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

January 2006

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

-- Stardust brings back valuable data, see centerspread, pages 6 - 9, for details --

G. Scott Hubbard

The following is a statement byNASA Administrator Michael Grif-

fin on the second anniver-sary of President Bush 's an-nouncement of the Visionfor Space Exploration, aplan to return to the moon,travel to Mars and d estina-tions beyond.

"Two years ago thisweek, President Bush com-mitted our nation to the Vision forSpace Exploration. This Vision com-

NASA marks Vision for Space Exploration anniversarymits Am erica to a journ ey of discoveryand exploration with new and excit-

ing plans to return astronauts to themoon. From there, to voyage to Mars

and beyond, wh ile continuing to en-gage in ground breaking space science

and pioneering ad vances ininnovation, creativity andtechnology.

Together with the p art-nerships we have in the In-ternational Space Stationprogram, our n ation has thetremendous opportuni tyand solemn responsibility

to lead the way tow ard the daw n of anew space age."

NASAphotobyTomTrower

To my friends and colleagues at Ames,

It has been both a pleasure and an honor to work with you and t o serve as the Ames

cent er director. You represent the best of the Agency, we've accomplished many thingstogether that I'm ext remely proud of, and I know you will cont inue to play creativ e and

critically important roles as NASA turns the Vision for Space Exploration in to reality.

It seems only fit ting that my new position at the SETI Institute will allow me to promote

and advance a research discipline that we began here at Ames - astrobiology. Holding

the Carl Sagan Chair for the Study of Life in the Un iverse will provide opportunities to

bring this exciting and ult imately profound line of research to the att ention of academia

and the public and to increase the participation of private organizations in this work. I

want to thank you all for your support and dedication.

- G. Scott Hubbard

continued on page 12

Scott Hubbard to hold Carl Sagan Chair at SETI InstituteAmes Center Director G. ScottHu bbard recently annou nced his deci-sion to accept a new assignmen t as holderof the Carl Sagan Chair for the Study ofLife in th e Un iverse at the SETI Institutein Mou ntain View, Calif.

In th i s pres t ig ious pos i t ion ,Hubbard will work to strengthen theSETI Institu te's capability, visibility andsup por t for its research into the origin of

life, and how it might be found on otherworlds, in the planets and m oons of our

solar system or beyond .My n ew p osition at the SETI Insti-tute allows me to return to the researcharena an d pu rsue a lifelong interest inthe search for life in the Un iverse and itsorigins on Earth, Hu bbard explained.I believe this field, that we know asastrobiology, is both the scientific heartof the exploration vision and the most

exciting area of research today. We havea chance to learn things that, only ageneration ago, would have seemedbeyond our capabilities.

Scott is the perfect candidate forthe Carl Sagan Chair, remarked Tho-mas Pierson, chief executive officer ofthe SETI Institute. He has a solid back-ground in the relevant sciences and hasproven himself to be an effective and

widely adm ired leader. As the holder ofthe Car l Sagan Chair, Scott w ill be en-

gaged w ith many au diences, furtheringtheir und erstanding about science andits poten tial for n ew discoveries. Scottwill bring both expertise and enthusi-asm to this task and will be a terrificrepr esentative for the Institute both do-mestically and internationally, Piersonadded.

Hu bbard began his career at NASA

Ames in 1987, and has served as thecenter director since 2002. As directorHu bbard su bstantially reorganized th e

center, streamlined op erations and con-tinued a 10-year center transformation

to astrobiology and advan ced technology in which he played a significantrole.

Hubbard is known for his innova-tive appr oach to collaborations betweengovernment, academ ia and the p rivatesector, exemplified by the award-winning N ASA Research Park d evelopm en


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Astrogram January 20062

At its annu al business meeting on

Jan. 11, the Ames Contractor Council(ACC) recognized and thanked outgo-ing Pres ident Linda McCahon(Infonetics) for her year of service in2005. She was presented with a certifi-cate of appr eciation.

Highlights of the year includedachievement of non-profit status, cre-ation of the h istoric calend ar as a m ajorfundraiser and education programs sup -por t. NASA liaison to the ACC, ActingDepu ty Center Director Steve Zornetzer,as w ell as Meredith Moore, special assis-

tant to the d epu ty center director, joinedthe council in expressing appreciation.The coun cil develops and m aintains

an op en d ialog with senior center man -agemen t, prov ides a mechanism for cen-ter management to communicate vitalinformation d irectly to contractors in atimely manner, provides a forum to raiseissues that affect the contractor commu -nity, creates a mechanism to addressissues affecting the contractor commu-

BYDOREENCOHEN

Ames Contractor Council honors 2005 president Linda McCahon

Members of the 2005 ACC board and newly elected officers for 2006. Left to right are: ChrisJohnson of MEI Technologies (2006 vice president); Faten Mansour of PAIC (2006 secretary);Doreen Cohen of Planners Collaborative (2006 president); Linda McCahon of Infonetics (2005president); Paul Chaplin of SAIC (2006 director); Kathleen Starmer of SAIC (2006 treasurer); andMarla Arcadi of ELORET (2006 director). Not present were 2006 directors Anita Fogtman (SAIC)and Paul Kutler (retired).

nity and provides centerwide recogni-tion for excellent contractor employeeperformance.

For more information about the

Ames Contractor Coun cil, visit: http :/ /c o n t r a c t o r c o u n c i l . a r c . n a s a . g o v / about.html

Famil ies and individuals atNASA Ames have been reaching outto those in need at Stennis Space Cen-ter, to provide sup port in the w ake ofHurricane Katrina. To date, 47 con-nections have been made betweenAmes and Stennis, in an adopt afamily concept.

This is not an official NASA p ro-gram and involves no NASA fund-ing; it is based on personal connec-tions and support that is typicallybeing provided th rough netw orks ofAmes' employees, friends and fami-lies. Many of the participants fromAmes are forming long-distancefriendships with their Stennis fami-

lies that may be lasting, as it is ex-pected that the recovery efforts willspan m onths or even years.

A variety of gifts and monetarydonations have been provided to theStenn is families. In December, a su b-stantial shipment w as sent from Am esto Stennis, through personal dona-

Ames Families-Helping-Families participants with a shipment of items for Katrina families atStennis. Left to right in photo, back row: Maria Elena Lopez, Vivian Torres, John Garcia, LynetteForsman, Barbara Chenier, Gail James, Monica Mendoza, John Wallace, B J Navarro, Jeff Scargle,Sylvia Longchamps, Claudio Martinez, Julia Rivera, Mike Otto, Yvonne Pendleton, Wendy Dolci,Marion Legg. In front: Patricia Montes Gregory and Venoncia Braxton.

tions.To find ou t more and to sign u p for

the Families-Help ing-Fam ilies effort,

Ames reaches out to its family at Stennis

vis it the In te rne t : h t tp :/ / spacescience.arc.nasa.gov/ katrina/

BYWENDY DOLCI


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3Astrogram January 2006

NASA commercial success stories featured in Spinoff 2005

BYLISAWILLIAMS

The annual issue of NASA Spinoffis hot off the presses and available forAm es emp loyees. The Spinoff pu blica-tion d ocuments su ccessful p artnerships

from the NASA technology transfer andcomm ercialization pr ogram . Man y sto-ries describe new prod ucts on the mar-ket in the area of health, environment,information technology and safety.

As stated by Michael Griffin, NA SAadministrator, in the forward section ofthis issue, "These innovations demon-strate that a vigorou s space exploration

program has andwill continue to

p r ov i de t heAmerican pu blicwith an impres-sive technologi-cal return on in-vestment."

This year ,five technologiesand partnershipsuccess storiesare based onA m e s - d e v e l -oped technol -ogy.

For yourown free copy,contact Lisa Wil-liams at e-mailLisa.M.Williams-

[email protected] or call ext. 4-2954. The fiveAmes-related technologies and partner-ships featured in the p ublication are:Forty-year Old Foam Springs Back With

New Benefits

Temperature-sensitive foam applications ranging from football helmets tomedical applications are highlighted.

Inertial Motion-Tracking Technology

for Virtual 3-D

InterSense Inc. ongoing partnerships with N ASA to develop next generation virtual reality applications arepresented.

Water and Air Measures Make

'PureSense'

Pur eSense Inc. is highlighted in itswork to secure a safe environment forall

A Search Engine That's Aw are of Your

Needs

Stottler H enke Inc. wor ks w ith SBIRto create software for manageable searching of NASA databases

Software of Seismic Proportions Pro

motes Enjoyable Learning Seismic Entertainm ent, "Inside

NASA" film creators discuss the jour-ney from idea to film release.

Front cover of the 2005 Annual Spinoff.

and to predict the future of life onEarth and in the rest of the universe.

To this end, it relies on the diver-sity of disciplines and has inspired newmeta-disciplines. Abstracts are solic-

ited on all topics that span the enor-mou s range of astrobiological themes.The meeting format w ill includ e a

limited number of plenary talks thatwill complement a larger number oforal presentations in para llel thematicsessions.

As has always been the case atprevious AbSciCons, the poster ses-sions, including the NAI-sponsoredstudent poster competition, will con-tinue to be a particularly importantand successful venu e for the exchan geof scientific idea s.

Vis i t the In te rne t a t h t tp :/ /

abscicon2006.arc.nasa.gov to obtain thelatest AbSciCon 2006 information.

Fourth Astrobiology Science Conference set for MarchThe Fourth Astrobiology Science

Conference (AbSciCon) 2006 will be heldMarch 26-30 in Washington, D.C., at theRonald Reagan Building and Interna-tional Trade Center (located on the Webat www.itcdc.com).

All are invited to join the a strobiol-ogy comm un ity at this exceptiona l facil-ity that lies in the hear t of Washington,just off the ma ll, blocks from the WhiteHouse and with easy access to all areasof the city via the M etro.

The meeting w ill be held w hen thecherry blossoms are nearing their peakat the Tidal Basin. A private eveningtour and reception are schedu led at theSmithsonian's Natural History Museum ,site of the United States meteorite col-lection.The History of AbSciCon

NASA Ames and the NASA Astro-biology Institute (NAI) hosted the firstthree Astrobiology Science Conferences.The sessions were based on them es, such

as Water the Sine Qua Non of Life.Each session was led by invited ple-nary speakers and followed by con-tributed talks selected for their topicalexcitement from over 370 submitted

abstracts.The many excellent posters at-tracted viewers du ring special postertimes, lun ches and evenings.

In the second meeting, the formatwas enhanced by overview talks indisciplines for those wh o w anted a re-freshing way to get up to speed out-side their ar ea of expertise. From cos-mology to human intelligence, theAbSciCon covers the intel lectualbreadth of astrobiology.

AbSciCon 2006 builds on th e suc-cesses of these prev ious m eetings. As-trobiology is a novel approach to the

scientific stud y of the living universe.It seeks to und erstand the origin andevolution of life on Earth, to d etermineif life exists elsewhere in th e universe

BYSHIRLEYBERTHOLD


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The Photozig team, left to right: Luis Dib, chief software architect; JimWhitney, multimedia engineer; Francisco Imai, color imaging scientist; BrunoKajiyama, CEO; and David LeDrew, multimedia designer.

Photozig: a picture is worth a thousand words

BYDIANE FARRAR

Photozig Inc., an indu stry partnerin NASA Research Park (NRP) since2002, develops innova tive software so-lutions and app lications for digital pho-tography, with federal funding and in

cooperation with academic centers ofexcellence such as Stanford University,UC Davis, UCLA, UCSF and the Uni-versity of Illinois.

"Photozig is dedicated to creatingeasy, simp le and p ower ful solutions fororganizing and sharing digital photosand video data," said Bruno Kajiyama,CEO of Photozig. "We are introducing

our first produ ct to the market -- PhotozigAlbums, a comp lete solution for m anag-ing digital photosand short videos onthe desktop com-

puter with Webconnectivity," hesaid.

"Our sof t -ware has a rich set of features, allowingefficient control of your digital assets.You can easily transfer ph otos/ shortvideos from your camera, index albumsand photos with categories and tags,drag/ drop images from web browser todesktop , c rea te s l ideshows orscreensavers with photos/ video/ mu sic,enhan ce images, e-mail, send to the Web,

create photo b logs, exchange full resolu-tion images, burn a CD, backup and

mu ch mor e, " Kajiyama said .Photozig chose NRP because of the

research environment, proximity toNASA and p otential access to NASAtechnology. Kajiyama believes thatNASA represents for humanity thedream of exploring and discoveringmore about our universe. He admiresNASA's dedicated personnel, their tal-ent, and techn ological achievemen ts.

Photozig is interested in collabora-tive projects related to digital imagemanagement / enhancement , d ig i taphoto broad cast and spectral imagingPhotozig software, for example, couldenable astronauts to p ost photo albumblogs in near real time du ring missionssharing experiences with their familiesthe educational community and theworld.

Kajiyama loves spend ing time withhis family and playing with his 17-monthson. He also enjoys skiing, travelingfilming and taking pictures.

More information is available atwww.photozig.com or by e-mailinginfo@ph otozig .com.

Screen snapshot of the Photozig Web site.

NASA photo by Tom Trower

Thermo-PhysicsFacilities BranchChief JoeHartman (left)explains thedynamics of theArcJet Facility to

visiting SenateBudgetCommittee stafferKevin Bargo(center) andNASA legislativeliaison JoanSalute.

Senate staffer Kevin Bargo tours Ames


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The Astrogram staff encouragesemp loyees to write stories abou t eventsand activities in their respective workareas, which p rovides Astrogram read-ers with a fresh p erspective. To allow usto include as many stories as possible,

we ask that w riters follow these guide-lines for stories:

Astrogram story guidelines

BYTHE ASTROGRAMEDITORIAL BOARD

Word limits:

Feature articles/ news releases:500 words

Around the Center (Ames-related):250 words

Obituar ies: 200 word sUpcoming events/ calendaritems: 50 word s

Timeliness:For upcoming events, please sub-

mit items at least 1 month in adv ance.For completed events, please submitarticles no more than 2 weeks aftercompletion of the event, activity, con-ference, etc. Items are due to the editorby the 10th of each month. If that datefalls on a w eekend or h oliday, then th enext business day becomes the du edate.

Writing tips:Please review th e following w riting

tips to familiarize yourself with ourwriting style and gu idelines. Be sure toinclude w ho you w ant listed as the au-

thor/ byline. If you have questions,please contact the Astrogram editor atastrogram @mail.arc.nasa.gov

Types of stories:The most common kinds of stories

published in the Astrogram are newsstories and featu re stories.

News stories: Tell the basics - who, wh at, where,

when, how and why. New s stories are meant to inform

rather than en tertain. Don't use creative writing - pro-

vide just the facts. News stories, likefeature stories, can highlight, explainand share, but they are meant to be shortand to the point.

Use the active rather than p assivevoice.

Write for a general aud ience andavoid jargon and technical terms as m uchas possible.

Feature stories: Serve as great opportu nities to:

Highlight a person, organization or

project; offer a behind-the-scenes lookand tell a 'story' rather than present astraight-new s article.

They are less time-critical than arenews stories.

They allow readers to relate to theexperiences, feelings, lessons learned or

achievements of others. Feature stories allow you to write

creatively without u sing pu ff words orputting yourself into the story.For feature articles about Ames projects,keep the following in mind:

Remember, this is a feature storyand n ot a term paper - make your storyinteresting and not overly technical.

Refrain from using jargon - tell thereader w hat it is you are d oing in every-day language.

Spell out all acronyms on first ref-erence and then p ut the acronym after itonly if it is used again in th e article.

Discuss the genesis and p urp oseof the project and the primary benefitsderived from it and to Ames and N ASA.

Discuss how the project fits intoother key program s and how it sup portsthe NASA mission, if appropriate.

Explain w hat happened to makethe p roject a success.

Include timelines as to wh en theproject began, key milestones reached,when the project conclud ed, etc.

Discuss the role of key figures onthe p roject.

Discuss poten tial spin-offs, futu reuses, and the next steps to be taken, ifappropriate.

Add any other interesting newsabout the project.

Add quotes from key individualsFor the human interest, 'personalityprofile' story:

Make your story interesting andnot over ly technical. Refrain from usingjargon.

Spell out all acronyms on first reference and then p ut th e acronym after iON LY if it is used again in the article.

Include some background aboutthe person's title, years of service, responsibilities at Am es, award s, commen-dat ions, etc.

Discuss ou tside interests (for example: community involvement, hob-

bies, sports). Include p articular items of note(inventions, patents, publications, conference presentations).

Include other interesting background about the individu al.

Add quotes from the person andother sources who w ork with or super-vise the person.

Be sure to indicate who is to belisted as the au thor or the story.

Spam is not just a nuisance; it's adrain on IT resources and w orker pro-du ctivity. One report puts the cost at$87 billion to the U.S. economy annu-ally. Another shows the average em-ployee loses eight days per year dealingwith spam . It is occasionally offensiveand some messages are designed to foolthe recipient into giving out IDs andpassword s to bank accounts or similarsystems (called p hishing).

The Applied Information Technol-ogy Division (Code JT) has imp lementeda new anti-spam serv ice that offers im-proved defense against spam, ad ult con-tent and p hishing att acks. Since its imple-

mentation in September 2005, users haverepor ted a significant red uction in spamreducing the need and time spent tomainta in and filter unsolicited comm er-cial e-mail.

The new service uses advancedmachine learning techniques to analyzemore than 100,000 attribu tes in every e-mail, providing extreme confidence inidentifying spam messages. With thisnew service, JT provides improved vi-rus and spam p rotection includ ing bet-

Ames' improves anti-spam services

ter spam identification and user management options.While most u sers will simply rejoice

over the reduction in spam, we haveprovided options for advanced usersAdvan ced users may op t into the selfmanaged group that allow them to man-age their own qu arantine areas, changebetween mild, medium an d aggressivespam filtering rules and manage theirown personal safe lists and blockedsender lists. (These user managemenoptions are on ly available for those us-ing the mail.arc.nasa.gov system.) H ow-ever, 95 percent of Am es users w ill findthat the curren t default configur ation is

more than ad equate to meet their needsAn anti-spam town hall meeting

sponsored by th e App lied InformationTechnology Division w as held in October of 2005. If you m issed the meetingyou may visit the outreach Web site ah t t p : / / a p p t e ch . a r c .n a s a .g o v /outreach.cfm to dow nload a copy of theslides.

For more information regard ing thisserv ice , see FAQ on h t tp : / /amesem ail.arc.nasa.gov/ faq.cfm.

BYELIZABETHTU


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Demonstration of the Ames-developed heatshield used on the Stardustcapsule.

NASAphotobyE

ricJames

Principal investigator Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute) (seated) and MikeKoop of the San Jose Astronomical Association acquiring data from ahigh-resolution spectrometer on board the DC-8 that departed Ames toobserve the re-entry of the Stardust capsule on Jan. 15.

NASA used a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 aircraft to observe the re-entry of the Stardust capsule on Jan.15. The aircraft, based at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, collects data for manyexperiments in support of scientific projects serving the world scientific community. Included in thiscommunity are NASA, federal, state, academic and foreign scientists. Data gathered by the DC-8 atflight altitude and by remote sensing have been used for scientific studies in archaeology, ecology,geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil scienceand biology.

Trajectory of the Stardust mission

The Stardust capsule as it re-enters Earths atmosphere on Jan. 15. Phototaken from the DC-8 that departed from Ames to observer the re-entry ofthe spacecraft.

NASA photo based on video by Mike Taylor, Utah State University

To monitor the fireball-like returnof the Stard ust sam ple capsule to Earth,

a team of researchers left Ames onNASA's DC-8 aircraft.

While the airplane circled ov er Ne-vada in the early morning d arkness, the

team tracked and observed th e capsuleas it plunged into Earth's atmosphere 10times faster than a speeding bu llet. Fi-nally, the capsule parachu ted dow n andwas safely collected in a d esert in Utah .The capsule's precious cargo includedthousands of particles from the cometWild 2 and interstellar par ticles that theStardust spacecraft had captured withits specialized 'arm .'

The researchers on the DC-8 as-sessed the p erformance of Stardu st's car-

Stardust returns with a stellar show and valuable information

NASAphoto

NASAphoto

BYJOHNBLUCK

shock emission brightness, light of whichcontributes to heating the su rface.

bon-based, ablativeheat shield, devel-

oped a t NASAAmes.

The scientistsaboard the DC-8

t ook m easu r e -ments of the shields surface tempera-ture and rate of ablation during thecapsule's high-speed flight. The teamalso measured the capsule's re-entry


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Comet Wild 2, taken bythe Stardust navigationcamera during the

spacecraft's closestapproach to the cometon Jan. 2, 2004. Theimage was taken withina distance of 500kilometers (about 311miles) of the comet'snucleus with a 10-millisecond exposure.

NASAphotobyNASA/JPL.

continued on page 8

Scientists study the Stardust sample return particles (center) that were capturedby Stardust's specialized 'arm' and remained enveloped within the Aerogelsubstance inside the spacecrafts interior.

NASAphoto

Sandford e-mails family, friends and colleagues about StardustNASA Ames astrophysicists Scott

Sandford is a member of the Stardustmission's science team that w ill be ana-lyzing the comet dust and interstellarparticles that were cap-

tured when the Stardustspacecraft flew throughsome of Comet Wild-2'sdu st in 2004. Sandford w asthe only m ember of the sci-ence team to also be on therecovery team when thecapsule land ed in Utah onJan. 15, 2006. He has ac-companied the capsulef rom Utah to JohnsonSpace Center, Houston,where it was opened in aclean room and the par-ticles assessed. Sandfordhas been sending e-mailsabou t his historic Stardustexperiences to family,friends and colleagues.Here are some excerptsfrom these messages.

Jan. 13, 7:02 a.m. MST:The recovery team has prett y much fin-

ished up all its preparations, and weare now mostly taking it easy and sav-ing our energy for 3 a.m. MST onSunday (Jan. 15). A ll our gear has been

checked out and is ready for use.We got some snow and ice lastnight, but it was largely gone by theend of the day, and it is un likely to havecaused any problems wit h water in thelanding ellipse. There is apparentlyanother storm due on S unday, but thehopes are that it won't really arriveuntil we are already finished recover-ing the sample return capsule (SRC).

The usual herds of deer and antelope arewandering the area, including between thebuildings in English Village where we spendour night s. I am particularly enjoying hear-ing the coyotes sing every night, something

I heard frequently growing up in NewMexico, but that you don't get much of inthe San Francisco Bay area!

Jan. 13, 5:11 p.m. MST:The building was'locked down ' so that

we know everything will be ready and wait-ing for us when we re-gather tomorrowevening to start the actual recovery opera-tions.

We don' t reassemble at the Avery com-plex for the recovery unt il around midnight.We'll t hen receive a briefing, get in to our

warm weather gear, load things into trucksand helicopters, etc., in preparation for the 3a.m. MST re-entry of the sample returncapsule.

The helicopters did some practice flightstoday and made a point of checking out theground conditions in a number of locations

within the landing ellipse, including thetarget point. They reported that the groundis muddy, but mostly free of standing w ater.We don't want the SRC to land in deep

water, as water and our sampling aerogeldon't play well together.The weather folks are telling us that a

new storm is expected to blow in at justabout the t ime we would begin the recoveryprocess. This will play a factor in the deci-sion as to whether we recover the SRC u singhelicopters or ground vehicles. Helicoptersare preferred since they allow us to do therecovery more quickly and minimize ourexposure to any UXO (unexploded ord-nance) on the range.

Jan. 15, 6:30 a.m. MST:

I'm back at A very and the SRC is currently being taken apart to get at the samplcanister. The field conditions were VERYmuddy, but no water got in the SRC and the

SRC itself didn't get toomuddy (our boots on the othe

hand...)The recovery went al

most perfectly. Finding theSRC took a litt le longer thanwe had anticipated. It alsotook us longer to completrecovery because the SRC dida few minor bounces, followedby a short roll, before comingto a stop on its side when ilanded. That required we domore environmental sampling than we practiced.

Jan. 16, 9:46 a.m. MST:

Sorry for the long delaybut I was up 39 hours straighdealing with the recovery andthen washing and organizing gear, followed by watching the disassembly of thcanister from the back shieldand the heat shield. A fter tha

I caught some much-needed sleep.The recovery went perfectly , but a litt l

slower than in practice, in part because itook a little longer to locate thsample return capsule than expectedand in part because we took moreenvironmental samples than ex

pected. The SRC hit the ground wit hsome transverse velocity due to thewin d, so it made a few small bounceand ended up on its rim. Once on itrim, it rolled in a wobbly fashion foa short dist ance and then did a lit tlspiral and stopped on its side (kindof like a top at the end of its spin)The impact marks were all quitshallow, so it looked like it had a

prett y gent le landing.We sampled all along t he track. Th

sticky m ud sucked some fine grain materiaoff the heat and back shields. As a result, th

mud had a hard time adhering to the SRCand t he SRC it self had relatively litt le mudon it (less than ended up on me!)

Jan. 18, 2:36 p.m. CST, e-mail sent fromJohnson Space Center, Houston:

Yesterday was a very long day. I was upat 4:30 a.m. M ST to go down to the Averycomplex in preparation for flying down to JSC. We loaded up all the sample returncapsule gear and related hardware onto aflatbed truck and t ransported it t o a waitin gC-130 Hercules provided courtesy of the


8/14


Sandford to discuss Stardust, Hayabusa sample return missionsThe Silicon Valley Astronom y Lec-

ture Series presents a lecture co-spon-sored by NASA Ames, Foothill Col-lege Astronom y Progr am, SETI Insti-tute and Astronomical Society of the

Pacific. Astronom er Scott Sandford ofNASA Ames will give a non-techni-cal, illustrated talk on: The Stardustand Hayabusa Missions. Details be-low.

Date: Wednesday, March 1Time: 7 p.m.Place: Smithw ick Theater

Foothill CollegeEl Monte Road an dFreeway 280,in Los Altos Hills

The event is free and op en to thepu blic.Parking on cam pu s costs $2.

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

There are currently two active space-craf t missions designed to returnsamples to Earth from small bodies inour solar system. Stardust recently re-turned samples from the comet Wild-2and Hayabusa will attempt to returnsamples from the asteroid Itokawa.

Sand ford w ill discuss th e scientificgoals of the Stardu st and H ayabusa mis-sions and provide an overview of theirdesigns and flights to date. He will alsoshow some of the exciting d ata returnedby these spacecraft d uring their encoun-

ters with their tar get objects.In addition, in the case of Stardust,

he w ill talk about som e of the prelimi-nary findings from the comet samp lesreturned to Earth recently.

No backgroun d in science will berequired for this talk.Sandford , an expert on meteorites

and the material between the planets,i s a senior member of Ames 'Astrochemistry Laboratory and is co-investigator on the Stardust andHayabu sa missions. He received hisPh.D. in physics from Washington Uni-versity, St. Louis.

Sandford e-mails family, friends and colleagues about Stardustcontinued from page 7

continued on page 9

Wyoming National Guard.Loading the plane was cold work (colder

than the recovery, so of course my nice,warm recovery parka was stowed in thegear). The Herc flight was similar to my

experiences with Herc in Antarctica, noisywit h alternating hot and cold locations. Seat-ing was the typical hammock webbing.

We got a police escort all the way to JSC;police cars took turns dashing ahead of us sothey could block all the intersections, so wenever had to stop at lights. If we'd added abrass band it would have made a lovelyparade!

We arrived at the curatorial building at JSC, and there was a nice little crowd ofpeople there to greet us and give enthusiasticapplause (one of the only times in all of thisthat I got a lit tle choked up). The SRCcomponents were all loaded into the Space

Exposed Hardware (SEH) clean room, andthen I escorted the canister up to the Stardustclean room. There the Lockheed t eam openedthe canister and exposed the aerogel tray forthe first time. Every aerogel tile is still inplace!!! By and large the ti les are in amaz-ingly good shape.

The science team entered the clean roomat this point, and we safely transferred thesample tray to its holding fix tu re in the cleanroom. This was a nerve-wracking step butwas completed wit h only a few tiny pieces ofloose aerogel falling from t he tray (in to wait-ing clean trays.)

It immediately became obvious that wehave lots of wonderful samples. There aremany impacts that are EASILY visible to thenaked eye! In some cases you can even see theparticles. Presumably, we have even more,smaller 10-20 micron grains in the aerogel.

It looks like we have succeeded well beyondour wildest hopes! I am not sure if it is goodclean room protocol to hug each other, butthere was a lot of it going on for the first 10minutes or so. We then got organized and

began systematically photographing thecometary t iles. I helped with this until about6:30 p.m. CST when my many days of ir-regular sleep and meals started to t ell, whenI tu rned my job over to Andrew Westphal.Jan. 20, 9:15 a.m. CST

The day after the canister got t o JohnsonSpace Center, Houston, Mike Zolensky andI picked up a number of small fragments ofaerogel that were lying on the avionics deckand sampling arm of the sample retu rn cap-sule. These are all probably small pieces ofthe front of some of the cometary aerogel cellsthat broke off after the sample trays werestowed subsequent to the comet flyby. Itisn' t clear when they came off, but given therough and tumble life of the SRC (re-entry,hitting the ground at ~10 mph, etc.), I amsurprised we didn' t see more loose aerogel.The entire Stardust system worked amaz-ingly well. M embers of the team have beenexamining these small chips (the largest isonly about 1 cm on a side and a few mmthick) and have already found mult iple tracksand particles. This bodes very well for thecontents of the full cells in the sampling tray.At t his morning' s science team meeting wedecided to begin to extract these particlesand use them to begin dist ributions to some

of our preliminary examination team (PET)members. Much of yesterday was spent experi-

menting with the lighting conditions on thecometary tray in the automated scan plat-form. We want to optically scan a significant

number of cells to get a good sense of whathe collected dust population looks like interms of track ty pes, sizes, etc. So far, we arhaving some minor difficulties getting really good images due to our in ability t o ligh

the samples from the side (the tray frame getin the way) and because we get a lot ofreflections off the frame and the aluminumfoils that hold the cells.

Nonetheless, we are getting good enoughimages to take us to the next step, which is tselect the first, few cells for extraction. If algoes well, I think we will be ext ract our firscell this afternoon, but we may not get to iuntil tomorrow morning. We want our firscell to be "run of the mill." Cells with morexceptional particles will wait un til we havproven all our extraction techniques worwell.

Last n ight t he extended Stardust teamat least those members who are in Houstonhad a celebratory dinn er in the Gilruth Center. We've all made good friends during t hmany years of the mission, and it was nice totake a moment to relax in each other's company.

Du ring the celebration we made a pointof remembering the many, many, many people who have played key roles in thsuccess of the mission but were unable to bpresent.

Kudos to all of you out there who havhelped make this mission a reality. It is mysincere hope that I will get to work wit h thes

folks more in t he future. Say, here's an idea- how about we do another sample mission

Cheers!Scott


9/14


Aerogel helps scientists unravel mysteries of comets

NASAphotobyTomTrower

Aerogel, sample shown above, is a new concept for spacecraft tiles that canbe used on Earth to make efficient, vacuum-like insulation for refrigerators,furnaces and automobile catalytic converters. The new material is similar tothat used for the tiles on the Space Shuttle to protect the vehicle from theheat generated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. However, the newtiles have a layer of aerogel, or `solid smoke,' mixed into the tile's air spaces.This works like a vacuum layer because it's a great insulator, insulatingspacecraft from 10 to 100 times better than today's tiles.

Strange stuff called 'aerogel' thatlooks like a semi-transparen t, blue cloud,but that is solid, carried captured cometdust to Earth on Jan. 15, landing in aUtah d esert.

In January 2004, theStardust spacecraft flew

within 147 miles (236 kilo-meters) of the comet Wild 2(VILT-TWO) and surv ivedthe high-speed impact ofmillions of dust particlesand small rocks up to nearlytwo-tenths of an inch (one-half centimeter) across. Withits tennis-racket-shap ed col-lector extended, Stardustcap t u r ed t housands o f comet particles in the see-through aerogel, which in-cludes silica and oxygen .

"Its a little bit like col-

lecting BBs by shootingthem into styrofoam. Someof the grains are likely tohave exotic isotopic ratiosthat will give us an indica-tion that we're looking atmaterials that aren't as oldas the solar system, but thatare, in fact, older than thesolar system," said ScottSandford , an astrophysicistand Stardust mission co-investigator atAmes.

Another mission objective was toexpose the sp acecraft to the interstellar

dust stream for 150 days to grab par-ticles. After collecting them , the aerogelcollector retracted into the spacecraft'scapsule. Stardust will be the first mis-sion to capture and return a substantialsample from outside Earth's moon sys-tem.

Making sure that precious cometand interstellar particles imbedded inthe aerogel are not affected by earthlycontaminants was an important task tocomplete before the Stardu st spacecraftwas launched on Feb. 7, 1999, from Cap eCanav eral Air Station, Florida. aboard aDelta II rocket.

"Und er Dr. Sandford's gu idance, Iperformed the lab analysis of the aero-gel using infrared (IR) light to deter-mine the level of organic contamina-tion," said Max Bernstein, a scientist atNASA Ames. "These and oth er prelimi-nary lab tests ultimately led the Stard ustaerogel development team to devise abake-vacuum-bake cycle to reduce thecarbon content in aerogel," Bernsteinsaid.

"Aerogel is made mostly of sand(silica), and what we're interested in isthe organic material in the cometary

samp les," Bernstein said . "We measuredorganic contamination in aerogel earlyon. We raised a concern, and Peter Tsouand the aerogel team at the Jet Propu l-

sion Laboratory in Pasad ena, Calif., de-vised a method to reduce carbon con-tent in aerogel by a factor of 10."

Infrared light that astronomers use

to d etect organic molecules in sp ace alsocan be used to measure organic mol-ecules in th e laboratory. In their labora-tory, Ames scientists shined IR lightthough a piece of an early batch of testaerogel, and they saw organic contami-nation. Because infrared is light that isnot visible to the human eye, scientistsuse special detectors to 'see' IR. If scien-tists detect a specific IR color scheme,they can tell that a specific molecularfragment is moving and is present in thesamp le of material they are examining .

"I f you unders tand tha t co lorscheme, then when you make the mea-surement, you can say, 'ah h ah, I spottedcolors corresponding to a carbon-hy-drogen motion, so there must be car-bons and hyd rogen in the aerogel, not just silicon and oxygen,'" Bernstein ex-plained. "Thanks in part to our measure-ments, we now have cleaner aerogel,which is flying on the Stardust space-craft."

In cooperation with Bernstein,gradu ate student Maegan K. Spencer ofStanford University, Stanford, Calif., isconducting more sophisticated aerogelorgan ic contamination tests in the labo-

BYJOHNBLUCK

ratories of Stanford Professor RichardZare.

The returning Stardust capsulestruck Earth's atmosphere at eight m iles

(12.8 kilometers) per second more th an 10 times faster thana speed ing bu llet. That is fas

enough to go from San Fran-cisco to Los Angeles in onlyone minute. The 101-pound(45.7 kilogram) con ical objechurtled through the atmosphere and slowed before thespacecraft finally parachu teddown to Earth in a Utah drylake. The land ing occur ed onSunday, Jan. 15, at about 3a.m. MST, in a restricted a rea- the Utah Test and TrainingRange, located southwest ofSalt Lake City .

"There will be a team of

scientists at Johnson SpaceCenter wh o w ill assess whatwe actua lly got back from thecomet so we can verify we d idget a useful samp le," Sandfordsaid. "A small portion of thesamples will then be u sed tomake a preliminary study ofthe returned material. Afterthe preliminary examinationis complete, all the samples

will be made available to the generascientific commu nity for m ore d etailedstud y. My guess is peop le will be askingfor and working on these samples for

decades to come."

continued from page 8

Sandford e-mails

COMPILEDBYJOHNBLUCKANDSCOTTSANDFORD

The Stard ust m ission w as the first toreturn a sample from outside Earth'smoon system. Scientists believe the cap-tured cometary m aterial likely containsancient pre-solar, interstellar grain s andremnant material form th e formation ofthe solar system. According to scientists, analysis of these celestial specksmay well yield imp ortant insights into

the evolution of the sun , its planets andpossibly even the or igin of life.The Stardus t spacecraf t was

launched on Feb. 7, 1999, from CapeCanaveral Air Station, Fla., aboard aDelta II rocket. For more informa tionabout Stard us t , v is i t : h t tp :/ /s t a rdu s t . jp l .nasa .gov, h t tp : / /ww w.astro.washington.edu / brownleeand h t tp :/ / www .nasa .gov/ centers /a m es / m u l tim e d ia / a u d io / s d u st /sdust.html


10/14


Question:

Could you please describe theprocedural requirements and pro-gram guidelines for foreign nationalvisits at Ames?

Answer:

Over the last few years, NASA

Headquarters has issued revisedNASA procedural requirements andguidelines implementing significantchanges to the foreign na tional visitsprogram.

As an Ames employee, it is im-perative that you understand theserequirements and guidelines in ord erto make this a successful and effec-tive process.

Ask the Protective Services Wizard

Ames Research Center has beenassigned th e responsibility of coord i-nating and approving/ disapprovingrequests for foreign n ational access toAmes facilities, information, m aterialand technology, provided they con-form to U.S. national security, non-

pr oliferation an d foreign policies, U.S.export control regulations and the visitis "of concrete benefit to NASA andthe United States".

Only a br anch chief or higher cansponsor requests for foreign nationalvisitors (i.e., a foreign nationa l is any-one w ho is not a U.S. citizen and thisincludes perman ent residents).

Requests for foreign nationa l visi-

tors may be disapp roved un less sub-mitted at least 20 business days inadvance of the visit start date.

Visitors from designated coun-tries require ad vanced subm ission oftwo calendar m onths.

For on-site users, visit the Ames

Web site on the Internet at https:/ /arcapps.arc.nasa.gov/ to submit a re-quest.

For further d etails, visit the AmesIntern ational Visits Office Web site ath t t p :/ / jp . a r c . n a sa . g o v / SM / IVC_office.html or for immediate as-sistance with the request p rocess andlocation, call the International VisitsOffice at ext. 4-5434, or a t ext . 4-1677.

Guidelines for foreign national visits to Ames

Virgil P. Force passed away on D ec.17, 2005, with his loving daughter and

care taker, Jackie Schu arzenbach, at h isside. He w as 87.

Born in Cass Cou nty , Ill., Forcejoined the Navy and gradu ated from theNavel School in San Diego in N ovember1944. He ended up being stationed atMoffett Field.

A pioneer in technical services,Virgil Force, passes away

BYMANUEL FONTES

After leaving the Navy, he went towork at Ames (NACA) as a research anddevelopment m odel maker. Most of theprojects in those days were w ind tu nnel

models and Force, a gifted craftsman,contributed to the success of many earlyflight p rogram s such as the SST Project.

With the daw ning of the space age,and the birth of NASA in 1958, therewere new technology challenges. Forcewas instrumental in finding new mate-rials and developing new processes tomeet these challenges.

Force worked on m any early spaceflight programs. Most notably, heworked with the astronauts to develop abody and face restraint system, makingplaster casts of their faces. He workedon the first prototyp e mod els of the AX-

5 hard space suit with researcher H .C.(Vic) Vykukal. Force's talent and cre-ativity inspired h is fellow craftsmen andearned the respect of the researchers heworked w ith.

Force was married to his lovingwife Sarah until her death in January1994. He leaves h is five childr en beh ind,four dau ghters and one son, along with10 grand children and eight great grandchildren.

Paying tribute

Virgil Force

Ames employees pay their respects as thefuneral procession for slain East Palo AltoOfficer Richard May passes under the MoffettField Blvd. overpass on Jan. 12.

NASA photo by Jonas Dino


11/14


The Lamica saga - a multi-generational family working at Ames

The 1959 Flight Research Branch:. Violet Shaw is the second woman fromthe left in the first row. Gus Brunner is the last man in the first row.

There are several good books thathave been w ritten abou t the history ofAmes, but for eyewitness accounts sitdown with Joe and Ron Lamica, twomembers of a three-generation legacythat has racked up over 200 years ofservice at Ames and Moffett Field.

The Lamica saga begins with Clem-ent Gilbert Lam ica, Sr., (Gilbert, Sr.). InJanu ary 1942, he was raising horses onprop erty along El Camino Real in Moun-

tain View and repairing pinball ma-chines and similar d evices for businessesfrom Redw ood City to San Jose. He was36, married w ith five children and hadserved in the US 11th Mounted BlackHorse cavalry stationed at Fort Ord.NACA's Ames Aeronau tical Laboratoryhad just comp leted building the 7-foot-by-10-foot and the 16-foot wind tun nelsalong with the electrical substation toprovide power for the tunnels. It wasgearing up to direct all of its efforts toprovide better aircraft designs for theAm erican military. Gilbert, Sr. was hiredin 1942 to support the maintenance ofthe critical substation. H e spent 38 yearsat Ames supporting the electrical sub-station an d other center facilities, retir-ing in 1979.

In 1944, Clemen t Gilbert Lam ica, Jr.(Gilbert, Jr. aka Pancho) at the age of just

17 joined his dad at Ames, working inthe machine shops building mod els forthe wind tunnels and arcjets and thenhelping to install them. He worked atAm es for 37 years, less a couple of yearshe spent w ith the Army in Korea.

In 1951, Gilbert, Jr. was joined in themachine shops at Am es by his brotherJoe. Joe did a good d eal of wor k on w indtunn els, including th e 6-foot w ind tun-nel with Jack Boyd and the 2-foot windtunnel, as well as working on the uni-

Gilbert, Jr.'s retirement party,from left to right:

Gilbert, Jr., Joe, Marge (Gilbert, Jr.'s wife) and

Gilbert, Sr.

tary. He retired as chief of the Mechan i-cal Operations Branch in 1989, after acareer of 38 years, including four withthe N aval Air Corp in Korea and Viet-nam. Some of the highlights of Joe'scareer were getting the 2-foot wind tu n-nel working in the 1970s and workingon the F-14 wing root shap e problem --the air-flow w as separating and prod uc-ing high drag and turbulence. Joe cameup with th e fillet design that solved the

pr oblem. Joe be-came an AmesAssociate theyear he retiredand continu es toserve in that ca-pac i ty . He i sworking on com-pleting a com-

pu terized inven-tory of all mod-els, un ique tools,etc., developedby the Mechani-cal Operat ionsBranch in its vari-ous forms and

seeing that they are provided theirproper p lace in the history of Ames.

Violet Shaw was hired in 1956 as acompu tational technician for NACA byGus Brunn er, becoming p art of his teamin Han ger N211. Not long after she washired, she was asked to serve as thereceptionist for the visiting chest X-raytrailer. One client was Joe Lamica. Amutual attraction developed and theymarried in 1957. Vi left in 1960 to raisethe family. In 1978, she came back towork at NASA until her retirement in1996.

In 1975, Gilbert, Jr.'s son, Ronald,was in the De An za College trade pro-gram , studying to be a machine tool techand planning a cross-country trip on h ismotor cycle. His dad strongly suggestedthat he get a job instead, so he inter-viewed at Ames, was hired under the

student program and started learningall aspects of the machine shop , eventu-ally becoming a journeym an. On Jan. 20of 1978, just a weekend before he w as tobecome a p ermanent N ASA emp loyee,Ron was hit by a car while riding hismotor cycle. He lost h is leg in the acci-den t. "One of those things, it's life," hesays philosoph ically and g rins. "I stillride." In June 1978, he became a perm a-nent N ASA emp loyee. Over the years,Ron became p roficient in CAD/ CAM

for the numerical controlled machinesin the machine shop, supporting themanufacture of various aerodynamicand sculptu red su rfaces. Later he managed the p lanning office and worked onProject Reliance. Some of the high lightsof Ron's continuing career at Ames include his presentation to the NASAAdministrator (Dan Goldin) and 400contractor representatives in Washington , D.C. on Pr oject Reliance, which is astudy to retain manufacturing skills aall NASA centers instead of consolidat-ing it to a single center. He also remembers his work on the STAR Model (aBoeing 777 semi-span ) with p roject leadTom Gilbertson and his entire crew, as

well as his work w ith Tom Dixon fromNASA Head quarters on the centenniamu seum display of NASA wind tun nemod els. Ron still carries his dad 's brasswind tu nnel tag. This tag was used bythe wind tu nnel workers to identify whowas in the wind tu nnel so it wou ldn't berun w hile they were inside. Joe stilcarries his tag also.

Two of Joe's sons have also workedat Ames. Michael spen t 10 years work

ing in the mail room and William sp enthree years in the fabrication shop ap-pren tice program . Finally, we have Joeand Gilbert, Jr.'s brother Richard . Hewen t to work for the United States PosOffice in Mou ntain View, retiring as thepostm aster of the Moffett Field Post Office after 40 year s of service.

BYLARRYMANNINGAND VALERIE ADAMSK


12/14


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

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 atext. 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.

NASA Am es Research Center h asbeen designated by th e U.S. Environ -mental Protection Agency on its na-tion-w ide list of Best Workplaces forCommuters.

Best Workplaces for Comm utersis a voluntary program that nation-ally recognizes excellence in em-ployer-provided comm uter benefits.

NASA Ames w as recognized for thisaward because of its commitment tooffer a wide ran ge of innovative ben-efits to employees, including subsi-dized transit passes, membership incarpool matching p rogram s, offeringtelework op tions and p roviding freerides to/ from mass transit on theAmes shuttle bus.

To learn more abou t Ames Com-mute Alternatives Program, visith t t p : / / j f . a r c . n a s a . g o v / NASA_Only/ acap/ index.html.

Ames named inBest Workplacesfor Commuters

ment and Fire Protection Servicesunits for the month of Dec 2005 isshown below.

and the only NASA University Affili-ated Research Center. He was directlyresponsible for the Ames Project Co-lumbia, one of the world's fastestsupercompu ters. The system w as con-ceived, designed and brought on line ina record 120 days. In the fall of 2005, heannou nced a collaboration w ith Ames'famous neighbor Google Inc., that al-lows the Internet search company tobuild u p to 1 million squ are feet of newresearch collaboration laboratory and

office space and ensures an extensiveresearch partnership between the twoentities.

From February to Septem ber 2003,he served full time as the sole NASArepresentative on the Columbia Acci-dent Investigation Board at the requestof NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.He d irected imp act testing analysis thatestablished the d efinitive physical causeof the loss of the space shuttle Colum bia.

Another significant accomplish-ment that occurred during Hubbard's

tenure was the November 2005 announcement by NASA Headquartersthat NASA Ames had been assignedmanagement of the Robotic Lunar Ex-ploration Program .

The Robotic Lunar ExplorationProgram is a critical element of NASA'sVision for Space Exploration, said Exploration Systems Mission DirectorateAssociate Administrator Dr. ScottHorow itz at the time of the annou ncement.

Hubbard also secured significanroles for Ames in the development ofthe space shuttle's replacemen t, the CrewExploration Vehicle (CEV) and the n ewCrew Laun ch Vehicle (CLV). These rolesinclude leading a multi-center team todevelop a thermal p rotection system forthe CEV and d esigning, developing andimplementing the laun ch mission sys-tems and the command -and-control capability for the CEV and the CLV, anddesigning, developing and managing

continued on page 14

continued from front page

Hubbard to hold position at SETI


13/14


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

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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

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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/newfurniture. 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 street

from 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 (sleepsapprox. 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.

Montana, new lodge and B&B offers hunting,fishing, family reunions, retreats. 6 bedrooms withspectacular views of the Clark Fork River. Call or e-mail for a brochure, prices and hunting deadlines (406)360-6464 or [email protected]

Automotive

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.

Oak high chair. Fits up to table like a chair; does nothave its own tray. Your child can sit at the table like a bigkid. Will e-mail photo if interested. $40. Call (650) 255-3377.

Pioneer 6-disc CD player with (8) extra changercartridges! Black finish, works perfectly, $35. Call (408)295-2160.

Novara 16 inch red bike. Used for about one year; ingreat condition. Will e-mail photo if interested. $60. Call(650) 255-3377.

Child's rocking chair. Light wood with a teddy bearprinted padded seat and back. Looks new. Will e-mailphoto if interested. $40. Call (650) 255-3377.

1/2 share in Skylane C182A, $24,000. New paint andrecent annual. New fuel bladders. Good condition. BasicIFR panel. Can base at LVK, 4Q5, TCY, possibly elsewhere.Key Dismukes (408) 938-0455.

Waterbed - King size, Universal, canopy, pedestal withdrawers - beautiful, large, wood frame waterbed, withnewish wave free mattress. Moving sale. $800 or B/O.Barry Cunningham (510) 793-4457 or [email protected]

Jet Performance chip state 1 part #294055 for 1994Chev truck/SUV. RAY (408) 269-4736.

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.

Furnished housing needed for visiting Germanresearcher (and his wife and small house-trained dog).

Visiting Ames April 1 through July 31, 2006. Chris Blankenat (408) 733-7234.

Large room for rent in Newark, private entrance, ownbathroom and kitchen. All utilities paid except telephone.Close to all stores, malls, and freeways. $500. Call Jim (510)828-0315.

Good sized room in 4 bd/2 ba home, excellent, quietMtn View area close to Ames. W/D, microwave, wire/wireless cable modem. Tidy person and nonsmoker. Easy

access to Ames, H85, 237, & 101. $475 plus dep. andshare utils. Avail. March 1, possibly sooner. Call (650) 964-1900.

91 Acura Legend LS 4dr sedan. Very clean. Wellmaintained. 160K mls. White w/tan leather interior. Alpinein-dash cd player w/premium aftermarket speakers.Recently installed: Yokohama AVS db S2 tires, Brembo frontrotors, front and rear brake pads. Koyo radiator, 150Kservice, all performed by certified Acura technician. Needsabout a quart of oil between changes. Otherwise, runsgreat. $2,800. David (510) 387-2453.

98 Isuzu Rodeo. Good condition, A/C, power steering,windows and door locks. Tilt wheel, cruise control, dual

front air bags, roof rack, alloy wheels, silver paint, body hasno dent. $4,950. Ricky (510) 396-9149.


14/14


National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration

Ames Research CenterMoffe tt Field, CA 94035-1000

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Printed on recycled and recyclable paper with vegetable-based ink.

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PERMIT NO. 85

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA

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.

The NASA family remembersOn Jan. 26, the NASA family ob-

served a Day of Remembrance to cel-ebrate and h onor ou r NASA colleaguesand friends who gave their lives inservice to NASA and th e nation in thecause of exploration and discovery.

In observance of the NASA Day ofRemembrance, the U. S. flag w as flownat half-staff at all NASA centers. Onthis day we remember the Apollo 1astronauts - Gus Grissom, RogerChaffee and Ed White -- who p erishedin a fire on the launch pad during atrain ing exercise on Jan. 27, 1967.

We also remember the crew of thespace shutt le Challenger - Dick Scobee,Michael Smith, Judy Resnick, EllisonOnizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory

Jarvis and the first-to-be teacher in space,Christa McAuliffe, who perished just

more th an a m inute after lift-off on Jan.28, 1986.

And we h onor the crew of STS-107 -

Rick Husband, Wil l ie McCool ,Michael Anderson, I lan Ramon,Kalpana Chawla, David Brown andLaurel Clark - wh o died just minu tesbefore comp leting its mission aboar d

the space shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1,2003.Unfortunately, there are many

others, less well known perhap s thanthese astronauts but no less valued,wh o have lost their lives wh ile pu rsu-ing America's dream of exploringspace. Let us always be vigilant anddetermined as we continu e to pursuetheir, and ou r, jour ney to explore thecosmos.

continued from front page

BYLAURA LEWIS

the integrated systems health m anage-ment capability for the CEV's groundprocessing and au tomation, among oth-ers.

To fur ther increase new bu siness atAmes, Hubbard established a n ew bu si-ness office and named Wendy Dolci tolead it. The new office is tasked withidentifying new business opportu nitiesand boosting revenue to the center byattracting new business partners.

Hu bbard also is credited w ith open-ing communication channels to keepAmes employees better informed. Heheld a nu mber of Inside the Director's

Stud io forum s and created a new radioprogram, KARC, that allowed him toshare commentary and news items withhis aud ience.

The recipient of num erous award sand honors, Hubbard has been givenseven NASA medals: three for 'Out-standing Leadership;' three for 'Excep-tional Achievement;' and for his contri-butions to the Colum bia accident inves-tigation, NASA's highest honor, the Dis-tingu ished Service Medal. He has beenawarded 'Laurels' by Aviation Weekmagazine three times. Hubbard is anelected member of the International

Academy of Astronautics; a Fellow ofthe American Institute of Aeronauticsand Astronautics and recipient of theVon Krmn m edal in astronautics, theIAA engineering science award and anhonorary doctorate from the Polytech-nic University of Madrid . He also is theauth or of more than 50 scientific paper son research and technology.

Hubbard will assume his new jobeffective Feb. 15, 2006. Marvin ChrisChristensen will serve as the acting director until a replacement is identified

Scott Hubbard to hold Carl Sagan Chair at SETI Institute

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