NASA Engineer Profiles Goddard Space Flight Center - large STEM facility manages multiple lines of inquiry

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland is one of America's primary space science centres,involved in the management of  research programmes carried out by a variety of space probes,especially those in Earth orbit or perhaps as far out as the Moon or Mars-the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California handles probes to the outer planets and beyond.Larry Mignosa,a Mechanical Engineer at Goddard for 25 years,gave a broad overview of the facility and its lines of inquiry to a small audience of STEM enthusiasts at the C.Burr Artz Library in Frederick,Maryland,which has positioned itself as a STEM education center.He was educated as a civil engineer,but that discipline comes under the mechanical engineering heading at Goddard.Mr.Mignosa has worked on repairing the Hubble Space Telescope,which Goddard manages;as well as the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope,which was a Space Shuttle astronomy mission;the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and the Global Precipitation Measuring Mission,gathering data for better climate modeling and carried out with JAXA,the Japanese Space Agency;and now ICE Sat-2,which will use lasers to measure the height of ice fields in an effort to understand the future of Earth's climate change.He said he's been making a number of visits to the ICE Sat-2 contractor in Arizona.*
In satellite design today,Mr.Mignosa pointed out,they always use materials so that it will demise on its own;otherwise,you will have to pay for extra fuel to control the re-entry.NASA launches a satellite every three to four months.The launches have a success rate of 95%.*
The repair of Hubble,which is in Earth orbit,involved five corrective mirrors and five corrective optics installed by Space Shuttle astronauts.The successor mission,the JamesWebb Space Telescope,has a mirror comprised of several cells.They can be electronically reconfigured for a correction,a capacity for self-repair.*
Mr.Mignosa likened NASA Goddard to a college campus.It employs about 10,000 people.Goddard has a lot of physics majors to study the physics of the planets;math majors;as well as mechanical,optical,aerospace and electrical engineers.A young student in the audience is interested in telescope design.*
NASA Goddard manages the MAVEN satellite that is probing the Martian atmosphere,some of the instruments on the Curiosity rover,as well as the Solar Dynamics Observatory.Sometimes they build their own satellites,but most often they contract them out.Goddard has extensive equipment to test the satellites for their ability to withstand the harshness of spaceflight,such as a centrifuge and vibration table.*
As for future missions,the James Webb Space Telescope,which Goddard is managing,is set for an October/November 2018 launch.It will be positioned in a solar orbit at point L2,a million miles from Earth to avoid the Earth and Moon's light.WFIRST will boast a field of view 100x greater than Hubble's,with access to a million galaxies;it will be launched in the 2020-2025 time frame.ATLAST will feature an 8-16 meter mirror and is considered  a flagship mission.Only a few people are studying the project now in its concept development phase.It is envisioned for a 2025-2035 launch.*

Inside NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission - what,when and why

NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) has two mission segments,according to NASA's Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST),a group of government and academic solar system exploration experts advising NASA on mission requirements.The Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM),slated for an end of year 2020 launch,will be the first mission ever to visit a large Near Earth Object,land on it,collect and return the asteroid material to a stable orbit around the Moon.The second mission segment is the Asteroid Redirect Crew Mission (ARCM),planned for a late 2025 launch of the Orion spacecraft on the new Space Launch System rocket,in which astronauts will explore the boulder and return to Earth with samples.*
A principal objective of the ARM is the development of a high-power Solar Electric Propulsion vehicle for the ARRM and the demonstration that it can operate for many years in interplanetary space.A second prime objective is to conduct a human spaceflight mission including in-space interaction with a natural object,to provide the systems and operational experience required for eventual human exploration of Mars,including the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos.The ARRM will test how Orion can dock and operate with a SEP-powered spacecraft.This new technology will help send the large amount of cargo,habitats and propellant to Mars in advance of a human mission.*
ARCM provides a compelling focus for the Orion program before the infrastructure for more ambitious flights will be available.The ARCM will provide the opportunity for human explorers to work in space with asteroid material,testing the activities that would be performed and tools that would be needed for later exploration of primitive body surfaces in deep space,close to our home planet and making it a significantly more affordable approach to obtaining this experience.*
According to the FAST draft report for public comment dated 23 November 2015,NASA has identified the NEA 2008 EV5 (the 5 is formally rendered as a subscript numeral) as the reference target for the ARRM.Final target selection will be made approximately a year before launch.2OO8 EV5 provides a valid target that can be used to help with formulation and development efforts.It is about 400m in diameter and has a reflectance spectrum consistent with carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (meteorites are small pieces of asteroids or comets that entered the atmosphere and survived to reach the surface of Earth).It is possible to identify 6 distinct candidate 10-m scale boulders on 2008 EV5's surface by visual inspection of radar images.One of the candidate boulders is located near the asteroid's South Pole;the others cannot be located with certainty at this time.
As for regoliths,or unconsolidated rocky material,there are likely millions of 10-cm scale cobbles on this NEA;and 3000 1-5m boulders would be expected on its surface.In terms of vehicle safety,steep cratered topography is not prevalent on asteroids less than 1 km in diameter,which are of interest to the ARRM.*
Initial dynamic modeling indicates 2008 EV5 began its existence as part of a much larger body in the Asteroid Belt (likely diameter 100 km) and migrated inward across the inner main belt over many millions of years until it reached a planetary gravitational resonance that drove it into the NEA population.Besides material collection,2008 EV5 will also be used for an enhanced gravity tractor asteroid deflection demonstration.This is one of the prospective defence techniques to deflect dangerous asteroids and protect Earth if needed in the future.

Career Opportunity:NASA Astronaut

Today NASA announced it will soon be recruiting US citizens again for a new astronaut candidate class.More human spacecraft are in development now than at any time in NASA history,and future astronauts will soon be launching from the Florida Space Coast on US-made commercial spacecraft and deep space missions to advance a future mission to Mars,the agency said.Applications will be accepted from 14 December to mid-February.NASA will announce the selectees in mid-2017.You can apply at http://www.usajobs.gov.The class of 2017 will be flying on either the International Space Station;the Boeing CST-100 Starliner;the SpaceX Crew Dragon;or the Orion deep-space exploration vehicle.*
NASA selects from a diverse pool of US citizens with a variety of backgrounds such as pilots,engineers,scientists and medical doctors.*
The next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars generation to reach for new heights,and help us reach the goal of putting boot prints on the Red Planet,said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.Those selected for this service will fly on US-made spacecraft from American soil;advance critical science and research aboard the ISS;and help push the boundaries of technology in the proving ground of deep space.*
There are 47 astronauts currently in the active astronaut corps and more will be needed to crew future missions to the ISS and destinations in deep space.In its history,NASA has recruited more than 300 astronauts.
Requirements include a bachelor's degree in engineering,biological science,physical science or mathematics.Advanced degrees are desirable.Candidates must also have at least three years of related,progressively responsible professional experience,or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft.They must also pass the NASA long duration spaceflight physical.*
For more information about this career and the requirements,please visit http://www.nasa.gov.astronauts.