National Aeronautics and Space Administration Volume 12 Issue 2 February 2016 www.nasa.gov GoddardView Trending – 2 NASA Reflects on 30th Anniversary of NASA REFLECtS ON 30tH ANNIvERSARy Challenger Disaster – 3 Spinoff at 40: How Tech Transfer Brings NASA OF CHALLENGER DISAStER Back Down to Earth – 4 By Sarah Schlieder From Rodent Research to Beer Bubbles: ince its establishment in 1958, NASA has made generations has remained strong,” said Ed Campion, news Select Technologies in Spinoff 2016 – 5 significant strides in science and exploration, thanks chief at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and then- Citizen Observations Help Scientists Better largely in part to the determination and dedication spokesperson for the project during the disaster. GPM Celebrates Two Years Understand Auroras – 6 Sof its men and women. But like many endeavors, great The Global Precipitation Measurement achievements are often accompanied by great risks. The The agency would later eliminate the Space Flight Partici- mission celebrated its second launch NASA Engineers Tapped to Build First agency’s annual Day of Remembrance honors those who pant Program, of which Teacher in Space was a part. In anniversary on Feb. 27. Managed by Integrated-Photonics Modem – 7 made the ultimate sacrifice while pushing the boundaries 1998, a new category of astronaut candidate was cre- Goddard, GPM provides observations Hitomi to Study Structure and Evolution of the of human achievement. ated: educator. The Educator Astronaut Program allowed of rain and snow worldwide every three Universe – 8 teachers to apply during astronaut recruitment and, if hours and improves the forecasting of Employee Spotlight – 9 In 1967, during the first manned mission of the Apollo pro- accepted, become fully trained NASA astronauts and mis- extreme weather events. three of Goddard’s Best Among Presidential gram, a fire during a preflight launch pad test of the space sion specialists tasked with bringing space exploration to Rank Award Recipients – 10 vehicle killed all three astronauts on board. In 2003, space classrooms. Barbara Morgan, McAuliffe’s backup for the To the Moon and Back: New Smithsonian shuttle Columbia broke apart while re-entering the atmo- Challenger mission, was selected and flew aboard a space AAAC Honors Contributions of sphere minutes before its scheduled landing. All seven shuttle Endeavour mission in August 2007. Exhibit Features LRO Imagery – 11 African-American Employees crewmembers were lost. Several others have died during In honor of African American History David Raphael: Builds Spacecraft Subsystems test flights and operations throughout NASA’s history. In the wake of the Challenger accident, the crew’s families Month, the Goddard African American and Pays It Forward – 12 created the Challenger Center for Space Science Educa- Advisory Committee highlighted the During this year’s Day of Remembrance, NASA marked tion to engage students and teachers in dynamic, hands- careers of several African-American On the cover: An artist rendering of gravita- the 30th anniversary of one of the worst accidents in the on activities in science, technology, engineering and Goddard employees and how they’ve tional waves, which were recently detected by country’s space program — the space shuttle Challenger mathematics. The first center opened in 1988 in Houston. contributed to the center’s missions. the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave disaster. On Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger abruptly broke Now, there are 45 centers worldwide. apart 73 seconds into its flight from NASA’s Kennedy Observatory. Photo credit: NASA Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all seven “The center is building upon what the Challenger mission crewmembers: Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald started,” said Traketa Wray, instructional supervisor at the NP-2016-2-389-GSFC Center Director Delivers McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Francis Scobee Howard B. Owens Science Center — a designated Chal- State of Goddard Address and Mike Smith. lenger Center — in Lanham, Maryland. Following a televised viewing of Admin- Info istrator Charles Bolden’s State of NASA “Whether you watched the crew prepare for flight at home Several scientists and engineers across the agency – in- address on Feb. 9, Goddard Center Goddard view is an official publication of with family and friends or at school with classmates, all of cluding some at Goddard – passed through the Challenger Director Chris Scolese updated employ- NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in us are here today because of their sacrifice,” Administrator Center before making their way to NASA, helping fulfill the ees on the center’s state of affairs and Greenbelt, Maryland. Goddard View showcas- Charles Bolden said in a statement. Challenger crew’s desire of inspiring future generations of outlined its priorities for 2016. es people and achievements in the Goddard space explorers. community that support the center’s mission to The Challenger mission was known as the “teacher mis- explore, discover and understand our dynamic sion.” McAuliffe, a high school social studies teacher from “The 30th anniversary reaffirms our commitment to ac- Text Alerts Provide Updates to universe. Goddard View is published by the New Hampshire, was selected as the first participant for knowledging the forward-thinking of the Challenger crew,” Center’s Operating Status Goddard Office of Communications. the Teacher in Space Project, designed to spur interest added Wray. “They were at the forefront of inspiring kids the Goddard Office of Communi- in science and space exploration. Students and educa- to go to Mars and explore other solar systems. We com- cations has begun disseminating you may submit story ideas to the editor at tors would have gathered around bulky televisions to memorate these pioneers in space education.” n text alerts to update employees on [email protected]. All contributions watch McAuliffe conduct a live teaching session aboard changes to the status of the Green- are subject to editing and will be published as the shuttle. Other lessons would have been recorded and Above: The Challenger crew (from left to right): Christa belt facility. text “GSFCGBLt” to space allows. distributed to educators upon the crew’s return. McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik, Francis Scobee, 333111 to opt into the service. Ronald McNair, Mike Smith and Ellison Onizuka. “The original Teacher in Space lesson plans may have been lost, but the agency’s commitment to inspiring new Photo credit: NASA Volume 12 Issue 2 • February 2016 3 FROM RODENt RESEARCH tO BEER BuBBLES: SPINOFF At 40: HOW tECH tRANSFER SELECt tECHNOLOGIES IN SPINOFF 2016 BRINGS NASA BACK DOWN tO EARtH he annual Spinoff publication – produced at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on behalf of the agency – highlights By Jenny Hottle some of NASA’s latest spinoff technologies in health and medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer goods, energy and environment, information technology, and industrial productivity. Some of the technologies featured in the 2016 edition rom your memory foam mattress to the digital image sen- this year’s edition features more than 50 impactful tech- Tare highlighted below. For the complete publication as well as archived editions, visit spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2016. sors in cellphone cameras, NASA technology developed nologies, including a rice crop model that helps farmers use for space exploration often winds up benefiting everyday sustainable irrigation practices, a pressure garment that helps Rodent Research Contributes to Osteoporosis Treatments Flife on Earth. stop postobstetric hemorrhaging and a new drug that treats NASA has long worked to mitigate bone loss caused by visits to space. NASA’s Ames osteoporosis. Research that focused on capturing and ma- Research Center in Moffett Field, California, worked with biotechnology leader Amgen When NASA was established through the National Aeronau- nipulating carbon dioxide on Mars even led to a system that Inc. to test a series of new osteoporosis treatments on mice in microgravity, in the hopes tics and Space Act in October 1958, the government called allows microbrewers to capture carbon dioxide released dur- of helping astronauts and the earthbound alike. The results obtained on the missions upon the agency not only to explore space, but also to en- ing fermentation and use it for carbonation. supported studies on Earth that resulted in Prolia, a new bone treatment drug, and other sure that the technologies created through its work could be drugs still in development. adapted for commercial use. In 1962, the agency established “The beauty of the Spinoff enterprise and technology transfer a formal program – currently NASA’s technology transfer in general is that there are thousands upon thousands of sto- Rice Crop Models Stabilize Global Markets, Enable Efficient Irrigation Program – to facilitate and report the transfer of technology to ries to tell,” added Lockney. “Each one is bizarre and wonder- Among the world’s major dietary staples, rice is the most difficult crop to predict in terms the private sector. ful.” Some technologies are potentially life-saving as well, and of yield. In 2012, NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, granted he would be one to know. Applied Geosolutions Inc. two contracts to create the Rice Decision Support System. the NASA highlights these “spinoffs” – commercial products or software uses data from Earth-imaging satellites to generate real-time