SEPTEMBER Jet Propulsion 2017 Laboratory VOLUME 47
NUMBER 9 Celebrating 40 years of Voyager wonders Mission veterans recall the dedication of the team; rock concert looks back four decades
By Mark Whalen JPL’s iconic explorers, the twin Voyag- ers, continue on their journey at the edge of the solar system started 40 years ago. JPL celebrated Voyager in late August with a series of events befitting one of the most accomplished and revered robotic space missions of all time. On Friday, Aug. 25, Lab Director Mi- chael Watkins welcomed JPLers, Voyager veterans and political representatives to a commemoration on the Mall.
Voyager has been not only a great voy- Josh Krohn / JPL Photo Lab From left: Voyager Project Manager Suzy Dodd, Project Scientist Ed Stone, Communications and Education Director age of exploration, but one of the great- Blaine Baggett, JPL Chief Engineer Chris Jones and John Casani, Voyager’s first project manager. est engineering feats of all time, Watkins noted. “I hope all of us here today feel a told the commitment was for four years. we had ever been,” said Casani. “So it part of the Voyager project,” he said. Hardly, as it turns out. was quite a challenge.” Congresswoman Judy Chu, elected in “There was no way to know whether a But JPLers were up to it. 2009 to represent the 27th district that spacecraft — never mind two — could go The panel chat was interspersed with includes JPL and Caltech, presented a for 40 years,” said Stone, Voyager’s only video clips featuring historic interviews, Congressional certificate of recognition to project scientist since 1972, who still re- launch footage, and Voyager team mem- the Laboratory. ceives requests for interviews on Voyager bers’ agonizing waits for data return, de- “I will always be your ally in Washington, from around the world. bating science on the fly, and celebrating. D.C.,” said Chu, “and will continue to fight Two commemorations took place “Over a period of seven months we for funding to NASA and JPL.” Thursday, Aug. 24 — an event featuring were overwhelmed with discoveries, one State Senator Anthony Portantino pre- four key Voyager veterans and a von Kar- after another,” said Jones. “I felt a sense sented a legislative resolution recognizing man lecture by a 44-year member of the of discovery. These odd-shaped worlds Voyager as “one of the most audacious project. just blew us away.” scientific endeavors of all time.” A Pickering Auditorium panel discus- Dodd, at the time a young engineer Representatives for U.S. Rep. Adam sion Aug. 24 included Stone; John Casa- straight out of Caltech, built Voyager’s Schiff, Assemblywoman Laura Friedman ni, a veteran JPL manager and Voyager’s closest approach sequence. and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kath- first project manager; Suzanne Dodd, a “From a science point of view, there’s ryn Barger were also on hand for remarks. former Voyager engineer and the current a tremendous amount we have learned Former JPL Director Dr. Ed Stone told project manager; and Chris Jones, Voy- about the solar system,” said Stone. “The the gathering that when he was offered ager’s fault protection engineer. two orbiters will travel for billions of years the position of project scientist he was “(Before Voyager,) Mars was as far as Continued on page 5 9x/1x Group. analyst forthe Project Resource Controls Alexandria Deisler, a project resource more aboutthesetypesofevents,”said we are apartofgroup workingtolearn special. Itisexceptionalknowing that being here atJPLmakesit somuchmore the Mallisagreat feeling.” big. AlltheJPLersgatheringtogetheron am so happy to be a part of something so frightened byit,”Mradsaid. years ago would have been shocked and also wonderhowpeoplethousandsof rare event,whichisexcitinginitself.I ing the eclipse for months. “It’s such a sion, hadbeenlookingforward towatch Mrad, administratorfortheScienceDivi faces withsmiling,openmouths. a uniquesightbelow:seaofupturned matching theunusualeventabovewith theirattentionskyward,crowd turned Lievense, managerforPublicServices. the beginning of the eclipse,” said Kim ees whowere outinthemallwellbefore America handoutfrom NASA. Mall, alongwitha2017EclipseAcross than 1,500 glasses to employees on the event, theoffice haddistributedmore lar eclipseglasses.Bytheendof was expectedtostarthandingoutso well before thePublicServicesOffice outside. partial eclipsedrew thousandsofJPLers ings emptiedandtheMallfilledupas partial solareclipseonAug.21.Build Employees takethetimetoenjoy’s nature’s wonder Eclipse bringsJPLersoutside, together By Susan Braunheim “Eclipses happensoinfrequently, and “We havecomesuchalongwayandI One ofthoseparticipants,Alexander Once equippedwithsafeeyewear, the “It wasamazing,thenumberofemploy Excited spectatorsstartedgathering Much oftheLabcameouttoenjoy - - - - - goes toshowwhyit’s soimportantthat ated somuchenthusiasm,”Orrsaid.“It about spaceeveryday, theeclipsegener where peoplemakeamazingdiscoveries eclipse. and answered questionsthroughout the cation Office, helpedwiththeequipment look through duringtheevent. cereal boxesandpostcards forviewersto pinhole camerasmadefrom itemslike of paper),asolartelescopeandseveral jected animageofthesunontoapiece projector (asimpletelescopethatpro ing materialsto makepinholecameras. site leads withabox of resources, includ organized theeffort, equippedeach ofthe of JPL’s InformalEducationGroup, who activities related totheeclipse.Jeff Nee out glassesandprovide informationand locations around LosAngelestohand group ofvolunteersfrom JPLtogonine Lab, theEducationOffice organized a the wondersofspace.” dents, andencourageotherstoexplore we share whatwedo,especially withstu “It wasgreat toseethatevenatJPL, Kimberly Orr, webproducer for the Edu JPL’s EducationOffice suppliedasolar In additiontohostingthegatheringon - - - - - edu/news/column/teachable-moments. ments, goto @NASAJPL by using to share theirphotosonsocialmedia cool experience,”Tally said. das asthedarknessgrew. Itwassucha and couldheartheconfusionofcica friends inHopkinsville,Ky. reason totravelandcatch upwithold mentation Group, usedthe eclipseasa Mission System Development and Imple Monday, more thanafewwere JPLers. country duringtheeclipse. traveled tolocationsoftotalityacross the at 11:44a.m.About12millionpeople of 62percent at10:21a.m.,andended began at 9:05 a.m., reached its maximum news intolessonsforstudents. JPLandNASA educators howtoturn Teachable Momentsblog,aimedtoshow lessons forteachersaspartoftheir The teamalsocreated asetofeclipse For more information on Teachable Mo Eclipse viewersare encouraged “We were veryclosetoawoodedlot Kevin Tally, anengineerintheCross Judging from thehalf-emptyparkinglot In thePasadenaarea, thepartialeclipse . #Eclipse2017 https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ and tagging - - -
Universe 2 Parking appcompetitionspurscreativeideas he said.“Almost everyday, 30minutesof issue first-hand.“I’minthissituation too,” in theRadarScienceGroup, knowsthe flowing. competition, andthecreative juicesget group willdeveloptheworking app. from their driving, said McWatters, whose ing toJPLinawaythatdoesn’t distract sential parkinginformationtothosecom goal forthefirstiterationisproviding es download inthattimeframe.Theprimary (iPhone) appsavailableLabwidefor is workingonhavingAndroid andiOS stalled inSeptemberorOctober, JPL our difficult parkingsituation.” the finalAndroid andiOSappstoalleviate and manyoftheirfeatures willbeusedin tions provide JPLexcitingpossibilities in thecompetition.“Theirproposed solu Development Group, oneofthejudges the CustomApplicationConsultingand ative solutions,” said Brent McWatters of boldly lookingatunconventionalandcre Alex Ruber(RocketPark)exemplified pasin Niamsuwan(SweetSpot)andMihai able forusewithinacoupleofmonths. the creation oftheappthatwillbeavail produced twowinningentriesthatwillaid to helpJPLersidentifyavailableparking is ontheway. help findtheavailablespaces,some Too manycars,notenoughspaces. been anaggingissueattheLaboratory. ing problem. Isawanopportunitytosolve my precious timeisdrainedbythispark By Mark Whalen Niamsuwan, asignalanalysis engineer Give JPLersachallenge,goaland With in-ground carsensorsbeingin “The two winning apps written by Nop A recent competitiontodevelopanapp Soon, there willbeanappforthat. More parkingwillnotmaterialize,butto For decades,ascarcity ofparkinghas ------already brainstorming thefuture. mathematics and computer science. He’s plete hisundergraduate degree inapplied direct userstoavailableparkingspots. mented-reality technologytopointand and time in the future. And it uses aug the bestplacestoparkatanygivendate tive graphthatpredicts and recommends their day, he said, the app has an interac from the Lab. To help employees plan have reached acertain radial distance sends outpushnotificationswhenusers available parkingspotsaround JPLand ability toquicklyandeasilyviewcurrently derful andlife-changingexperience.” here;intern it’s beenanabsolutelywon NASA forgivingmetheopportunityto ognition,” hesaid.“AndIwanttothank thankful fortheopportunityandrec lieve hewaschosen as a winner. “I’m Flight EngineeringGroup, stillcan’t be he said. creating yourowntoolisalmostinstant,” as Ithoughtandthesatisfactionfrom to feelthefield.” up anddownintheparkingstructure just couple ofhoursexercising bywalking a few weekends, a few long nights, and “a the chancetofindanavailablespot. the driveralongpaththatmaximizes itselfintoanavigationtool, guiding turns lots. Once the user enters the lot, the app the real-time statusofselectedparking switches viewstodisplayaforecast and free appthatspeaksandautomatically velopment, Niamsuwan created a hands- leagues’ atthesametime.” my ownproblem aswellotherJPLcol “Implementing augmented-reality tech Ruber willsoonreturntoUCSD tocom Ruber’s app designoffers usersthe Ruber, inJPL’s aUCSanDiegointern curvewasnotassteep “The learning To create hisapp,Niamsuwantoiledfor A self-described“newbie”toappde ------Alex Ruber. to co-winnersNoppasinNiamsuwan(above)andMihai JamespresentscertificatesJPL DeputyDirectorLarry vanced features tofollowinlaterreleases. basic app,saidMcWatters, withmore ad automatically onceitbecomes available. have theappdownloadedto theirdevice McWatters. MostJPL-issuedphones will JPL andnon-JPLissuedphones,said open parkingspace.” navigate thedriverdirectly totheclosest autonomous carsthatcanlocateandself- ality ‘heads-updisplay’windshieldsor “In thefuture, Ienvisionaugmentedre something I’dliketoadd,”saidRuber. tors, employeesandfuture is interns nology to create virtual tours for visi The firstversionthisfallwill be amore The newappwillbeavailableforboth Continued onpage4 - - -
Universe 3 R2D2 madebyJPLengineer Capt. Kirksentamessageto Voyager atJPL of 60characters andwere tagged it. Thesemessageswere amaximum ager 1spacecraftandallthatliesbeyond short, upliftingmessagestotheVoy tion, NASAinvitedthepublictosubmit ager’s 40 years of continuing explora announced onNASATelevision. It wassubmittedbyOliverJenkinsand ship across thestars.You are notalone.” aboard eachVoyager spacecraft. goodwill carriedontheGoldenRecord campaign inspired bythemessagesof space. #MessageToVoyager 1’s launch—NASArevealed thewinning Sept. 5—the40thanniversaryofVoyager cal datawillalso beavailableforpredicting whenlotswillbefull to evenopenthe app,”saidMcWatters, whoadded thathistori which exit to take based on the parking situation, without having couple milesbefore theyapproach theLabsotheycanchoose By Leslie Mullen chasing it. still scootedaround theMall fastenoughtooutrunanyImperialdroids thatmightbe ity totransmitholographicmessages? Future plansincludeadding apicoprojector, for whatwouldR2D2dowithouttheabil work, tobuildit,”shesaid,andshe’s stillworkingonmakingitafully complete model. rently hasabout150localmembers,and3,000membersaround theworld. sion OperationsEngineeratJPL. whistles ofthebelovedStarWars character. Thedroid wasbuiltbyKeriBean,aMis PARKING APP As partofthecelebrationVoy The winningmessage:“We offer friend “Message to Voyager” is a social media With helpfrom StarTrek’s Capt.Kirk,on “We are lookingatadesignwhere userscanbenotifieda She’s cutR2’s speeddownto5percent ofwhatitwas originallycapableof,butit “It tooktwoyearsandamonth,betweengettingalltheright partsanddoingallthe Bean isamemberoftheR2D2BuildersClub(https://astromech.net/), whichcur A mobilereplica ofR2D2visitedtheMallAug.3,completewithallbeepsand Continued from page3 andbeameditinto - - - -
From left: Annabel Kennedy, William Shatner, JeffBerner, Tracy Drain. Berner, DSN chiefengineer;andAnnabelKennedy, DSNcommandengineer. original Capt.Kirk, William Shatner; Tracy Drain,Junomission deputy chief engineer;Jeff lar spacebyacommandthat originated from mission control at JPL with helpfrom the ites, whichwere thenputtoapublicvote.Thewinningmessagewassentintointerstel #MessageToVoyager. Watch here: The Voyager team,togetherwith JPL andNASAheadquarters,selectedtheir10favor https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/message. - NASAtrackedmore than30,000submissions. JPL Tube: utilized increating ausefulparkingapp,”addedMcWatters. in particular—demonstrated creative approaches thatwillbe days inadvance. To see thefinalists’presentations atthejudgingceremony, visit “All theparkingappcontest entries —andthewinningapps https://jpltube.jpl.nasa.gov/Watch=4KFeCm. - - - Keri Bean - -
Universe 4 receding”: of thesong,startingwitharhymefor“There isnopain,youare Keyboardist LizLandausang replacement lyricsneartheend sion” andfinally“ComfortablyNumb”byPinkFloyd. “Smoke ontheWater,” byDeepPurple,Foreigner’s “DoubleVi ’70s with Toto’s “Holdthe Line,” “Dreams” byFleetwoodMac, song thatisontheGoldenRecord. Thegroup thenmoved tothe 1989, thebandledoff withChuckBerry’s “JohnnyB.Good,”a 1970s withaconcertbytheJPLrock band“TheRTGs.” gov. more powerful.” added someperspective. ager is“anamazingmachinewithveryrobust systems.”Thenhe found onethatwasloose,soItightenedit. I got to go up there and look at them. I didn’t find any holes but I in them.Sorightbefore wesealedupthespacecraftforlaunch, crons thick.We were afraidthatatechniciancouldpokehole Aug. 24(atJPL)and25PasadenaCityCollege). scribed hisexperiencesduringthevonKarmanLecture Series life onEarth. contains images and sounds selected to portraythediversityof the spacecraft.Theresult wasVoyager’s GoldenRecord, which Sagan aboutthetypeofmessagethatshouldbeincludedon cally engaging,”saidCasani,whocontactedscientistCarl as oursilentambassadors.” VOYAGER A record gold Ambassadors with sightsandsoundsfrom Earth Moving outward, fartherstill On PBSin1989 When Iwasachildsawyour Neptunepics So faint,sometimeswedon’t knowwhatyou’re saying Your signalscome tousinwaves From distantshipsbeyond thehorizon “Science yousend,weare receiving The bandexhibitedabitofpoeticlicenseonthelastnumber. In tributetotherock legendwhoperformedontheJPLMallin Friday’s eventontheMallwasalsoafeel-goodreturn tothe (Cummings’ presentation isavailableat “Your iPhonewith16gigabytesofmemoryis235,000times Cummings, aseniorresearch scientist atCaltech,noted Voy “That wasveryexciting.Ithelastonetoinspectit.” “The front aperture wascovered inathinaluminumfoil,3mi Cummings wasincharge oftelescopes. Alan Cummings,aVoyager teammembersince1973,de “Voyager hasbeenpublicallyengaging,notjustscientifi ) Continued from page1 https://jpltube.jpl.nasa. - - - - - L P N SA’s DistinguishedPublicServiceMedal Topographic Mission. TOPEX/Poseidon andtheShuttleRadar Magellan, Galileo,Ulysses,Voyager, Orbiter, LunarReconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, MarsReconnaissance finder, theMarsExplorationRovers, Laboratory, MarsPhoenix,Path missions includingJuno,MarsScience of manyNASA’s mostsuccessful education. investigation andpublicoutreach and image processing forbothscientific velopment ofvisualizationproducts and considered apioneerintherapidde Project, joinedJPLin1990.Hewas NASA/JPL SolarSystemVisualization 13. specialist EricDeJong,70,diedAug. NASA awardsCaltechcontractextension tooperateJPL remembered bysomanykindandsupportive co-workersofmine. proud ofher familyconnectionsatJPLand would bethrilledtoknowshewas lar, followedNASAandtheLab’s activitiesformore than40years.Shewas able tofinishhighschool,wasan avid reader inmanyareas and,inparticu bank servingpeopleinneedSW Missouri.Mymother, eventhoughnot contribution to a charity my mother supported, the Ozark Food Harvest food grateful tomycolleaguesintheProject SupportOffice whomadeagenerous my mother, MaxineWilliamson,whorecently passedaway. Iamparticularly tion onthemission,visit space betweenthestarsincomingyears.Formore informa in interstellar space, while Voyager 2 is expected to enter the include thedevelopmentofspacecraftandinstruments. ences, heliophysics,astrophysics, andaeronautics andspaceactivities,to in support of NASA-sponsored work in the areas of Earth and planetary sci delivery/indefinite-quantity contractbeginsOct.1. a maximumvalueof$2.5billion.Work onthecostplusfixed-fee,indefinite- management ofJPLbeyonditscurrent expirationdateofSept.30,andhas through Sept.30,2018. and managementofNASA’s DeepSpaceNetwork. ment agencies, academia and the private sector, and the operation, research, peted andpeer-reviewed research, NASApartnershipswithothergovern This year, DeJongwasawarded NA His workcreated vividexperiences De Jong,principalinvestigatorforthe Planetary scientistandvisualization Dave Durham My heartfelt thanks go to JPL for the beautiful plant sent in memory of In August2012Voyager 1becamethefirsthuman-madeobject You …are Voyager 2andVoyager 1.” A dream liveson Caltech also will manage NASA-sponsored programs that carry out com The purposeofthiscontractistodevelopandsustaincore competencies This contractextendstheagreement betweenCaltechandNASAfor NASA hasawarded acontracttoCaltechextendoperationsofJPL etters assings ews B rie f https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov. s - - - exploration ofthecosmos. nicating tothepublichumanity¹s for hisvisualizationworkcommu Eric DeJong Cremation serviceswere private. ------
Universe 5 Pasadena, CA91109. 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Education Directorate ofthe the Communicationsand Universe ispublishedby Mark Whalen Editor [email protected] E-MAIL USAT
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