WELCOME TO GODDARD NEWS ON-LINE FOR AUGUST 25, 2000
 
Visit this week’s complete issue in easy-to-read html on the web at:
 
  <http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/issue.htm>
 
**IN THIS ISSUE**
 
Table of Contents
– Goddard Facilities Master Plan Employee Colloquium Today
– Holt Receives NASA Medal
– NOAA-L Pre-Launch Briefing Set for August 29
– EO-1 Ships to Vandenberg
– For Latest News on Space-Time Curvature, Tune to the AM
– NASA, Johns Hopkins to Build Fiber-Optic Laser
– Goddard Provides Workshops for 5 Urban Educator Teams
– Goddard Hosts Annual Meeting of the GPCP
– Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition Project Selected for Award
– Goddard In The News
– Director’s Discretionary Fund 2001 Application On-Line
– Outside Our Gates
  Smithsonian Special Earth Awareness 2000 Event
  Family Science Night at the NASM
!!!Upcoming Events at Goddard!!!
  10th Annual Fall Crafts Fair – Register Now
  Launch Service Customer Workshop
  Paella Night
– Upcoming Launches
– Latest Press Releases
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Goddard Facilities Master Plan Employee Colloquium Today
 
Goddard employees are invited to attend a special colloquium on the Goddard Facilities Master Plan (FMP) today in the Bldg. 3 Auditorium. The FMP will be presented two times, at 10 a.m. and again at 2 p.m. The FMP is a comprehensive plan for buildings, roadways, fences, and land use. GSFC reviews the plan every 10 years to provide for future needs for the Center. Goddard welcomes employees’comments on the plan and will use employee input to refine the plan. This is your opportunity to be heard, so come and learn about GoddardÇs "Facilities Vision for the Future."
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Holt Receives NASA Medal
 
Goddard’s retiring Director of Space Science, Dr. Steven Holt, was presented the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership by Center Director A.V. Diaz. Holt received the award in recognition for his "exceptional scientific guidance and leadership in space science and his many contributions to the success of both NASA’s and the Goddard Space Flight Center’s missions."  For a photo of the event, please go to: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/082500/082500.htm#holt>
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NOAA-L Pre-Launch Briefing Set for August 29
 
NASA and NOAA will hold a press briefing to announce the planned launch on Tuesday, August 29, at 10:00 a.m.  The press briefing will be carried on NASA TV. A video replay of the press conference will be carried on NASA TV Channel 8 at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight on August 29, 2000. NASA and NOAA will hold a pre-launch press briefing on Tuesday, August 29, at 10:00 a.m. The press briefing will be carried on NASA TV. The launch of the NOAA-L spacecraft is scheduled for no earlier than September 20, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
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EO-1 Ships to Vandenberg
 
The EO-1 satellite was shipped from Goddard to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on August 18. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than November 16, 2000. Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) is the first satellite in NASA’s New Millennium Program Earth Observing series. The EO missions will develop and validate instruments and technologies for space-based Earth observations with unique spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics not previously available. For more on the EO-1 mission, check out their web page at: <http://eo1.gsfc.nasa.gov/>
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For Latest News on Space-Time Curvature, Tune to the AM
 
This just in: Scientists have uncovered sets of oscillating X-ray signals from three neutron stars that may tell the story of the bending of the very fabric of space around these objects, broadcast to us from the stars much like the details of a science talk show buried within oscillating AM radio waves.
 
Three scientists at the Astronomical Institute of the University of Amsterdam used NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer to uncover these modulations caused by gravity at its extreme. For the rest of the story, check out: <ftp://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2000/00-94.htm> ***********************************************************
NASA, Johns Hopkins to Build Fiber-Optic Laser
 
Mounted inside a satellite high above the Earth, a powerful fiber-optic laser system, no larger than a laptop computer, fires an ultraviolet beam toward the planet. The beam strikes gas molecules such as ozone, sulfur and carbon dioxide, then bounces back to the satellite, carrying critical information about the health of the atmosphere.NASA recently awarded a $815,500 three-year grant to a Johns Goddard-Hopkins team that plans to design and build a prototype of this device. For the rest of the story, check out:
<ftp://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2000/00-104.htm> ***********************************************************
Goddard Provides Workshops for 5 Urban Educator Teams
 
This summer, Goddard provided NEW Educational Workshops for 5 urban teams of educators from Chicago, Ill., Bayonne, NJ, New York City, Fall River, Mass., and Pittsburgh, Pa.  Each team was supported by the Aerospace Specialist for their state.  The workshops were customized to meet individual school district curriculum needs and concentrated on Goddard’s missions in Earth science, space science and technology.  For more on this, go to: <http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/082500/082500.htm#urban> ***********************************************************
Goddard Hosts Annual Meeting of the GPCP
 
Goddard’s Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Branch (Code 912/TRMM Project) this week hosted the annual meeting of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP), an element of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and GEWEX.  Goddard plays a major role in this international project, having the responsibility to routinely produce the monthly, global precipitation analysis that is the core community product of the project and the responsibility of producing one of the main input data sets, the microwave-based estimates over the ocean.  To get the whole story, go to: <http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/082500/082500.htm#gpcp> ***********************************************************
Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition Project Selected for Award
 
Goddard’s Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition project has been selected as a winner in the "Business Solutions in the Public Interest" award program. The award identifies and celebrates acquisition teams and agency leaders who have used acquisition effectively and creatively to help achieve agency missions. Government Executive magazine and the Council for Excellence in Government administer the award in partnership with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Government Executive is profiling the Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition project in this week’s issue. A ceremony and reception will be held September 12 to honor the finalists and winners. For more information, check out:  <http://www.GovExec.com>
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Goddard In The News
 
CBS’s news service, "Newspath" fed a story about Dr. James Hansen’s (GISS) article (published last week on the GISS web page) focusing attention on greenhouse gasses other than CO2 to its CBS affiliates this week. The New York Times ran an article about this research as well. The article also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle.
 
Goddard’s Dr. Claire Parkinson was featured in a number of print and radio stories this week concerning ice cover of the north polar region and how concerned we should be about the lack of ice found at the North Pole by a group of people who were recently there in a ship. Dr. Parkinson was interviewed by National Public Radio for Morning Edition, and participated in a one-hour call-in radio show for KUOW public radio in Seattle. She also was interviewed by the Chicago Sun Times and participated in a half-hour segment on a call-in radio show for KBOO radio in Portland.
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Director’s Discretionary Fund 2001 Application On-Line
 
The Center is now accepting Director’s Discretionary Fund (DDF)
applications for 2001. Submission of DDF proposals for FY 2001 will be electronic. The DDF is a special program intended to support the imaginative ideas of the people at our Center. It is one of NASA’s most visionary programs and intended to lay the foundations of the future. To apply for the 2001 DDF, go to <http://university.gsfc.nasa.gov> click onto Director’s Discretionary Fund (left column) then click on 2000 DDF Application. Questions may be directed to ddfinfo@pop100.gsfc.nasa.gov ***********************************************************
Outside Our Gates
 
**Smithsonian Special Earth Awareness 2000 Event**
 
In continuation of the Earth Awareness 2000, Goddard employees are invited to attend the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum lectures entitled "Exploring Earth From Space: New Windows On A Changing Planet." The event takes place on Thursday, September 14, 8:00 p.m. in the Langley IMAXÆ Theater. Tickets are required for admittance.
 
**Family Science Night at the National Air and Space Museum**
 
It’s back by popular demand! NASA Headquarters, Goddard staff, contractors, and their families are invited to attend Family Science Night at the National Air and Space Museum. This event will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 30 from 7 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.  For more about these events, go to: <http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/gnews/082500/082500.htm#outside> ***********************************************************
!!! UPCOMING EVENTS AT GODDARD !!!
 
MU-SPIN’s Tenth Anniversary Celebration
 
The Minority University – Space Interdisciplinary Network (MU-SPIN), which was created in 1990 to level the electronic networking playing field for minority colleges and universities, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
To commemorate MU-SPIN’s successes and thank our supporters, MU-SPIN is planning a 10th Anniversary celebration for Tuesday, August 29, 2000. It will consist of Tea and Posters in the Building 28 atrium from 3 – 4 p.m. and dinner at the Rec. Center from 4:30 – 8 p.m. Tickets for the dinner are $8.50 for adults and $4.25 for children ages 6-12. They can be purchased until August 24, 2000 in Building 28, Room W154. For more information about these activities, contact Robin Brown at extension 6-3409.  For more information, see the MU-SPIN web page at <http://muspin.gsfc.nasa.gov>.
 
 
10th Annual Fall Crafts Fair – Register Now
 
The 10th Annual GEWA Fall Crafts Fair will be held on September 21 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Bldg. 8 Auditorium.  Registration is $15/table and is open to all GSFC government and contractor employees, retirees, family members and friends. Items must be handmade (no food items). Registration forms and checks are due by September 1. Call to Catherine Simkins (x6-3304) for additional info.
 
 
Launch Service Customer Workshop
 
What: KSC Expendable Launch Vehicle Customer Workshop
When/Where: Sep 6 – 7, in Bldg 26, room 205.
Who Should Attend: All GSFC employees welcome.
For more information: http://accesstospace.gsfc.nasa.gov
 
 
Paella Night
 
What:  Hispanic Heritage Month Activities
When/Where: GSFC Recreation Center on Friday, Sept 15 at 5 p.m.
Who Should Attend: All Goddard Employees and their families Cost: $16 (non-members), $13 (members), $10 (12-18 years old). Tickets will be sold at the door for an additional $5 For more info or to purchase tickets: Rosa Acevedo, x4726, Dan Krieger, x7913, or Gilberto Colon, x2113
 
 
Upcoming Launches
For a schedule of launches coming up in the next few months, check out: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/newsroom/flash/flash.htm
 
If you would like to make comments or if you want to submit an article for Goddard News, please send it to: Trusilla.Y.Steele.1@gsfc.nasa.gov