Mission update Vol. 35, No. 19 September 13, 1996 Spaceport News America's gateway to the universe. Leading the world in preparing and launching missions to Earth and beyond. John F.

Mars Rover undergoes checks KSC sets a record Mission: STS-79 on Atlantis. in bone marrow drive The KSC community ex- Launch date, time: Target date tended a helping hand to pa- of Sept. 16, 4:54 a.m. from Launch Pad 39A. tients suffering from leukemia and other blood related diseases Status: Atlantis was returned to by signing up to be potential Launch Pad 39A on Sept. 5 after bone marrow donors. KSC’s ef- being sent back to the Vehicle forts stand out with a record Assembly Building Sept. 4 as a breaking number of registra- precautionary move due to the tions in a single day. approach of Hurricane Fran. Eight hundred and eighty- eight employees turned out for Mission Synopsis: STS-79 is the fourth in a series of NASA KSC’s first bone marrow regis- docking missions to the Russian tration drive on Aug. 28, sur- Mir Space Station, leading to the passing any one-day drive con- construction and operation of the ducted by the Leukemia Society International Space Station. A of America in the state of launch on the 16th will set THE small rover undergoes a final Florida,Georgia or Alabama. Atlantis up for a rendezvous and functional check by Jet Propulsion Laboratory “The success of this drive was docking on the fourth day of technicians in KSC's Spacecraft Assembly and phenomenal,” said Robyn flight. Astronaut John Blaha will Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2) before being Kornhaber, the organization’s be replacing Shannon Lucid attached to the Pathfinder lander. The six-wheeled aboard the Mir. robotic vehicle will become the first autonomous rover national director. to explore the surface of another planet when it begins Only a small blood sample is Landing date, time: Sept. 26, crawling over the Martian terrain next year. The rover required from each participant will be attached to one of three petals of the Mars Pathfinder lander. After the for testing and further screen- 8:49 a.m. at KSC's Shuttle petals are closed, a protective aeroshell will be installed around the lander and Landing Facility. parachutes attached to it. This assembled entry vehicle will then be mated to the ing. Bone marrow is later re- cruise stage that will carry the spacecraft on its interplanetary trajectory. The quested only if a suitable match completed spacecraft will be mated with an upper stage booster before going to is made. the launch pad. Liftoff on a Delta II expendable launch vehicle currently is set for Dec. 2, the beginning of a 24-day launch period.See more photos, page 4. (See MARROW, Page 3) Office of Inspector General seeks two-way communication A call from the Office of In- spector General is often met with about as much enthusiasm IN THE Multi-Payload Processing as news that an Internal Rev- Facility, workers install the Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectro- enue Service auditor is on the graph atop the Astronomy Shuttle other end of the line. Pallet Satellite. Those who regularly make Mission: STS-80 on Columbia. those calls would really like to see that change. By offering Launch date, time: No earlier some information on the office’s than Oct. 31, 2:40 p.m. from history and purpose, Kennedy Launch Pad 39B. Space Center’s Office of Inspec- tor General personnel hope to Primary payloads: ORFEUS- put employees a little more at SPAS-2, Wake Shield Facility - 3 ease with their occasional re- quests for assistance. Landing date, time: No earlier FROM THE LEFT are Lanny Van Camp, southeast regional inspector general, Jack than Nov. 16, 7:25 a.m., at the Buchert, special agent in charge of investigations at KSC, and Len Diamond, audit field SLF. (See OIG, Page 6) manager. Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS September 13, 1996

Hispanic Month celebration planned Employees of the month Hispanic Heritage Month, to ing week. be celebrated at Kennedy Space The Ballet Folklorico presen- Center from Sept. 15 through tation is set for Mexican Inde- Oct.15, is designed to give em- pendence Day, Sept.16, at 10 ployees an opportunity to ac- a.m. in the Training Audito- knowledge the contributions of rium. Americans of Hispanic ancestry The luncheon is scheduled for while looking ahead to achieve- Sept. 20 at 11:30 a.m. in the ments yet to come. Operations and Checkout The 1996 observance has Building’s Mission Briefing been given the theme “Hispan- Room. ics: Challenging the Future.” Tickets are available through Highlights of the month will in- members of the Hispanic Em- clude a presentation by folk ployment Program Working singers and the Ballet Group at $8 apiece through Sep- Folklorico of the Autonomous tember 19. University of the State of Tables will be set up in the Morelos on Sept.16, and the lobbies of the Headquarters, annual “Meet your Directors” O&C, Space Station Processing HONORED IN SEPTEMBER are, sitting from the left, Kennetta Campbell, luncheon Sept. 20. Facility and Operations Sup- Program Office; Dorothea Jardine, Logistics Operations Directorate; Martin Torres Gutierrez, port Buildings on Sept. 17 and Janet Thompson, Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate. Standing are, Mexican counsul, and Maestro through 20 with arts and crafts from the left, Ed Markowski, Shuttle Operations Directorate; Charles Conley, Gerardo Avila Garcia, rector of for display and sale. Engineering Development Directorate; and Maret Tennison, Administration Office. Not pictured are Stephen Ernest, Payload Processing Directorate; Mack the university, will accompany For more information on any McKinney, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and Celene Morgan, Procurement the group which will be per- of the events contact Oscar Office. forming at EPCOT the follow- Gamboa at 867-8025. Barker retires from Sherikon Space Systems

Raoul Barker, president and United Space of New Hampshire. general manager of Sherikon Alliance the op- After leaving the service he Space Systems, Inc., retired ef- portunity to went to work for Northrop fective Sept. 6. He will be re- meet federal Worldwide Aircraft Services, placed by Jarvis L. (Skip) Olson, goals in that Inc. as the Washington Support currently with Northrop area while de- Group director and BDM Inter- 'The Cape' is set for Grumman Corporation in livering a national, Inc. as vice president TV premiere this week Melbourne, on Jan. 1. Larry proven product, for International Programs be- Hall, Sherikon's division man- Barker said. BARKER fore retiring to the family home- The pilot movie for the dra- ager, will be acting general man- Barker was stead in Mount Dora in 1989. matic series "The Cape," shot ager in the interim. born in France and lived there The following year he was largely on location at Kennedy Barker worked in the defense until he was 7 when he returned convinced to leave retirement to Space Center, will premiere lo- industry 39 years before activat- to the United States where his head Sherikon's System Tech- cally tonight. ing Sherikon’s subcontract with parents owned a home in Mount nology Division in Orlando. The two-hour movie will air KSC’s Base Operations Contrac- Dora. Barker will remain in Mount on WKCF, Channel 18, Sept. 13 tor EG&G Florida, Inc. in 1993. Barker attended public Dora with his wife of 41 years, at 8 p.m. with an encore perfor- He said he is proud of the fact schools, graduating from Mount Betty. mance on Saturday, Sept. 14 at that Sherikon’s subsequent per- Dora High School in 1950. His three grown children 4 p.m. The one-hour series will formance has given the company After attending Princeton have all moved on but the fam- air on the same station at 8 p.m. room to grow. University and the University ily, including 8 grandchildren, Fridays. “Starting during the bid of Florida Barker joined the Air still gathers together whenever "The Cape" follows the per- phase, Sherikon’s capabilities Force in 1954 and remained in possible. sonal and professional endeav- and responsiveness convinced the service until 1975. Barker said he will miss the ors of a dedicated group of as- EG&G to give Sherikon more He said he stayed largely be- people at Sherikon but plans to tronauts and astronaut candi- functions,” he said. “Sherikon cause of a piece of advice his fa- spend more time with his own dates. MTM Entertainment, the has done extremely well and is ther gave him — never quit any- family and working around his production company, was given positioned to do even more due thing. home. access to KSC facilities for film- to the different capabilities we’ve While in the Air Force he “We’ve got eight and a half ing the series. Many KSC em- developed,” he said. obtained bachelor’s and acres including orange grove,” ployees assisted in the produc- As a small disadvantaged master’s degrees in electrical he said. “There’s quite a bit to tion and served as extras in the business, Sherikon can offer engineering from the University do.” film. September 13, 1996 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3

Marrow. . . important part of a succesful (Continued from Page 1) bone marrow transplant. “The Young galaxy survey The Leukemia Society of characteristics of bone marrow America and the American Red are inherited much like hair Cross held the event to educate and eye color,” explained and recruit volunteers to join Katosha Belvin, spokesperson the National Marrow Donor for NMDP. Program (NMDP). Established If a match cannot be found in 1986, the NMDP guides pa- in a recipient’s family, the tients in their search for a com- search continues within their patible bone marrow donor. ethnic group. Their organizational network “The chance of finding a consists of recruitment groups, match that is not directly re- donors and transplant centers. lated to the recipient averages KSC’s Biomedical Office and about 70 percent,” said Belvin. various ethnic working groups Their registry of potential teamed up to generate civil ser- volunteer donors is over 2 mil- vice and contractor interest in lion strong. the program. With minority “While the numbers on the numbers low on the NMDP com- registry are encouraging there puter registry of potential do- is still much work to be done.” nors, an emphasis was placed on Thirty percent of the patients registering minority employees. searching our registry still find “An astounding 22 percent of no match,” said Belvin. those registered were from “After I registered and gave EMBEDDED IN THIS newly released Hubble Space Telescope image of nearby KSC’s minority population,” the blood sample, I felt that I and distant galaxies are 18 young galaxies or galactic building blocks, each said Dr. George Martin, of KSC’s containing dust, gas and a few billion stars. Each of these objects is 11 billion was possibly saving a life. I felt light-years from Earth and much smaller than today's galaxies. The picture was Biomedical Office. good about it,” said Christopher taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. It required 48 orbits around the Marrow compatibility be- Whittaker, a McDonnell Dou- Earth (more than one day of exposure time) to make the observation. tween donor and recipient is an glas engineer. Prestigious road race leads to valuable life lessons for KSC couple, son

obert Nelson, an EG&G security on June 29. Although the team had plans to officer, and his 16-year-old son take turns sleeping in the bus in order to R Chad spent the month of June save money, they found local regulations participating in the adventure of a lifetime. and cold temperatures prevented them from Robert’s wife Ann works for NASA in the doing so. As word of their story spread Installation Operations Directorate’s Travel through the media they were taken out to and Transportation Office. meals, their accommodations were paid and Chad and several of his Titusville they received more than $2,000 in unsolic- Astronaut High School classmates entered ited donations. a Model-A Speedster they had rebuilt from Overall the team placed 19th out of 84 scratch into one of the most prestigious cars and was awarded the “Doc” Robert vintage automotive events in the world, and, Fuson Spirit of the Event trophy for best in a fairy tale ending, won the event’s spirit CHAD AND ROBERT NELSON hold the trophy the illustrating the sense of sportsmanship and trophy for their enthusiasm and persever- Titusville Astronaut team received for their spirited run in fair play the race represents. ance. the "Astro Flyer" in the Corel Great Race. “When our name was announced as the The sojourn began more than a year winner, we received a standing ovation,” ago when Titusville Astronaut automotive work. The students not only spent a year said Chad Nelson. “All the racers were so instructor Jim LaCoy witnessed a portion of creating a showpiece out of a rusted relic, helpful and supportive and they cheered us the Corel Great Race as it passed through they won the support of hundreds in the on every day.” Binghamton, New York. The race features community who contributed toward their ESPN filmed the entire event for a 1,300 vehicles dating from 1909 to 1942 entry fees and other expenses. The team special to air sometime this fall. traveling 4,000 miles across the country in located a decommissioned school bus Ann Nelson said aside from the excite- 14 days. The timed, controlled speed which they bought for a dollar and reno- ment generated by the event, she is thrilled endurance rally requires entry fees ranging vated to transport their car, named the by the positive message the experience from $6,500 to $10,000 and offers a total “Astro Flyer,” to Tacoma,WA, for the start of sent to the students. purse of $250,000. LaCoy decided his the race. She said the team is already planning to automotive students should enter. LaCoy, five of the students and three enter the 1997 race and has planned a He and class members located an chaperones/mechanics including Robert fund-raiser for Sept. 21 at Fox Lake Park in abandoned Model A chassis in a Scottsmorr Nelson, started the race in Tacoma on June Titusville. Next year, she said, she plans to palmetto field (near Mims) and went to 16 and ended in Toronto, Ontario, Canada go along for the ride. Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS September 13, 1996

Rover processing forges ahead at KSC NASA retiree Torrence dies at Lady Lake home Bernard Torrence, an en- gineering support supervi- sor who played a crucial role in the development of IN KSC'S Spacecraft Assembly and exhibits for Kennedy Space Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2), Center’s Visitors Informa- Jet Propulsion Laboratory workers tion Center, died Aug. 17 at mate the Mars Pathfinder rover to one his home in Lady Lake. of the landers three petals on Sept. 3. When the lander touches down on the Torrence joined NASA in surface of Mars next year, the three 1955 from his position as petals of the lander -- closed for the supervisor of the electrical/ six to seven month journey to the Red electronic shop for the Planet -- will open like a flower to allow the rover to begin its quest to Army Ballistic Missile explore the Martian surface. Agency, Missile Firing Lab. He worked for the Navy in ONE OF THE FOUR Portsmouth, VA, before major elements of joining the ABMA. the Mars Pathfinder, He retired from NASA the cruise stage -- on Nov. 10, 1977 after 29 shown here mounted inside a years of federal service. support assembly -- Torrence was known for will carry the Mars his fresh, straightforward Pathfinder lander on approach to problems, said a direct trajectory to Mars. The Dick Young, former chief of Pathfinder lander, the Public Affairs Office encased in a Media Services Branch. protective aeroshell, “Bernie was a ‘what you still must be attached to the see is what you get’ indi- cruise stage. The vidual and I always looked rover will be located forward to work sessions inside the lander. with him,” Young said. Torrence and Young worked together on modify- ing and designing exhibits for the VIC, some of which were hand-me-downs from NASA Headquarters and other science centers. Torrence’s daughter, Wanda Wenner, who works in medical services for EG&G Florida, Inc., said she recalls when her father built the lunar rover at the VIC using an old golf cart and aluminum foil. At one time the VIC "astronaut" would drive visitors around the center's grssy area in the rover. She said he loved being 8th annual Fall Intercenter Run is set for Oct. 8 affiliated with the space program and was particu- The 8th annual Fall Intercenter Run, spon- Run and 2 mile Run/Walk. larly struck by the Apollo 1 sored by the KSC Fitness Center, will be held Although there is no entry charge for the race, fire. Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. at the Shuttle Landing T-shirts or tank tops will be available for a fee at Torrence and his wife Facility Runway. any NASA Exchange store. Order deadline for T- Hilda moved to Virginia af- Registration forms are due by midnight, Sept. shirts is Sept. 30. ter his retirement before re- 27. To obtain an entry form for the race, contact locating in Lady Lake. Three races will be offered - a 10K Run, 5K one of the KSC Exercise Facilities. September 13, 1996 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 5

KSC employees lend helping hands during Day of Caring

KSC EMPLOYEES participated in the fourth annual Day of Caring sponsored by the United Way of Brevard County, Inc. on Sept. 6. Employees formed teams of two to ten people and participated in activities ranging from serving lunch to the homeless in Brevard County soup kitchens; painting and landscaping community centers; assisting with chores for elderly, frail and dis- abled adults; and providing enrichment activities for pre- school and elementary classes among other activities.

ABOVE, GEORGE VEAUDRY, left, and Dawn Steele, right, deliver a meal to Charles Connell at Titusville Towers as part of the Senior Nutritional Aid Program.

LEFT, JEAN ABERNATHY, left, Terry Willingham and Laura Rochester help paint the Salvation Army building in Titusville.

DELIVERING MEALS on Wheels in Titusville are, from the left, Marina Harris, Joanna Johnson, Jay Diggs, Marlene Squires, Tina Adams, Jacqueline Morales, Cathy DiBiase, and Joni Richards. Page 6 SPACEPORT NEWS September 13, 1996

OIG. . . grants all employees (Continued from Page 1) Questions and Answers about the OIG whistleblower protection from reprisal for cooperating with The Office of Inspector Gen- The OIG at NASA Headquar- for written or electronic records, the OIG. eral (OIG) was created by the ters has prepared some basic files and documents? Inspector General Act of 1978 to information about that office and Question: What should I do if provide independent oversight the how to report suspect Answer: Under the IG Act, repre- I am asked or directed to over 61 federal agencies. They activities. sentatives of the OIG are entitled to report meetings or discussions conduct audits and investiga- A synopsis of that informa- complete access to all books, with the NASA OIG? tions in an effort to prevent and tion follows: records, data and other information detect fraud, waste, abuse and maintained by NASA (including Answer: Immediately contact Question: If I am asked to be contractor operations) and NASA mismanagement in agency pro- the OIG representative interviewed, am I required to employees in the performance of identified as handling the grams and operations. answer questions posed by a their official duties. This access is matter, the OIG hotline, or call KSC’s OIG has 19 employees NASA OIG representative? only limited by other laws (e.g., 42 or write the NASA OIG. Your — ten auditors, five investiga- U.S.C. 290dd-2, alcohol and drug contact will be treated tors, a special agent in charge, Answer: Yes, you have an abuse treatment records). confidentially, to the extent an audit field office manager, obligation to cooperate and possible, if you request. three program assistants and respond fully, promptly, and Question: Must I report my contact the southeast regional inspector honestly to inquiries from repre- with or what I said to OIG staff to Question: How do I contact general for investigations. sentatives of the NASA OIG. my supervisor or any other man- the Hotline? However, your constitutional agement representative? Lanny Van Camp, who rights under the Fifth Amendment Answer: Call 1-800-424-9183. headed up the KSC office since are protected. Answer: No. Your contact with More information on the OIG 1990, was recently named as a OIG staff may be anonymous and is available on the Internet at regional inspector general for Question: What about requests confidential. The IG Act specifically www.sba.gov/ignet/ investigations over the south- east region. He is still, however, based at KSC. felt a need to explore a particu- any knowledge of any wrongdo- addressed to NASA Administra- The work at the KSC office lar area. The remaining 5 per- ing. tor Dan Goldin and forwarded is divided between audits and cent result from conditions un- The office strives as hard to to Congress. investigations. Len Diamond is covered by audits. exonerate an individual un- In the latest report, for the the audit field office manager. “We focus our resources on justly accused of impropriety as period from Oct. 1, 1995 to Mar. Diamond says 70 percent of criminal work that is definitely it does to convict those who have 31, 1996, OIG audits and inves- the audit work pertains to ma- or potentially a violation of the perpetrated a crime, he said. tigations were shown to have jor programs such as Space criminal code of the United “We have exonerated far the following impact: Flight. Fifteen percent had been States,” Buchert said. more people and processes than Audits identified $508.5 mil- concentrated on auditing NASA While the majority of calls we have found fault with. The lion in funds that could be saved financial statements, however received by the OIG office are report card for our work is the or put to better use. Investiga- that is in the process of chang- related to perceived misman- excellence of the product, not tions recovered $18.5 million in ing as the agency begins to hire agement or employee miscon- whether or not someone is misused funds and $1.7 million private contractors to complete duct, most of those issues are charged with a crime or pun- in funds that could have been those tasks. ultimately handed over to the ished administratively,” he said. better used. Investigations also An additional 10 percent of appropriate KSC or contractor Statistics on the office’s ac- resulted in 16 indictments and the auditors’ responsibility is to management officials. The true complishments are published 18 convictions throughout the offer direct support to OIG in- criminal cases worked by the of- every six months in a report period. vestigations, and the balance of fice usually focus on impropri- the time is spent working pro- eties related to procurement or curement and local issues, Dia- contracts. mond said. Most people are surprised to John F. Kennedy Space Center The investigative side of the learn that a typical investiga- KSC office is headed by Jack tor has a background in ac- Buchert, special agent in charge counting as opposed to law en- Spaceport News of investigations at KSC. forcement, Buchert said. Buchert said that 90 percent of “I don’t need a Rambo,” he The Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy Space the work done by his investiga- said. “I need a person with a vi- Center and is published on alternate Fridays by the Public Affairs Office tors arises out of various reports sor shade.” in the interest of KSC civil service and contractor employees. from concerned employees, both Buchert said employees Contributions are welcome and should be submitted two weeks be- fore publication to the Media Services Branch, PA-MSB. E-mail submis- contractor and civil servant, should realize that the OIG is sions can be sent to [email protected] congressional inquiries, and working for the taxpayer and, Managing editor...... Lisa Malone NASA management. About 5 more than 90 percent of the Editor...... Barb Compton percent of the cases come from time, contacts employees Editorial support provided by Sherikon Space Systems Inc. writers group. proactive work by investigators strictly to gather background who have sensed a problem or information on a case, not to USGPO: 733-096/20029 imply that the employee has