snapped overthe two day festival.


12/16


Interns get rare opportunity to solve shuttle problem

Students who participated in NASA's Return-to-Flight efforts (left to right) Derrick Chu,Amela Zanacic, Kurt Long (advisor), Kristi Stavros and Teresa Quinliven.

BYJENNIFER KREMER

After the first scrubbed launch onJuly 13, 2005, the wor ld w aited for th ego-ahead to launch space shuttle Dis-covery and her crew into orbit for thefirst time in two-and-a-half years. Wh at

the world didn't see, were the manyfactors involved in getting the greenlight for all systems go.

In July, James Ross, chief of theExperimen tal Aero-Physics Branch, wasbriefed abou t frozen w ater drop lets thathave been accumu lating and then drop -ping off the space shu ttle orbiter du ringascent. No wind tu nnel tests had everbeen conducted on the dr ag characteris-tics of such ice particle shapes. As aresult, the team conducting computa-tional fluid dynam ics (CFD) on the tra-

jectory of these ice pa rticles had to relyon estimates for the d rag characteristics.This aspect of the analysis had a criticalbearing on whether, and if so, where,the particles may impact the orbiter.Ross approached US Navy flight testengineer Kurt Long to gath er a team tocondu ct a wind tu nnel test of ice particleeffects on the sh uttle test.

Later that same day, five studentinterns from Ames' Educational Associ-ates (EA) program and Summer HighSchool Apprenticeship Research Pro-

gram (SHARP) in the Fluid MechanicsLaboratory (FML), were d iligently work-ing on th eir sum mer p rojects using w indtunnels when Long presented them w ithan opportunity of a lifetime: to teamtogether and provide suppor t forNASA's shuttle retu rn-to-flight efforts.

The team required just over fivehours to plan, design/ construct hard-ware, stop existing w ind tu nnel testing,reconfigure the wind tunnel, calibrateinstrumentation, collect data, analyzedata and then provide the data to thespon sor, explained Long. We hadwind tunnels available since the stu-dents h ave been w orking on p rojects inthem; however, the challenge for thistest was to figure out wh ich w ind tun nelto use, he added .

"We d ecided on th e FML's test cellnumber two wind tunnel and beganreconfigur ing it for this test," said AmelaZanacic, a student from Cal Poly SanLuis Obispo. The team decided to usethis tunnel because of i ts ease of

reconfigu ration, ability to acqu ire forceand moment d ata, and its ability to rep-resent the fu ll-scale aerodyn amic char-acteristics of the ice par ticles.

As the project got un derw ay, there

was a clear sense of urgen cy. The whole

process was chaotic. We w ere told to getsome tools - it didn 't matter what kind oftools, just get any tools! And wh en theybegan drilling holes in the floor of thewind tunn el, it really freaked u s out,explained Zanacic. The holes w ereadd ed to the w ind tu nnel floor plate to

facilitate rapid model mounting andreconfiguration for th is effort; since mostwind tunnel models employ standard-ized mounting lugs, this step is rarelyemp loyed. Scram bling was a lot offun, she laughed .

The team cut a two-and-half-inch-diam eter acrylic sph ere into quarters tosimulate the shape of the ice particlesaffixed to the orbiter. The quar ter spherewas then attached to an eight-inch sting,a mou nting device with a very sensitivebalance that w ould m easure forces andmom ents on th e object in thr ee differentorientations relative to the flow direc-tion. The model and balance were theninstalled within the wind tunnel testsection, and the tun nel was ru n at vari-ous speeds to measure the resultantforces on the ice part icle. The resu ltan tdata w ere analyzed to ensure accuracy,and th en provided to N ASA shuttle pro-gram personnel, to help pr edict the icepar ticle trajectories du ring the shuttle'sascent. The data also were used in a

briefing to shuttle program personneduring a shuttle go/ no go launch m eeting the very n ext morning (a Saturd ay)

The experience reinforced what Iam doing and studying in order to be

come an engineer. Engineering is excit

ing! exclaimed Kristi Stavros, a studen t from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

It is great to work with studentinterns. It allows us to teach the nexgeneration and receive fresh, new ideasThis project brought the stu dents ou t ofthe realm of theory and p rovided them

with real-wor ld applicability and a feeling of self-satisfaction, said Long.When you w ork at NASA, you al

ways hear about the 'glory days ofNASA,' referring to the 60s and 70s. Asinterns, we w ere able to get a taste of thatfeeling from the p ast and experience thefeeling of teamw ork, said Zanacic. Interns never think they wou ld get a chanceto work on this type of pro ject. Theydream of this moment, added TeresaQuinliven, a stud ent from Cal Poly SanLuis Obispo, who missed th is opportu-nity du e to her first flight lesson towardher helicopter pilot's license.

Along w ith Ross, Long, Zanacic, andStavros, the other interns and employees who participated in this project wer eSHARP student Derrick Chu, MattDaniels from USRP, Dan Dzoan fromthe Ohlone College Summ er Intern Program, and engineers Dennis Acosta andDave Yaste.


13/16


NASAphotosbyJohnForward

Migrant students explore space, science and technology at Ames

Migrant students who recently visited NASA Ames, seen here at theAme Exploration Encounter participating in the interactive exhibits.

Students of migrant families listen attentivelyto a science lesson in the Ames ExplorationEncounter.

To inspire the next generation ofexplorersas only NASA can. This isthe task to wh ich w e have been assignedin the Ames Exploration Encounter.From September throu gh June, the AmesExploration Encounter is filled w ith stu-

dents from all over California and Ne-

vad a. Studen ts from pu blic schools,private schools and home schools havethe opportunity to visit a world-classfacility and to immerse themselves inthe stud y of space, science and techn ol-ogy.

There is one group of studen ts whoseedu cation is not a first pr iority, as theirpa rents are forced to travel from field to

field, their lives ruled by growing sea-sons that don't match the school calen-dar. These children miss weeks ormonths of school. Most face an addi-tional challenge because they don 't speakEnglish. These are the children w ho hav emoved more times than the years theyhave been alive. These are the migrantstudents.

Migrant students are among theneed iest stud ents in California schools.Migrant families move frequen tly as theyfollow w ork in the agr icultu re, fishing,dairy or logging indu stry. Und er the NoChild Left Behind Act (NCLBA), sup-port is provided to help reduce the edu -cational disruption and other problemsthat result from repeated moves. Thelaw states that migrant education ser-vices are a priority for those studentswhose education has been interrupteddu ring the current school year and w hoare failing, or a re m ost at risk of failing tomeet state content and performance stan-dards.

Through a collaborative partnershipbetween NASA Ames Exploration En-counter and San Jose Unified SchoolDistrict Migrant Education Program,more than 125 students attended the

Ames Exploration Encoun ter. Und er theleadership of San Jose Unified SchoolDistrict Migrant Education DirectorAmelia Romero and Principal AlbertMoreno the students were provided ahigh-quality and comprehensive edu-

cational prog ram for migratory childrenthis summ er.Before their

visit to the AmesExplora t ion En-counter, AEE op-erations managerLorraine Ruiz andvolunteer docentRenato Piombi pre-sented the programin Spanish to thestudents at theirschool. Excitemen twas high, as thestudents had been

watching televi-s i on and hea r dabout the Discov-ery mission. Manyof them had heardabou t a s t r onau tcandida te Jose

Hernandez, who also was the son ofmigran t paren ts. Their goal was to visitNASA and meet a real space celeb-rity!

They cer tainlywere not d isappointedas they had an oppor-tunity to meet NASAAmes very ow n Jolen

Flores, Ph.D. They allasked for a copy of theJune/ July 2005 issue ofHispanic Engineermagazine so that theycould have a copy ofFlores article abou thow he was namedone of the Top His-panics in Technologyand Business. Floresgave students an out-standing presentationon h is career at N ASAAmes.

We are very fortu-nate to have a group ofdocents that volunteerin the AEE who tooktime out of their sum -mer vacations to jointhe migrant studentsvisit to the Ames Ex-ploration Encounter.For the first time sinceits inception, the Am esExploration Encoun terPr og r am was p r e -sented in a bilingual/English/ Span ish for-

mat.With the support and encourage

ment of the ed ucation d ivision m anagement, Mark Leon and Laura Shaw neeas well as Planners Collaborative volun-

teer man ager Barbara Patterson, operations manager Lorraine Ruiz and assis-tant m anager Lorraine Wentz, 125 Span-ish-speaking students were given theopp oru tnity to become NASAs nexgeneration of scientists, engineers andastronauts. Perhaps some day we wilsee one or more of them on the cover oHispanic Engineer magazine.

BYLORRAINE RUIZ


14/16


Events Ca lendar

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

Ames Ballroom Dance Club. Classes on Tuesdays.Beginning classes meet at 5:15 p.m. Higher-level classmeets 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 Tuesdaynights. Seeking full-time bowlers and substitutes.Questions to sign up: Mike Liu at ext. 4-1132.

Ames Child Care Center Board of Directors Mtg,every other Thursday (check Web site for meeting dates:http://accc.arc.nasa.gov), 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., N-210,Rm. 205. POC: Cheryl Quinn, ext 4-5793.

Ames Contractor Council Mtg, first Wednesday eachmonth, 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 ea. 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 of ea.

month, 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m., Bldg. N262, Rm 180. POC: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 ea.month (Feb through Nov), from 12:00 p.m. -1:00 p.m. inBldg. N-262, Rm 100. URL: http://sail.arc.nasa.gov/.POC: Becky Hooey, ext. 4-2399.

Environmental Forum,first Thursday of each month,8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., Bldg. 221/Rm 155. URL: http://

q.arc.nasa.gov/qe/events/EHSseries/ POC: Stacy St.Louis at ext. 4-6810.

The Hispanic Advisory Committee forExcellence HACE Mtg, first Thurs of month in N255room 101C from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. POC: EricKristich at ext. 4-5137 and Mark Leon at ext. 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 at

ext. 4-1500, [email protected]'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.

A statistical summary of activi-t ies of the Protect ive ServicesDivision's Security/ Law Enforce-ment and Fire Protection Servicesun its for the month of Augu st 2005 isshown below.

Protective Services

monthly activity

Ames emergencyannouncements

To hear the centerwide statusrecording, 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.

Discussions of current environ-mental events at NASA Ames pre-sented by th e Environmen tal ServicesOffice will be held as follows:

OctoberTitle:Groundwater Hydrogeology

and Remedial TechnologyUsed for Groundw ater

Clean-up at NASA AmesPresenter: Don Chu ck, restoration

specialist, NASADate: Oct. 6Time: 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.Location: Building 221, Room 155

NovemberTitle: Storm Water Regulations

at NASA AmesPresenter: Christy Ray-Hagenau,

environmentalcompliance

specialist, ISSiDate: Nov. 3Time: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m .Location: Building 221, Room 155

Environmental Forums scheduled

DecemberTitle: Vap or Intru sion Study

at AmesPresenter: Tom And erson,

conservationcompliance canager,ISSi andSandy Olliges,dep uty director,Office of Safety,

Environmentaland MissionAssurance, Ames

Date: Dec. 1Time: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.Location: Building 221, Room 155

To learn more abou t any of thesepresentations, Stacy St. Louis atsstlou [email protected] or ext. 4-6810.

Security/Law Enforcement Activity

Fire Protection Activity


15/16


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 statements

made in the ads. Caveat emptor!

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. 4-6873

Ask 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

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

MiscellaneousThe Ames Cat Network needs help finding homes for

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

Christmas Belles 27th Annual Holiday Boutique: 10/19- 10/22. Address: 530 Pamlar Avenue, San Jose, CA95128. 10/19 open from 12 noon to 8 pm; 10/20 & 21open from 10 am to 6 pm; and 10/22 open frm 9 am to 5pm. Treat yourself to originality with your gifts anddecorations this year! For 27 years, the Christmas BellesBoutique brings together Bay Area artists offering

handcrafted gifts and decorations for Christmas,Thanksgiving, Halloween and many other holidays. Withevery purchase of $25 or more, spin a prize wheel fordiscounts or other prizes. Contact person: Karen Davis.Phone Number: 408-287-9256

Sears 12" radial arm table saw. Variety of bladesavailable. Best offer. Call (408) 732-4587.

GE 31 color TV. $45. Call (408) 295-2160.

Kenwood home theater A/V receiver, Dolby Digital 5.1;100 [w/ch]. $75. Call (408) 295-2160.

Starter PC: Windows2000, 333MHz, 164MRAM, 15GBHD, 52x CD-ROM, USB, keyboard, mouse and speakers (nomonitor). Perfect for first computer. $75. Call (408) 295-2160.

Sears 12" radial arm table saw. Variety of bladesavailable. B/O. Call (408) 732-4587.

Changing table and crib in exc. condition. Both arereal wood with natural/clear finish. Changing table is a Pali

($100), and crib is a Simmons wi/dual slide-down panels($150). See in person. Call (408) 295-2160.

Astrogram deadlines

Submit articles and photographsto [email protected] nolater than the 10th of each month . Ifthis falls on th e weekend or holiday,then the following business day be-comes the deadline. If you w ant a p ho-tographer to cover an event youresponsoring, its very important thatyou submit a service request to theVideo and Photographic ServicesGroup at least 5 days in ad vance of theactivity. Every effort will be mad e to

Safety Data

Civil ContractorsServants

First aid cases 22 13

Lost-tim e cases 0 8

Recordable cases 3 15

Lost work day s 0 158

Restricted du ty day s 0 88

Above data is as of 9/ 14/ 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 Aug. 31, 2005

accommodate your request when-ever its submitted, but please un-derstand that photographers may notbe available for last-minute requ ests,so best to plan ahead !For Astrogramquestions, contact Astrid Terlep atthe aforementioned e-mail addressor ext. 4-3347. For inform ation abou tphotograp hy or video services, con-tact Ed Schi l l ing at e-mailEdw ard [email protected] orext. 4-1307.

3 bd/1 ba house in Menlo Park. Close to Stanford, andSRI, and Palo Alto. Home (650) 591-4840.

Housing

Lake Tahoe-Squaw Valley Townhse, 3bd/2baequipped, balcony view, horseback riding, hiking, biking,river rafting, tennis, ice skating and more. Summerrates. Call (650) 968-4155 or [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 of Yosemite.3bd/1.5 ba, TV, VCR, MW, frplc, BBQ, priv. boat dock.Sleeps 8. $1,050/wk. Call (559) 642-3600 or (650) 390-9668.

Big Sur vacation rental, secluded 4bd/2ba house in

canyon setting. Fully eqpd kitchen. Access to priv.beach. Tub in patio gdn. Halfway between Carmel andBig Sur. $175/night for 2; $225 for 4 and $250 formore, plus $150 cleaning dep. Call (650) 328-4427.

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

Pine Mountain Lake vacation home. Access to golf,tennis, lake, swimming, horseback riding, walk to beach.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 $3,000/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.

Santa Cruz townhouse, 2 bedrooms plus study, 2baths, decks, totally furnished, 3 blocks from beach,available July, August, September; $1,600 per month.Call (831) 423-5777 (H) or (831) 277-8476 (C).

West Maui vacation at Kahana Falls, across streetfrom beach. Thanksgiving week 19-26 Nov 05, $630/wk. 1bd/2 ba, w/d, fk. For 2 adults, 0 to 2 kids. Call(650) 962-1314 after Aug 7.

San Francisco, Donatello Hotel, small, deluxehotel, one block from Union Square, 4 nights availableto be scheduled either together or individually, $150per night. Call Barry Cunningham (510) 793-4457 ore-mail [email protected]

Vacation rental. Ferndale - The Victorian Village.Victorian home on Main Street a short stroll to theVillage which has been designated as a state historicallandmark. Enjoy the many holiday activities whichinclude a Christmas parade and lighting of America'stallest living Christmas tree. Four bedrooms (sleepsapprox. six), two full baths, large kitchen, diningroom, parlor w/fireplace, enclosed desk w/hot tub. Forinfo call (707) 983-9514.

Monterey Bay vacation rental at Pajaro Dunes, 20miles south of Santa Cruz, 3bd/2ba beach house withdistinctive architecture. Beautiful ocean and valleyviews, only 150 ft from the beach, first-class tenniscourts. $500/wkend, $200/addl night, includingcleaning by the maid service when you depart. Call(408) 252-7260.


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

FOIA helps shed light on government opennessJames Madison once argued that

open ness in governmen t will assist citi-zens in m aking informed choices neces-sary to a democracy. The Freedom ofInformation Act, or FOIA, is a unique

way to keep citizens informed about

their government.FOIA was passed by Congress in

1966 so citizens can have access to gov-

ernment records. Any member of thepu blic may obtain these records main-tained and controlled by the executivebranch agencies.

A FOIA request can be m ade by an yperson, for any reason w hatsoever, theydo not have to explain or justify theirrequ ests. Requests have to be made inwriting throu gh m ail, fax, electronicallyor hand d elivered.

By law, an initial determination mu stbe made on a FOIA request within 20working d ays. If an extension is needed,the FOIA officer and requester deter-

mine an agreed am ount of time for theextension. Fees are based on categoriesof requesters. Fees can be charged forsearch, review and reprodu ction.

It is the policy of NASA to makerecords available to the public to the

greatest extent possible, in keeping w iththe sp irit of the FOIA, while at the sam etime protecting sensitive information

that may be withheld, pursuant to oneof the FOIA exemp tions:

Exemption 1: NationalDefense- Class ified

Exemption 2: Internal Rulesand Practices

Exemption 3: Exempted byanother Law

Exemption 4: Commercialand Trade Secrets

Exemption 5: Inter and IntraAgency Pr ivilegedDocuments

Exemp tion 6: Personal Privacy Exemption 7: Law Enforcement

Records Exemp tion 8: Financial

Institutions

Exemp tion 9: Geological andGeophysical

NASA's FOIA policy and proce-du res are publicly published in the Codeof Federal Regulations, 14 CFR 1206We rely on the custodians of our N ASArecords, the sub ject matter experts tolocate and conduct thorou gh searches orecords u nd er their d irect control, makecopies of the responsive record, and sub-mit to the FOIA Office in a timely m an-ner to meet the 20 working d ay dead linefor our initial determ ination. Since our

initial determination m ay be app ealedto NASA Headquarters and thereafterto a Un ited States District Court if we d onot provide all the records that the requester was seeking, or if we do notprovide the initial determination itselfin a timely man ner, managers asked toprov ide records for review by the FOIAOffice shou ld regard that task as a priority.

BYKELLYGARCIA