Space Telescope Science Institute ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................... 3 Institute Financial and Staff Resources ............. 5 Staff Awards ..................................... 6 People and Change STScI Organization .................................. 9 AURA and STIC .................................... 15 Diversity Initiatives ................................. 16 Missions Science Mission ................................... 21 Hubble Space Telescope ............................. 25 James Webb Space Telescope ......................... 34 Community Missions Office ........................... 36 Multimission Archive at STScI .......................... 37 Hubble Legacy Archive ............................... 41 Kepler Data Management Center ....................... 43 Virtual Astronomical Observatory ....................... 44 Office of Public Outreach ............................. 45 Innovation Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) ... 53 Astro2010 Involvement ............................... 55 Space Telescope Employee Network ...................... 56 Beyond JWST ..................................... 57 Community Involvement Meridian Speeches ................................. 59 Institute Public Lecture Series.......................... 60 Community-Supported Agriculture ....................... 61 White House Star Party .............................. 62 2009 Assessments James Webb Space Telescope ......................... 64 Institute Visiting Committee (IVC) ....................... 65 Space Telescope Users Committee (STUC) ................ 65 Hubble Fellows Committee Chair ....................... 66 Future of the Workplace .............................. 66 Previous Summer Student ............................ 67 Introduction For the Institute, 2009 was a rollercoaster year: Hubble’s Servicing Mission 4 in May, the passing of Rodger Doxsey in October, the first data delivery by the Kepler mission in June, the completion of the Muller Building construction in February, the search for a Deputy Director following Mike Hauser stepping down in October, and Webb hardware and systems being built and delivered throughout the year. Hubble’s Servicing Mission 4 was a resounding success—all the planned activities were carried out, and the observatory’s capacities are the most powerful and capable since its launch. Both the mission’s flight and the tremendous work done by the astronauts were followed worldwide via television and the Internet. The news of the early release observations was accessible to more than 1.5 billion people. The astronauts who participated in the mission visited the Institute in July, giving all the staff and their families an opportunity to interact with them and thank them for a job well done. All the Institute family was deeply saddened by the untimely death of Rodger Doxsey. Rodger knew all the ins and outs of Hubble like no other. Rodger Doxsey His expertise and leadership were instrumental in making the observatory His calm confidence and inspirational leadership the scientific marvel it is, and household name it has become. We will “over many long hours have earned him the respect miss him, and his legacy will be kept alive by each and every discovery and admiration of NASA space mission teams as and beautiful image that Hubble will produce in the future. well as the gratitude of the international scientific Mike Hauser decided to step down as the Institute’s Deputy Director after community. the Servicing Mission Orbital Verification 4. Mike saw and participated ” -American Astronomical Society in many changes at the Institute in his 14 years of service. His steady leadership throughout has been a significant asset to AURA and certainly the Space Telescope Science Institute. His steady and at times “dampening” hand was an essential ingredient in the management of the Institute and its relationship with NASA. His wise counsel and deep integrity have always been appreciated. Marc Postman was appointed interim Deputy Director throughout the search and appointment period. 3 Continued … Other changes in the Institute’s management structure were the appointment of Peg Stanley to the position of Associate Director for Operations and of Ken Sembach as head of the Hubble Mission Office. The Institute was able to hire new staff in 2009 as the scope of its missions grew, allowing it to keep addressing diversity issues and to improve the overall representation of women and minorities. The 44% 43% 39% 42% 40% chart to the left shows the historical trend and positive changes in the Women composition of the staff. As the following pages will attest, the Institute accomplished all its goals and is very well positioned for the challenges and opportunities FY10 FY09 FY08 FY07 FY06 Percentage of Women Minorities the next year will bring. Committees that assess different aspects of the in the Institute staff FY06-FY10 Institute’s operations, climate, and diversity all agree that the work is progressing at a reasonable pace. • 15% 16% 12% 13% 13% FY10 FY09 FY08 FY07 FY06 Minorities 4 Institute Financial and Staff Resources Institute Financial and Staff Resources Projected STScI staffing profile External events and shifting schedules continue to provide project management challenges. The Institute has remained flexible in responding 700 to the various changes encountered in FY 2009, while adhering to the FY 2009 guideline budget. 600 Quarterly variances for FY 2009 were 2.0%, 6.1%, and 2.8% for FY ’09 500 Q1, Q2 and Q3, respectively. All quarterly variances with the exception of Q2 are well below the 5% target variance. 400 We expect to end the fiscal year with an underrun of 0.9% compared 300 to the FY 2008 March re-baseline, and an underrun of .7% compared to the FY 2009 guideline. This is well below the targeted 1.75%. In total 200 dollars, this equates to variances of $360K and $267K, respectively. In full-time equivalents (FTEs) 100 FY 2010 is a challenging fiscal year for STScI as we absorb the cost HST JWST Kepler, MAST, NVO Indirect impacts of the FY 2008 carry forward with no additional funding. 0 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 The top chart, at left, presents the current staffing plans for the Institute until FY 2015; the cost of operations is covered in the lower table. It does not include the grant funding the Institute disburses to Total cost of STScI operations ($M) the astronomical community through General Observer, Archival and Theoretical Research, and Education and Public Outreach programs. • Fiscal Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 HST $40.0 $37.1 $37.7 $38.2 $32.2 JWST $24.7 $43.5 $51.8 $56.6 $39.1 Other $ 3.8 $ 4.0 $ 3.9 $ 4.0 $3.2 FY2010 as advised by NASA TOTAL $68.5 $84.6 $93.4 $98.7 $74.5 FY 2010 as advised by NASA 5 Staff Awards National Academy of Sciences Adam Riess, Member American Association for the Mario Livio, Fellow Advancement of Science International Astronomical Union Robert Williams, President NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal George Hartig NASA Public Service Award George Chapman, Mary Galloway, Carey Myers, and Merle Reinhart HST One Gyro and Kalman Filter Safemode Design Team NASA Group Achievement Awards • Science Instrument Operations Team Ilana Dashevsky and Alan Welty • ACS Repair Mission Operations Team Marco Sirianni and Alan Welty STScI Achievement Awards • WFPC2 Closeout Reprocessing Operations Sara Anderson, Luigi Bedin, John Biretta, Colin Cox, Van Dixon, Lisa Gardner, Shireen Gonzaga, Warren Hack, Forrest Hamilton, Debbie Kenny, Pey-Lian Lim, Ray Lucas, Matt McMaster, and Mike Swam • STScI Achievement Award Chris Rueter • Infrared Detector Course Massimo Robberto and Mike Regan • STScI Webcasting Team Thomas Marufu, Calvin Tullos, Susan Rose, and Ed Weibe • UDO Migration Team Sara Anderson, Niall Gaffney, Lisa Gardner, Herb Kennedy, Richard Kidwell, Richard Spencer, and David Wolfe • pysynphot transition Elizabeth Barker, Francesca Boffi, Howard Bushouse, Rosa Díaz, Vicki Laidler, and Daniel Lennon • STScI Achievement Award Pat Brown • Hubble and Giacconi Fellowships Ron Allen, Pat Brown and Mike Wiggs 6 Continued … Staff Awards (cont’d …) STScI Achievement Awards (cont’d) • WFPC2 and FGS Science Operations John Biretta, Van Dixon, Shireen, Gonzaga, Pey-Lian Lim, Matt McMaster, Colin Cox, Chris Long, Max Mutchler, and Ed Nelan • APT JWST development Gary Curtis, Tom Donaldson, Rob Douglas, Ron Downes, Kate Henshaw, Karla Peterson, Pat McCauley, Christine Ritchie, and Andy Spina • STScI Achievement Award Elizabeth Fraser, Amy Gonigam, and Jill Lagerstrom • Parallel Observations Processing System David Adler, Maria Bertch, John Boia, Robert Boyer, George Chapman, Design and Development Thomas Civeit, Gary Curtis, Tom Donaldson, Rob Douglas, Ron Downes, Mark Giuliano, Helmut Jenkner, Danny Jones, Ian Jordan, Tony Keyes, Tony Krueger, Claus Leitherer, Cary Myers, Alan Patterson, Karla Peterson, Reiko Rager, Neill Reid, Merle Reinhart, Christine Ritchie, Tony Roman, Ken Sembach, Galina Soutchkova, Scott Stallcup, Denise Taylor, and William Workman AURA Awards • 2009 AURA Science Achievement Award Margaret Meixner • 2009 AURA Achievement Award Jeff Nesbitt • 2009 AURA Technology and Innovation Andy Groebner (Lead), Mike Bielefeld, Kerry Clark, Jesse Doggett, Achievement Award Steve Handy, Shaw-Hong Kao, Shelley Marshall, Jinger Mo, James Project Reference Database System Team Paranilam, and Fred Romelfanger • 2009 AURA Team Award Stefano Casertano, Ron Downes, Dorothy Fraquelli, Niall Gaffney,