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

May 25, 2001

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Spaceport Newshttp://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/snews/snewstoc.htm

Vol. 40, No. 11

Pages 4-5 – Spaceport Newsgoes inside Life Sciences.

Page 7 – Asian Americans andPacific Islanders host luncheon.

Inside

Pages 2-3 – Team membershonored and awarded in“Recognizing Our People.”

(See GROUP, Page 8)

Page 6 – Students noted fordesign and research projects.

Spaceport working group gathersKennedy Space Center hosted

the successful kick-off meeting ofthe Advanced Spaceport Technol-ogy Working Group (ASTWG) onMay 15 in the Operations andCheckout Building briefing room.

The working group’s visionaryefforts are expected to help shapespaceports and spaceport tech-nologies of the future.

About 150 leaders from NASA,other federal agencies, stateagencies, state spaceports,commercial spaceports, industryand academia met to share informa-tion and address potential needsfor next-generation spaceporttechnology.

The group, chaired by NASA/KSC’s Randy Eastman, discussedhow they could work together toidentify, develop and demonstratenew spaceport technologies thatwill be required to provide groundsystems for future vehicles.

They also discussed fundamen-tal needs for spaceport masterplanning, environmental assess-

ments and business management.While the space industry market

currently is not generating ademand for more spaceports,Eastman said, government andindustry leaders must beginplanning for the time when low-

earth-orbit space tourism andsuborbital business travel andcommerce generate the need formultiple spaceports. “That way,you’ll be that much farther ahead inmaking the most of the emergingmarkets,” Eastman said.

Kennedy Space Center DirectorRoy Bridges applauded partici-pants for taking a key role infostering future spaceports.

“We are here to make sure weunderstand what our technologyneeds are and to be supportive ofthem,” Bridges said. “If we want tomove forward, we have to jointogether.”

Because of KSC’s unique historyand expertise in developingspaceport technologies, KSC is in aposition to help states plan and getready for their own spaceports,Bridges said.

In turn, KSC values input fromthe states so that the Center cancontinue to create technologiesthat can be applied to a variety ofchanging spaceport needs.

ASTWG’s companion workinggroup is the Advanced RangeTechnology Working Group, whichhad its kick-off meeting March 1.

Phil Weber of Advanced Space

NASA’s High Energy SolarSpectroscopic Imager (HESSI)spacecraft was scheduled at press-time to launch aboard OrbitalSciences Corp.’s Pegasus XL fromCape Canaveral Air Force Station(CCAFS) June 7 at 10:05 a.m. EDT.The spacecraft was set to arrive atthe CCAFS skidstrip on June 1.

The primary mission objective forthe HESSI spacecraft is to explorethe basic physics of particleacceleration and energy release insolar flares.

The HESSI mission consists of asingle spin-stabilized spacecraft ina low-altitude orbit inclined 38degrees to the Earth’s equator.

The only instrument on board isan imaging spectrometer with the

HESSI spacecraft to launch June 7

Ken Payne, acting director of Kennedy Space Center’s SpaceportEngineering and Technology Directorate, outlines the technologydevelopment capabilities of his directorate at the kick-off meeting of theAdvanced Spaceport Technology Working Group.

Page 7 – Bridges presentsposters to Brevard VA Clinic.

An artist rendition of the HESSIspacecraft on orbit.

ability to obtain high fidelity colormovies of solar flares in X-rays andgamma rays.

The instrument uses two newcomplementary technologies: finegrids to modulate the solarradiation, and germanium detectors

to measure the energy of eachphoton very precisely.

HESSI will:• Determine the frequency,location, and evolution of impul-sive energy release in the corona,• Study the acceleration ofelectrons, protons, and heavierions in flares, and• Study the heating of plasma totens of millions of degrees anddetermine its relationship to particleacceleration.

A number of organizations arecollaborating on the mission,including NASA Goddard SpaceFlight Center and University ofAlabama in Huntsville.

The mission is led by Universityof California, Berkeley.

SPACEPORT NEWS May 25, 2001Page 2

You MakeA Difference

Mark E. Beasley,Boeing Human SpaceFlight and Exploration

Danny Whittington,Boeing

David Powell,Boeing

Darryl Dziedzic,United Space Alliance

Louise M. Kleba,Boeing

Silver Snoopy

Recognizing Our People

Bridges receives honorary doctorateKennedy Space Center Director

Roy Bridges recently was awardedan honorary doctorate of engineer-ing from Purdue University inrecognition of his outstandingprofessional achievements andsignificant contributions to theinspiration of tomorrow’s leaders.

The degree was awarded duringcommencement exercises May 12 atPurdue University in WestLafayette, Ind. Bridges earned amaster’s degree in astronauticalengineering from Purdue in 1966.

“It is a great honor to be awardeda doctorate of engineering degreefrom my alma mater,” said Bridges.

Bridges was named KSC Directorin March 1997. As director, Bridgeshas created a roadmap to the future

securing KSC’s position as aworld-class Spaceport TechnologyCenter.

With the implementation of KSC2000, he successfully improved theorganizational structure of KSC byreducing the number of organiza-tions reporting directly to him from21 to 15. He has strengthenedexisting partnerships and creatednew partnerships with the 45th

Space Wing, the State of Florida,public and private academicinstitutions, and private industry.

Bridges is a recipient of theNASA Space Flight medal, NASACertificate of Commendation, andmost recently, he became thesecond KSC director to receive theDr. Kurt H. Debus Award.

Veronica Ramos,BA-D

Shirley Bumatay,GG-B-C

Ember SmithOP-AM

Edward Markowski,PH-E

Tamara Belk,UB-K

Roy Bridges was honored May 8 with a resolution by the Brevard County Commission for hisoutstanding leadership and service to the citizens of Brevard County. Pictured is Bridges receiving theframed resolution from Commissioner Chairman Sue Carlson, District IV. Also pictured from left areCommissioner Randy O’Brien, District II, Commissioner Jackie Colon, District V, Commissioner NancyHiggs, District III, and County Manager Tom Jenkins.

Awards

Graduates

Leadership Brevard

Charles Bennardo,NASA; Lisa Colloredo,NASA: MargaretCrockett, United SpaceAlliance; Valarie Franklin,NASA; Rose Johnson,The Boeing Co.; AnnMontgomery, NASA;Shirish Patel, NASA; andPeter Warren, UnitedSpace Alliance

Brevard County Commission honors Bridges

Roy BridgesKSC director

“It is a greathonor to beawarded a doc-torate of engi-neering degreefrom my almamater.”

SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3May 25, 2001

Former NASA Kennedy Space Centerexecutive Karl Sendler, 86, died May 3 at CapeCanaveral Hospital, leaving a legacy of innova-tion in space program instrumentation.

He is remembered as having been an enlight-ened manager who brought out the best in hisworkers, enabling them to meet seeminglyinsurmountable technical challenges.

A member of the Wernher Von Braun rocketteam who came to the United States fromGermany after World War II, Sendler worked inthe space program until 1974 when he retired asKSC’s director of Instrumentation Systems.

His work led to the design and developmentof the Army’s Doppler Velocity and Positionsystem, which helped determined a rocket’sposition in space. He developed other importantvariations of the system, one of which deter-mined the deviation of a missile from a predeter-mined flight path, thus providing vital informa-tion for range safety.

Sendler also made other major advancementsin telemetry systems, instrument calibration andmissile tracking. One of his greatest contribu-tions was the development of launch processingsystems for the Apollo program.

Sendler was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1914.After earning degrees in electrical engineering,in 1943 he was assigned to the PeenemundeResearch Center. There he was instrumental inbuilding the first missile tracking and automaticcut-off systems for the V-2.

After the war, Sendler began working with theU.S. Army. In 1945, he came to the United States

Karl Sendler’s contributions remembered

to work as an electronic engineer for the Army atFort Bliss, Texas, as part of the 119-member VonBraun team.

The team was transferred in 1950 to theRedstone Arsenal at Huntsville, Ala. ThereSendler continued work in instrumentation andinformation systems. In 1960, he and many ofthe Von Braun team were permanently trans-ferred to NASA.

Sendler is remembered fondly by those whoworked with him at KSC. JoAnn Morgan,director of External Relations and BusinessDevelopment, met him in 1958 when he came toCape Canaveral for Redstone launches.

“He was a wonderful person, one of thegreatest leaders I’ve ever worked for,” Morgansaid. “Not only was he highly intelligent, he was

“I think one of the most important thingsresponsible for our space program suc-cesses is that we started with a smallteam working together, and as we’vegrown, adding people along the way, wehaven’t lost that initial team concept.”Karl SendlerFormer KSC director of Instrumentation Systems

also warm and friendly. In later years I wasalways impressed at how he knew everyonewho worked for him, even though there werehundreds of people in his directorate.”

Sendler had a way of making his team mem-bers believe they could meet challenges, nomatter how difficult, Morgan said. That vote ofconfidence was crucial in inspiring employees todevelop new technologies needed to takehumans to the moon.

He expressed his belief in teamwork this way:“I think one of the most important thingsresponsible for our space program successes isthat we started with a small team workingtogether, and as we’ve grown, adding peoplealong the way, we haven’t lost that initial teamconcept.”

Federally Employed Women Inc., SpaceCoast Chapter, recently completed their 2001Scholarship Campaign and will be awarding atotal of $6,000 to six area high school graduatesand one college student.

The scholarship committee received 30applications which they judged on grade pointaverage (minimum 3.0), essay, honors andawards, outside activities and recommenda-tions.

The winners: Lindsay Parker (AstronautHigh), Shivam Jadeja (Merritt Island High),Leslie Hutchinson (UCF), Meagan Quinn(Titusville High), William Snoddy (TitusvilleHigh), Nicole Bilias (Merritt Island High), andDyan Middleton (Cocoa Beach High).

The chapter extends congratulations to theseindividuals and to all those who sent inapplications.

FEW awardsscholarships

May employeesNASA’s employees of the month for May are Hamilton Fernandez, VA; Billy Wilson, TA; LeslieRidgway, MK; Kandy Warren, XA; Gloria Johnson, YA; and Larry Third, OP. Not shownare Teddy Mosteller, PH, and Steve Brunelle, UB.

Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS May 25, 2001

Inside Life Scienc

Plant physiologist Neil Yorio and research assistant Sharon Edney examine potato plants in the BiomaSciences’ Hangar L at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The plants are part of a tuber induction factor

Dr. Gary Stutte, Dynamac Corp. plant researchgroup supervisor, monitors a KSC-designedwheat growth experiment being developed to flyon STS-110.

Steve Black, an environmentalchemist, demonstrates a system usedto take water samples on Center.

ife Sciences, or the Biological Sciences Branch, as it is moreformally known in the Spaceport Engineering and TechnologyDirectorate, is a diverse branch responsible for environmentalmonitoring, advanced life support research and the processing of

plant and animal experiment payloads for the Shuttle program.The group – led by NASA KSC’s Dr. Bill Knott – also provides medical

support to astronauts while they are at Kennedy Space Center. Most ofthe group’s 120 team members are employees of Dynamac Corp., the LifeSciences contractor for KSC, or Bionetics, the primary subcontractor..

Based primarily at Hangar L at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, theLife Sciences team is gearing up to relocate to the Space ExperimentResearch and Processing Laboratory, a world-class facility being builtthrough funding from the State of Florida.

The new facility effectively will triple lab space and will allow forpermanent research locations for microbiology, molecular biology, plantphysiology, developmental biology and animal physiology.

The research areas will be used by KSC scientists and technicians,

visiting professors and their students, and visiting researchers with plantand animal experiments flying on the Space Shuttle and the Space Station.

“What the state is doing is unprecedented. It will enable us to create aworld-class laboratory that will take Life Sciences to a new level ofexcellence and help us create research partnerships that will advancespace program objectives and education,” Dr. Knott said.

The Life Sciences group already is internationally renowned for itsdevelopment of advance life support technologies to be used for the long-term habitation of humans in space.

“What we have now, even with the International Space Station is a‘picnic’ philosophy,” said Dr. Knott. “We pack up food and water and webring back the trash for disposal. For long-term habitation we will have acontained system and need to grow food and recycle waste products.”

Thus Life Sciences’ multiple research projects in growing plants,including wheat, potatoes, lettuce and radishes in a confined area usingartificial lighting and recycled water and nutrients. The research, con-ducted on the ground and in the microgravity environment of space, has

L

Page 5SPACEPORT NEWSMay 25, 2001

es

ss Production Chamber in Life study.

Research scientist Michael Roberts sets up a pathogenreaction chain analysis in Life Sciences’ molecularmicrobial ecology lab.

Research assistant Jan Bauerconducts a chemical analysis.

Research assistant Julie Simpsonwashes glassware. Usingcontainers free of contaminants isessential in correctly conductingresearch experiments.

From left, senior geographical information system analystNaresa Reddick, and earth system modeler Manny Gimond,both of whom work in the Earth systems modeling and datamanagement lab, discuss an ecological monitoring area withDr. Bill Knott. Knott heads the Biological Sciences Branch,better known as Life Sciences.

led to numerous spinoff technologies for recycling and agriculture.The group’s years of experience in advanced life support research is to

be applied within the next few years to growing salad crops for theInternational Space Station astronauts.

Nearer term, the groups’ research has led to a KSC-designed LifeSciences experiment payload that will fly on STS-110, now scheduled forearly 2002.

The wheat-growing experiment is called Photosynthesis ExperimentSystem Testing and Operation (PESTO), and it will be the first plantscience experiment conducted aboard the Space Station.

In its payload processing role, Life Sciences assists researchers fromother NASA Centers, academia and industry in designing and integratingplant and animal experiment payloads and associated flight hardware.

“What we offer, in addition to just processing the payload, is years andyears of experience with the design of plant and animal microgravityexperiments. We know what has a good chance of working and whatdoesn’t in a microgravity environment,” said Dynamac’s Dr. Gary Stutte,

supervisor of the plant research group and principal investigator for thePESTO experiment.

“Water, for example, doesn’t behave the way it does on the ground andyou have to create hardware that accounts for that.”

Another major area for Life Sciences is environmental monitoring. Thegroup provides a vast array of data on animal and plant species that isused by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage the Merritt IslandNational Wildlife Refuge, which shares borders with KSC.

Environmental monitoring also supplies information used to control andreduce pollution on Center.

“Environmental monitoring may not seem to have anything to do withthe exploration of space, but it does,” Dr. Knott said. “What we arelearning about plant and animal species and how they work together as asystem has direct application to our future in space. At some point, we’llcolonize the moon and planets and we’ll have to be able to thoroughlyunderstand what ecological factors keep a system in balance and be ableto control those things.”

May 25, 2001 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 6

MarsPort competition yields ideas

NSIP students present their research

How will NASA launch space-craft from the Martian surface?

Students and faculty fromuniversities around the country,hoping to make a real contributionin support of human exploration ofMars, converged on the KennedySpace Center Visitor Complex forthis year’s NASA-KSC-sponsoredMarsPort Engineering DesignStudent Competition 2001. Thecompetition was organized by theFlorida Space Grant Consortium.

Innovative design ideas werepresented as part of a two-dayconference May 7-8 at the Kurt H.Debus Conference Facility.

During the competition, sixuniversity teams presented theirengineering trade study papers to apanel of judges comprised ofengineers and scientists from KSC,the University of Florida, ScienceApplications International Corp.and The Boeing Co.

The papers included originaldesign configurations for aMarsPort Cryogenics andConsumables Station (MCCS).

A winning team – The GeorgeWashington University’s JointInstitute for Advancement of FlightSciences Team – was selected andNASA plans to incorporateinnovations from the work into itsengineering trade studies and

Kennedy Space Center hosted 40exceptional high school studentsas part of the 2001 NASA StudentInvolvement Program (NSIP)National Symposium.

The four-day event, held inCocoa Beach, included studentsand educators. The students werefirst place winners of competitionsthat challenged them to• design a mission to Mars,

• use space-based Earth observa-tion data to better understand thechanging planet,• produce a space-related newsstory, or• develop a space-based researchexperiment.

As part of the symposium,students shared their research

evaluate them against other leadingconcepts.

The MCCS is a vital element ofthe complex infrastructure neededto launch spacecraft from theMartian surface.

The MarsPort competitionactually began in the fall of 2000when invitations were sent out tocolleges and universities. Partici-pating student teams were requiredto write and submit a proposal to

the NASA MarsPort 2001 designreview committee. From all entries,six teams were selected to investi-gate the MCCS issues and todesign solutions addressing them.

All six teams received qualifyingcash awards of up to $2,000 uponselection and subsequent designreviews. In addition to the winner,school teams participating in thisyear’s competition were CornellUniversity’s Odysseus Team,

Embry Riddle AeronauticalUniversity, Georgia Institute ofTechnology, University of Tennes-see-Knoxville and the University ofWisconsin-Madison.

This year’s MarsPort competitionand conference featured presenta-tions by Dr. Sam Durrance, formerastronaut and director of theFlorida Space Grant Consortium;Dr. Story Musgrave, formerastronaut; and Dr. Nadine Barlow,an astronomer from the Universityof Central Florida.

The MarsPort competition is alsosponsored by Science ApplicationsInternational Corporation andBoeing, and jointly administered bythe Florida Space Grant Consortium(FSGC) and the Texas Space GrantConsortium.

The FSGC was formed in 1989when NASA implemented theNational Space Grant College andFellowship Program.

FSGC is a voluntary associationof 17 universities and collegesalong with KSC, Spaceport FloridaAuthority, Astronaut MemorialFoundation and Higher EducationConsortium for Math and Sciences.

The FSGC represents Florida inNASA’s Space Grant College andEducation Program and servesmore than 230,000 universitystudents in Florida.

Alicia Dwyer, lead for the George Washington University’s Joint Institutefor Advancement of Flight Sciences Team, accepts the MarsPortEngineering Design Student Competition 2001 award for her team’sdesign for a MarsPort Cryogenics and Consumables Station. The awardwas presented by Sam Durrance, director for the Florida Space GrantConsortium, at left, and Mike O’Neal, NASA-KSC’s exploration lead.

approaches and results at specialsessions chaired by NASA experts.

They also participated in specialtours of KSC, visited Epcot Center,and attended an awards dinner withfamily and program supporters.

“I wish we could package theenthusiasm we experience here atthe Symposium. . . . It’s a wonderfulopportunity for the students, theteachers, and for NASA” said NSIPProgram Manager Lynn Marra.

Former KSC Director of ShuttleProcessing Robert Seick spoke tothe students during the May 7Plenary Session.

Other highlights included TheThacher Scholarship – a $4,000award provided to a student winnerin the Watching Earth Changecompetition. NSIP students chat during the NSIP National Symposium.

SPACEPORT NEWSMay 25, 2001 Page 7

Asian-Pacific Islanders share cultureThe Asian Americans and Pacific

Islanders (AAPI) are celebratingthe month of May as AAPIHeritage month, with the theme of“Asian Americans EmergingTogether.”

The special month’s themereflects Kennedy Space Center’sefforts to ensure equality foreveryone through excellence andempowerment of employees.

It also reflects the contributionsof Asian Americans and the needfor all cultures at KSC to worktogether to achieve the commongoal of mission safety and success.

The AAPI group held an AsianAmericans and Pacific IslandersLuncheon on May 16 at the KSCTraining Auditorium as part of themonth-long celebration.

Sharon Wong, diversity managerat Goddard Space Flight Center,was the keynote speaker for theluncheon event. She formerlyworked at KSC as lead softwareintegration engineer.

Wong highlighted a few of themany contributions of AsianAmericans to this country over theyears and said the diverse grouphad come a long way in achievingequality. However, negativestereotypes still exist, she said, andmust be overcome.

Kennedy Space Center Director Roy Bridges onMay 8 presented commemorative Saturn andGemini posters to the Brevard VA Clinic to showappreciation for the more than 100,000 potentialpatients that the VA clinic will serve. Manypotential patients have worked in the spaceprogram. The posters are now on display in theGemini and Saturn Clinic. The VA Clinic’s primarycare teams – made up of doctors, nurses,technicians and support personnel – are namedafter historical space programs. Pictured from leftto right are: Thomas Howard, M.D., chief medicalofficer; an unnamed visitor; Bridges; Charles 'Rick'Pugh, administrative officer; and Norris Gray. Thepresentation was facilitated by Gray, a formerNASA employee who volunteers at the clinic.

VA Clinicpresentation

A cultural program was pre-sented including performances bythe Philippine Junior Dance Group.“Bharatnatyam,” an Indianclassical dance, was presented byGeeta Karkera and her students.

The luncheon following theprogram was held under a tent nearthe Training Auditorium. The menuincluded egg rolls, pot stickers,fried rice, chicken vegetables, beefand broccoli and fortune cookies.

Above, the Junior Phillipine Dance Group performs in the Training Auditorium as part of the Asian Americansand Pacific Islanders Luncheon event. Below KSC team members are served lunch under a tent.

Page 8 SPACEPORT NEWS May 25, 2001

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Managing editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce BuckinghamEditor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathy Hagood

Editorial support provided by InDyne Inc. Writers Group.NASA at KSC is located on the Internet at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov

USGPO: 633-096/00057

Spaceport News

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

GROUP ...(Continued from Page 1)

Transportation Projects in KSC’sSpaceport Engineering andTechnology Directorate managesthe two groups.

The major impetus for the KSC-based working groups came fromfindings of the InteragencyWorking Group (IWG) co-chairedby the Office of Science andTechnology Policy and theNational Security Council.

IWG’s White House-sponsoredstudy is titled “The Future Man-agement and Uses of the U.S.

Space Launch Bases and Ranges.”The IWG determined that more

focus on the development of rangetechnology to support next-generation reusable launchvehicles and expendable launchvehicles would be needed if theground systems were to keep pacewith the development of the flightsystems.

“KSC understands the chal-lenges of running a spaceport,”Bridges said. “Our goal is to dowhat is right for future spacetransportation.”

Kennedy Space Center participated in National Employee Healthand Fitness day, May 15-16. A variety of fun and educationalactivities and displays, such as pictured above, were featured.

Health and Fitness

A view of the Space Station Processing Facility shows the lineup of elements in various stages of preparation for future flights to the Space Station. Inthe middle of the floor are white boxes housing storage gas tanks. Part of the STS-104 payload, the four tanks comprise the high pressure gasassembly that will be attached to the Joint Airlock Module during three spacewalks. The tanks will support future spacewalk operations from the Stationand augment the Service Module gas resupply system. STS-104 is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 14 at about 4:11 p.m. EDT.

Space Station processing

Savings Bond kick-off set for June 4The Kennedy Space Center

Savings Bonds Drive for 2001 willbe held June 4-15.

Employees are invited to attendthe kick-off event in the TrainingAuditorium on June 4 at 9:30 a.m.

Center Director Roy Bridges andDeputy Director Jim Jennings willlead the event with a representativefrom the U.S. Treasury Department.

Savings Bond canvassers willreceive the bond forms andinformation packets covering theinvestment options available.

This is the first year that theinflation-protected I-bond will beoffered to federal employeesthrough payroll deduction.

Canvassers may contactClaudette Beggs at 867-7009.