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

Communication for the Information Technology Age

May 2004

amesnews.arc.nasa.gov

NASA technologies featured at NextFest event

Cutting-edge NASA research andtechnology were featured May 14 to16at Wired NextFest, a festival showcas-ing more than 100 innovative exhibits. A

variety of displays highlighted the fu-ture of design, entertainment, explora-tion, health, the home, security and trans-portation. The agency showcased a OneNASA theme, supported by personnelfrom Dryden, JPL, Marshall and Head-quarters in addition to Ames.

The event was sponsored by Gen-eral Electric and Wired magazine in theFort Mason Festival Pavilion in San Fran-

BY MICHAEL MEWHINNEY

David Des Marais, NASA Amesresearch scientist, threw out the cer-emonial first pitch at the San FranciscoGiants vs. the Philadelphia Phillies base-ball game on May 13 at SBC Park in SanFrancisco.

Des Marais was honored at thegame, which was part of GE and WiredNextFest Day at SBC Park, because ofhis role as lead scientist of the long-termplanning team in NASA’s Mars Explo-ration Rover (MER) mission. In thatcapacity, he helps plan day-to-day op-erations for the twin rovers, Spirit andOpportunity, coordinates activities be-tween the rovers and the Mars orbiterand investigates how liquid water hasinfluenced rocks and soils at the tworover sites, Gusev Crater and Meridiani.

"We are very proud that Dr. DavidDes Marais, a distinguished Ames sci-entist, is making such an important con-tribution to the success of the MER mis-sion," said Ames Center Director G. ScottHubbard. "Of course, if Dave werethrowing the ceremonial first pitch at amartian baseball game, he'd be able tothrow the ball about 60 percent farther BY KATHLEEN BURTON

David Des Marais tosses the ball to homeplate while the centerfield scoreboardannounces his presence in the background.

NASA highlighted at SF Giants game

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stops by the NASA exhibits at the recent NextFest technologyshow. He is seen here speaking with Nora Normandy of NASA Headquarters.

Ames’ Jonas Dino, far left, speaks to Giantsfans about the full-scale Mars Exploration Roveron display in Willie Mays Plaza at SBC Park inSan Francisco.

cisco. Approximately 25,000 people at-tended the two-day event.

Featured in the NASA exhibit wereseveral displays, including technologiesrepresenting space exploration, the per-sonal exploration rover, the personalsatellite assistants, a full-scale model ofthe Mars Exploration Rover, a model ofthe scramjet (supersonic combustionramjet) engine-powered hypersonic X-43 aircraft and a display of ‘power beam-ing,’ a futuristic concept that uses lasersto beam energy to an aircraft so it doesn'tneed to carry fuel.

Also included were a video and dis-play of sub-vocal voice recognition tech-nology and an authentic moon rock col-lected during one of NASA's Apollomissions.

because of Mars' weaker gravity,”noted Hubbard.

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Astrogram May 20042

Ames names supercomputer after Columbia astronautOn May 12, NASA dedicated its

new Altix supercomputer during a cer-emony held to honor the memory ofastronaut Kalpana “KC” Chawla, one ofthe seven crew members aboard thespace shuttle Columbia, lost Feb. 1, 2003.

Before joining the astronaut pro-gram, Chawla worked as an aerospaceengineer at Ames from 1988 to 1995.Chawla, the first Indian-born woman tofly in space, served as a flight engineerand mission specialist aboard Colum-bia.

"It is indeed an honor to nameNASA’s new SGI® Altix™ 3000supercomputer after Kalpana Chawla,"said Ames Center Director G. ScottHubbard. "She was not only a memberof the NASA family, but also a specialmember of our own Ames family. We allmiss her and her many contributions tothe agency."

At Ames, Chawla had the challeng-ing task of computing the airflow sur-rounding a jet-supported, delta-wingaircraft during landing. During an in-

terview in 1995, Chawla predicted thather exposure to a wide variety of com-puter systems at Ames would be espe-cially useful to her as an astronaut.

Of the dozens of experiments suc-cessfully conducted by the Columbiacrew, Chawla’s favorite was the IsraeliMediterranean Dust Experiment, whichinvolved pointing a camera at Earth to

study the effects of dust on weather andthe environment.

“Fittingly, the SGI® Altix™ 3000supercomputer that will be named'Kalpana' is beingused to developsubstantially morecapable simula-tion models to bet-ter assess the evo-lution and behav-ior of the Earth‘sclimate system,”said GhassemAsrar, NASA’s as-sociate adminis-trator for Earth sci-ence.

The new su-percomputer isbeing used for agroup effort byNASA Headquar-ters, NASA's JetPropulsion Labo-ratory (JPL), Pasa-dena, Calif., NASA Ames and NASA

Goddard SpaceFlight Center,Greenbelt, Md.,to deliver high-resolution oceananalysis in theframework ofthe ECCO (Esti-mating the Cir-culation and Cli-mate of theOcean) Consor-tium, which in-volves JPL, theMassachusettsInstitute of Tech-nology, Cam-bridge, Mass.,and the ScrippsInstitute ofOceanography,La Jolla, Calif.

The newsupercomputer‘Kalpana’ isnot the firstat NASA Amesto be namedin honor of aperson, andin fact, followsa long tradi-

tion at the research center of namingits new supercomputers after pioneersin the supercomputer industry or othersin recognition of their achievements. Atotal of six supercomputers at Ames arenamed as follows:

• ‘Chapman,’ an SGI Origin 3000,1,024-processor single-image, sharedmemory system named after Dr. Dean

Chapman, a former director of astro-nautics at Ames who developed heatprotection systems for the space shuttle;

• ‘Lomax,’ a 512-processor SGI Ori-

gin 2000 supercomputer named afterDr. Harvard Lomax, a pioneer in com-putational fluid dynamics who alsoworked at Ames;

• ‘Steger,’ a 128-processor Origin2800 supercomputer named after JosephSteger, whose work in computationaltechnology revolutionized the use ofcomputers to solve complex aerospaceproblems;

• ‘Lou,’ the main production stor-age system at the NASA AdvancedSupercomputing Division named afterAmes research scientist Louis Lopez;

• ‘Grace,’ a 64-processor Origin 2000supercomputer named after Grace Hop-per, a pioneer in computer science and

• ‘Turing,’ a 24-processor SGI Ori-gin 2000 supercomputer named for AlanTuring, a mathematician and early com-puter pioneer.

"With the addition of the SGI Altixsystem, NASA's high-end computingtestbed activities in support of theagency's science and engineering mis-sions are greatly enhanced," said WaltBrooks, chief of the NASA AdvancedSupercomputing (NAS) Division atNASA Ames. "Thanks to its outstand-ing performance capabilities, thissupercomputer is helping NASA achievebreakthrough results to meet major chal-lenges in climate and ocean modelingand aerospace vehicle design," Brooksadded.

For more information about NASA’s512 CPU SGI Altix 3000, visit: http://www.nas.nasa.gov/Main/Features/2004/Winter/altix.html

Hubbard speaks at the dedication ceremony of the Altix computer, honoringthe memory of astronaut Kalpana “KC” Chawla, one of the seven crewmembers aboard the space shuttle Columbia lost Feb. 1, 2003.

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BY MICHAEL MEWHINNEY

Ames Center Director G. Scott Hubbard (second from left) poses with, leftto right, Walt Brooks, Anthony Robbins (SGI), and Tom Edwards at therecent ‘Kalpana’ supercomputer dedication.

3Astrogram May 2004

New NASA safety assurance organization reports findingsThe NASA Engineering and Safety

Center (NESC), created in the aftermathof the space shuttle Columbia accidentto serve as an independent technicalresource for NASA managers and em-ployees, reported in May on its initialassessments.

Results of the center's four ‘Path-finder’ studies were reported to seniorNASA leadership from around the coun-try at a meeting at NASA Headquarters.The reporting approach -- proactivelysharing lessons learned -- was modeledafter a similar method used by the U.S.Navy Board of Inspection and Survey.

The NESC was created in Novem-ber 2003 to improve safety by perform-ing in-depth independent engineeringassessments, testing, analyses and evalu-ation to uncover technical vulnerabili-ties and to recommend appropriate pre-ventative and corrective actions for prob-lems, trends or concerns within NASA'sprograms, projects and institutions.

"I feel very good about what we'veaccomplished in our first six months,"said Ralph Roe, NESC director based atNASA Langley Research Center, Hamp-ton, Va. "We have a talented core ofpeople working within NESC and anoutstanding group of people matrixedto NESC that we can call upon whenneeded. We have positive feedback fromthe partnerships we've begun with in-dustry and academia. We've completedour first four technical assessments;we're working on several new majoractivities, and requests for our serviceskeep coming in," he added.

The initial assessments were relatedto four research projects: 1) Cloud-Aero-sol LIDAR and Infrared Pathfinder Sat-ellite Observation (CALIPSO) spacecraft,an earth science satellite set to launch in2005; X-43A; 2) a hypersonic researchvehicle that made news with a success-ful flight in March; 3)the space shuttleorbiter rudder/speed brake system; and4) the Mars Exploration Rovers, nowexploring the surface of Mars.

While the NESC's current focus ison a successful space shuttle return toflight and the International Space Sta-tion, it is involved in other activitiesacross NASA. For example, NESC isproviding independent expertise for theCassini Saturn Orbit Insertion criticalevents readiness review.

The initial study topics were pickedbecause of their importance, their man-ageable size and because of their poten-tial to teach the NESC how best to orga-

nize itself and conduct independentanalyses of critical technical issues.

In the case of CALIPSO, a joint sci-ence mission that includes NASA andthe French space agency, a concern aboutpossible leaks of the spacecraft's highly-reactive fuel from joints in the fuel linesduring ground processing led to mul-tiple recommendations to minimize riskto personnel, the mission and the envi-ronment.

The record-breaking hypersonic X-43A did not fly until a dissenting opin-ion by one X-43A team member wasproperly addressed. The employee con-tacted the NESC with a concern that theresearch vehicle's aerodynamic charac-teristics could potentially lead to a lossof vehicle control, resulting in failure toachieve mission objectives. The NESCworked in conjunction with the X-43Aproject to ensure that the employee'sconcern was properly addressed.

During renewal of hardware in aspace shuttle orbiter rudder/speedbrake system, a concern was raised aboutthe effectiveness of grease in the gear setof the replacement hardware that hadbeen retrieved from long-term storage.NESC conducted extensive tests and

The first NASA Engineering andSafety Center (NESC) awards werepresented to NASA employees repre-senting four NASA centers at theNESC leadership briefing in May.They were presented to Goddard, Lan-gley, Marshall and Glenn employees

Four award categories have beenestablished to recognize individualemployees for "outstanding contribu-tions to NESC's sponsored activitiesand to encourage critical examinationof engineering problems."

The NESC Leadership Award waspresented to Luat T. Nguyen, NASALangley, for exceptional leadership inresponding to a dissenting opinionregarding the modified Pegasus/X-43A launch vehicle aerodynamics.Also presented the award was MichaelG. Ryschkewitsch, NASA Goddard,for exceptional leadership in promot-ing an environment in which techni-cal concerns are brought forward andappropriately addressed.

First NESC awards presented

analyses to determine that the grease isstill effective. A lesson learned was thatprograms should periodically reviewhardware components to ensure thatqualification and certification limits arenot exceeded.

Prior to the two Mars ExplorationRover landings on Mars in January, theNESC participated in two program re-views. One review dealt with the veryhuman challenge of supporting round-the-clock staffing for a mission to Mars,where the martian day is 40 minuteslonger than an Earth day. The secondreview looked at entry, descent and land-ing data from the first rover landing as aguide to fine-tuning the entry, descentand landing of the second rover. Whileboth landings were highly successful,the review revealed that current space-craft instrumentation was not designedto adequately record the aerodynamicenvironment encountered during de-scent.

Summaries of the four Pathfinderreports, a video clip, publication qualityimages and additional information aboutNESC are available on the Internet at:http://nesc.nasa.gov

The NESC Engineering ExcellenceAward was presented to Timothy R.Jett, NASA Marshall, for extraordi-nary leadership that contributed toengineering excellence in support ofthe Rudder and Speed Brake Inde-pendent Assessment Team.

The NESC Director's Award waspresented to Richard M. Wood, NASALangley, in recognition of his per-sonal commitment to advocating fur-ther assessment of the aerodynamicrisks associated with the flight of themodified Pegasus/X-43A launch ve-hicle. Also honored was Erwin V.Zaretsky, NASA Glenn, in recogni-tion of his exemplary contributionsand personal leadership in advocat-ing further inspection and testing ofthe space shuttle orbiter rudder andspeed brake actuators.

The fourth award category, theNESC Group Achievement Award,was not presented.

Astrogram May 20044

Celebrating the environment comes naturally at Ames

The NESC provides an indepen-dent line of communication to ensurethat all NASA employees have an al-ternate path to report technical con-cerns and to encourage considerationof all points of view on critical techni-cal issues.

All general questions and requestsfor NESC technical reviews should besent to e-mail NESC@nasa.gov.Anonymous technical requests maybe made by mailing them to NESC,NASA Langley Research Center, MailStop 112, Hampton, VA 23681.

Each NASA field center and head-quarters has a local NESC representa-tive who serves as a point of contact

for center-based issues related to theNESC. Find information for your localcontact through the NASA X.500 di-rectory.

Center contacts are NASA Ames,Michael S. Freeman; NASA Dryden,Michael W. Kehoe; NASA Glenn, Der-rick J. Cheston; NASA Goddard,Michael Hagopian; NASA Headquar-ters, John E. Tinsley; Jet PropulsionLaboratory, Matthew R. Landano;NASA Johnson, David A. Hamilton;NASA Kennedy, Timmy R. Wilson;NASA Langley, Michael G. Gilbert;NASA Marshall, Danny Johnston; andNASA Stennis, T. Randy Galloway.

How to report technical concerns

see related articles on page 3

In recognition of national Earth Day,the Environmental Services Office

hosted a variety of environmental eventsduring the month of April.

The festivities began with presenta-tions by two environmentalists withunique perspectives. On April 9, theEnvironmental Services Office hostedinternationally renowned sustainablearchitect William P. McDonough.McDonough shared his perspective onthe value of living in an eco-effectivemanner through the creation of sustain-able architecture and products. On April21, Craig Breon, executive director ofthe Santa Clara Valley Audubon Soci-ety, gave a presentation on wildlife inSilicon Valley. Based on 11 years ofexperience, Breon shared facts and fig-ures about the rise and decline of wild-life species in the Bay Area.

On Earth Day, April 22, Ames em-ployees piled onto Durand Road for theEarth Day street fair. Throughout theday, guests stopped to look at the ex-hibitor booths that included Ames orga-nizations, local municipalities, non-profit environmental groups and eco-conscious retail organizations. As theystrolled through the exhibits, employ-ees stopped at their favorite booths.

Crowds gathered to gaze at the Af-rican eagle perched on the Falcon’s Courtexhibit. Others rode through the fair onelectric scooters from Electro Ride Bikesand electric golf carts from Turf andIndustrial Equipment. Many chose tobrowse leisurely through all of the ex-hibits, which included: Akeena Solar,the Ames Café, the Ames Child CareCenter, the Ames Commute Alterna-tives program, Ames' Code S scienceexhibits, Ames JFP Energy andComposting, Ames Motor Pool

Attendees check out the exhibitor booths at the recent NASA Ames Earth Daystreet fair.

Biodiesel, the Ames Native AmericanAdvisory Committee, the Ames conser-

vation program,the Ames Envi-ronmental Man-agement Sys-tems, the AmesPollution Pre-vention Pro-gram, the Amesrecycling pro-gram, the AmesRestoration, theAmes storm wa-ter pollution pre-vention pro-gram, the AmesSupply Store-featuring 100percent recycledpaper, the BayArea Air QualityM a n a g e m e n tDistrict, the Cityof MountainView, the City of

Sunnyvale, the Common Ground Gar-den Supply, the Don Edwards WildlifeRefuge, the Earth Save, the Electric AutoAssociation, the Electro Ride Bikes,Falcon's Court, the Foundation for Glo-bal Community, Good Humans, GreenHome, Moffett Park Business and Trans-portation Association, Monterey BayAquarium, PG&E, Restoration andStorm Water, RideShare, San FranciscoBay Bird Observatory, Santa Clara Val-ley Urban Run off, Save the Bay, SF BayJoint Venture, Silicon Valley BicycleCoalition, Toyota Material Handling,Turf and Industrial and Valley Trans-portation Authority.

Behind the noise of the crowd, Amesjazz band played festive tunes through-

out the afternoon. In the front row,jumping to the music, were the tiny totsfrom the Ames Child Care Center. Theywere dressed in their homemade EarthDay vests.

In addition to the varied exhibits,employees learned about the environ-ment at Ames by taking part in the birdhikes around the Ames campus led bythe Ames wildlife biologist. During thetwo-hour hikes, the groups walkedthrough the northern part of Ames toexperience the wildlife in four differenttypes of habitat.

This year also marked the secondannual Earth Day photo contest. Sub-missions were intended to reflect theEarth Day theme ‘Little choices today,big impact tomorrow.’ Street fair at-tendees voted for their favorite photos.The photo contest winners were:

• 1st Place: ‘Mother Black-Eyed Al-batross Feeding Her Chick’ by ChuckChakerian;

• 2nd Place: ‘Barbara’s Garden atBuilding 19’ by John Scarboro;

• 3rd Place: ‘Hatched’ by Phil TingAll winning photos are available for

public viewing in building 221 through-out the month of May. A completeposting of all entries can be found on theEarth Day Web site at http://q.arc.nasa.gov/earthday.

The Environmental Services Officeraffled off two give-aways to partici-pants who completed the raffle quizabout the Ames environmental policy.The raffle winners were:

• One-hour therapeutic massage atthe Ames Fitness Center. The winnerwas Julian Gomez.

• Two tickets to the Monterey BayAquarium. The winner was JanessaLangford BY STACY ST. LOUIS

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5Astrogram May 2004

Mandatory federal purchasing requirements detailed

Alexander presents planetary lecturesDr. Claudia Alexander from JPL

visited Ames recently. Alexandercurrently serves as project managerand project scientist for the U.S. sec-tion of the Rosetta Project, launchedthis March and heading for a ren-dezvous with and landing on acomet in 2014.

She presented two lectureswhile she was here, titled ‘Life onGanymede (not really!)’ and her sec-ond lecture, which she presented atFoothill College in Los Altos en-titled ‘A Galileo Wrap Up: What wehave learned about giant Jupiter andits marvelous moons.’

An appreciation dinnerwas held on May 17 forthe NASA Ames docentswho volunteer their timeat the Ames ExplorationCenter on a continuingbasis. Certificates ofappreciation werepresented in recognitionof their dedication tomaking the public’s visitto NASA Ames aworthwhile andmemorable experience.

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If you use a government credit cardor if you purchase anything under afederal contract, you are a federal pur-chaser. With a few exceptions, federalpurchasers are required to buy itemsthat meet mandatory requirements con-tained in the Federal Acquisition Regu-lations), including Energy Star items,Comprehensive Procurement Guideline(CPG) recycled items and bio-baseditems soon to be designated by the U.S.Department of Agriculture. Eventhough you may use a government creditcard, you may not be aware of thesemandatory purchase items because thereare more than you think.

The US Environmental ProtectionAgency created an on-line databasecalled Environmentally Preferable Pur-chasing or EPP at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp. EPP contains the actualenvironmental standards for the spe-cific product you want to buy, whetherit must be made with recycled materialsor must be energy efficient to meet theEnergy Star standards. The databasealso contains vendor lists with productbrands that meet the federal standards,and examples of contract language touse in requests for proposals or state-ments of work.

EPP can be searched by productcategory, for example ‘office furniture,’or by specific product name, for exampledesk.’ The category search, which usu-ally gives better results than the productsearch, will return a table with links tovendor lists, GSA purchasing sourcesand/or the CPG supplier database foreach product name in the table. Thetable also contains links to the specificrequirements, either recycled contentpercentages or energy savings featuresfor equipment. The CPG supplier data-base is very useful for finding an in-statesupplier for products that meet the fed-eral requirements.

Bio-based products are made fromrenewable biological or agriculturalmaterials including animal, plant, andmarine materials such as soy beans,wheat, corn, canola, foresty productsand grasses that can be produced andharvested domestically. Products thatare bio-based reduce our reliance onpetroleum which is largely imported, isnon-renewable and contains hazardousby-products that are released duringrefining, manufacturing, and use. TheFarm Security and Rural Investment Actof 2002 required the U.S. Department ofAgriculture (USDA) to designate bio-products to be purchased by federalagencies in place of the traditional pe-troleum equivalent products. Last De-cember, the USDA proposed 11 catego-ries of bio-based products that, once theregulations are finalized, will become

mandatory purchase items for federalagencies. These categories are listed onthe USDA bio-based products Web siteat http://www.biobased.oce.usda.govand include lubricants, cleaners, paperand construction materials. Each of the11 categories contains many products.For example, the ‘lubricants’ categorylists 17 items including brake fluids,crank case oils, hydraulic oils, metalworking fluids and cutting oils.

On April 30, the U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency added seven itemsto the CPG that contains the recycledproduct guidelines that federal agen-cies must follow when making pur-chases. These items are:

• modular threshold ramps• non-pressure pipe

• roofing materials• office furniture• rebuilt vehicular parts• bike racks• blasting grit

Visit these links and review themandatory purchase items before youmake your next purchase. The EPAenvironmentally preferable purchasingWeb site is located at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp.

The USDA bio-based productsWeb site is located at http://www.biobased.oce.usda.gov

For additional questions, contactChristel VanArsdale ext. 4-1175, or MarkLacy ext. 4-1406.

NASA photo by Astrid Terlep

Astrogram May 20046

NASA is planning to add a strongdose of artificial intelligence (AI) to plan-etary rovers to make them much moreself-reliant, capable of making basic de-cisions during a mission.

NASA Ames scientists are develop-ing very complex AI software that en-ables a higher level of robotic intelli-gence. In the past, very simple artificialintelligence systems on board rovers al-lowed them to make some simple deci-sions, but much smarter AI will enablethese mobile robots to make many deci-sions now made by mission controllers.

"Human beings make decisions inresponse to their environment. How doyou encapsulate this behavior into arover, or a robot, sitting on a planetmillions of miles away? That's what weare working on," said Kanna Rajan, anAmes computer scientist. "We want toput software on rovers to give them thecapability to be artificially intelligent,"Rajan explained.

Large teams of human beings onEarth direct the Mars Exploration Rov-ers (MER) now rolling across the mar-tian terrain to look for evidence of wa-ter. It now takes the human-robot teamson two worlds several days to achieveeach of many individual objectives.

"It takes about three days for a MERrover to visualize a target, get to thetarget and do some contact science," saidRajan. "Part of the problem is we are notclosing the loop on board the rover.Signals from the rover have to go toEarth for a human with his/her cogni-tive capacity to deliberate on the infor-mation in the signal and make a deci-sion. Based on that decision, a signalgoes back to Mars to instruct the rover totake pictures or do other work," Rajannoted.

A robot equipped with AI, on theother hand, could make an evaluationon the spot, achieve its mission fasterand explore more than a robot depen-dent on decisions made by humans onEarth. Today's technology can make arover as smart as a cockroach, but theproblem is it's an unproven technology,according to Rajan.

"The way new space technology isgenerally proven is to have field testshere on Earth -- to have an Earth analogmission," Rajan explained. "You take arover - similar to the ones on now ex-ploring Mars -- to a location that re-sembles the martian terrain here onEarth, and you simulate the entire mis-sion, but you also install an AI capabilityon the rover to take over decision-mak-ing that would normally be done byhuman beings."

"State-of-the-art artificial intelli-gence software will deliberate on boardthe rovers. One such state-of-the-art,

complex, AI-based agent software isbased on an ambitious architecture calledIntelligent Deployable ExecutionAgents, or IDEA, developed at NASAAmes over the last four years," Rajanexplained. An agent is software thatmimics the human thought process todo things a human being wants to bedone.

"What we expect to do within thenext 10 years is to not only deploy oneAI-based rover, but a collection of rov-ers using the AI-based IDEA architec-ture, which cooperatively perform tasksorders of magnitude more complex thanthe MER rover, and do it in a much morerobust way," Rajan predicted.

Using surveying instruments, teamsof robots may well be able to map largetracts of the surface of Mars, accordingto Rajan, who said there are many rea-sons to use a large robot team. "Onereason is better coverage of a large areaof land. Another reason is redundancy;if one or more of the robots fails, you stillcan accomplish the mission. Also, a teamcould do complex tasks that a singlerover could not do. Better science results

NASA Ames develops artificial intelligence for roversfrom a team effort, whether it is by ro-bots, humans or even a robot-humanteam," Rajan said.

Robotic spacecraft may also fly in'swarms,' or teams, to make scientificobservations of planets, moons and othercelestial objects, according to Rajan.

"Creating strong AI software is avery exciting and challenging problem,and it inspires us and our students towork on this bold effort," said notedartificial intelligence expert professorMilind Tambe of the University of Cali-fornia, Los Angeles, who has workedwith Rajan. Tambe explained that AIresearch inspires the next generation ofcomputer scientists because when theyhear about NASA AI work, "their eyeslight up, and then they understand whatthis research could mean for the future."

The Advanced Space TechnologiesProgram, Office of Exploration Systems,NASA Headquarters, Washington,funds this artificial intelligence research.Images are available on the World WideWeb at: http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2004/ai/ai.html

Colloquium set for June 10

BY JOHN BLUCK

Professor Douglas Osheroff

Professor Douglas Osheroff fromStanford will present a Director's Col-loquium at 2:00p.m. on Thursday,June 10, in the main auditorium,N-201. The title of his colloquiumwill be ‘The Discovery of Superfluid-ity in helium-3 as seen through theeyes of a graduate student.’

This is his Nobel lecture, whichdescribes the serendipitous discov-ery of superfluidity in helium-3,which he made during his fifth yearof graduate study at Cornell Univer-sity. He begins by tracing his devel-opment from a child to a graduatestudent, and then chronicles the chainof events that led to the discovery,including all the miss-steps andwrong conclusions along the way. Itis a talk that anyone can understandand appreciate.

His current research interestscenter around studies of quantumfluids and solids and glasses at ultra-low temperatures.

Osheroff shared the 1996 NobelPrize with David M. Lee and RobertC. Richardson for discovering super-fluidity in helium-3. He is member ofthe National Academy of Sciences.Other honors include the Sir FrancisSimon Memorial Prize for discover-ies in low-temperature physics; the

American Physical Society's Oliver E.Buckley Prize in Condensed MatterPhysics, a Walter J. Gores Award forExcellence in Teaching; and aMacArthur Prize. He was also a mem-ber of the Columbia Accident Investi-gation Board.

All Ames employees are cordiallyinvited to attend.

7Astrogram May 2004

The Ames Exchange Council re-cently invited all center employees,including contractors, to help celebratethe grand opening of the new em-ployee BBQ area. The Exchangeproved there is such a thing as a freelunch by providing hot dogs, chips,soda and cookies at no charge to allattendees.

The Ames Park BBQ area is analternative to Chase Park and is lo-cated at the site of the former childcare center (NA291) between Build-ings 244 and 245.

Ames to celebrate Asian/Pacific Islander heritage month

Ames Exchange hosts free lunch at new picnic venue

NASA photos by Dominic Hart

Asian/Pacific American HeritageMonth kicked off in May, beginning amonth of celebration and exploration ofAsian Pacific American heritage,achievements and identities. This year'stheme for Asian/Pacific American Heri-tage month is ‘Freedom for all. A nationwe call our own.’

Asian/Pacific Americans have con-tributed to the growth of America inevery walk of life. From the arrival ofChinese and Filipino immigrants dur-ing the early 18th century through to-day, Asian/Pacific Americans continueto assist in the development of our na-tion. Asian/Pacific American contribu-tions can also be seen in our daily liveshere at Ames.

In celebration of Asian/PacificAmerican Heritage Month, NASAAmes’ Equal Opportunity Programs Of-fice will host a featured keynote speaker,Angela E. Oh, author of Open: OneWoman’s Journey. Oh is a nationallyrecognized expert on race relations. Sheis an accomplished public speaker whohas addressed diverse audiences bothnationally and internationally. In June1997, she was appointed by PresidentBill Clinton to the President’s Initiativeon Race. She spent three years between1998 and 2002 on a lecture tour on racerelations and leadership development.Her speeches and writings reflect the

opportunities and challenges that di-versity presents.

Join in this key event on May 27, 11a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in Bldg. 3 ballroom.All Ames employees and contractorsare invited. For questions, contact theNASA Ames Equal Opportunity Pro-grams Office at ext. 4-1064.

Many other events have beenplanned throughout the month of Mayin the various Bay Area communities.Join in celebrating the accomplishmentof Asian/Pacific men and women byattending and participating in these ac-tivities.

Center Director G. Scott Hubbard and members of the agency’s Real Property MissionAnalysis team tour the Ames Exploration Center during a recent visit.

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Astrogram May 20048

International travel requirements

NASA tests new emergency rescue technologiesNASA recently brought together

emergency responders and technology

developers from across the country totest and refine new technologies and tohighlight the importance of technologydevelopment to the emergency re-sponder.

The technology testing was part ofthe 15th annual collapsed structure res-cue workshop sponsored by NASAAmes’ Disaster Assistance and RescueTeam (DART). The workshop was anongoing, nationwide collaborative ef-fort to share knowledge and expertise,and to develop and improve techniquesand tools used in urban search and res-cue. Better understanding of technol-ogy needs and priorities made the emer-gency response task safer and more ef-fective, according to workshop organiz-ers.

"We are very proud of our DisasterAssistance and Rescue Team's service tothe public in national and natural disas-ters," said NASA Ames Center DirectorG. Scott Hubbard. "We are honored tohost this important workshop to testnew technologies that may help firstresponders in the event of future terror-ist attacks or disasters."

"This is a rare opportunity for tech-nologists to learn how to refine or modifyexisting technologies to meet the spe-cific needs of emergency responders,"said Robert J. Dolci, director of emer-gency services at NASA Ames. "Thisworkshop also will have a heavy em-phasis on technology development forthe emergency responder." The technol-ogy developers worked hand-in-handwith highly skilled urban search-and-rescue specialists to test the technolo-

gies in NASA Ames' Collapsed Struc-ture Rescue Training Facility.

In additionto 30 urbansearch-and-res-cue participants,the workshopincluded morethan 30 tech-nologists andtechnology de-velopers. Tech-nologies show-cased includedrobots, un-manned aerialv e h i c l e s ,biosensors, en-v i r o n m e n t a lsensors, victim-locating sys-tems, hazardous

material sensors, responder tracking de-vices, responder health-monitoring sys-tems and data and communication man-agement systems.

The workshop provided an oppor-tunity for technologists to experiencefirst-hand what rescue specialists facewhen they work in a collapsed struc-ture. Technologists experienced the op-pressive feeling of crawling through atiny tunnel carved through twisted con-crete and steel or feel what it's like forresponders not to know if the next spacethey enter will have enough oxygen leftto keep them alive. "This workshop gavenon-responders a rare look into theworld of collapsed-structure rescue,"Dolci said. "It also gave technologists areal appreciation for the needs of thefirst responder."

During the last two days of the work-

The following is a list of itemsrequired for international businesstravel.

• You must have medical clear-ance. Call the Health Unit for yourforeign travel appointment at ext. 4-5287;

• You must have security clear-ance. Call the Safeguards Office foryour foreign travel briefing appoint-ment at ext. 4-1779;

• You must have a valid govern-ment business (official) passport. Callfor your passport (and visa) appoint-ment at ext. 4-5291;

• You must have country clear-ance from the Department of State.Ask your associate gatekeeper for as-sistance in completing the headquar-ters advance notice form (to initiatecountry clearance) as soon as you knowyou will be traveling;

• You must have your non-pro-gram travel package (travel orders andall supporting documentation) in pro-cess with your associate gatekeeper atleast six weeks prior to your proposeddeparture date. The associategatekeeper will submit your com-pleted travel package to the principalgatekeeper’s office. Completed pack-ets, reviewed and approved by theprincipal gatekeeper, must arrive atNASA Headquarters at least fourweeks prior to your proposed depar-ture date for their review and approval;and

• Program travel does not requireNASA headquarters approval, but

completed travel packages must stillbe reviewed and approved by the prin-cipal gatekeeper –- work with yourassociate gatekeeper to submit yourcompleted travel package at least twoweeks prior to your proposed depar-ture date.

Visit the new travel Web site athttp://travel.arc.nasa.gov. Launchedwith the traveler and associategatekeeper in mind, this Web site con-tains downloadable forms, contact in-formation, resource links, and infor-mative descriptions covering nearly ev-ery aspect of your foreign businesstravel process. If this site is missingsomething helpful, or if you have com-ments on how the process or site can beimproved, contact the Ames principalgatekeeper staff during normal busi-ness hours. The Ames principalgatekeeper is Raj Shea at ext. 4-1955 ore-mail Gatekeeper@mail.arc.nasa.gov

To learn more about passport cov-ers to protect you and your officialdocuments, visit the Web at http://travel.arc.nasa.gov/passports.html

Each directorate has an associategatekeeper who will be your in-houseresource and checkpoint. Check theWeb at http://travel.arc.nasa.gov/gatekeepers.html for your associategatekeeper’s contact information.

If you have questions about Ames’international travel process, check theWeb site at http://travel.arc.nasa.gov,contact the associate gatekeeper foryour directorate, or e-mailGatekeeper@mail.arc.nasa.gov.

NASA’s DART team during a recent emergency drill to test new emergencyrescue technologies.

continued on page 10

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9Astrogram May 2004

FAA Flight Technologies is host-ing a new technologies ‘Focus on theFuture’ workshop on Aug. 24-25, atthe Doubletree in Arlington, Va. Theworkshop will focus on communica-tion, navigation and surveillance ap-plications that support the evolu-tion to performanced-based Air Traf-fic Management.

For demonstration/promotion ofyour new technologies, contact CindySmith at (336) 461-0553. For registra-tion information, visit the Web atwww.cmpmeetings.com/faaafs.�Registration and demonstration spaceare complimentary. Space is limited.�

FAA schedulesworkshop

Toastmasters will be presentinga four-week series on speech prepa-ration starting June 21.

The group meets at 12 noon forone hour in Bldg. N269, Rm. 179. Theagenda is a follows:

June 21: Organizing a speechJune 28: Preparing and practicing a speechJuly 12: Using body banguage and vocal varietyJuly 19: Knowing your audience and being persuasive

For further information contact:Becky Brondos ext. 4-1959 orStephanie Langhoff ext. 4-6213.

Need help giving aspeech?

NASA, Lockheed grants presented to Yellowstone ParkYellowstone National Park's hot

springs -- extreme habitats for amazinglife forms -- will be the subject of newoutdoor exhibits thanks to grants fromthe NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)with home offices at NASA Ames andLockheed Martin Corporation. Scientistssay that ‘extremophile’ organisms thatlive in Yellowstone’s hot springs maywell help explain the origins of life on

Earth and provide clues in the search forlife on other planets.

Astrobiology is the study of the ori-gin, evolution, distribution and futureof life in the universe. The grants, total-ing $66,000 ($34,000 from LockheedMartin and $32,000 from NAI), to theBozeman, Montana-based YellowstonePark Foundation will fund exhibit de-velopment.

“Thermal springs like those inYellowstone are natural oases for di-verse life forms and hot spring mineraldeposits can preserve fossils,” said DavidDes Marais, a member of the Mars Roverscience operations working group andlead of the Ames astrobiology team.Yellowstone’s natural wonders are guid-ing the search for evidence of ancientmartian thermal springs, and, poten-tially, for traces of martian life, he noted.“Volcanic activity has interacted withwater on Mars, as well as on Earth,” DesMarais added.

Microscopic organisms that haveinhabited Yellowstone’s thermal springsfor billions of years tell the story of lifeon Earth, and could pave the way fordiscovery of life on other planets, scien-tists believe. The primary focus of thisresearch at Yellowstone is on micro-scopic organisms, ‘thermophiles,’ thatinhabit the boiling waters of the park’shot springs. Scientists are not only look-

ing at living thermo-philes -- but at fossilremains of thermo-philes, some ofwhich lived four bil-lion years ago. Bystudying changes inthese fossil records,scientists are form-ing a picture of the

history of life andthe climate onEarth. By com-paring the fossilrecord of thermo-philes on Earth torocks found onMars, scientistsmay find evi-dence of past lifeon that planet, ac-

cording to researchers.“The hydrothermal features (at

Yellowstone) have fascinated visitors formore than a century,” said Linda Young,deputy chief of interpretation forYellowstone National Park, “but whowould have thought that any living thingcould not only survive, but thrive in

these extreme conditions. We now knowthat Yellowstone’s hot springs are morethan just beautiful to look at—they areproving to be enormously valuable inwhat they are revealing about our ownplanet’s geologic and biologic past.”

“Yellowstone National Park offersthe public the perfect portal to astrobiol-ogy,” said Kenneth Reightler, president,Lockheed Martin Space Operations. “Itis a wonderful opportunity for NASA tohelp share new scientific discoverieswith three million park visitors annu-ally. We believe that when park visitorsunderstand the connections between thebiology and geology in Yellowstone,they will develop an even more pro-found appreciation of why the park ex-

continued on page 14

Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone and certainly themost spectacular. Its outline resembles a giant sunburst pattern flaring outfrom Yellowstone's Midway geyser. The colors present are influenced bydifferent species of algae that thrive in extreme water temperatures.

Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful geyser erupts right on scheduleas its name promises.

Astrogram May 200410

shop, participants took part in an exer-cise in DART's unique collapsed-struc-ture training facility. The site included alarge concrete rubble pile with built-invoids and rooms, a simulated concretecollapsed structure, a 30-foot-long twin-engine aircraft, a railroad tanker car andlarge concrete loads for lifting and mov-ing.

Richard Keller receives pollution prevention award

Question:What does ‘controlled technol-

ogy’ mean?

Answer: Controlled technology is really

useful, highly desirable results of yourhard work that Uncle Sam doesn’twant the rest of the world to have yet.

The Department of Commerce’sExport Administration regulationsdefine controlled technology as “spe-cific information required for the de-velopment, production, or use of a

Ask the ‘export expert’product which is itself controlled. Theinformation takes the form of techni-cal data (blueprints, plans, diagrams,models, formulae, tables, engineeringdesigns and specs, manuals and in-structions written or recorded on othermedia, etc.) or technical assistance(may involve transfer of technicaldata).”

Do you have a question for theexport expert? Then e-mail it tokwall@mail.arc.nasa.gov. And, visitthe Web at http://jp.arc.nasa.gov/EC/EC.html.

Participating technologists includedrepresentatives from NASA Ames;NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),Pasadena, Calif.; Lawrence LivermoreNational Laboratory, Livermore, Calif.,the National Institute of Standards andTechnology, Boulder, Colo.; Tri-Senti-nel Inc., Milpitas, Calif.; PureSense,Moffett Field; Carnegie Mellon Univer-

sity at NASA Research Park; StanfordUniversity; University of South Floridaand its Center for Robot-Assisted Searchand Rescue, Tampa; and the UAV Ap-plications Center at NASA ResearchPark.

Participating emergency respond-ers included representatives from Cali-fornia Task Forces 3, 7 and 8; NASAAmes DART; NASA JPL EmergencyResponse Team; North Carolina TaskForce 1; Delaware Task Force 1; FloridaTask Force 3; Indiana Task Force 1; FEMARegion 9; and the Army Explosives Ord-nance Disposal.

The workshop was sponsored byNASA Ames with support from NASAJPL and the Center for Robot-AssistedSearch and Rescue at the University ofSouth Florida.�

NASA Ames' Disaster Assistanceand Rescue Team has responded to di-sasters such as the Loma Prieta andNorthridge earthquakes, the OklahomaCity bombing, and the Sept. 11, 2001,collapse of the twin towers at New YorkCity's World Trade Center.

BY ANN SULLIVAN

continued form page 8

NASA tests new emergency rescue technologies

Richard Keller of Ames is the winner of the 2003 Pollution Prevention/Sustainability Award for his work to improve Ames’ shuttle service. He isshown here standing next to one of Ames’ shuttle buses.

Last month, the Environmental Ser-vices Office (Code QE) presented Rich-ard Keller with the 2003 pollution pre-vention/sustainability award for hiswork to improve the Ames shuttle ser-vice and increase the number of em-ployee riders. Each year, Code QE se-lects an individual or team nominatedto receive the award for an activity orproject that helps Ames to reduce pollu-tion and/or conserve resources. Lastyear, Keller voluntarily worked withthe Ames Commute Alternatives Pro-gram to improve the shuttle service.Here are some of the things Keller ac-complished that ultimately earned himthis award.

Keller worked with the Ames Com-mute Alternatives Program (ACAP) onbehalf of the Ames Federal EmployeesUnion to develop a new shuttle sched-ule. About a year ago, ACAP hadplanned to discontinue service to theMountain View CalTrain station andlimit service to the Valley Transporta-tion Authority Light Rail station. Thiswould have resulted in fewer train rid-ers using the shuttle. By working withriders and ACAP to change the sched-ule to accommodate the majority of rid-ers, Keller enabled ACAP to maintainthe service to the CalTrain station.

Keller was instrumental in obtain-ing an increase in the government subsi-dies for CalTrain tickets for federal em-ployees from $30 to $100 per month.

This helped to in-crease the numberof train riders andshuttle service us-ers.

Keller con-ducted surveys ofriders to ensurethe schedules andservice were ad-equate to maintainridership amongemployees. Hewas able to get theshuttle servicehours extended asa result of feed-back receivedfrom the surveys.

You may beworking on some-thing right nowthat has environ-mental benefits,whether by inten-tion or as a resultof a ‘non-environ-mental’ activity,for example aproject to reduceyour group’s op-erating costs. If so,you or someone you know could be thenext recipient of the Ames PollutionPrevention/Sustainability Award. CodeQE will accept nominations for the award

any time. The rules for nomination aresimple. Just see the pollution preven-tion Web site for details at http://q/qe/p2/.

11Astrogram May 2004

Ames Hispanic committee awards scholarships

At an informal ceremony held recently, the NASA Ames Hispanic Advisory Committee forEmployees (HACE) presented four scholarships to deserving students. Left to right: BobbyJackson (HACE member); Barbara Miller (EEO specialist); Adriana Cardenas (EEO officer forNASA Ames); Norma Ramirez (award recipient); Nancy Cortez (award recipient); ElizabethGomez (award recipient); Andres Lucero (award recipient), Eric Kristich (HACE co-chair) andMark Leon (HACE co-chair).

Environmental designer Will-iam McDonough spoke at Ames re-cently, on the topic entitled ‘A WholeNew World Right Here on Earth.’McDonough is a noted internal au-thority on green building and sus-tainable development. See June is-sue for follow-up article.

McDonoughspeaks at Ames

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

NASA Assistant Administrator Paul Pastorek (left) shared the excitement surrounding the Visionfor Space Exploration with the next generation of explorers at Poplar Middle School in Poplar,Mont. in April. Pastorek was accompanied by astronaut Yvonne Cagle (right). During theirvisit, Pastorek and Cagle spoke with students about America's destiny as explorers, NASA'sstepping-stone approach to exploring Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond, how space impactsour lives, and how people and machines rely on each other in space.

NASA AA, Astronaut Cagle sharevision for space exploration

The NASA Ames Hispanic Advi-sory Committee for Employees (HACE)partnered with the Enlace Honors Soci-

ety at Evergreen Valley College (EVC)during 2003 – 2004 school year to pro-

vide another outstanding opportunityfor scholarship awards to deserving His-panic students.

Students attending the communitycollege submitted applications and es-

says to participate in the round of re-views for those seeking to be recipientsof the $500 scholarships. HACE awardedfour students, from the Enlace HonorsSociety Program, scholarships that willallow them to continue their academicgoals and realize future aspirations.

The recipients are truly committedto their education and success; they arethe first in their families to attend col-lege. Eric Kristich, HACE co-chair andother HACE members were instrumen-tal in organizing event fundraisers forthe scholarship funds and look forwardto the 2004 – 2005 awards.

HACE offered the same scholarshipslast year to ENLACE, an update of lastyears recipients. Three of the studentswere accepted to San Jose State Univer-sity and they are studying biologicalsciences, psychology and pre-medicine.The forth student was accepted to SanDiego State University and is also study-ing psychology. Dr. Frank Espinozafrom EVC chaired the scholarship selec-tion committee. HACE would like tothank those Ames and EVC employeeswho continue to support communityand outreach activities.

Astrogram May 200412

Ames recently sponsored a breakfast workshop entitled ‘Communicate Your Way throughChange’ in observance of Administrative Professionals week. This was held in recognition ofthe valuable contributions that the support staff at Ames has provided toward the successof its programs and projects at the center.

The Northern California Botball teams competing at the recent tournament.

Admin professionals recognized

Seventh annual Botball robotics competition held

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Ames Child Care Center to host golf tournament

Future engineers and computer sci-entists demonstrated their roboticsskills at the seventh annual northernCalifornia Botball Robotics Tourna-ment at the Leavey Center on the SantaClara University campus in April17.Thirty-one middle and high school ro-botics teams from 23 Bay Area andnorthern California schools were in-volved in the event.

Botball is the robotics program de-signed to engage students in learningscience, technology, engineering andmath. Students are given six weeks todesign, build and program twomicrocontrolled robots with LEGOstructures to compete in a fast-pacedregional tournament.

The top four teams overall, in or-

der, based on a scorewhich combinedtheir efforts in head-to-head competi-tion, seeding roundsand developmentd o c u m e n t a t i o nwere CrystalSprings UplandsS c h o o l ,H i l l s b o r o u g h ;Hillsdale HighSchool, San Mateo;Tennyson HighSchool, Hayward;and Los Altos Com-munity Team, LosAltos.

The Ames Child Care Center(ACCC) will host its 9th annual charitygolf tournament on Friday, June 18 atthe Moffett Field Golf Course. Registra-tion and lunch will begin at noon, fol-lowed by a shotgun start at 1:00 p.m.There will be hors d’oeuvres and a raffleprize drawing immediately followingthe tournament. The ACCC is lookingforward to a great turnout on what prom-ises to be a great day for golf andfundraising. The proceeds from thistournament will be used to purchase ofplayground equipment for a new ACCCfacility.

The cost of registration will be $70per player (teams of four are $280). Theregistration fee includes a round of golf,lunch before the tournament and oneraffle ticket per player. Six mulligansper team with a maximum of two perany player will be available for two for$5. A limited number of electric carts areavailable on a first-come, first-servedbasis at an additional cost of $24 per cart;pull-carts may be rented for $4. Theformat for the tournament will be a four-person scramble (best shot from yourteam used for each stroke). Prizes will beawarded to the teams with the lowestthree net scores and the lowest grossscore. There will be prizes at select holesfor the ‘longest drive’ and ‘closest to thepin.

The ACCC is a non-profit child careand preschool, accredited by the presti-gious National Association for the Edu-cation of Young Children (NAEYC) lo-cated at the NASA Ames. It providesfull-time, quality day care to children ofcivil servant and on-site contractor per-sonnel. The tuition paid by the parentscovers salaries and operational costsonly. All other costs are covered byfundraising activities such as the ACCC

charity golf tournament.Plans are still underway for a new,

permanent facility to be located adja-cent to Bush circle. The new ACCC isexpected to be complete by the end ofthis year. Part of the proceeds from theJune tournament will go toward a fundthat will furnish the new facility andbuy equipment for the new classroomsand playground. Help get the perma-

nent facility fund off to a good start bysigning up to today for this fundraisingevent.

Registration forms are available fordownload from the ACCC Web site:http://accc.arc.nasa.gov.

Registration forms can also be re-quested by contacting the ACCC at MST20-D at Ames or by e-mail atchildcare@mail.arc.nasa.gov.

13Astrogram May 2004

Legionella team in action at NASA Ames

NASA Ames robotics team wins Chairman’s award

Over the past year, through a com-bined effort with Codes FEF, QH, DMJM,PAI, JFP, and Johnson Controls, thislegionella team has demoed out thou-sands of feet of piping in 11 buildings,insulated thousands of feet of remain-ing piping to keep them from becomingtoo warm or too cold (and thereforereaching the legionella breeding tem-perature zone). They also removed olddrinking fountains that were at risk forcontaining legionella bacteria, installednew ADA compliant drinking fountains;and removed over 50 showerheads thatwere not in use enough to be safe fromlegionella growth.

All 11 buildings were chlorinatedsuccessfully. All the post-chlorinationsamples came back below the acceptedlevel for legionella bacteria colony form-ing units (cfu). The maximum allowedis 10 cfu. Most results were less than 0.4cfu, and all were under 2 cfu. Looking atsome pre-construction/chlorinationsamples, this is an impressive number.Some outlets (sinks or showers) wereabove 250 cfu!

The legionella team is currentlyworking on the minimization oflegionella bacteria in the next set of 11buildings for FY ’04. Visit Code Q’s Website at http://q.arc.nasa.gov/legionella/updates.php and click on the

appropriate links for more safety, healthand construction information regard-ing legionella.

For those of you whose building is

affected by the legionella project con-struction work, thank you for your pa-tience in allowing us to make your build-ing a safer place to work.

From left to right: Greg Altberg (DMJM); Tony Wong (Code FEF); Diana Harrington (PAI); JennyVodvarka (DMJM); Ramon Baclit (DMJM); and John Steen (Code QH). The photograph was takenin the basement of Building 19 in front of the new heat exchanger that was installed, replacingtwo 1,500 gallon water holding tanks, a breeding ground for legionella bacteria.

NASA Ames robotics team the ‘Cheesy Poofs’ won the Chairman’s award at the recent FIRSTrobotics competition held in Atlanta, Ga., in April.

The NASA Ames Robotics team,the Cheesy Poofs, competed recentlyin the FIRST (For Inspiration and Rec-ognition of Science and Technology)robotics competition as Team 254.FIRST is a national organization thatfocuses on inspiring students aboutmath and science. FIRST, among otherthings, runs a national robotics com-petition; this competition involves stu-dents, adults, and engineers in thechallenging and multifaceted robotdesign and construction process. TheCheesy Poofs competed recently andwon the Chairman’s award. Thisaward recognizes a team’s commit-ment and efforts toward achieving thisgoal. It remains FIRST’s most presti-gious award.

The Cheesy Poofs Robotics Team,254, has evolved over the past fiveyears from the smallest program inthe country in 1999, at a strugglinghigh school, to a large program basedat the NASA Ames. While the team's

student members have changed, theCheesy Poofs have continued to flour-ish.

BY JENNY L. VODVARKA

For more information aboutFIRST, visit the Web atwww.usfirst.org.

Astrogram May 200414

Events CalendarAmes 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 6:15 p.m. Higher-level classmeets at 5:15 p.m. Held in Bldg. 944, the Rec. Center.POC: Helen Hwang, hwang@dm1.arc.nasa.gov, 4-1368.

Ames Bowling League, Palo Alto Bowl on Tuesdaynights. Seeking full-time bowlers and substitutes.Questions to sign up: Mike Liu at ext. 4-1132.

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

Ames Contractor Council Mtg, first Wednesdayeach month, 11 a.m., N-200, Comm. Rm. POC: AnitaFogtman, ext. 4-4432.

Ames Diabetics (AAD), 1st & 3rd Weds, 12 noonto 1 p.m., at Ames Mega Bites, Sun room. Supportgroup discusses news affecting diabetics. POC: BobMohlenhoff, ext. 4-2523/e-mail at:bmohlenhoff@mail.arc.nasa.gov.

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: Julie ext. 4-4694 or Tony ext. 4-0340.

Ames Model Aircraft Club, flying radio-controlledaircraft at the north end of Parsons Ave. on weekendmornings. POC: Mark Sumich, ext. 4-6193.

Ames Sailing Club Mtg, second Thursday of ea.month (Feb through Nov), from 11.30 a.m. -1 p.m. inthe special events room in the Ames Visitor Center in N-223. All are welcome. POC: Jeff Smith, ext. 4-2586.

Environmental, Health and Safety InformationForum, first Thursday of each month, 8:30 a.m. to 9:30

a.m., Bldg. 221/Rm 155. URL: http://q.arc.nasa.gov/qe/events/EHSseries/ POC: Stacy St. Louis at ext. 4-6810.

The Hispanic Advisory Committee forExcellence HACE Mtg, first Thurs of month in N255room 101C from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. POC: EricKristich at ext. 4-5137 and Mark Leon at ext. 4-6498.

Jetstream Toastmasters, Mondays, 12 p.m. to 1p.m., N-269/Rm.179. POC: Becky Brondos at ext. 4-1959, bbrondos@mail.arc.nasa.gov or Bob Hilton atext. 4-1783, bhilton@mail.arc.nasa.gov.

Nat'l Association of Retired Federal Employees,(NARFE). Former and current federal employees. Youronly contact with Congress. Join to protect yourfederal retirement. Chptr #50 meets the first Fri. ofeach month at HomeTown Buffet, 2670 El Camino (atKiely), 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.

A statistical summary of activitiesof the Protective Services Division'sSecurity/Law Enforcement and Fire

Protective Services monthly activity

Security/Law Enforcement Activity Fire Protection Activity

Protection Services units for the monthof April 2004 is shown below.

ists, and the significance of protecting itfor future generations,” Reightler added.

Installation of the new Yellowstoneexhibits is expected to begin during the2004 visitor season. The new interpre-tive exhibits are the start of what theNASA Astrobiology Institute andLockheed Martin hope will be an ongo-ing collaboration with Yellowstone Na-tional Park and the Yellowstone ParkFoundation to educate the public about

the discoveries being made possible byresearch at the park. Future fundingmay pay for educational pamphlets andinteractive indoor exhibits at the visitoreducation center to be built at Old Faith-ful.

More information about theYellowstone Park Foundation is on theWeb at: http://www.ypf.org

Grants given to Yellowstone Parkcontinued from page 8

BY JOHN BLUCK

NASA technology enhanced for use in private sectorNASA software created to help sci-

entists search and organize their researchdocuments is now available to the gen-eral public to help organize complexcomputer data.

Originally developed at NASAAmes, NETMARK software has beenlicensed by Black Tulip Systems Corp.,in San Jose to make this tool available topeople and organizations that need rapidsearching of computer networks andsystems.

"NETMARK combines the best prac-tices of computer program modeling tosupport complex data creation," saidDavid Lackner of the Technology Part-nerships Division at NASA Ames. "Ittakes advantage of the object-relationaldatabase model using very efficient key-word searches spanning both contentand context," Lackner said.

This program, originally designedto manipulate NASA's vast amounts ofunstructured and semi-structured docu-ments, has been enhanced by Black Tu-lip Systems to aid law enforcement in-vestigators and regulation compliancepersonnel to search, store, manage andretrieve documents more efficiently.

"This product provides more robustsearch tools. The increased speed willbring important evaluations to a fasterconclusion," said Black Tulip Systems'president and CEO Ted Munnich.

The software can be installed eitheron a network server or on a single work-station. Intended for use by indepen-dent auditors, attorney generals, pros-ecutors and other investigators needingto search computerized data, this soft-ware potentially could save a tremen-

dous amount of time and money spenton search tasks.

"This is another example of howinnovative private companies can lever-age taxpayers' money invested in thespace program and benefit the way welive and work on Earth," noted Lackner.

For more information about the com-mercial version of NETMARK, visitthe Internet at http://www.blacktulipsystems.com. For moreinformation about technology partner-ship opportunities, visit the Web athttp://technology.arc.nasa.gov

BY VICTORIA STEINER

15Astrogram May 2004

Ames ClassifiedsAds for the next issue should be sent to

astrogram@mail.arc.nasa.gov and 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 andfound ads only. Due to the volume of material received,we are unable to verify the accuracy of the statementsmade in the ads. Caveat emptor!

Housing

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Beyond GalileoBeyond GalileoBeyond GalileoBeyond GalileoBeyond Galileo 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

Ask about NASA customized gifts for specialoccasions. Make your reservations for Chase Park

Mega Bites Mega Bites Mega Bites Mega Bites Mega Bites N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)N-235 (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.)ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969ext. 4-5969

Visitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift ShopVisitor Center Gift Shop N-943 N-943 N-943 N-943 N-943(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) ext. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) ext. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) ext. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) ext. 4-5412(10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) ext. 4-5412

NASA logo merchandise, souvenirs, toys, gifts andeducational items.

Open 7 days a week, 7:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ratesfrom $40 - $50.

Vacation OpportunitiesVacation OpportunitiesVacation OpportunitiesVacation OpportunitiesVacation Opportunities

Check web site for discounts to local attractions,http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov and click on tickets.

Information about products, services andopportunities provided to the employee and contractorcommunity by the Ames Exchange Council. Visit theweb site at: http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov

NASA LodgeNASA LodgeNASA LodgeNASA LodgeNASA Lodge (N-19) 603-7100 (N-19) 603-7100 (N-19) 603-7100 (N-19) 603-7100 (N-19) 603-7100

Tickets, etc...Tickets, etc...Tickets, etc...Tickets, etc...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

All Ames employees are invited to submitarticles relating to Ames projects and activities forpublication in the Astrogram. When submittingstories or ads for publication, submit your mate-rial, along with any questions, in MS word by e-mail to: astrogram@mail.arc.nasa.gov on or be-fore the deadline.

To hear the centerwide statusrecording, call (650) 604-9999 forinformation announcements andemergency instructions for Amesemployees. You can also listen to1700 KHz AM radio for the sameinformation.

Ames emergencyannouncements

Astrogram deadlinesSafety Data Civil Contractors

ServantsNot recordablefirst aid cases 4 0

Recordable nolost time cases 0 0

Lost time cases* 0 0

Restricted duty days 0 0

Lost work days 0 0

Data above is as of 4/29/04. Maybe subject to slight adjustment in theevent of a new case or new inform-ation regarding an existing case.

Note: Under new OSHA rules, lost timeis defined as lost work days, restrictedduty or job transfer.

Lake Tahoe-Squaw Valley Townhse, 3bd/2ba,balcony view, horseback riding, hiking, biking, golf,river rafting, tennis, ice skating, Equipped and more.Summer rates. Call (650) 968-4155,DBMcKellar@aol.com

South Lake Tahoe cottage w/wood fireplace,hot tub. Rates $50 to $130 per night. Call (650)967-7659 or (650) 704-7732.

Vacation rental, Bass Lake, 4 mls south ofYosemite. 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/2bahouse in canyon setting. Fully eqpd kitchen. Accessto priv. beach. Tub in patio gdn. Halfway betweenCarmel and Big Sur. $175/night for 2; $225 for 4and $250 for more, plus $150 cleaning dep. Call(650) 328-4427.

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

Pine Mountain Lake vacation home. Access togolf, tennis, lake, swimming, horseback riding, walkto beach. Three bedrooms/sleeps 10. $100/night.Call (408) 799-4052 or (831) 623-4054.

Spacious 2 bdrm Maui suite available (canaccommodate up to 6 people) for 1 week. Cookingfacilities, color TV, swimming pools, access to beachand much more. Located nearby shopping centers,golf courses, and all water activities. $1,200 a weekor B/O. Call (408) 446-4416 for more information.

Incline Village: Forest Pines, Lake Tahoe condo,3 bd/2ba, sleeps 8. Fireplace, TV/VCR/DVD, MW,W/D, jacuzzi, sauna, pool. Walk to Lake, close to skiareas. Visit Web page for pictures: http://www.ACruiseStore.com. $120/night low season,$155/night high season (holidays higher) plus $156cleaning fee and 12% Nevada room tax. Charlie(650) 355-1873.

Disneyland area vacation rental home, 2 bd/1ba. Nearing completion completely remodeled w/new furniture. Sleeps 6 (queen bed, bunk beds,sleeper sofa). Air hockey and football tables.Introductory rate $600/wk, once completed rate willbe $1000/wk. Security deposit and $100 cleaningfee required. Call (925) 846-2781.

2 oak bar stools, $15 for both. Stacking chairs (6),$50. Wrought iron patio umbrella stand (2), $10 each.One-year-old pair of love seats, $500 for both. Annette(408)323-4872.

Credenza, 20in x 30in x 46in, beautiful honey-laquerfinish, excellent condition, $350. Call (650) 473-0604.

Wanted: Basketball hoop with stand in goodcondition. E-mail: falcon7777_2000@yahoo.com

1995 Mac computer (G-3 upgrade), printer andperipherals including turboball and zip drive, goodcondition, $100 or B/O. Shelby (408) 745-7437.

Moving-out-of-state sale until end of June (withinAmes community housing, near main gate. Dining set (5foot glass-top table and 4 chairs); complete bedroom set(bed, head frame, dresser, high boy); bookcases, TV,entertainment center, desks and chairs, L-sofa, newwasher/dryer, mattresses, mini refrigerator, exercise bike,books and misc. Call before come at (650) 625-1325.

Digital video camera system, SONY DSR-300 digitalvideo camera with Canon YH18X6.7 18X zoom lens. ŒAsnew‚ condition with only 128 total hours. Includes thefollowing accessories: PortaBrace CO-PC camera case;PortaBrace SCD-300 carrying case; SONY LC-424TH hardcase; NRG 1291004 a/c power supply; SONY BP-L90lithium ion battery; SONY BC-L50 battery charger; Bogen3191 tripod; Bogen 3066 tripod head. Asking $7,000. E-mail redfrog3@earthlink.net

Exercise equipment: Nordic Track Pro 500 includingpersonal performance monitor/pulse (LCD readout ofspeed, time, calories, pulse rate, distance) with instructionvideo and manual. Simulates cross country ski motion.Orig. $600. Folds compactly. $125 or B/O. Call (408)863-0835.

Teak desks (2 available), simple Scandinavian modernstyle, no drawers, exc. condition. Smaller one is 60L x 30Dx 28H @ $75. Bigger one is 72L x 36D x 28H @ $100. Call(408) 663-2728.

Teak bookcase, simple Scandinavian modern style,Exc. condition. 75 inches tall x 11 inches deep x 35 incheswide. Call (408) 663-2728.

‘86 ACURA Legend, orig owner silver/grey; 4 dr 5spd,A/C, moon roof, looks new, very clean, well maintained,low miles on new engine/clutch, $1,500. Call (650) 328-4633.

'91 Mazda Protoge, automatic, sun roof, powerwindows, air, gd. running condition, 169K mls. Blue bookis $1,175, selling for $900. Ephiemorphew@mail.arc.nasa.gov)

Oregon State Univ. student looking for housing nearAmes for summer internship working w/salt pondacquisition project. Prefer furnished room from approx.June 20 through end Aug. Non-smoker, very responsible,courteous and a delight to have around. Desired rent~$500/mo and would like a parking friendlyneighborhood. Ames contact: Danadrogoff@mail.arc.nasa.gov, ext. 4-3615.

Room for rent in quiet Los Altos close to Ames. Sharew/prof‚l males/females. Large house and yard w/gardener. W/D, N/S, no pets. Available now. $575/moplus deposit and 1/4 utils. Call (650) 964-2913.

Room for rent in San Mateo. Christian femalepreferred. $600 monthly w/utils included. Carolyn(650)357-8511.

3 bd/2 ba house for rent in West San Jose. Morelandschools, Prospect High School. Includes gardener, 2 cargarage, separate family and living rooms. $1,875/mo.Available June 1. Call (408) 445-8437.

For rent: 3bd/2ba, thoroughly modern andrefinished, 2,200 sq ft., 2-car garage house in Cambrian.Great neighborhood, close to schools and shopping, easyaccess to Hwy 85. $2,200/mo. (408) 348-4665.

Deadline: Publication:May 27 June 2004June 25 July 2004

'99 Mustang GT, 4.6 V8, green, 69k, 5spd, all optionsfully loaded, priced to sell at $9,500. Mike (408) 529-6953.

‘01 suzuki esteem GLX sedan, 5 speed, black, alloptions, 50K mls, gd condition and great commuter,30mpg average. Asking $4,500. Jerry (510) 742-6896.

Astrogram May 200416

National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration

Ames Research CenterMoffett Field, CA 94035-1000

Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use

PLEASE RECYCLEPrinted on recycled and recyclable paper with vegetable-based ink.

FIRST CLASS MAILPOSTAGE & FEES PAID

NASAPermit No. G-27

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

Editor-in-Chief..............................David Morse

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

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

You can reach the Astrogram Office at:astrogram@mail.arc.nasa.gov or by phone at(650) 604-3347.

NASA Tech Briefs associate editor tours AmesIn April, NASA Tech Briefs Associ-

ate Editor Cathleen Lambertson, visited

NASA Ames. Her visit was coordinatedby the Technology Partnerships Officein cooperation with the Thermo-physicsFacilities Branch and the Thermal Pro-tection Materials and Systems Branch.

During her visit, Lambertsonviewed several facilities unique to Ames

Cathleen Lambertson, associate editor of NASA Tech Briefs magazine, right,shown during her tour of the facilities and Sarah Beckman, lower left, studyelectromicrograph images.

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Arc Jet and Thermal Protection Systemswork.

Lambertson’sprimary interestduring her tour wasthe Arc Jet Facility.She interviewedseveral of the keyplayers in the early

development, current planning and fu-ture expectations of the Arc Jet pro-gram. She also was introduced to thecomplexities of thermal protection ma-terials development.

NASA Tech Briefs magazine has thelargest circulation of any engineeringmagazine.

Contact Lisa Williams atliwilliams@mail.arc.nasa.gov or ext. 4-2954 to learn about using NASA TechBriefs to promote your exciting Amesinnovations or to receive a copy of thepublication.

Joe Hartman points out the intricacies of the arc jet system toLambertson during her recent tour of the facility.