Outstanding Achievement Recognized with Silver Snoopy Awards
On Aug. 24, 2016, the Silver Snoopy Awards were presented at NASA Ames. The awardees, left to right, David Fletcher, Linda Scibior, Rudy Cotillon and Stephen Gila were presented with their awards by Astronaut Bob Behnken, far right. The Silver Snoopy award is the astronauts’ personal achievement award that provides special recognition for non-management individuals from both government and industry for outstanding performance, contributing to flight safety and mission success. This prestigious award is one of the most coveted honors and fewer than one percent of the aerospace program workforce receives it annually, making it a special honor to receive this award.
NASA Ames’ LCROSS Detection of Lunar Water Wins 2016 H. Julian Allen Award
by Ruth Marlaire
Considered the “cornerstone” paper in a group of six Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission result papers published in the journal Science in 2010, this scientific paper addresses the understanding of the nature of hydrogen observed at the lunar poles, identifying it’s form and concentration, which have been critical strategic data points identified universally by most planetary research scientists. This paper’s findings also demonstrated that the cold traps at the lunar poles do indeed accumulate and retain volatiles, such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, acetylene and ammonia, over geological timescales.
NASA Ames Research Center scientist Tony Colaprete, the principle investigator of the LCROSS mission, led the research team that published the 2010 paper entitled, “Detection of Water in the LCROSS Ejecta Plume.” For this achievement, the astrophysicist was honored with the 2016 H. Julian Allen award.
The H. Julian Allen Award was established in 1969 to annually recognize a scientific or engineering paper of outstanding technical merit and significance. NASA researcher H. Julian Allen created the “Blunt Body Theory” for re-entry of spacecraft.
“I am pleased that this paper has been recognized in this way,” said Colaprete. “The LCROSS mission was a uniquely Ames mission, not only rewriting the lunar text books, but also the text books on how NASA missions can be conducted. This award is a big testament to the awesome team that was LCROSS.”
The LCROSS mission launched Oct. 9, 2009 on the back of a Centaur rocket. The mission was designed to provide ground truth for earlier ground and spacecraft observations. The mission collected data by first crashing a rocket into the shadowed region within the lunar south pole crater Cabeus, and then sending a “trailing” spacecraft through the plume to observe and measure the ejected dust, debris and vapor. The second spacecraft carried nine instruments, including cameras, spectrometers and a radiometer.
The paper reported that near-infrared absorbance, attributed to water vapor and ice, and ultraviolet emissions, attributed to hydroxyl radicals, support the presence of water in the debris. As the “shepherding” spacecraft flew through the mounting plume, the spacecraft’s instruments measured approximately 155 kilograms (or 342 lbs.) of water vapor and water ice, or approximately five percent of the total debris that reach sunlight. In addition to water, light hydrocarbons, sulfur-bearing species and carbon dioxide also were detected.
In the past, several remote observations indicated that water ice may be present in the permanently shadowed craters of the Moon. On Jan. 7, 1998, NASA launched Lunar Prospector, a lunar orbiter designed for a low-polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including searching for possible polar ice deposits. At the end of the mission, the orbiter was deliberately crashed into a crater near the lunar south pole in an attempt to identify the form of the observed hydrogen. The mission was successfully managed by Ames. Since then, subsequent observations from Earth and spacecraft have provided further evidence of trace amounts of ice on the Moon.
However, from the data obtained from these pre-LCROSS missions, scientists were never able to determine the chemical form of the hydrogen-bearing compounds nor their origins, although their studies postulated sources, including solar wind, asteroids and comets. The LCROSS mission validated the presence and the concentration of water ice on the Moon.
Rose Grymes Wins Prestigious Sustainability Award
by Ruth Marlaire
The White House recently announced the winners of the 2016 GreenGov Presidential Awards honoring those who have gone “above and beyond to implement innovative sustainability projects within the government.” The 2016 recipient of the GreenGov Presidential Sustainability Heroes Award was Rose Grymes, deputy director of the Partnerships Directorate at NASA Ames.
Nominated by the Agency, Grymes received the award from the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. She was recognized for her leadership of planetary sustainability projects at Ames; including those advancing the transfer of NASA technology, the emergence of innovative public-private partnerships and the sustainable management of Agency resources.
The GreenGov Presidential Awards honor federal civilian and military personnel, agency teams, agency projects and facilities and agency programs and celebrates extraordinary achievements in the pursuit of President Obama’s Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance.
In accepting the award, Grymes reflected on the continuing sustainability dialogue at NASA.
“NASA missions give the Agency unique perspectives on sustainability challenges facing our planet,” she said. “Technologies we develop, essential to our missions, can also address terrestrial challenges. NASA’s extensive ground-based infrastructure can be on the front line; applying our discoveries to optimize our use of energy, water and other resources.”
In addition, Grymes spoke of motivating employees to fostering a well-managed environment at Ames.
“Richard Mogford and I are trying to revive the Ames Green Team, now called Green Team 2.0. Its purpose is to connect folks interested in ‘green’ practices with those whose Center roles select and implement such practices.” The next meeting will beheld at 1 p.m. Oct. 11 in Building N232, in conference room 103.
Grymes has made numerous noteworthy contributions in ‘green’ practices and sustainability initiatives at Ames. Among other things, she has worked to enhance NASA’s sustainability portfolio with a focus on optimizing the use of water, energy and other resources.
She was introduced to sustainability concepts while working as the director of the Advanced Studies Laboratories (ASL), where many projects focused on nanomaterials for energy generation. Over time, her commitment to sustainable solutions increased and she pursued training through an Intergovernmental Personnel Assignment (with the Institute for Science and Global Policy, as associate director for Energy Initiatives in 2009), a fellowship (in GSA’s Sustainability Fellows Program in 2012) and currently is pursuing Climate Governance certification with the Association of Climate Change Officers.
After ASL, Grymes led partnerships established to advance the ‘living laboratory’ of Sustainability Base (Building N232), Ames’ LEED Platinum facility. She has represented the Center in numerous agency and external panels, workshops and conferences addressing climate change, sea level rise, sustainability and technology transfer.
Grymes was deputy director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute for eight years. “My first steps along this path started with learning about the interdependence of life and its planet of origin.”
NASA Selects Next Generation Spectrometer for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Flying Observatory
by Nicholas Veronico
A team from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has been selected to develop a new, third-generation facility science instrument for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA.
The principal investigator, Samuel Harvey Moseley will lead the team to develop the High Resolution Mid-InfrarEd Spectrometer (HIRMES). The team consists of co-investigators from Space Dynamics Lab, Precision Cryogenic Systems, Inc., University of Michigan, University of Maryland, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Johns Hopkins University, Space Telescope Science Institute, Cornell University and University of Rochester.
Moseley and his team will construct HIRMES over the next two and one-half years with flights on board SOFIA slated for spring 2019. At that time, this unique research asset will also be made available for use by the larger astronomical community.
“HIRMES will help researchers determine the location of the raw materials that are the building blocks of life and how their position within the interstellar medium helps planetary systems, like our own solar system, evolve,” said Hashima Hasan, SOFIA program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. “HIRMES builds upon Moseley’s long history of superior instrument design. Included among his many achievements is the development of the microshutter arrays for the James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared spectrometer.” For additional information, see: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-selects-next-generation-spectrometer-for-sofia-flying-observatory
Visitors Learn Interesting Facts about Mars at Generation Beyond Exhibit
Lockheed Martin’s Generation Beyond Mars Experience Bus wrapped up its Bay Area tour with a final stop at NASA Ames’ Visitor’s Center Sept. 23 – 25, 2016. In addition to virtually riding the Lockheed Martin Mars Experience Bus, guests received a mission briefing booklet, designed and printed their own mission patch stickers, learned about the Orion space capsule that will take humans to Mars and took a green screen photo with their choice of Mars background. For additional informational, visit: https://www.generation-beyond.com/
Ames Contractor Council Hosts 2016 Golf Tournament
Employee “Trekkies” Pay Tribute to Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary
Tasty Tater Tot and Nacho Bar served up at Code I End-of-Fiscal-Year Lunch
Code I’s last MWR event for the fiscal year, the Tater Tots and Nacho Bar, didn’t last very long on Sept. 14, 2016. In fact, Grace De Leon’s chili was gone in 20 minutes! Special guest server Associate Center Director Deb Feng (right), along with Chief Information Officer (CIO) Jerry Davis (center) and Deputy CIO Grace De Leon (left) served up tater tots to staff members. The menu included tator tots, nachos, chili, bacon, cheese, sour cream, jalapenos and onions. A great time was has by all and a fun surprise to have directorate staff serving our staff. There were even a few party crashers from other organizations!
A statistical summary of activities of the Protective Service Division’s Security/Law Enforcement and Fire Protection Services units for the period ending August 2016 is shown below.
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Ames Ongoing Clubs/Monthly Events
NASA Ames Exchange Information
Information about products, services and opportunities provided to the employee and contractor community by the Ames Exchange Council. Visit our web site at: http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov
Beyond Galileo Gift Shop N-235 in the cafeteria, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., ext. 4-6873
Visitor Center Gift Shop (Exploration Center), Tues-Fri, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Sat. – Sun, noon – 4:00 p.m., ext. 4-5412
Remember to purchase your baby shower, birthday and holiday gifts at Ames’ two gift shops!
Mega Bites Cafeteria N-235, Manager Jason Hamed, ext. 4-5969, Mon – Fri, 6:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., ext. 4-5969/Catering contact Karen Mcintyre, 650 444-2241
The SpaceBar: Subs & Burgers, Bldg. 3, Hours are: Mon – Fri, from 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. See: http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov/cafe/menu.html for menu items.
NASA Lodge (Bldg. 19) (650) 603-7100
Where to stay when you’re too tired to drive home? What about the lodge?! Current Rates: Bldg. 19 (43 rooms), rate: $65/night ($5 each additional adult); Bldg. 583 A&B (150 rooms), rate: $55/night ($5 each additional adult); B547 rate $60/night (for large groups)
Ames Swim Center (N-109) (650) 603-8025
The swimming pool is now open. Hours of operation are as follows (lap swim only): Mon – Fri, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and M-F 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The pool is heated year round. POC: Ryan Storms, pool manager (650) 603-8025. Memberships: Yearly access $350, 3 Month $100, Single day use $5
Exchange Basketball Gym, Building 2, POC: Manager Bryan Henshaw, (650) 603-9717, Hours of operation: Mon – Fri, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. and M-F 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. The basketball gym is a full NBA regulation size court and is free to use.
RV lots available. Call to reserve a space at (650) 604-0698. Civil Servants and Active Military $50/month. Contractors and Retired Personnel $100/month
Chase Park reservations, call ext. 4-4948
NACA Park reservations, call ext. 4-4948
Ames Emergency Announcements
To hear the centerwide status recording, call (650) 604-9999 for information announcements and emergency instructions for Ames employees. You also may listen to 1700 KHz AM radio for the same information.
Ames Cat Network
The Ames Cat Network needs help finding homes for cats trapped at Moffett. They range from feral to abandoned/lost pets. They are tested, altered and inoculated. Call Iris at ext. 4-5824 if you or someone you know are interested in fostering or adopting a cat.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
The Ames Astrogram is an official publication of Ames Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Managing Editor………………….Matthew Buffington
Editor, Layout and Design……………Astrid Albaugh
Employees can reach the Astrogram Office via email at: astrogram@mail.arc.nasa.gov or by phone at ext. 4-3347.