GRC NEWS RELEASE 01-033



01-033
For Release: April 25, 2001



Katherine K. Martin
Media Relations Office
216/433-2406
katherine.martin@grc.nasa.gov



Lori J. Rachul
Media Relations Office
216/433-8806
lori.j.rachul@grc.nasa.gov


De Groh Earns Space Flight Awareness Award 

Citing her contributions to increased reliability, efficiency, safety 
or performance of payload systems, Kim de Groh, senior materials 
engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center, was recently honored at the 
Space Flight Awareness Honoree Event in Washington, D.C. The award is 
one of the highest and most prestigious awards available to employees 
of the NASA/Industry/Shuttle/Space Station Team.



In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first Space Shuttle 
flight, the Space Flight Awareness Program hosted the event April 10 
-12 for honorees and invited guests. The event included an awards 
breakfast, a reception at the National Air and Space Museum and a 
tour of the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage 
Facility, where aircraft, spacecraft and other artifacts are 
preserved, stored and restored to represent a specific period in 
history.



De Groh was nominated for the award because of her contributions to 
the Hubble Space Telescope Multilayer Insulation Failure Review Board 
and Hubble Servicing Missions. Specifically, she led the candidate 
replacement material durability testing at Glenn that had a direct 
impact on the choice of replacement insulation for the Hubble Space 
Telescope.



"I was very surprised and excited to receive this high honor," said de 
Groh. "Working on Hubble insulation research for the past 8 years has 
been a major highlight in terms of interest, excitement and challenge 
in my career. We continue to study this difficult problem of 
Teflon® insulation degradation on Hubble, and I feel very 
fortunate to be part of a really great team, and to be contributing 
to such an outstanding mission."



De Groh and her husband, Henry, who also works at Glenn, have two 
children and reside in Hinckley, Ohio. She has been employed at Glenn 
for 12 years.



# # #

Note to Editors: A portrait photo of de Groh is available upon 
request.  

	
-end-