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

December 2005

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

A Happy Holiday Season to All!

Griffin visits Ames; answers questions about the future

continued on page 4

Ames celebrates its 66th birthday

NASA faces a tough year ahead as itcopes with t he possibility of a reductionin force (RIF) and not enough m oney toaccomplish everything it wou ld like to,accord ing to NASA Adm inistrator MikeGriffin du ring a recent visit to Ames.

Saying that it would be "our verylast choice," Griffin w arned that becauseof budget constraints, NASA may haveto issue RIF notices in June of next yearto those civil servants whose jobs re-main unfunded as the agency under-

goes transforma tion to meet the goals ofthe nation's Vision for Space Explora-tion.

"NASA has a certain amount ofmoney and we have been asked by thepresident, and heavily sup ported by theCongr ess, to change some of the things

we have been d oing," Griffin told Amesemployees during an all-hands m eetingheld Dec. 6 in them a i n aud i t o -r ium. "No onem or e t han Iwou l d l i ke t ohave a robust re-search and tech-nology program,but w e can't."

Griffin, who

delivered a key-note address atthe 2005 annualfall meeting of theAmerican Geo-physical Unionin San Francisco,

took time out from the conference tovisit Ames. In addition to the all-hands

meeting, Griffin also heard several technical presentations, met with Ames Cen-ter Director G. Scott Hubbard, andtoured the Vertical Motion Simulatorduring his visit.

As is his preference when add ress

ing emp loyees, Griffin dispensed w ith aformal pr esentation, and instead sp enmore than an hou r answering questionsfrom the capacity aud ience. He told employees that when he last held an all-hand s meeting at Ames, there were 2,000civil servants in the agen cy whose jobswere unfund ed.

"We now have that p roblem d ownto 850 people and we're w orking on it,Griffin said, add ing that he will rend er adecision in Jun e wheth er or not to implement a RIF, depending on how muchun fund ed cap acity remains. "If it's stil700 people, then w e'll have to send out aRIF notice," he cautioned .

During a frank exchange with em-ployees, Griffin responded to a wide

NASA photo by Tom Trower

NASAphotosbyDominicHart

NASAAdministratorMike Griffinresponds toquestions duringhis recent visit atNASA Ames.

A small celebration commemorating the 66thanniversary of Ames was held at the Mega Bites

Ames cafeteria on Dec. 20. Ames employees wereinvited to have a slice of the cake pictured above.


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Astrogram December 20052

BYJOHNBLUCK

NA SA's science m ission d irectoratewill restructure, according to MaryCleave, associate adm inistrator, NASAHeadquar ters Science Mission Director-ate, who recently spoke to Ames em-

ployees in the main au ditorium.

In introducing Cleave, Center Di-rector G. Scott Hubbard noted that 'Sci-ence' is Ames' biggest custom er and pro-vides mor e than 30 percent of the center'sbudget.

"We are going to take Earth scienceand the solar guys and we're going toseparate them back out again," Cleavesaid in d iscussing the restructuring. Fourdivisions -- Astroph ysics, Heliophysics,Planetary Science and Earth Science -will comprise the Science Mission Di-rectorate rather than the current threedivisions.

NASA Administrator Mike Griffinhas asked the directorate to deliver anexecutable science program for fiscalyear 2008 with constrained resources,she said. Each division must solve itsown problems, Cleave noted. "I don't

want to decide whether Earth science ismore imp ortant than astrophysics . . . .We're going to be very hard (during)our mission confirmation reviews."

Cleave presented an overview ofher d irectorate. "What w e're trying to do. . . is build on the long legacy of scienceand science management," she said.Cleave men tioned that one of N ASA'sgreat accomp lishm ents . . . this yearwas the encounter w ith comet Tempel1."

"The costs of these missions aregrowing," she said. A 40 percent in-crease planned for the Mars programwill be reduced, she noted, add ing that"Mars is imp ortant, bu t it's not the on ly

thing we do.""We have a lot going on," Cleave

concluded, adding that "With Katrinaand everything else, we're going to belucky to maintain the bu dget w e have.

The full talk and all questions andanswers can be viewed on the Web at

ht tp:/ / vanseg-1.arc.nasa.gov/ 2005/AH051207-01.ram

N

ASAphotobyTomTrower

Cleave describes future of NASA science mission

Blue Ribbon Task Force announcesnanotechnology recommendations

NASA photo by Tom Trower

Porter shares aeronautics goals

Left to right: Congressman Mike Honda, (CA-15); California State Controller Steve Westly; co-chairsof the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology and NASA Ames Research Center Director G. ScottHubbard, the task force's working chair, announced the task force's recommendations during a newsconference held Dec. 19 at NASA Ames. Westly and Honda created the Blue Ribbon Task Force onNanotechnology in December 2004 to ensure California's leadership in the trillion-dollar industryand to maximize the accompanying economic and employment gains to the state. NASAs interestsin nanotechnology are focused on the benefits to space exploration.

NASAphotobyDominicHart

Mary Cleave, associate administrator,NASA Headquarters Science MissionDirectorate speaks to the audience duringher recent visit to Ames.

On Dec. 19-20, Dr. Lisa Porter, NASA'sassociate administrator for aeronautics visitedAmes to discuss NASA's future goals inaeronautics. During the two-day visit, she heldcandid discussions with numerous groupsincluding Ames center management, unionrepresentatives and aeronautics researchers.The highlight of the visit was her 'all-hands'address. To a packed auditorium, Porter said,"as far as ARMD (Aeronautics ResearchMission Directorate) is concerned Ames has avery vital role in aeronautics going forward."She explained the three principles guiding thetransformation of the directorate and stressedcooperative and collaborative research amonggovernment agencies, mission directorates andcenters. She shared the aeronautics 10-yearroad map and the goals for the upcomingyear. Porter ended by saying that her job as amanager is to create an environment thatenables researchers to achieve technicalexcellence, technical truth and preserve theirscientific integrity.


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3Astrogram December 2005

NASA exhibit attracts crowds atsupercomputing conference

NASA's research exhibit at the Supercomputing Conference in Seattle,showcased work from each mission directorate and the NASAEngineering and Safety Center.

In search of clues abou t the origin oflife on our world and other secrets, acrew flying on a NASA DC-8 aircraftwill take off from Ames to study thesmall, speeding Stardust space capsule

as it retu rns to Earth on Jan. 15, 2006, at2 a.m. PST. The landing zone is a re-stricted area - the Utah Test and Train-ing Range, located southwest of SaltLake City.

About two years ago, in January2004, the Stard ust spacecraft flew w ithin

147 miles (236 kilometers) of the com etWild 2 (VILT-TWO) and survived thehigh-speed impact of millions of dustparticles and small rocks up to nearlytwo-tenths of an inch (one half centime-ter) across. With its tennis-racket-shap edcollector extended, Stardust capturedthousand s of comet particles in a super-lightweight solid called aerogel.

"It's a little bit like collecting BBs byshooting them into Styrofoam," saidScott Sandford, an astrophysicist atAm es and a Stardu st mission co-investi-gator. "Some of the gra ins are likely tohave exotic isotopic ratios that w ill giveus an indication that we're looking atmaterials that aren't as old as the solarsystem, but are, in fact, older than thesolar system," Sandford asserted .

The returning Stardu st capsule willstrike Earth's atm osphere at eight m iles(12.8 kilometers) per second - more th an10 times faster than a speeding bullet.That is fast enough to go from San Fran-cisco to Los Angeles in only one m inute.The DC-8 crew will face the dauntingtask of tracking and observing the 101-pou nd (45.7 kilogram) conical object asit hurtles through the atmosphere and

slows before the sp acecraft finally par a-chutes down in a Utah desert."As the observer sees the app roach-

ing capsule, it will appear as a point oflight," said Peter Jenniskens, principalinvestigator of the Stard ust Samp le Re-turn Capsule Re-entry Observing Cam-paign. Jenniskens is a meteor astrono-mer at the SETI Institute in MountainView.

"The capsule will be an artificialmeteor that we can stud y for clues abouthow life's molecules may have first

formed on Earth ," Jenniskens said. "Thecarbon from th e heat shield w ill react inthe shockwave, making n ew m oleculesthat would have seeded Earth at thetime of the origin of life. The carbon in

comet dust could have d one the same,"Jenniskens ventured .

The mini, Apollo-like capsule willshoot down through th e air at the high-est spacecraft re-entry speed into Earth'satmosphere ever, generating extremelyhigh temperatures. The capsule's spe-

cial carbon-based heat shield, d eveloped

at NASA Ames, will protect the priceless cargo of comet du st and interstellargrains. The carbon-based heat shieldmaterial is also a candid ate for potentiainclusion on NASA's next planned space

ship, the Crew Exploration Vehicle(CEV), NASA engineers say. This pr ospective future use is one reason theyplan to stud y the Stardust capsule as islams into Earth's atmosphere, and theshield rapid ly heats du e to friction w iththe air.

"Our main interest is the perfor-mance of the heat shield and the chemistry that takes p lace in it as it vaporizesand erodes during the descent and re-entry," said Dave Jordan, a NASA Amesengineer and project manager for thecapsule observation mission.

During this blistering re-entry, the

Research an d technology from fiveNASA centers (Ames, Glenn, God dard ,Langley and th e Jet Propu lsion Labora-

tory) were showcased at th e 18th ann ualInternational Conference of High Per-formance Compu ting, Netw orking, andStorage (SC05) in Seattle's WashingtonState Convention and Trade Center inNovember.

This year's 1,600 square-foot exhibit,coordinated by the NASA Advanced

Supercomputing (NAS) Division, continuou sly saw heavy tr affic from a largesubset of the nearly 10,000 conference

participants.The NASA re

search exhibi t atSC05 housed eightdemonstration sta

tions featuring science and technologyfrom each missiondirectorate and theNASA Engineeringand Safety Center(24 projects tota l). Inaddition, there wasa presentation areaded icated to covering some of th e science be ing madepossible using the

C o l u m b i asupercomputer , afu l ly opera t iona

system currently ranked number fouron the November 2005 TOP500supercompu ting list.

The NASA booth w as one of only 10selected (out of 265 booths total) as astop on a VIP tour held d uring the firsday of the exhibition. VIPs on the tour

continued on page 4

Ames supports fiery return of NASA's space dust cargo

continued on page 8

NASAphotobyDavid

G.Robertson


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Griffin visits Ames; answers questions about the futurecontinued from front page

BYMICHAEL MEWHINNEY

included executives from Microsoft andDell and several high-ranking officialsfrom both the Department of Defenseand the Department of Energy. Duringthis tour, N ASA staff briefed the grou pabou t some of Colum bia's high-levelappl icat ions using the interact ivehyperwall visualization tool.

Some of the research featured a t theNASA booth includ ed: development ofimportant engineering analysis tools thatcan be u sed to quickly assess viability oforbiter heat shield surv ival through re-entry, thus enhancing safe flight of thespace shu ttle orbiter; utilization of ad -

vanced sup ercompu ting technologies toenable real-time p rediction of Atlan-tic tropical cyclones and other m eteoro-logical events (the resulting researchmodels have provided real-time guid-ance to forecasters through m ajor events,including hur ricanes Katrina and Rita;)and development of cu t t ing-edgenan osensors vital to several NASA mis-sions, includ ing the mon itoring of as-tronaut health during space missions,detection and identification of extrater-restrial organisms, and revealing un-

der lying genetic mechan isms of variousdiseases.

In addition to having a researchbooth at the conference, NASA person-nel were heav ily involved in the confer-ence program, p articipating on panels,and contributing to technical pap er, tu-torial, and workshop sessions. Two of

the four p apers nominated for the prestigious Best Paper Aw ard at SC05 wer eauthored by N AS researchers; and oneof these NAS-authored pap ers tied forthe award. The winning paper, HighResolution Aerospace ApplicationsUsing the NASA ColumbiaSupercomputer, written by Dimitri JMaviplis (University of Wyoming)Michael J. Aftosm is (NAS Division); andMarsha Berger (Cour ant Institute, NewYork University), presen ted tw o imp or-tant NASA applications that achievenear-perfect scalability on more than4,000 processors of massively paralle

supercompu ters like Columbia.The four nominated papers were

selected from a pool of 62 accepted pa-pers, which was in turn, chosen from260 submissions. The other NASauthored p aper nom inated for the bespap er award An App lication-Based Per-formance Characterization of the Co-lumbia Supercluster, was written byRupak Biswas, M. Jahed Djomehri, Robert Hood, Hoaqiang Jin and SubhashSaini, all of the NAS Division.

The SC05 conference provides at-

tending scientists and engineers with anopportunity to inform NASA managemen t, external colleagues and the publicabout NASA accomplishments that leverage high-performance computingwith the hopes of increasing su pp ort forsupercompu ting at NASA.

NASA exhibit attracts crowds atsupercomputing conferencecontinued from page 3

BYHOLLYA. AMUNDSON

range of questions, including the effectsof the budget cuts on Ames, concernsover full-cost accounting and full-costrecovery, and the future of the space

shu ttle, International Space Station andthe H ubble Space Telescope.Concerning research and technol-

ogy, Griffin said that under its currentbudget, NASA can afford only abouthalf of wh at it would like to do. Und er-standably, that has caused a lot of con-cern among employees, particularlythose three field centers whose primarymission is dedicated to aeronautics re-search and technology. "Forty percentof our bud get is not going to be spent onaeronautics research and technology,"Griffin d eclared .

At one point during the question-ing, Griffin refused to be drawn into adebate w ith a p ersistent questioner overthe issue of whether or not to continu econducting research th at d oesn't meetthe goals of the Vision for Space Explo-ration. "I need to close the gap betweenwh at people at NASA would like to do,and w hat we're being asked to do by ourpr esident," Griffin asserted . There is noentitlement; there is a sense of entitle-ment and it needs to go away."

In response to another qu estioner,

Griffin pledged to fly the space shuttle"as exped itiously as we can" when NASAreturns to flight. He said that over thepast 25 years, NA SA has flown an aver-age of 4.56 flights per year. "If we canmain tain that flight rate for the next fiveor six years, then we'll just barely finishthe International Space Station and com-plete one Hubble servicing mission,"Griffin said .

He said that Am es will play a keyrole in futu re space exploration, includ -ing man agement of the Robotic Lunar

Exploration Program , and designing theentry thermal protection systems andhealth monitoring systems for the newCrew Exploration Vehicle that is envi-sioned to rep lace the space shu ttle afterit is retired in 2010.

Commenting on future space ex-ploration, Griffin said that according toa recent Gallup p oll, NASA enjoys broadsup por t across the country . "The GallupPoll said that three-fourths of the pop u-

lation sup ports or strongly supp orts thegoals of the Vision for Space Explora-tion," Griffin observed. "That kind ofsupport for a government initiative is

incredible; by any rationa l measure, weenjoy broad su pp ort."

And, while international partnerswill continue to h elp N ASA conquer th e

remaining frontiers of space, the UnitedStates will lead the effort. "No nation butthe United States has the capability topu t together a transportation system to

take us to the moon or with multiplelaunches to Mars," he said.


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A Latino legacy: World War II - 60 years later

BYERIC KRISTICH

Left to right: Eric Kristich, HACE co chair; Tommy Cortes, WWII veteran;Tommy Cortes Jr.; and David Crosson, president of the History of San Jose.

NASAphotobyTJForsyth

Cops Care Cancer Foundation

holds holiday event at Ames

The Ames Airfield Management Office hosted the Cops Care Cancer Foundation when it held itsannual Fantasy Flight event for children. The policemen formed a receiving line and applauded thekids as they entered the hangar. The Fantasy Flight event is held for local Bay Area families whohave a child that is stricken with cancer or any other life-threatening illness. The familes enjoyedgames and visited with special guests, including Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Scooby Doo. TheSan Jose Police Department (SJPD) had several officers from the K-9, motorcycle and bicycle unitson hand to answer questions. Santa Claus arrived via SJPD police helicopter and delivered gifts toeach child.

Recently, the Hispanic AdvisoryCommittee for Employees (HACE)teamed up with Evergreen Valley Col-lege to co-sponsor a panel discussionwith Latino World War II (WWII) veter-

ans.During WWII, Latinos joined every

branch of military service and foughtbravely, often on the front lines. Thou -sands of you ng Latino soldiers died orwere woun ded d efending freedoms thatwere denied to them and only 12 re-ceived the Medal of Honor.

The Latino WWII veterans a re nowin their 70s and 80s and on Oct. 13, agrou p of local veterans had t heir storiescaptured in mini-documentaries.

In 1998, the Digital Clubh ouse N et-

work (DCN) began helping hun dred s ofveterans preserve their stories for gen-erations to come. In 2004, the DCN wasthe first to subm it stories on Latino vet-e rans across the na t ion to theSmithsonian Institution and th e Libraryof Congress to forever be a part ofAmerica's mem ory.

Although the shor t stories can onlygive you a glimpse of what these menexperienced during the war, they arepow erful reminders of how mu ch theseind ividuals were w illing to sacrifice fortheir coun try. Their stories will remind

us th at the stru ggle for full acceptance asAm erican citizens continu es to this dayfor many Latinos.

Teen on a Mission

The founder of the idea to honorLatino WWII veterans was a 17 year oldby the name of Robert Corpus. Corpus,a senior at San Jose High Academ y, hasgiven him self a person al mission to cap-ture and save the stories of CaliforniaLatino veterans.

Corpus, wh o has interviewed more

than 50 veterans thus far, has a goal tointerview 30 more by the end of 2005. Sofar, only five of Corpus' interviews werewith Latinos.

He mainly travels through south-ern California to veteran's hom es sincethere are more veterans to be foundaround that area. Oceanside and CampPendleton is a great place to find N avyand Marine veterans as he so discov-ered.

Corpus, who wants to become adoctor and regularly volun teers at Kai-ser Hospital SantaClara, grew an in-terest in World War

II when he heards tor ies f rom pa-t i en t s who wer eproud to be veter-ans. From this inter-est he started inter-viewing veteransand formed a Sto-ries of Service clubat San Jose HighAcademy, whichnow has 20 mem-bers.

Along wi thtraveling to find veterans to interview,he also travels around the state teachingother youths how to use digital camerasand wh at to ask du ring interviews. Somelike to joke and say that Corpus is an80- year-old man in a 17-year-old bod y.Others look at him as a role model for

today's youth.The Hispanic Advisory Comm ittee

for Emp loyees (HACE) takes great pr idein honoring Latino heroes of today anda ck n o w l ed g e s / co m m e n d s y o u n gLatinos such as Corpus w ho bridge gen-erations together in remembr ance of thesacrifices many have given.


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Lockheed Martin Space SystemsCompany (LMSSC) Return To FlightNight with NASA shuttle comm and erEileen Collins, was recently hosted bythe LMSSC Bay Area Leader ship A sso-

ciation Chapter of the National Man-agement Association (NMA).

Command er Collins was very p opu-lar with the crowd , which stood in lineto meet and receive her autograph andhear her talk about her recent shuttlemission. The prestigious Silver Knightof Management Award, the highestaward an NMA chapter can give (pre-sented s ince 1960) went to LenKwiatkowski, vice president and gen-eral man ager, Military Space.

Eileen Collins featured at Return to Flight dinner

Charles Smith, chief,

Space Technology Divisionis seen here with spaceshuttle commander EileenCollins at the recentReturn- to-Flight dinnerhosted by Lockheed.

Ames artists recognized for safety calendar art submissions

BYSHELLEENLOMAS

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

An ice cream party provided therefreshments for 97 young artists andtheir families wh o gathered at Ames on

Dec. 12. The artists, all between th e agesof three and 18, were each recognizedfor their contribution to the 2006 AmesSafety Calenda r.

An Am es employee sponsored eachartist, and each piece of artwork wasdesigned to promote safe behavior atwork and at home.

This is the second consecutive year

children have p rovided the artw ork forthe H ealth an d Safety calend ar.

Dur ing Safety Week in O ctober, allartwork w as displayed in the Ames Cafe.Employees were able to vote for theirfavorite picture in each of three agegrou ps. The pictur es receiving the mostvotes are on the top row of both sides of

the calendars an d the top four are seenhere above.

Each artists picture is featured onone of thr ee 2006 Ames safety calendarsOne of these calendars featuring 36pieces of artwork w as distributed to eachemployee centerwide in mid-December

Artists getting ice cream at the recent icecream party provided for the participants ofthe 2006 Ames Safety Calendar contest.


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NASA Ames proves to be a superhero at CFC 2005

Members of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) team stand bythe CFC thermometer. Left to right: Don Durston, Amesrepresentative for the CFC Bay Area board; deputy chairperson, Andy

Hocker; and Ames campaign chairperson, Larry Lasher.

Top donors to CFC 2005 at NASA Ames, left to right: Mary Walsh, JosephConley, Shawn Wolfe and Donald Chuck, are pictured with Ames CenterDirector G. Scott Hubbard; Ames campaign chairperson, Larry Lasher;deputy chairperson, Andy Hocker; and Don Durston, Ames representativefor the CFC Bay Area Board. BYLARRYLASHER

2005 CFC CHAIRPERSON

On Jan. 24, 2006, at 2 p.m ., Profes-sor Daniel M. Kamm en will presen t atalk at Ames to explore the evolutionof the Un ited States' fossil fuel economyand to identify the times and op portu -

nities where there have been signifi-cant levels of innova tion and change.

He will also look at current tech-nology policies, as well as what maycome in the futu re to initiate and d e-velop a low-carbon economy. Thistalk will cover scientific, techn ical an dpolicy aspects of our evolving energy

After oil - transition to a clean energy economy talk set

system, and will make the case that'tipp ing points' and opp ortunities forchange are plentiful, shou ld we chooseto take action. The location of thisevent w ill be in Building 943, the NASA

Ames Pu blic Affairs building, outsid eof the main gate.

Kammen is a p rofessor at the Uni-versity of California Berkeley, specifi-cally in the Energy and ResourcesGroup, the Goldm an School of PublicPolicy and the Departm ent of Nu clearEngineering. He is also the foun ding

director of the Renewable and App ro-priate Energy Laboratory, and the co-director of the Berkeley Institute of theEnvironment. His work span s the sci-ence and engineering of renew able en-

ergy systems, risk analysis and energypolicy.

Kammens p ublications and cur-rent projects can be found online at:h t t p : / / s o cr a t e s. b er k e le y .e d u / ~ k a m m e n a n d a l so h t t p :/ / socrates.berkeley.edu / ~rael

Congratulations on a very success-ful 2005 Combined Federal Campaign(CFC). Thank you to the Ames commu -

nity for its generosity and to the entireCFC team, captains and keyw orkers fortheir stalwart efforts. When ou r d ona-

tions lagged short ofthe goal at the initialclose date of the cam-paign, we were sureby extending the

date the generous na-ture of the Amescommunity wouldkick into high gearand launch into a fi-nal effort to m eet thegoal.

And i ndeedthe CFC campaignproved successful!The r e was som e

$232,000 raisedin the regularCFC campaign(97 percent of thegoal) and over$5,000 d isbursedon a fast track foremergen cy reliefeffor ts for theCFC Katrina di-saster relief cam-paign . If the spe-cial campaignwere added to

the regular camp aign, the CFC percentage would be 99 percent. Once againNASA Am es has distinguished itself asa leading charitable giver in the BayArea.

Despite the past year's uncertaintiesin the work market and donor fatiguethat inevitably must occur after responding to the tsun ami, the Gulf hurricaneand earthquake tragedies, the Amescommunity proved to be a superheroand rise to the occasion.

BYSTACYST. LOUIS

NASAphotos

byTomTrower


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The NASA Shared Services Center to open March 1, 2006NASA is implementing a shared

services center that consolidates selectedactivities in finan cial managemen t, pro-curement, information technology andhuman resources (HR) into one newcenter, The NA SA Shared Services Cen-ter (NSSC), which open s March 1, 2006at Stennis Space Center in Mississipp i.

The NSSC's vision is to provide unparalleled service, which will bemeasured and reported to all custom-ers . N SSC w il l w orkcollaboratively with centersto meet all service needs viaa customer contact center(CCC) and center liaisonslocated at each center.

Employees from al lcenters participated in im-portant steps necessary tobring this vision to fruition. The transi-

tion of activities to the N SSC is sched -uled over a th ree-year period, includ ingboth inherently governmental and com-mercial activities.

By consolidating services and opti-mizing processes, centers can redirectresources to provide ad ditional supp ortto their core mission. Because the N SSCwill provide NASA with a u nified pro-cess for obtaining transactional, adm in-istrative and support functions, therewill not be any d up lication of fun ctionsbetween the centers and NSSC. The

NSSC is designed to achieve:

Efficient and effective service Im proved data qua lity ; Standardized processes; Lever aged skills and

investments; and Econom ies of sca le

Finally, implementation of NSSCsupp orts meeting N ASA strategic busi-

ness and mission efforts with limited

resources because there are greater de-man ds to u tilize resou rces - peop le,time, dollars - to best support NASA'score mission.

The NSSC will improve quality andservice, increasing efficiency and effec-tiveness of transactional support, whichwill provide for customer-oriented, con-sistent, high-quality, easily accessibleand timely services. It also directly sup -por t s the pres ident ' s managementagenda for improved government per-formance and the OneNA SA vision.

DC-8 crew will take surface-tempera-ture and shock-radiation measurementsof the heat shield as part of it burnsaway. Shock radiation is light emittedfrom extremely hot air. Scientists willstudy this light to learn how hot thecapsule gets and what chemical reac-tions are taking place. These chemicalreactions will result from of the violentbreakup of air molecules that collidewith vap or in front of the speeding cap-sule.

According to scientists, observersusing the naked eye will likely see thecapsule as a very bright pinpoint of pink-white light. This color is the signatu re ofexcited atoms and molecules in the shockwave formed as the capsule strikes theatmosp here, according to George Raicheof Ames.

Once the capsule has parachu ted toa landing in Utah, researchers will col-lect debris from the su rface of the sh ieldand study h ow m uch of the heat shield

Consolidation of activities in finan-cial management, procurement, information technology and hum an resourceshelps direct the agency's focus towardoperating as one team that better leverages its skills and resour ces.

Hu rricane Katrina, un derstand ablyresulted in a decision to delay th e Oct. 12005 NSSC original opening date toMarch 1, 2006. The NSSC will beginrelocating its staff to the Gu lf Coast re

gion beginning Jan. 3, 2006The NSSC w ill be operatingfrom an interim facility at SSCuntil the permanent facilityprov ided by the state of Mississipp i, is available.

NASA wou ld like to encourage the members of theNASA family to apply for

civil servant positions with the NSSC

This is a tremendous opportunity toimplement an important agency initiative, to make a significant contribu tionto the Mississipp i/ Louisiana Gulf Coaseconomies and to have a positive effecon the imp acted comm unities.

The NSSC is proud to support theNASA commun ity and excited to opentheir d oors on March 1, 2006.

For more information about recentNSSC activities or op por tun ities, pleasevi s it the i r Web s i t e a t : h t tp :/ /nssc.nasa.gov/ .

was lost du ring re-entry. "This is calledan ablative heat shield," said Michael J.Wright of Ames, another scientist work -ing on the p roject. "By vap orizing someof the material from its sur face, the heatshield vapor carries some of the heatfrom friction away from the capsule,keeping the payload cool," Wright ex-plained.

Scientists will transport the spacedu st to a laboratory at NASA JohnsonSpace Center, Houston , for analysis.

"There'll be a small team of us atJohnson Space Center who will assesswh at we actually got back from the cometso we can verify we did get a usefulsample," Sandford said. "A small por-tion of the samp les will then be u sed tomake a preliminary study of the returnedmaterial. After the preliminary exami-nation is comp lete, all the samp les willbe made available to the general scien-tific commu nity for more detailed stu dy.My guess is people will be asking for

and working on these samples for de-cades to come."

Besides NASA Ames and the SETIInstitute, several other institutions arepartners in the NASA DC-8 airbornestudy: the University of Alaska atFairbanks; the University of Utah aLogan; Sandia National LaboratoriesLos Alamos National Laboratories; theAerospace Corporation; the U.S. AirForce Academy; Kobe University, Japan ; and Stuttgart Un iversity, German y

The University of North Dakota oper-ates the DC-8 aircraft for N ASA.

More information about the Stardu sobservation camp aign is on the Web athttp:/ / reentry.arc.nasa.gov/

The Stardus t spacecraf t waslaunched on Feb. 7, 1999, from CapeCanaveral Air Station, Fla., aboard aDelta II rocket.

BYJOHNBLUCK

Ames supports fiery return of NASA's space dust cargocontinued from page 3

BYELENA MARTINEZ


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Ames embarked upon its first Di-versity Leadership Cou rse und er part-nership with Cultural Solutions, Inc.There were 30 employees who gradu-ated and have committed to embrace

the concept of diversity in the workenvironment and promote the diversityleadership philosophy and managementpr actice at Ames.

Employees participating in thecourse completed four phases of instruc-tion: (1) d iversity aw aren ess; (2) assess-ment/ comprehension of cultural com-petencies for diversity; (3) applicationof diversity concepts and philosophies;and (4) the transition of diversity intothe work force. Participants in thisthough t-provoking and highly interac-tive course reviewed an d discussed d i-

versity issues, developed a business caseand mission statement for diversity, andcompleted a variety of other groupprojects.

The Office of Diversity and EqualOpportunity (ODEO) has determinedthat Ames, similar to other successfultechnical and scientific institu tions, mustconsider organizational changes in or-der to continue to attract and maintainquality emp loyees. The center acknow l-edges the challenge and understandstha t address ing d ivers i ty in theworkforce is far beyond compliance and

repr esentation, it has become an organ i-zational success issue. The ODEO initi-ated this course to provide Ames withan op portun ity to establish a long-rangepr ocess for chan ge that w ill:

in crease m or ale, p rom ote div ersity, in it ia te organizat iona l

culture change, enhance opportunit ies for

career ad vancement, and ensu re success fo r

the future.

This course directly supports themission of the ODEO to ad vise manage-ment, ensure identification of systemicbias or barriers that may hind er the di-versification of the w orkforce, assist inthe elimination of identified bias or bar-riers, and provide professional diver-sity services to enable emp loyees to at-tain their professional and organiza-tional goals.

The AM session graduates of the Diversity Leadership Course, back row, from left to right: LetichaHawkins, Daryl Wong, Ronnee Gonzalez, Nina Scheller, Jon Talbot, Eric Kristich and Brett Vu. Front rowfrom left to right: Barbara Miller (coordinator), Byron Kunisawa (instructor), Jill Willard, Aida Villagracia,Mary Ellen Eglington, Maricela Davis and Adriana Cardenas (ODEO director). Not present for photo:Rick Serrano. The Diversity Leadership Award winners were: Jill Willard and Leticha Hawkins.

Ames Diversity Leadership Course students graduate

The PM session graduates of the Diversity Leadership Course, back row, left to right: Diane Farrar,Eugene Miya, John Marmie, George Sutton, Paul Fung, Kevin Jones, Orlando Santos and Mike Liu.Front row from left to right: Vern Vanderbilt, Rhonda Baker, Linda McCahon, Ed Goolish, CarolinaBlake, Dana Bolles, Barbara Miller (coordinator), Adriana Cardenas (ODEO director), EarnestineParker and Byron Kunisawa (instructor). Not present for photo: Dr. Parimal Kopardekar, Shon Grabbe

and Gaye Graves. The Diversity Leadership Award winners were Dana Bolles and Orlando Santos.

BYBARBARA MILLER

Bicycling Club forms at Ames

Robert Cormia

The recently formed Ames BicyclingClub w ill hold its inaugu ral meeting onJan. 18, 2006 in Bldg. 245, Room 215,from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

The featur ed sp eaker will be RobertCormia, who will discuss bicycle tour-ing, safety and between tune-up main-tenance. Cormia (shown in the pictureto the right) is owner of CalabazasCyclery and, as a result of his previouswork, holds five patents in thin-filmtechnology, with the resu lts of his workused in CD technology today. AfterCormia's presentation, a short discus-sion will occur to define the date forelecting officers of the Ames BicyclingClub.

The Ames Bicycling Club wasformed to promote the use of bicyclesfor health, recreation and commutingwh ile provid ing the cycling commu nitywith information on bicycle main tenanceand safety. The club will also work toincrease the awaren ess of the need for a

safe bicycling environm ent and prom otethe p ractice of safe bicycling techniqu es

By-laws of Ames Bicycling Club canbe found at: http:/ / zen.arc.nasa.gov.

NASAph

otos


10/12


Events Ca lendarAmes Amateur Radio Club, third Thursday of each

month, 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 Bicycling Club Inaugural meeting on Jan. 18,

2006 in Bldg. 245, Room 215, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.Thereafter every 3rd Wednesday of the month 11:00 a.m.to12:00 p.m. in Building 245 auditorium. POC: JulieNottage at [email protected] or ext. 4-3711.By-laws of Ames Bicycling Club can be found at: http://zen.arc.nasa.gov, the link is under the picture.

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 Wednesdayeach month, 11 a.m., N-200, Comm. Rm. POC: LindaMcCahon, ext. 4-1891.

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

Ames Federal Employees Union (AFEU) Mtg,third Wednesday 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 ofea. month, 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m., Bldg. N262, Rm 180.POC: Tony ext. 4-0340.

Ames Model Aircraft Club, flying radio-controlled aircraft at the north end of Parsons Ave. onweekend mornings. POC: Mark Sumich, ext. 4-6193.

Ames Sailing Club Mtg, second Thursday of ea.month (Feb through Nov), from 12:00 p.m. -1:00p.m. in Bldg. N-262, Rm 100. URL: http://sail.arc.nasa.gov/. POC: Becky Hooey, ext. 4-2399.

Environmental Forum,first Thursday of eachmonth, 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 inN255 room 101C from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.POC: Eric Kristich 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: Bob Hilton at ext. 4-2909, [email protected].

National Association of Retired FederalEmployees, (NARFE). Former and current federalemployees. Your only contact with Congress. Join toprotect your federal retirement. Chptr #50 will thenmeet on the first Fri. of each month at HomeTownBuffet, 2670 El Camino (at Kiely), S. Clara, 11 a.m.lunch. POC Earl Keener (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.

The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lec-ture Series presents a Second CenturyLecture co-sponsored by the AmericanAstronom ical Society:

Astronomer Michael Brown of Caltech w ill give a non -techn ical, illus-trated talk entitled, Beyond Pluto: TheDiscovery of the 10th Planet. Detailsbelow:

Date: Jan. 25, 2006Time: 7 p.m.Place: Smithwick Theater

Foothill College,El Monte Road an dFreeway 280,in Los Altos H ills.

Cost: Free and open to the public.Parking on cam pu s costs $2.

Call the series h ot-line at (650) 949-7888 for more information and drivingdirections.

In this rare Northern California ap-pearance, Brown will discuss how heand his coworkers recently found anobject larger than the planet Pluto withan orbit at least twice as large. He w ill

fill us in on the latest thoughts aboutwhether th is new object (and Pluto) areplanets or not. And he will explain howastronomers are continuing to find larger(and smaller) bodies in the outskirts ofour solar system.

No background in science will berequ ired for this talk.

Brown, professor of planetary as-tronomy at the California Institute ofTechnology, is co-discoverer of whatsome p eople are calling the tenth p lanet

Co-Discoverer of Tenth Planet featured at astronomy lectureand also of the intriguing objects Qu aoar,Orcus and Sedn a. He received his PhDfrom the University of California at Ber-keley in 1994. He specializes in the dis-covery and analysis of the faintest andmost d istant p arts of our solar systemand says he spends most of his time"won dering w here even bigger planetsare hiding."

The event is co-sponsored by NASA

Security/Law Enforcement Activity Fire Protection Activity

A statistical summary of activi-t ies of the Protect ive ServicesDivision's Security/ Law Enforce-

Protective Services monthly activity

Ames, the Foothill College AstronomyProgram , the SETI Institute and the As-tron omical Society of the Pacific.

The Second Century Lectures cel-ebrate the centennial of the AmericanAstronom ical Society, the main body oprofessional astronomers in the U.SThey feature talks by noted astronomers covering the most exciting newresearch about the u niverse.

ment and Fire Protection Servicesun its for the mon th of Nov 2005 isshown below.


11/12


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

Housing

Miscellaneous

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.

Ames Swim Center, 25 meter swimming pool openand heated year round. (80-82 degrees) Lap swim: Mon,

Weds, Fri, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3-6 Tues to Thurs 10a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Seasonal recreationswim; swim lessons. Locker rooms w/sauna and shower

facility. Open to all civil servants and contractors.Location: Bldg. 109 across the street from the tenniscourts. Fees vary depending on activity. POC: Tana

Windhorst, ext. 3-8025; e-mail: [email protected]

Ames Swim CenterAmes Swim CenterAmes Swim CenterAmes Swim CenterAmes Swim Center (N-109) 603-8025(N-109) 603-8025(N-109) 603-8025(N-109) 603-8025(N-109) 603-8025

Astrogram deadlinesPlease subm it articles, calend ar

and classified advertisements toastrog ram @ma il.arc.nasa.gov nolater than the 10th of each month . Ifthis falls on the w eekend or holiday,then the following business day be-comes the dead line.

For Astrogram questions, con-tact Astrid Terlep at the aforemen-tioned e-mail add ress or ext. 4-3347.

Lake Tahoe-Squaw Valley Townhouse, 3bd/2ba.View of slopes, close to lifts. Per night: $250, plus $145cleaning fee. Two night minimum. Includes linens,propane fireplace, fully equipped. Call (650) 968-4155,[email protected]

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

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 incanyon 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 tobeach. Three bedrooms/sleeps 10. $100/night. Call(408) 799-4052 or (831) 623-4054.

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

Visit Web page for pictures: http://www.ACruiseStore.com. $120/night low season, $155/night high season (holidays higher) plus $156 cleaning

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. Introductory rate$600/wk, once completed rate will be $1000/wk.Security deposit and $100 cleaning fee required. Call(925) 846-2781.

New York, 5th Ave. One fully furnished bedroom in24 hour security bldg. overlooking Washington SquarePark, $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, deluxe hotel,one block from Union Square, 5 nights available to bescheduled either together or individually, $125 pernight. Call Barry Cunningham (510) 793-4457 or e-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 (sleeps

approx. six), two full baths, large kitchen, dining room,parlor w/fireplace, enclosed desk w/hot tub. For info 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.

Lake Tahoe cabin rental in Agate Bay, North Shore.4bd/3ba tri-level, AEK, cable TVs, fireplace, BBQ, deck,sleeps 10. Closest skiing is Northstar, Alpine and Squaw.Rates are $375 a weekend, $1,000 a week. Call (408)867-4656.

Room available for rent in house in mid town Palo Alto,with kitchen, laundry, and pool, $500 plus $50 towardutils, for a quiet, neat, stable and conscientious person orcouple. E-mail [email protected]; ham call wb6yoy.

Automobiles

The Ames Cat Network needs help finding homes forcats 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.

Pioneer 6-disc CD player with (8) extra changercartridges. Black finish, works perfectly, $35. Call (408)

295-2160.Jet performance chip state 1 part #294055 for 1994

Chev Truck/SUV. Ray (408) 246-4428.

Combi Savvy travel stroller (new cond.), $25; 2 Cene lli66 road bike handlebars, 44 and 42 cm, $8 ea.; BontragerTi mountainbike handlebar (118g) w/BERTS, $15; Campy

front derailer, $5; Various Harken, Schaefer, Servo sailingcleats and blocks; Kris (408) 243-3348.

Cambridge Soundworks and Polk audio PC soundsystem. Powered subwoofer with volume control and Polk

Audio satellites. $20. Call (408) 295-2160.

Waterbed - King size, Universal, canopy, pedestal withdrawers - beautiful, large, wood frame waterbed, withnewish wave free mattress. Moving sale. $1,000 or B/O.Barry Cunningham (510) 93-4457, [email protected]

68 Mustang, project car. New parts, $1,500 B/O.Call (408) 246-4428.

93 GMC Sierra 1500, 1/2 ton, regular cab, 6 12-ftbed. Excellent. Loaded. 136K mls. 5.0 liter (305 cu in) V-8. Cruise control, pwr windows, pwr locks. A/C. Campershell with sky lights and screens. Carpet kit. Custombumpers. Tow hitch. Alpine AM/FM/CD. JBL amplifier.Kicker subwoofer. IPOD hookup. New: BF Goodrich tires,brakes, belt, oil, transmission filter and fluid, differentiallube. Paint protection. Hood protector. Embroidered cabcarpet. Sliding rear cab window. Performance muffler.Flow Master dual exhaust pipes. Maintenance records.$4,995. Bill (408) 203-3132.

00 Jamboree motor home - Class C recreationvehicle. Low mileage, great condition, sleeps 4-6. Chevy

fuel injected Vortex engine, auto trans w/OD, PW, PL,trailer hitch, and full length awning. Call (408) 971-6398.

02 Chevy Tahoe LS Vortec 5.3L V8, 285HP, 2WDpewter w/tan leather, 3rd row leather seats, 2WD, roofrack, $19,500. Great stereo also. Alpine 9820XM deck,Polk audio door speakers, kicker sub, Kenwood 350 wattamp. XM satellite contract thru 1/1/06. Clean record, noaccidents. 67,500 mls. E-mail for pics:[email protected] or call Jon (510) 206-9704.

04 Ford Expedition, Eddie Bauer, 4WD, loaded,clean, still under warranty. Power folding 3rd seat. DVDplayer, roof rack, 28,000 mls, exc. cond. Call (650) 369-0578.


12/12


National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration

Ames Research CenterMoffe tt Field, CA 94035-1000

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

Editor-in-Chief.............................. Laura Lewis

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

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

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

NASA to conduct Project Management Challenge 2006

NRP lecture series scheduled

NASA's PM Challenge 2006, theagency's third annu al project manage-men t conference, will be held March 21-22, 2006 in Galveston, Texas near the

Johnson Space Center. The them e forthe 2006 conference is Putting ideasinto action.

As a mission-driven organization,NASA m ust continuously strive for im-provement in program and p roject man-

agemen t practices. By sharing ideas,project practit ioners increase theirknowledge and enhance mission suc-cess with more effective, efficient andinnovative ways to manage programs

and projects.PM Challenge 2006 is open to N ASA

employees and contractors. Find outmore on the In terne t a t : h t tp :/ /pmchallenge.gsfc.nasa.gov

The NASA Research Park Explora-tion Lecture Series presents Rocketman :Return to the moon, Mars andbeyond,featuring Nancy Conrad, au-thor of Rocketman .

Date: Jan. 31, 2006Time: 7 p.m . to 9 p.m .Place: Bldg. 943, Eagle RoomCost: Free admission

Open to the pu blic

Conrad, w ife of moon-walking as-t ronaut Pete Conrad, wil l discussConrad 's vision of moon-Mars explora-tion and h ow it d ovetails with NASA'scurrent plans to land humans on themoon by 2018.

Rich with anecdotes about PeteConrad's moon landing and space ex-ploration in the 1970s, Conrad 's talkwill cover the highlights of the Gemini-Apollo era, the commercialization ofspace and NASA's 21st century return

to the moon and Mars. For more information, visit the Web at w ww .nasa.govor ww w.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

Nancy Conrad

nasa 139910main 05 12astrogram

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