SPACE CENTER

January 2004 Houston, Texas LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER Volume 43 Number 1

In This Issue

Director’s Message 2

Meet the STS-114 crew 3

Mars takes center stage 4-5

Expedition 7: smaller crew, big success 6-7

Space Flight Awareness awards 8

NASA rovers make tracks to Mars

In this artist’s rendering, a NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER) inspects geological features on the surface of Mars. Johnson Space Center scientists will help to control the MERs from Earth.

To read more about Mars exploration, see pages 4 and 5. Back in the APPEARING THIS MONTH IN OUR saddle Guest Space As a young boy growing up in Victoria, Texas, during the late 1940s, cowboy action was the Dr. Steven A. Hawley most popular fare at the local Associate Director, Office of Astromaterials Research movie theaters. Roy Rogers, and Exploration Science John Wayne and a host of other screen stars rode across We are entering a new and exciting time for the plains wearing white hats planetary science here at the Johnson Space Center, and fighting bad guys. I have a vivid memory of Gene specifically in the Astromaterials Research and Autry starring in his first movie after returning from Exploration Science (ARES) Office in the Space and serving in World War II. I can still see him riding down Life Sciences Directorate, where scientists are working the trail on his faithful horse, Champion, singing “I’m on projects ranging from Mars exploration to solar Back in the Saddle Again.” That was a great moment wind collection. for all of us who thought he was the best of them all. Beginning with Beagle 2 last month and two Mars Exploration Rover missions this That same theme, “Back in the Saddle,” was picked up month, three Martian landings will be attempted over a one-month period. Each one From the desk of Lt. Gen. Jefferson D. Howell Jr. the desk of Lt. Gen. Jefferson From by Naval Aviation organizations as a program to has significant participation by JSC scientists. emphasize safety awareness following the annual As part of the European Space Agency’s Mars Express mission, Beagle 2 will search for holiday season. Analysis had proven that there was a signs of past and present life on Mars, marking the first time since Viking that a traditional spike in both aircraft and ground accidents spacecraft sent there will probe for both. To search for signs of past life, soil and rock in the January/February time frame. The Back in the samples will be gathered from the Martian surface, subsurface and inside rocks and Saddle Program is usually a one- to two-day safety analyzed using the Beagle’s unique laboratory. To look for current life on Mars, stand-down in which cockpit and maintenance instruments will search for signs of methane in the atmosphere. ARES scientist Everett procedures are reviewed and personnel tested. It has Gibson, NASA Planetary Geochemist, is the only American interdisciplinary scientist on proven to be an effective way for Navy and Marine the Beagle 2 international science team. squadrons to get rid of the mental cobwebs and Director’s Message Director’s distractions that come with holiday festivities. Due to land on Mars this month are two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. During the course of their three-month missions, the vehicles will We need to get back in the saddle, too! Return to explore two regions of Mars. Two types of cameras, a color stereo panoramic camera Flight activities, support of the International Space and an infrared camera, will provide pictures of the landscape. The pictures are used Station, spacewalk training, payloads planning, mission for driving the rovers, for “remote-sensing” mineral analysis, and for selecting rocks training, etc., are going to require all of us to be on and soils for detailed analysis by the instruments on each rover’s robotic arm. The the ball every hour of every working day if we are robotic-arm instruments perform chemical and mineralogical analyses of rocks and going to be safe and successful. There is too much at soil. The arm also has a tool to grind off rock surfaces and a microscope to look for stake for the future of human space exploration for us small features, including fossil evidence for of life. to drop the ball. The golf-cart-sized rovers will seek evidence about whether the environment in the The holidays are over. We must be top professionals two regions might once have been capable of supporting life. Spirit will explore the and focus on the job at hand. I expect all hands to Gusev Crater, which may have once held a lake. Opportunity will examine Meridiani ensure that they and their teammates are on top of Planum, which contains exposed deposits of a mineral that usually forms under their game. Let’s get back in the saddle and succeed! watery conditions. ARES scientists helped select the two landing sites. Beak sends… Two ARES scientists – Doug Ming, NASA Soil Mineralogist, and Dick Morris, NASA Physical Chemist – will help operate the two rovers. Each Mars day, they and other members of the science team determine the scientific observations and measurements that will be made and what driving will be done. Morris and Ming have specific responsibilities for developing the commands that will be uplinked to the rovers and for calibrating and doing preliminary analysis on downlinked data.

Morris and Ming are also involved in future missions to Mars. Morris is a co- investigator on the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars instrument, a component of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission slated for 2005. Both scientists are co-investigators on the 2007 Phoenix Scout Mission, which will search for ice that has been discovered by the Mars Odyssey science team. Ming is heavily involved in defining the science priorities and objectives and the science instrument suite for the Mars Science Laboratory mission set for 2009.

From the first Moon rocks of the late 1960s to today’s Martian meteorites, JSC scientists have led the way in the study of fascinating rocks to better understand how our solar system, and perhaps life itself, came into being. The ARES Office, originally known as the Lunar Samples Office, was formed to investigate and curate Apollo lunar samples. New samples have been added over the years including meteorites – some from the Moon, some from Mars (as ARES scientist Don Bogard has demonstrated conclusively) – and cosmic dust from aircraft.

Soon solar wind and comet samples will be added to this collection. Benchmark facilities for payload cleaning and curation already await the return of these samples. The Genesis spacecraft will return samples of the solar wind to Earth in September, marking NASA’s first return of extraterrestrial samples since Apollo 17 in 1972. The samples will be brought to JSC and stored in the Genesis Lab, where ARES scientists will first assess the condition of the sample collector and then remove the samples for further study. Research conducted on the samples may help scientists better understand how the solar system developed. In addition, this month the Stardust spacecraft will encounter Comet Wild 2. Once the Sample Return Capsule is recovered at the Utah Test and Training Range in January 2006, its contents will be transported to the Curation Laboratory at JSC.

From Mars exploration to sample return curation and study, ARES scientists will be busy conducting missions and analyzing data this year and in the years ahead, searching for clues as to how our solar system, and life itself, originated.

Space Center 2 Roundup Return to Flight: STS-114 continues the dream

By Joanne Hale

HE STS-114 CREW is in place for the Space Shuttle’s Eileen Collins I believe NASA’s mission goes past STS-114 Return to Flight mission. to the future of the Space Station and T planetary exploration. The return to flight is more of a beginning versus an end. The 114 Three Mission Specialists have been added to the four flight will be a milestone. It will be a beginning to our future. astronauts already in training for the STS-114 mission planned for launch no earlier than September 2004. The new crewmembers are Andrew Thomas (Ph.D.), Wendy Lawrence

(Capt., USN) and Charles Camarda (Ph.D.). They will join mission Jim Kelly Commander Eileen Collins (Col., USAF), Pilot James Kelly (Lt. I take pride in the fact that there are so many people on the ground that are dedicated to the Col., USAF) and Mission Specialists Stephen Robinson (Ph.D) and job and are able to get us up into space. My Soichi Noguchi, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, pride centers far more around the team than it does around me individually, with the team who were named to this flight in 2001. being my crewmates, my office staff, flight crew operations and the whole NASA family. “STS-114 is going to be a complex developmental test flight, and this crew has the right set of skills and experience to help get the Space Shuttles safely flying again,” said NASA’s Steve Robinson I have got 27 years on the books at NASA, and every Associate Administrator for Space Flight, William Readdy. “STS- single one of those I have felt that this was a truly 114 was always slated to have a crew of seven. But now, instead great organization to work for because of its people. It is those very same people that give me great pride of three crew rotating on-and-off the International Space to be part of the team that brings the Shuttle back Station, all crewmembers will be dedicated to the STS-114 into space. mission objectives.”

The major mission objectives of the STS-114 flight have shifted from Space Station logistics and crew rotation to testing and evaluating new procedures for flight safety. This includes Shuttle inspection and repair techniques. It also includes a smaller set of Wendy Lawrence Space Station tasks from what was scheduled before the Shuttle I feel very honored to be added to the crew. Columbia accident in February. Whoever is flying on the next flight knows it is to honor the Columbia crew because their desire was to continue what they believed in. I am honored “This is a demanding mission; and the addition of Andy, Wendy to be in a position to do that. and Charlie to this already well-qualified crew ensures they have all the skills necessary to meet the challenge of Return to Flight

and the resumption of Space Shuttle support of the Charlie Camarda International Space Station,” said Bob Cabana, Director of Flight It is a sobering thought to be following in their footsteps. Three crewmembers were my classmates and all were my friends. Crew Operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Accidents can happen – spaceflight is risky. We need to do whatever we can to minimize the risk. Hopefully, we learned a At right, the STS-114 crew shares their feelings about being lot from this tragedy, and we can improve NASA and how we do business. I see this as an opportunity to affect a change at selected to be the first crew to return to flight following the NASA – a return back to focus on research and engineering. Columbia tragedy.

Andy Thomas I think it is very important to demonstrate a success. For more information about the The Agency is still able to support the national goals of human spaceflight and continues to be the Agency STS-114 mission and crew, that keeps the presence of the U.S. in space. please visit http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/ archives/sts-114/index.html. Soichi Noguchi Of course in Columbia I had three crewmembers from my training class – the class of 1996. We will try to bring the Shuttle back in good condition and continue their dream of flying in space. Once I get back after the mission, I am sure I will feel that we brought back the seven souls with us on Atlantis.

Space Center Roundup 3 Fourth rock from the Sun takes center stage beginning in December 2003

By Bill Jeffs British-developed Beagle 2 designed to sniff out life on Mars Two NASA engineers

Editor’s note: As of press time, explore the Red Planet the Beagle 2 lander and Mars Exploration Rovers were all on any people dream of exploring Mars, but for Johnson Space Center their way to the Red Planet. Space Scientists Doug Ming and Dick Morris, those dreams are itchhiking on the Mars Mbecoming reality. Express spacecraft Ming, a soil mineralogist, and Morris, a physical chemist, are members of a developed by the H small team that will operate two Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) from Earth. European Space Agency (ESA), The vehicles were launched last summer to two regions of Mars to study the British-developed Beagle 2 minerals and search for evidence of liquid water that may have once existed was launched June 2 on a Soyuz- on the Red Planet. The rover named Spirit launched June 10, while the Fregat rocket from the Baikonur second rover, Opportunity, launched July 7. Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to begin its 250-million-mile, six- “JSC’s long history of working with minerals and the Center’s large collections month journey to Mars. have allowed us to become familiar with lunar rocks, meteorites and cosmic dust,” Ming said. “That expertise will be helpful in interpreting and analyzing “Beagle 2 is the first-of-a-kind Mars samples.” spacecraft uniquely equipped to search for signs of past and Ming and Morris, along with other researchers, chose to study the selected present life on Mars,” said Everett regions of Mars because of land formations that seemed to be shaped by Gibson, NASA Planetary water and the presence of a certain mineral – hematite – that usually forms Geochemist at Johnson Space under wet conditions. Center. Gibson is the only American interdisciplinary scientist The MERs have better capabilities than some previous Mars rovers. For chosen by ESA to be a member example, unlike the Sojourner rover that traveled about 100 yards in 12 of the Beagle 2 international weeks, the MERs are expected to travel up to 10 times that distance in their science team. three-month mission.

“The goal of Beagle 2 is to “Operating this rover is like playing a video game,” Morris said. “We will be (Above) The aeroshell protects the Mars rover from fiery temperatures as it enters the Martian atmosphere. enable us to establish evidence of looking at images that the rover sends back, and when we see something whether life existed in the past on that might have scientific significance, we can go examine it.” Mars,” Gibson said, “or at least enable us to establish if the Spirit and Opportunity are scheduled to land on the Red Planet on Jan. 3 and conditions there were ever Jan. 24, respectively, and then begin their exploration. This illustration shows the Beagle 2 lander exploring Mars for signs of life. suitable for the formation of life, All Rights Reserved Beagle 2 and, significantly, to search for present signs of life.”

Beagle 2 was scheduled to separate from the Mars Express spacecraft on Dec. 19 to begin its descent at a rate of 14,000 mph.

The spacecraft’s planned landing site was Isidis Planitia, the third-largest basin on Mars. Possibly filled with sediments deposited at the bottom of long-vanished lakes or seas, Beagle 2 landing test: Let me down easy the site offers an ideal environment for preserving traces of life. The site was chosen for this reason, and to enable Beagle 2 to communicate with orbiting spacecraft – Mars Beagle 2 was designed to land somewhat softly, surrounded by a Express and NASA’s Odyssey and Global Surveyor, already in orbit about Mars. These system of airbags that are planned to inflate between 1,200 and spacecraft are to relay information back to control centers in Darmstadt, Germany, and 1,500 feet above the surface of Mars. To test this system, ESA Leicester, England. needed to drop and accelerate the assembly from a high distance and to do so in a vacuum environment. With a mass of only 73 pounds, ESA’s Beagle 2 lander represents the most ambitious JSC’s unique vacuum chamber, Chamber A in Building 32, fit the science payload-to-systems mass ratio ever attempted. About one-third of the payload was designed to carry out various types of scientific analysis or be used to manipulate bill. Arrangements were made to test the assembly there in 2002. and collect samples for study on the surface of Mars. In the course of the testing, adjustments were made to the assembly’s inflation pressure and jettison pyrotechnics until “In 1976, the two Mars Viking landers searched for signatures of life, but the analytical everything functioned as designed. results were either negative or indeterminate,” Gibson said. “Our abilities to detect the Final testing was done presence of trace levels of the biogenic elements…are better now. Beagle 2 is carrying a in early 2003, and much more powerful suite of instruments to detect the signatures of past or present life.” Beagle 2 was successfully Beagle 2 has been in development for more than six years. In 1997, when ESA launched on June 2. announced the Mars Express mission, the possibility of a lander dedicated to looking for life and conducting geochemical and atmospheric analyses was put forward by Colin Pillinger, a professor at The Open University in England and a member of the ESA Exobiology Study Group. The lander was soon named Beagle 2 to celebrate Charles Darwin’s 1831 voyage on HMS Beagle, when he sailed as the ship’s naturalist and which led to the writing of “On the Origin of Species.” The enormous Chamber A in JSC’s Building 32 Design of the spacecraft – led by a British consortium of universities, research support provided the perfect teams and industry – progressed quickly. Testing on the spacecraft’s airbag landing location for the Beagle system was conducted in the vacuum chamber at JSC in late 2002 and early 2003 2’s landing tests. jsc2002e24701 (see sidebar). Photo by Robert Markowitz

The spacecraft is one of a number of ongoing robotic missions to Mars, including NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers (see sidebar). An illustration of one of the Mars Exploration Rovers on the Red Planet. “This is an exciting time for space science and robotic missions,” Gibson said. FOR MORE INFO To learn more about the Mars Exploration Rovers, go to http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html. To learn more about Beagle 2, go to www.beagle2.com.

Space Center Space Center 4 Roundup Roundup 5 Expedition 7: Big success for smaller crew

By Melissa Davis

rom a 40th birthday celebration that had people Fall over the globe wearing Hawaiian shirts to the world’s first marriage in space, the Expedition 7 mission had many memorable moments highlighted at the crew’s welcome home event Nov. 24 at the Gilruth Center at Johnson Space Center.

Through it all, however, it was never forgotten that Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Ed Lu turned adversity into accomplishment as they kept a human presence in space following the Space Shuttle Columbia accident on Feb. 1, 2003.

The International Space Station Program Office and the International Partners determined that the Space Station would be occupied by only two crewmembers until the resumption of Shuttle flights because of limitations on consumables. PREFLIGHT Space Station Manager Bill Pictured above, Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko (left), Expedition 7 Commander, and Astronaut Ed Lu, NASA International Space Gerstenmaier said the Expedition 7 Station Science Officer and Flight Engineer, take time out from crew was a “phenomenal team to practicing launch procedures in a Soyuz capsule simulator as part keep Space Station flying.” of their training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. While the event was one filled with jsc2003e28142 smiles and laughter as the memories of Lu’s birthday and Malenchenko’s Lu and Malenchenko use the virtual reality lab at the Johnson wedding were recounted, the Space Center to train for their duties on the Space Station. They bravery of the two men was not were assisted by United Space Alliance trainer Heidi Jennings. forgotten. jsc2002e2757 Photo by David DeHoyos

It was noted that Lu and Malenchenko were the first Space Station residents in history to ever launch and return in a Soyuz. In addition, this was also the first two- person crew to live there. They spent 186 days and nights on the Space Station without receiving visitors between the time they said goodbye to the Expedition 6 crew in May and when they welcomed the Expedition 8 crew in October.

Though they were alone on the Space Station for most of the 76 million miles they traveled, Lu said they never felt alone. “You were flying with us,” he told the audience.

JSC Center Director Lt. Gen. Jefferson D. Howell, Jr., told Malenchenko and Lu that they were MISSION always in the hearts of those back Mission Control (above) celebrates Lu’s 40th birthday on Earth who “supported you, Hawaiian style. rooted for you and prayed for you. jsc2003e46291 We’re just so happy to see you, and we’re proud of you.” Lu and Malenchenko (above right) make their mark in history as the first two-person crew to live aboard the Space Station. iss007e05293

Lu squeezes a bubble out of a tube in the Zvezda Service Module on the Space Station. iss007e17995

Space Center 6 Roundup POSTFLIGHT Pictured above, Lu and Malenchenko are seated in their chairs after extraction from the Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft after their landing in Kazakhstan on October 27, 2003. jsc2003e61401 Photo by Bill Ingalls Close-ups of Lu (top) and Malenchenko after their landing are shown at far right. jsc2003e61404 (top) jsc2003e61408 Photos by Bill Ingalls

WELCOME HOME Lu and Malenchenko enjoy a warm welcome home at the Gilruth Center at Johnson Space Center. jsc2003-63950 (top) and jsc2003-63951 (right) Photos by James Blair

Space Center Roundup 7 Space Flight Awareness Awards honor Space Station contributors

By Kendra Ceule

pace Flight Awareness (SFA) honored dozens of Johnson Space Center employees on Nov. 20 for their contributions to the International Space Station. The SFA Awards were presented in the Teague Auditorium just before the Space Station’s 5-Year Anniversary Celebration at Space Center Houston.

On hand to present the awards were Space Station Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator for Space Flight Bill Readdy, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space SFight Gen. Michael Kostelnik and Manager of the Space Station Program’s External Relations Office Brian Kelly.

Awards were presented to the individuals and teams listed below. Individual Leadership awards The SFA Leadership Award recognizes outstanding leaders who exemplify and demonstrate the following characteristics: loyalty, accountability, diversity, excellence, respect, sharing, honesty and integrity. The recipients were:

Susan L. Creasy Manager, ISS Mission Integration and Operations Office

Mark S. Geyer Manager, ISS Program Integration Office

William C. Panter Manager, ISS Avionics and Software Office

Charles J. Precourt Deputy Manager, ISS Program

Michael T. Suffredini Manager, ISS Operations Integration Bill Readdy, Associate Administrator for Space Flight, addresses the award John “Tip” Talone winners and guests at the Space Flight Awareness Awards ceremony. Director, ISS Payload Processing Directorate jsc2003e63652 Photo by James Blair

Program Team Awards Team awards were given to the following groups:

ISS Continuing Flight/Continuous Improvement Implementation Plan Team

Program Integration and Control (Contract A) Source Evaluation Board

Mission Integration Contract (Contract B) Source Evaluation Board

Cargo Mission Contract (Contract C) Source Evaluation Board

USOS Acceptance and Vehicle Sustaining (Contract F-Extension) Acquisition Team

Russian Pre-Launch and Post-Landing Team

International Space Station Replan Team

To see more photos from this event, go to http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/jscfeatures/articles/000000090.html

SPACE CENTER

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE The Roundup is an official publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, PAID Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, and is published by the Public Affairs Office for all space WEBSTER, TX center employees. The Roundup office is in Bldg. 2, Rm. 166A. The mail code is AP121. Visit our Permit No. G27 Web site at: www.jsc.nasa.gov/roundup/weekly/ For distribution questions or to suggest a story idea, please call 281/244-6397 or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Melissa Davis Senior Editor Joanne Hale Editor Kendra Ceule Assistant Editor Marshall Mellard Graphic Designer