National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA April 2006 NASA Ames spacecraft to look for ice at lunar south pole NASA announced April 10 that a the lunar vicinity independent of the the moon. The Shepherding Spacecraft small, 'secondary payload' spacecraft, LRO satellite. On the way to the moon, will fly through the plume, and instru- the LCROSS spacecraft's two main parts, ments on the spacecraft will analyze the the Shepherding Spacecraft (S-S/C) and cloud to look for signs of water and other the Earth Departure Upper Stage compounds. Additional space and Earth- (EDUS), will remain coupled. based instruments also will study the As the spacecraft approaches the 2.2-million-pound (1000-metric-ton) moon's south pole, the upper stage will plume. separate, and then will impact a crater Then, the Shepherding Spacecraft in the south pole area. A plume from the itself will become an impactor, creating upper stage crash will develop as the a second plume visible to lunar-orbiting Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward continued on page 2 Worden named Ames center director Artist’s concept of the LCROSS upper stage NASA Administrator Michael rector level positions with the Air Force (appears smaller) followed by the ‘sheparding Griffin announced on April 21 that Space Command, where he was respon- satellite,’ before they both impact the moon in Simon P. "Pete" Worden will be the next sible for developing new programs, in- January 2009. cluding next generation launch concepts. He was commander of the 50th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force Space Command. to be developed by a team at NASA He also served as 2nd deputy for tech- Ames, has been selected for launch in nology with the Strategic Defense Initia- October 2008 to begin a trip to the moon tive Organization, where he received to look for precious water ice. Prior to the NASA Outstanding Leadership impacting the moon, the spacecraft will Medal for directing the 1994 Clementine orbit Earth twice for about 80 days, and lunar probe mission. then will strike the lunar south pole in Worden holds a bachelor's degree in January 2009. astronomy from the University of Michi- The smaller secondary payload gan, Ann Arbor, and a doctorate in as- spacecraft will begin its trip to the moon tronomy from the University of Arizona. He authored or co-authored more than with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter 150 scientific technical papers in astro- (LRO) satellite on the same rocket, the physics, space sciences and strategic Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle studies and was a co-investigator for (EELV), to be launched from Kennedy two NASA space science missions. Space Center, Florida. The secondary BY MICHAEL MEWHINNEY payload mission spacecraft is called the Photo courtesy US Air Force Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Simon P. “Pete” Worden was recently Satellite (LCROSS). appointed the tenth director of NASA Ames by On the Inside . "The LCROSS mission gives the NASA’s tenth administrator Michael Griffin. agency an excellent opportunity to an- Page 3 - Christensen delivers all- hands talk swer the question about water ice on the director of NASA's Ames Research Cen- moon," said Daniel Andrews of NASA ter. Page 5 - Ames’ Mark Leon receives Ames, whose team proposed the Worden, a retired U.S. Air Force prestigious Hispanic award LCROSS mission. "We think we have brigadier general, is a research profes- Page 9 - Upcoming events assembled a very creative, highly inno- sor of astronomy at the University of Page 10 - NASA scientists study vative mission, turning the upper stage Arizona, Tucson. Worden is expected health benefits of exercise of the rocket that brought us to the moon to assume his new duties at Ames in May. for astronauts into a substantial impactor on the moon." Page 11-Implementation of new After launch, the secondary pay- During his Air Force service, NASA training form load LCROSS spacecraft will arrive in Worden held director and deputy di- www.nasa.gov NASA Ames spacecraft to look for ice at lunar south pole continued from front page spacecraft and Earth-based observato- inside the dark craters of the south pole "An exploration science program ries. may well be different from what we with a sustained human presence on the "The LCROSS mission will help us found during Apollo," Colaprete ob- moon gives us the opportunity to con- determine if there is water hidden in the served. duct fundamental science in lunar geol- ogy, history of the solar system, physics and the biological response to partial (Earth) gravity," said Christopher McKay, lunar exploration program sci- entist at Ames. The space agency specified that the winning proposal must demonstrate an affordable concept beneficial to RLEP, according to the document that asked NASA centers to submit suggestions for the secondary payload. NASA specified that the secondary payload mission should cost no more than $80 million. NASA also required that the payload mass not exceed 2,205 pounds (1,000 kilograms). NASA encouraged its field centers to team with industry to develop pro- posals. On Jan. 10, NASA issued a re- quest for information to industry to al- low businesses to provide secondary payload concepts to NASA. Each NASA NASA photo by Renee Bouchard center reviewed ideas from industry as During the NASA news conference on April 10, agency officials unveiled the Lunar CRater well as secondary payload concepts de- Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) which will launch piggyback with the Lunar veloped internally. The LCROSS prime Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in October 2008. On the panel during the conference were (left to contractor for the spacecraft and the right) Scott Horowitz, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA HQ; spacecraft integration is Northrop Daniel Andrews of Ames, the LCROSS-project manager; and Butler Hine of Ames, deputy program Grumman. manager, Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP). NASA asked that the concepts ad- vance the Vision for Space Exploration to include missions that evolve lunar permanently dark craters of the moon's Earlier, NASA had requested pro- science, characterize the lunar environ- south pole," said Marvin (Chris) posals internally from its NASA field ment and support identification sites for Christensen, Robotic Lunar Exploration centers for existing or reasonably ma- future human missions as well as the Program (RLEP) manager, and acting tured concepts for secondary payloads utility of those sites. director of NASA Ames. "If we find that would offer cost-effective contribu- The space agency said that it was substantial amounts of water ice there, it tions to RLEP. looking for missions that demonstrate could be used by astronauts who later To prepare for the return of astro- technology that could enhance future visit the moon to make rocket fuel," nauts to the moon, NASA will conduct exploration, that show operational Christensen added. various RLEP robotic missions from 2008 schemes to support exploration, that "We'll be able distinguish between to potentially 2016 to study, to map and develop or emplace infrastructure in water vapor, water ice and hydrated to learn about the lunar surface. These support of exploration, that advance minerals like salts or clays that contain early missions will help determine lu- commercial opportunities and those molecularly-bound water," said Tony nar landing sites and whether resources, missions that would collect engineering Colaprete, LCROSS principal investiga- such as oxygen, hydrogen and metals, data to support the Constellation pro- tor, and a planetary scientist at NASA are available for use in NASA's long- gram. That program is developing Ames. "We'll be able to compare the term lunar exploration objectives. NASA's new spaceship, the Crew Ex- moon dirt from the permanently shad- "Establishing research stations on ploration Vehicle. owed regions of craters at the lunar south the moon will give us the experience BY JOHN BLUCK pole with moon soil samples collected and capabilities to extend to Mars and during the Apollo mission at much lower beyond," noted robotics deputy program latitudes, near the equator. The stuff manager Butler Hine of Ames. Astrogram 2 April 2006 Christensen upbeat about Ames' future -- Provides frank assessment; lays out blueprint for success “The one constant in life is change,” for FY 07 is $533 million, he said, a sion support organizations, all of which began Marvin 'Chris' Christensen in his further major reduction. are pitching in to help the program of- April 20 all-hands address to a stand- Exploration is where most of the fice save SOFIA and prepare Ames for ing-room only crowd in the main Ames funding currently is, and exploration is future mission management responsi- “where we're bilities. However, there's still a lot of going to go” work to be done, he said. We must en- to increase sure that Ames' existing processes are Ames' budget, streamlined to ensure timely comple- Christensen tion of mission tasks or “we'll just have added, noting to get other processes,” he observed to that Ames must enthusiastic applause. Indeed, at establish a role in Christensen's urging, NASA headquar- core NASA pro- ters recently ran a pilot workshop at NASA photo by Tom Trower grams. Given Ames designed to perform a joint 'insti- all of the changes tutional readiness review' of Ames' mis- in the agency, sion support organizations. The objec- Ames' Explora- tive is to determine ways to strengthen tion Technology Ames' support organizations to enhance directorate the center's capabilities in project and was “unravel- mission management. ing” in 2005, Christensen said. But, by finding a “The future is ours to way back into the shape and to capture.” “mainstream of Ames' acting director, Marvin "Chris" Christensen, gave a frank but upbeat NASA .