2 WALLOPS 0 RANGE 1 ANNUAL 9 REPORT DEDICATION LINDA THOMPSON DEDICATION Ms. Linda Thompson retired from NASA in 2019, capping Wanting to give back more than three decades of mission operations support to the community and and project management with the agency. Her tenure expand young minds, includes managing more than 100 mission for more than Linda developed and 14 years – many of which have produced groundbreaking volunteered countless science, enabled space exploration, and equipped American hours to establish servicemen with vital surveillance and reconnaissance. the Wallops Saturday Equally as important, Linda has been a strong advocate Youth Program. Linda of NASA’s goal to inspire and educate the scientists, organized and led technologists and engineers of tomorrow by leveraging weekly sessions for unique mission involvement by professors, local underprivileged teachers and students. youth to teach them about flight In the late 1970s, Linda became an electronics technician, properties, rocket supporting several NASA missions as a contractor. Linda’s performance and technical excellence, effective communication and successful launch operations. leadership that she garnered as a technician and then At completion, the software programmer was undeniable. Eventually, NASA youths launched the leadership saw fit to hire her in 1991 as a computer engineer. rockets they manufactured and came away with a greater appreciation of aerospace and the knowledge to advance In the early 1990s, Linda honed her skills serving as a product to space and aviation careers, enabling them a better life development lead for the command and data handling away from what was known. Linda was recognized for this product design team, then moved to become an instrument priceless contribution to our young people by receiving manager with the Balloon Science Program before making her multiple awards, including the Goddard Space Flight Center’s final switch to the Wallops’ Range and Mission Management Outstanding Teamwork award. Office, where she spent the past 15 years of her career as project manager (PM). Linda was able to adapt to different programs by tackling new challenges head-on, evident by leading aircraft, satellite, Linda’s first assignment was to oversee a 40-member payload and rocket programs simultaneously, consistently engineering and technical support team for the development achieving great success. NASA Wallops’ Aircraft Office was of telecommunications, power, avionics, attitude control in-demand for an aircraft to replace a platform which was systems, mechanical and thermal flight support systems, as in re-wing and found an unmodified C-130 to utilize for a well as groundstation systems in support of three successful four-year science campaign. The ACT-America project was Cosmic Rays Energetics and Mass (CREAM) Scientific faced with not only science flights, but the full electrical Balloon Project missions in Antarctica. These were the first and structural modification of the aircraft. Linda was hand- of their kind and included a then record-setting flight of 42 picked by management to oversee the modification effort days. Her leadership for CREAM was acknowledged with and the science campaign for flights taking place in Nebraska, multiple accolades, including the Exceptional Achievement for Louisiana, and Virginia. The mission achieved major success Engineering and Outstanding Teamwork awards. in advancing society’s ability to predict and manage future Once the CREAM project concluded, Linda was handed climate change by enabling policy-relevant quantification the PM duties for the Living with a Star Geospace-Related of the carbon cycle. In chorus with ACT, Linda led the Radiation Belt Storm Probe balloon project as the first mission development and qualification of the ISS-CREAM International selected under the NASA Explorers Mission of Opportunity Space Station (ISS) Project, which launched and docked to be managed at Wallops. The project completed two highly flawlessly on the Japanese module of the ISS. successful campaigns in Antarctica in which Linda ensured We thank Linda for her 40 years of service to NASA and wish systems development, qualification, and management her the best of luck in the next chapter of her life. of the development project budget, schedule, resources, configuration management and risk. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 INTRODUCTION TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE 6 MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHMENTS 8 NG-11 10 NG-12 12 SRPO Support 14 Coyote (GQM-163A) 16 CubeSat Groundstation 18 UAS Support 20 Mobile Deployments 24 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH 26 RockOn! 28 RockSat 30 RCC Tours 31 Bermuda STEM Outreach 32 RANGE CAPABILITY ADVANCEMENTS 34 Bermuda Upgrade 36 Rocket Lab 37 Surveillance Upgrades 40 UPCOMING MISSIONS 42 Antares / Rocket Lab 44 Sounding Rocket Campaigns 3 INTRODUCTION RESPONSIVE RANGE My fellow Range members, industry partners, WFF supported a brand new East Coast INTRODUCTION customers, and friends, it is my great honor capability for U.S. Navy Fleet Forces with to introduce the unparalleled achievements the establishment of the GQM-163A Coyote of the Range and Mission Management Office program at Wallops. Two GQM-163As were (RMMO), and the Wallops Range as a whole successfully launched from Wallops on during 2019. This unprecedented period was September 10-12, 2019, with more missions full of challenges and an incredible operations planned for 2020 and beyond. This is a tempo, but our team members were up to the major advancement in Navy training that task each and every time. Allow me a few adds important realism to fleet exercises, moments of your valuable time to discuss resulting in vastly superior combat readiness some of our highlights, even as we prepare and saving millions in taxpayer dollars by to fulfill the challenge of what promises to eliminating the need to relocate to the Pacific be another astonishing year in 2020 while Coast. The NASA/Navy teams worked we maintain our reputation as the industry together to overcome multiple challenges leader for assuring responsive, safe, low- resulting in new capabilities for cost range operations and strong commercial America’s warfighters. partnerships. Here we go. The Research Range Services (RRS) team After an exhaustive nationwide search, also built their travel miles, flying all around Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) was selected as the world and supporting sounding rocket which will provide much needed tracking the U.S. launch site for Rocket Lab Electron missions like the highly successful Norway capabilities. Upgrades were also performed missions. In an amazing one-year push by Grand Challenge, Kwajalein WINDY, and on the LSTAR radar, as well as an expansion the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Alaska campaigns. These missions provided of the Coastal Surveillance radar network, construction is already complete for Launch the RRS team with extreme technical increasing our surveillance capabilities. Complex 2 (LC-2) in preparation for the first challenges in mission complexity and extreme The enhancements to the Bermuda site are mission flying the Air Force Monolith payload weather. I am proud to report that all missions completed and the site is fully operational. scheduled for summer 2019. WFF personnel were successful and all requirements were are hard at work completing development met, and these valuable science missions will The team supported multiple NASA missions of the NASA Automated Flight Termination help fill the blank spaces in our knowledge all around the globe without any serious Unit (NAFTU) that will enable this mission, about the interactions between the injuries or incidents in 2019. Through diligent as well as a new tide of commercial venture- Earth and Sun. hazard assessment and proactive activities, class launch providers. This new Rocket Lab such as the Wallops Safety Awareness launch capability could deliver as many as Here at home we supported the Antares Campaign and the completion of monthly 12 missions per year from Wallops, and will resupply mission to the International Space safety inspections of Range facilities, our bring a great economic influx to the area. In Station (ISS) with two successful Antares personnel have ensured that the NASA late-breaking news, Wallops just learned that launches. In a first for WFF, partnering mission is accomplished in a safe and the NASA Science and Technology Mission with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), environmentally sound manner. Directorate selected Rocket Lab to launch the we conducted a mission processing classified telemetry, allowing for future classified CAPSTONE spacecraft as the first Artemis The accomplishments you just read about missions. We stayed true to our science mission to cis-lunar orbit in February 2021. could not be completed without the and engineering roots by supporting various professionalism, expertise, commitment Due to its unmatched flexibility, WFF was launches in the educational outreach area and dedication of our most important asset: selected as a primary site for the Defense at the University and High School level. the Wallops family of civil servants and Advanced Research Projects Agency To date, WFF has supported more than government contractors. I look forward (DARPA) Launch Challenge. The goal of the 650 students and 42 states in this valuable to seeing what this motivated group of DARPA Launch Challenge is to demonstrate program, ensuring the future of our agency go-getters can achieve in 2020 - Ad Astra! responsive and flexible space launch