Goddard Space Flight Center

Annual Report

2003

N a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a n d S p a c e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n
This full-sky map developed from data gathered by the Wilkinson 

Microwave Anisotropy Probe shows the oldest light in the universe, 

and in essence is a “baby picture” of the cosmos. The data revealed 

that the first stars ignited only 200 million years after the Big Bang 

and pegged the age of the universe at 13.7 billion years.
O

Table of Contents

Dedicating Ourselves to One NASA 1

Prescription for Success 5

Viewing Earth as a System 9

Pushing the Cosmological Envelope 13

Advancing NASA’s Technology Portfolio 19

Reaching Out to Others 25

Goddard Space Flight Center Financials 31

A Year in Review 34

One year ago, residents of East Texas heard a crackling boom and within minutes pieces of debris, 

streaking across the sky at 12,000 miles per hour, began falling to the ground. It took only minutes 

for emergency personnel and others to know what these observers had witnessed — the breakup 

of Space Shuttle Columbia. Seventeen years after the Challenger explosion, the nation once again 

found itself mourning the loss of seven brave souls who had dedicated their lives to exploring the 

heavens so that we might live better here on Earth.

Words cannot describe the grief that we at the Goddard Space Flight Center felt upon hearing 

the news. We had worked with the Columbia crew. We knew these individuals personally. They 

had carried experiments developed and managed by Goddard personnel. Like millions of others 

around the globe, we mourned. 

Ultimately, however, we moved on. But in the process of moving on, we must remain mindful of why 

Columbia disintegrated over the western United States in the first place. Although NASA enjoys a 

great legacy, the Agency made mistakes.

According to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, the tragedy occurred because of a breach 

in the Thermal Protection System that allowed superheated air to penetrate the insulation of 

the left wing and progressively melt the aluminum structure. The increased aerodynamic forces, 

combined with the weakened structure, ultimately led to the orbiter’s break up. 

Director’s Message

Dedicating Ourselves to One NASA 

The Stars are Watching

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer, developed as part of the Goddard 

Space Flight Center’s 40-year-old Explorer Program, was the 

first spacecraft to launch following the Columbia tragedy. In 

remembrance, NASA dedicated 

the spacecraft’s “first light” images 

to the crew. This image shows 50 

celestial objects in the constellation 

of Hercules. The Hercules region 

was directly above Columbia when 

it made its last contact with NASA 

Mission Control over the skies of 

Texas on February 1, 2003.

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Just as important, however, were the organizational reasons for Columbia’s sudden and 

profound loss. In particular, the investigative board found that NASA had begun to rely 

on past successes, substituting it for sound engineering practices. The board found that 

organizational barriers prevented NASA personnel from effectively communicating 

critical safety information and that professional differences of opinion often were stifled. 

It uncovered a lack of integrated management across the programs.

With these findings came recommendations for correcting the problems. And it is 

here that Goddard now focuses its energies. Although we have established a reputation for engineering and scientific excellence, in our business the margins are always 

slim. Therefore, it behooves us to dedicate ourselves to working as a team, to tearing 

down the stovepipes that discourage cooperation and communication among our NASA 

colleagues. In short, we must embrace the principles set forth by the “One NASA” initiative. If we do these things, we will correct the problems that contributed to the Columbia 

tragedy. If we do these things, NASA can truly become a great Agency. 

This report describes what we are doing to make sure that we accomplish our full 

potential. It outlines our three-part prescription for success and how this approach is 

leading to significant new accomplishments in space science, Earth science, and technology development. 

Although we all were affected by the Columbia accident, let that incident motivate us 

to do better. This way, we will best serve the memories of those seven men and women 

who soared through space because they understood the risks, yet still believed in what 

they were doing.

A.V. Diaz 

Following a thorough evaluation, the prime contractor 

on the James Webb Space Telescope, the followon to the Hubble Space Telescope, recommended 

beryllium as the primary material for the telescope’s 

segmented 6.5-meter primary mirror. Ball Aerospace 

Technologies Corp. will build the mirror.

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Page 2 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report
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Prescription for Success

At the heart of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s recommendations 

and efforts to create a new culture at NASA are our people, our human capital. 

Although Federal employees ranked NASA as the best place to work in 2003, 

we must continuously recruit and retain the nation’s best engineers, scientists, 

and technologists. Otherwise, NASA will not be able to effectively carry out its 

vision and mission of understanding and protecting our home planet, exploring 

the universe, and inspiring the next generation of explorers, as only NASA can. 

Goddard continued to focus on three key strategies to better manage our 

human capital and concentrate on what is central to our future success: 

• Exciting work

• Sustainable workload 

• Value-centered management 

In essence, this three-point approach recognizes that people make a difference. Our people need challenging work, access to state-of-the-art facilities 

and equipment, and a corporate culture that promotes integrity, dedication, and 

“respect” for the diversity of people and ideas. If we remain true to these ideals, 

our workforce will remain committed to NASA’s mission. 

Culture Survey

In 2003, Goddard learned how it was doing carrying out its three-point 

prescription for success.

In a Center Culture Survey, employees said that Goddard was meeting its 

mission goals and felt positive about the value of their role and contributions. 

They believed the Center was adjusting to changes and that they could balance 

their work and personal lives well. Employees also said that a respect for 

diversity existed at Goddard — findings that were particularly well received in 

light of the report by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

However, the survey revealed some weaknesses. Employees expressed concern 

about the Center’s ability to maintain sufficient in-house work and sustain a 

vital workforce, which are central to maintaining our technical competencies. 

Resource issues, such as how management balances workload and makes 

resource-related decisions, received lower scores. Employees also expressed 

divergent perspectives on partnerships — a key strategy in the “One NASA” 

Goddard 

Missions of 2003

Ice, Cloud, and Land 

Elevation Satellite

Cosmic Hot Interstellar 

Spectrometer Satellite

Solar Radiation and Climate 

Experiment

Tracking and Data Relay 

Satellite-J

Galaxy Evolution Explorer

Goddard engineers work on the X-ray Spectrometer, which 

will fly on the Japanese ASTRO-E spacecraft in February 

2005. The instrument will take high-resolution measurements 

of celestial objects in the “soft” X-ray range. 



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initiative. Although they saw value in partnering to achieve mission goals, some 

employees still showed a strong inclination to tackle challenges by themselves. 

And last, employees ranked Goddard lower on our systems for managing risk, 

which raises a question about how we sustain the Center at the cutting-edge 

of discovery. 

Although the survey revealed areas that still need improvement, which we will 

continue to address, Goddard was heartened by the survey results. It showed 

that the Center is meeting its mission commitments, making discoveries in 

Earth and space science, and developing new technologies that allow these 

discoveries. If we compete for and win exciting work, the Center’s workforce 

is prepared and motivated to meet the challenges of NASA’s mission. This is 

good news.

Quality of Worklife

To address worklife issues, Goddard began instituting several new programs 

and enhancing others to address employee concerns revealed in a separate 

worklife survey. The Center has beefed up its awards and recognition program 

and instituted a new employee referral service, which provides confidential 

information related to elder and dependent care, health and wellness, financial 

and legal services, and educational needs. Among other things, the Center 

also offers a more comprehensive flexible work program and is increasing 

employee communication and awareness programs. Lactation facilities for new 

mothers now operate at specific sites across campus. These initiatives are 

continuing as part of Goddard’s Quality of Worklife program.

Capital Improvements

While addressing employee concerns remains a high priority, we also must 

focus our attentions on our facilities — another vital ingredient to maintaining a robust workforce. In 2003, the National Capital Planning Commission 

approved Goddard’s Facilities Master Plan for the Greenbelt campus, representing an important step for the Center as it attempts to more fully integrate 

its activities. 

The Wallops Flight Facility also broke ground on a new payload processing 

facility for NASA’s science and technology missions. When finished, the 

building will handle the testing and processing of spacecraft and upper-stage 

components and the preparation of scientific balloons.

Teaming Arrangements

Getting access to state-of-the-art facilities and equipment does not always 

mean that we must build the resources ourselves. Teaming with NASA 

Centers and other organizations can give us opportunities that we might not 

otherwise enjoy.

In 2003, Goddard and Capitol College broke ground on the new multimilliondollar William McGowan Academic Center, which will house a mission control 

room for NASA’s Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, the Upper 

Atmosphere Research Satellite, the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, and the 

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. The arrangement covers another NASA 

mission objective — exposing students to the excitement of science and motivating them to pursue careers in science, technology, math, and engineering. 

Goddard also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the 

Langley Research Center, which, among many other things, gives Goddard 

researchers preferred access to Langley facilities and personnel. 

Center Implementation Plan and ISO Certification

Also building on our three-fold prescription for success was the publication of 

the FY 2004 Goddard Implementation Plan. It identifies our roles and responsibilities within NASA and the strategies we will follow.

Goddard’s Quality Management System, meanwhile, sets the rules and 

standards that the Center will use when carrying out its responsibilities 

under the plan. It is an essential element of Goddard’s multifaceted approach 

for capturing and applying best practices and lessons learned. As part of this 

effort, the Center maintains third-party certification by the International 

Organization for Standardization (ISO), an international, non-governmental 

developer of standards. In 2003, Goddard successfully implemented the 

updated ISO 9001:2000, which will help the Center more effectively carry out 

its implementation plan. 

In 2003, Goddard and Capitol 

College broke ground on the new 

multimillion-dollar William McGowan 

Academic Center, which will house 

a mission control room for several 

NASA spacecraft.

The FY2004 GSFC 

Implementation Plan

Page 6 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report Page 7
E

Viewing Earth as a System

Exciting work drives employees at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Nowhere 

is that more evident than in the area of Earth System Science, one of six 

important NASA enterprises. In 2003, Goddard Earth scientists continued to 

make headlines in their quest to understand Earth’s system and to improve 

their ability to predict climate changes, weather, and natural hazards.

Their discoveries, often the result of collaborative efforts with other organizations, are helping scientists worldwide to better understand the complex interaction of Earth’s systems and the impact of human civilization on the environment.

Climate Change

One of the fundamental questions driving Goddard’s Earth science program 

involves variability: How is the global Earth system changing? One of the 

leading reports on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

Change, suggested in 2001 that between 1990 and 2100, the world’s average 

temperature would rise between 0.6 and 2.5 degrees Celsius or 1.1 to 4.5 

degrees Fahrenheit. However, new research by the Goddard Institute for Space 

Studies indicates that temperatures may actually warm less than predicted.

NASA’s improved global climate change model, which simulates and projects 

how the Earth’s climate may change, shows that the oceans have absorbed heat 

since 1951 and would continue to do so for the next 50 years. The likely result, 

researchers said, is a change in regional climate patterns.

There is no question, though, that temperatures are increasing. Another NASA 

study released in 2003 showed that perennial sea ice in the Arctic was melting 

faster than previously thought — at a rate of 9 percent per decade. If these 

melting rates continue for a few more decades, the perennial sea ice would 

likely disappear entirely within this century. While melting sea ice would not 

affect sea levels, the researchers concluded it could profoundly affect summer 

shipping lanes, plankton blooms, ocean circulation systems, and global climate.

Carbon Cycle 

Temperature increases also appear to be affecting plant life in the world’s 

oceans. A Goddard researcher announced this year that phytoplankton, the 

tiny ocean plants that play a vital role in converting carbon dioxide into 

oxygen, had become less productive since the 1980s. The finding is important. 

Phytoplankton processes about half of the carbon dioxide from the environment through photosynthesis. Land plants pull in the other half. 

Hurricane Isabel left an indelible mark on the East Coast this 

year, but the storm was only packing winds of 138 miles per 

hour, with gusts of up to 167 miles per hour, when NASA’s 

Terra spacecraft snapped this photo. 



The 2003 Antarctic ozone 

hole, as measured by the Earth 

Probe Total Ozone Mapping 

Spectrometer and the NOAA-16 

Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet 

instrument, was the second 

largest ever observed. On 

September 11, 2003, the hole 

covered 10.9 million square 

miles, which is slightly larger 

than the North American 

continent. The largest hole, 

defined as a thinning of the 

ozone layer over the Antarctic, 

occurred in 2000 and covered 

11.5 million square miles.

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Keeping track of the global carbon cycle on land and water became easier 

in 2003, too. Goddard scientists, using space-based measurements from the 

Terra and Aqua satellites, unveiled the first consistent and continuous global 

measurements of Earth’s metabolism. With this data, scientists can produce 

composite maps of the world’s “net primary production” every 8 days. 

Scientists expect this global measurement of biological productivity to yield 

new insights into how the Earth’s carbon cycle works, a critical step toward 

solving the climate change puzzle and the impact of human-induced pollution 

on the environment.

In the Forecast

Heat is also contributing to increased rainfall — particularly in large coastal 

cities like Houston. According to new research by Goddard and University of 

Arkansas researchers, urban heat islands created by pavement and buildings 

cause warm air to rise and interact with sea breezes to create heavier and 

more frequent rainfall in and downwind of these cities. The impact on weather, 

and possibly climate, could become increasingly more important as more 

people move to coastal cities, the researchers said.

The art of forecasting precipitation may become more precise because of 

new research by Florida State University researchers. They announced in 2003 

that they had significantly improved weather forecasting just by adding ozone 

measurements taken by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer Earth Probe 

into their models. In published reports, the scientists said that predictions of 

snowstorm intensity, snowfall amounts, and the storm tract all improved for 

a storm that hit Washington, D.C. By knowing when and where the heaviest 

snow will fall during a storm, public works departments can better direct their 

snow removal equipment and estimate where problem areas could occur.

The capability to predict earthquakes also improved in 2003. Researchers from 

Goddard, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ames Research Center, and several 

universities announced that they had made progress developing an advanced 

earthquake modeling system called QuakeSim. They expect to complete the 

system in late 2004.

In 2003, NASA’s Aqua spacecraft 

celebrated its first anniversary in 

space. In this infrared image, Aqua 

showed the temperature of the 

Earth’s surface or clouds covering it. 

The scale ranges from 192 Kelvin 

(-114 Fahrenheit) in black/blue, to 

320 Kelvin (116 Fahrenheit) in red. 

The Intertropical Convergence Zone, 

an equatorial region of persistent 

thunderstorms and high, cold clouds, 

is depicted in yellow. 

The West Africa biomass-burning season that began in November 2002 was still underway by 

late March 2003. This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 

image from the Aqua satellite on March 24, 2003, shows scores of fires (in red) heavily 

concentrated in Sierra Leone, with other fires scattered across Guinea (top) and Liberia (bottom 

right). Biomass burning produces as much pollution as the use of fossil fuels.

Page 10 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report
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Pushing the Cosmological Envelope

The Goddard Space Flight Center was assured a bright future for space science 

in 2003, winning a membership in the NASA Astrobiology Institute, launching 

the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer, which is examining the 

behavior of million-degree plasmas around our solar system and those in spiral 

galaxies in distant space, and choosing Time History of Events and Macroscale 

Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) as the next medium-class Explorer 

program. 

In 2003, the Center awarded the contract to manage the James Webb Space 

Telescope Science and Operations Control Center to the Association of 

Universities for Research in Astronomy. Goddard also announced that it had 

given the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer a new lease on life following 

the successful implementation of new software in three computers that work 

together to control the telescope’s precision pointing.

The following are snapshots of the year’s important scientific discoveries.

Portrait of the Infant Universe

The scientific highlight of the year unquestionably came from the Wilkinson 

Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The Goddard-built, Explorer-class 

spacecraft captured the afterglow of the Big Bang, revealing that the first 

stars ignited only 200 million years after the creation of the universe — much 

earlier than many scientists had expected — and precisely pegging the age of 

universe at 13.7 billion years old. 

The WMAP team, made up of scientists from Goddard, Princeton University, 

and other universities, also discovered that the universe contains 4 percent 

atoms or ordinary matter, 23 percent dark matter, and 73 percent dark energy. 

The new measurements even shed light on the nature of the dark energy, 

which acts as antigravity. These discoveries represented a turning point for 

cosmology and a milestone in how scientists view the universe. 

The spacecraft made these discoveries by precisely mapping the faint cosmic 

glow that bathes the sky in all directions. From this portrait, scientists studied 

the patterns caused by the fluctuations in temperature to unravel clues about 

the nature, composition, and destiny of the universe. 



In January 2002, a dull star in an obscure constellation suddenly became 

600,000 times more luminous than our Sun, temporarily making it the 

brightest star in our Milky Way galaxy. The mysterious star, called V838 

Monocerotis, has long since faded back to obscurity. But observations by 

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of a phenomenon called a “light echo” 

around the star have uncovered remarkable new features. These details 

promise to provide astronomers with a CAT-scan-like probe of the threedimensional structure of shells of dust surrounding an aging star.

WMAP used the Moon to gain 

velocity for a slingshot to L2. After 

three phasing loops around the 

Earth, WMAP flew just behind the 

orbit of the Moon 3 weeks after 

launch. Using the Moon’s gravity, 

WMAP steals an infinitesimal 

amount of the Moon’s energy to 

maneuver into the L2 Lagrange point, 

one million miles (1.5 million km) 

beyond the Earth.

 Page 13
In so many ways, WMAP has been a mission 

of firsts. Although Goddard has a long history 

of managing Explorer-class missions, Center 

scientists had never competed for an Explorer 

mission. Before WMAP, Goddard had never 

worked closely with a university to build a 

major science mission, either. The teaming 

arrangement with Princeton University is now 

considered a model. And before WMAP, no 

satellite had ever flown in the L2 orbit, a quasistable position in the opposite direction of 

the Sun. Although many satellites have passed 

through the L2 neighborhood, none have used 

it as a permanent observing station.

The Universe as an 

Adolescent

A few months after scientists unveiled the 

detailed portrait of the early universe, scientists released an image taken by the Chandra 

X-Ray Observatory that showed the adolescent universe. The image showed the universe 

as it appeared about 5 billion years ago when the familiar web-like structure 

of galaxy chains and voids first emerged. Chandra saw a rich density of active 

galaxies, seven times denser than what has been detected in previous surveys.

Space Exotica

Although NASA spacecraft have ushered in a new era of discovery, much of 

the universe remains a mystery. 

Scientists discovered one such mystery in 2003. Using NASA’s Rossi X-ray 

Timing Explorer satellite, scientists identified the most magnetic object known 

in the universe. By following the fate of tiny protons whipping around at near 

light speed close to a neutron star, scientists calculated this star’s magnetic field 

to be up to 10 times more powerful than previously thought — with a force 

strong enough to slow a steel locomotive from as far away as the Moon. This 

object, named SGR 1806-20, is one of only 10 unusual neutron stars classified 

as magnetars, thousands of times more magnetic than ordinary neutron stars 

and billions of times more magnetic than the most powerful magnets built on 

Earth. 

Scientists also announced in 2003 that gravitational radiation — ripples in the 

fabric of space predicted by Albert Einstein — might prevent pulsars from 

spinning too fast and blowing apart. Pulsars are the fastest spinning stars in the 

universe, and are the core remains of exploded stars. Containing the mass of 

our Sun compressed into a sphere about 10 miles across, a pulsar gains speed 

by pulling in gas from a neighboring star, reaching a spin rate of nearly one 

revolution per millisecond or almost 20 percent the speed of light. Using the 

Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, scientists found a limit to how fast a pulsar spins 

and attributed the cause to gravitational radiation. These exotic waves, which 

are like ocean waves, are ripples in four-dimensional space-time. Caused by 

massive objects in motion, scientists have not yet directly detected them.

Using the High-Energy Transient Explorer, scientists also detected one of the 

brightest and closest gamma-ray bursts, signaling the birth of a black hole in the 

constellation Leo. For more than 30 seconds, the burst outshined the entire 

universe in gamma rays and its afterglow was still more than a trillion times 

brighter than the Sun two hours later.

A three-spacecraft collaboration 

recorded for the first time the 

entire process of a high-speed 

eruption of electrified gas from 

the Sun. This picture shows the 

so-called coronal mass ejection 

(CME) as viewed by the Solar 

and Heliospheric Observatory. 

The image is in false color; the 

white areas are concentrations 

of electrified gas in the Sun’s 

atmosphere. The CME is the large, 

wispy white cloud seen to the right 

of the blue disk. Scientists study 

CMEs because they can disrupt 

communications and power grids 

on Earth if the eruption hits the 

planet directly. Other spacecraft 

involved in the observation 

included the Reuven Ramaty High 

Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager 

and the Transition Region and 

Coronal Explorer. 

In 2003, scientists discovered 

the most magnetic object in the 

universe, an intensely magnetic 

neutron star. In this artist’s concept 

of the object, the blue lines 

emanating from the magnetar’s 

pole represent its powerful 

magnetic field, which is strong 

enough to erase a credit card’s 

magnetic strip from 100,000 miles 

(160,000 kilometers) away.

The NASA Astrobiology Institute 

announced in 2003 that the 

Goddard Space Flight Center would 

lead the effort to discover if comets 

supplied the raw material for the 

origin of life on Earth. The research 

effort will take 5 years.

©1997 by Fred Espenak

Page 14 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report Page 15
New Planet Discovery

Heralding another first, the Hubble Space Telescope measured the mass of the 

farthest and oldest-known planet. The ancient planet, which formed long before 

our Sun and planet ever existed, lies near the core of the ancient globular star 

cluster M4, located 5,600 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. The planet 

is 2.5 times the mass of Jupiter and its very existence provides tantalizing evidence 

that the first planets formed rapidly, within a billion years of the Big Bang, leading 

astronomers to conclude that planets may be abundant in the universe.

The Solar and Heliospheric 

Observatory captured this image 

of Mercury passing in front of the 

Sun in an unusual event called 

a transit. Only occurring a dozen 

times per century, the transit 

happened on May 7, 2003 and 

lasted slightly more than 5 hours.

The Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space 

Telescope used a natural “zoom lens” in space to boost its view of 

the distant universe. To capture this image, Hubble peered straight 

through the center of one of the most massive known-galaxy 

clusters, Abell 1689. The gravity of the cluster’s trillion stars, plus 

dark matter, acted as a gravitational lens, bending and magnifying 

the light of galaxies far behind it. Consequently, the image revealed 

remote galaxies previously beyond even Hubble’s reach.

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Advancing NASA’s Technology Portfolio

Carrying out research in the Earth and space sciences requires a steady 

infusion of new technology. In 2003, technologists at the Goddard Space Flight 

Center promoted a diversified portfolio of scientifically relevant technologies 

that struck a balance between short-term, mission-focused technologies and 

long-term strategic needs — technologies that may find homes in projects 

carried out by other NASA organizations. 

Goddard remains uniquely positioned to carry out this assignment. The Center 

executes the majority of the Agency’s science missions and employs more than 

half of NASA’s scientists and technologists. These specialists work as partners 

to clearly define scientific requirements now and in the future.

Carbon Nanotubes

A prime example of Goddard’s willingness to partner occurred in 2003 when 

technologists, working with researchers at the Ames Research Center, studied 

the feasibility and possible use of nanotube technology in the Hubble Space 

Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) Thermal Interface Kit (STIK), a new 

piece of equipment that astronauts will install on the Hubble Space Telescope 

during the fourth servicing mission. STIK will act as an interface between 

Hubble’s STIS and a new capillary pumped loop designed to divert heat away 

from the spectrograph, which is highly sensitive to excessive heat. Although 

researchers discovered nanotube technology a decade ago, this is the first time 

NASA has seriously considered use of the technology in a space mission. 

Microshutter Array

The Goddard Space Flight Center is pursuing another revolutionary technology — NASA’s first-ever Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) 

sensor that ultimately will fly on the James Webb Space Telescope’s NearInfrared Spectrometer. Featuring millions of microscopic shutters aligned on 

a silicon grid — each no larger than a dust mite — the large-format device 

will perform like the aperture plate on ground-based spectrometers. Ground 

controllers will send commands directing specific shutters in the array to open 

or close, allowing the science instrument to take near-simultaneous spectral 

measurements of specific objects in the telescope’s field of view. This year, the 

microshutter met a critical milestone, successfully demonstrating a fully functional 128 x 64 pixel module. Ultimately, the flight-ready model will contain 175 

x 384 pixel modules. 

Constellation-X, a flagship mission 

of NASA’s “Beyond Einstein” 

program, will measure the velocities 

and conditions of matter falling into 

black holes and will map hot gas 

and dark matter to help determine 

how the universe evolved large-scale 

structures seen in the cosmos today. 

The proposed mission includes 

four spacecraft, each containing a 

1.5-meter diameter telescope for 

measuring the spectra of X-rays. 

To develop the mission, Goddard is 

currently working on technologies 

needed to create a new flight mirror 

assembly, which will allow up to 

100 times more observing power 

within a particular X-ray energy 

band than what current terrestrial 

or spaceborne observatories can 

provide. These technologies include 

the development of a repeatable 

and reliable process for forming, 

assembling, applying gold coating, 

and precisely aligning each of the 

nearly 16,000 mirror segments 

(each with a thickness of about 400 

microns) to sub-millimeter accuracy. 

Goddard technologists have developed this relatively small 

refrigeration system that in the future could be used to cool 

ultra-sensitive detectors required for X-ray, infrared, and 

sub-millimeter missions. The so-called continuous adiabatic 

demagnetization refrigerator pictured here operates 

continuously at temperatures of 50 milliKelvin and below. 

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 Page 19
Continuous Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator 

Miniaturization is vital to the future of Earth and space science missions, as 

demonstrated by the microshutter array and carbon nanotubes. Advanced 

cooling technologies for ultra-sensitive detectors required for X-ray, infrared, 

and sub-millimeter missions, also are critical to missions of the future. Since the 

lifetime requirements for these missions extend well beyond what traditional 

cryogenic systems can handle, Goddard has developed a continuous adiabatic 

demagnetization refrigerator which operates continuously at temperatures of 

50 milliKelvin and below. Currently, technologists are working to fully optimize 

the refrigerator’s performance and demonstrate temperature control at the 

level needed to operate detectors. 

Lightweight Rainfall Radiometer

In the category of developing technology that NASA can use in future 

missions, engineers also reported progress on the next-generation lightweight 

radiometer, which scientists hope to ultimately employ to measure global 

precipitation from space. This year, they flew an experimental Synthetically 

Thinned Aperture Radiometer (STAR) on a DC-8 aircraft. Developed jointly by 

Goddard and the University of Michigan, the instrument performed as planned, 

discriminating between hot and cold temperature differences. 

CANDOS Experiment

On January 31, 2003, Goddard researchers flew another experiment — the 

Communications and Navigation Demonstration on Shuttle (CANDOS) — on 

the Space Shuttle to demonstrate the integrated communications and navigational functions of the Lower Power Transceiver (LPT). Developed by Goddard 

and ITT Industries for the Office of Space Flight, the modular multi-band, multichannel transceiver demonstrated ground- and space-network communications, Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) navigation, mobile IP and IP-in-space, 

space-based range safety, and on-orbit reconfiguration. 

Formation Flying

Another promising technology is formation flying — a key technological innovation required by the Micro-Arcsecond X-Ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM), 

which would directly image a black hole using an X-ray interferometer made 

up of 25 spacecraft. To achieve the mission’s goals, however, NASA must 

perfect the technologies needed for autonomous formation flying. Goddard 

technologists made significant progress this year in key subsystem technologies, including advanced relative navigation, formation control, intersatellite 

communication, formation design, and modeling and simulation. A key element 

in this work is Goddard’s Formation Flying Test Bed (FFTB), which has become 

the predominant facility for evaluating formation-flying technology.

This experimental Synthetically 

Thinned Aperture Radiometer 

(STAR), developed jointly by Goddard 

and the University of Michigan, flew 

on a NASA DC-8 aircraft in 2003. 

An instrument like it could one 

day carry out future global rainfall 

measuring missions. 

Photo courtesy of Jason Link, Washington University

A 39.57 million cubic foot NASA 

scientific balloon carrying the Trans-Iron 

Galactic Element Recorder (TIGER) 

awaits launch near McMurdo Station, 

Antarctica, for its 32 day journey around 

the South Pole. NASA is developing 

balloon systems capable of flying 

science instruments such as TIGER for 

durations of up to 100 days. 

Page 20 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report Page 21
Sensor Webs

Goddard also is exploring the use of sensor webs — a diverse collection of 

instruments performing coordinated, or even collaborative, measurements of 

fires, volcanic eruptions and other natural phenomena. This year, NASA investigators, working with the NASA Wildfire Response team, demonstrated the 

concept by establishing a network including instruments on Aqua, Terra, and 

EO-1. The team also employed an innovative software application, the Science 

Goal Monitor (SGM), to analyze instrument data and flag those of interest. 

When a fire was identified, SGM analyzed Aqua and Terra fire data to isolate 

the latest center of activity and then it automatically coordinated with mission 

planning systems to request and analyze a high-priority, high-resolution image 

from EO-1. Forest officials received the high-resolution image within 48 hours. 

Currently, the typical lead-time for preplanned observations is up to 14 days. 

NASA’s ability to fuse satellite data is 

proving valuable to land management 

experts. In this photo, U.S. Forest Service 

personnel are assessing post-forest fire 

damage, using Burned Areas Reflectance 

Classification maps created from fused 

NASA satellite data. Maps such as 

these help Burned Area Emergency 

Rehabilitation teams direct treatments 

for high-risk areas while making efficient 

use of available resources.

Goddard researchers flew this experiment — the 

Communications and Navigation Demonstration on Shuttle 

(CANDOS) — to test the integrated communications and 

navigational functions of a new modular multiband, multichannel transceiver developed by Goddard and ITT Industries. 



Page 22 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report
A

Reaching Out to Others

As NASA works toward returning to flight, it faces another challenge that 

could affect the Agency’s ability to carry out its vision and mission in the future. 

The NASA workforce is getting older and fewer young people who are U.S. 

citizens are choosing technical careers. At the Goddard Space Flight Center, 

for example, more than 40 percent of the scientists are now 55 or older, while 

fewer than 15 percent of the engineers are younger than 35. In other words, 

Goddard is facing a critical loss of technical expertise and a very real challenge 

of replacing it. 

To correct the imbalance and inspire future generations to pursue careers 

in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, NASA has charged 

the newly-created Education Enterprise with inspiring the next generation 

of explorers. Within a year, the new enterprise had instituted several new 

programs designed to fill the pipeline with professionals NASA needs to carry 

out its mission. 

Explorer Schools

One of the most ambitious programs launched in 2003 was the NASA Explorer 

Schools Program, a 3-year initiative that exposes middle-school–age students 

to the application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to 

real-world problems, while providing educators with customized training in 

technology-based teaching techniques, critical thinking, and curriculum development. 

As part of the program, NASA provides one-on-one in-service support to 

each of the Explorer Schools and funds a variety of professional development 

programs during the summer. Unlike any other NASA Center, Goddard also 

has committed to providing a minimum of 60 days of in-service support, as 

well as scientific support to each of its five Explorer schools in Vermont, 

Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Washington, D.C. By investing 

more time with teachers and students, Goddard educational professionals 

hope to significantly improve technical literacy at these schools.

Astronaut Don Pettit, who had 

recently returned from a 4-month 

stay on the International Space 

Station, visited students, teachers, 

and parents at Anne Beers 

Elementary School as part of 

Goddard’s “Blast Back to School” 

program. The special event, which 

included the distribution of NASAinspired school supplies, was held 

to recognize the school’s selection 

as 1 of the 50 NASA Explorer 

Schools, a 3-year program aimed 

at sparking innovative science and 

math instruction in middle schools.

In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling 

Exhibition Service, this year the Goddard Visitor Center 

debuted its new exhibit, “Hubble Space Telescope: New Views 

of the Universe.” The exhibit includes Hubble images of 

planets, galaxies, black holes, and many interactive displays, 

including a computer simulation that allows visitors to hit 

Jupiter with a comet. 



 Page 25
NASA/JASON Project Channel Island Mission

Meanwhile, across the country in the Channel Islands, Goddard put its remote 

sensing technology to work as part of the JASON XIV: From Shore to Sea 

expedition in January 2003. Begun in 1989, the JASON Project unites scientists 

with 34,000 teachers and 1.7 million 4th to 9th-grade students in hands-on 

scientific field expeditions. This year, the students used data from four NASA 

satellites (Terra, Aqua, Landsat 7, and SeaStar) and an Uninhabited Aerial 

Vehicle (UAV) equipped with cameras and thermal sensors to collect data and 

monitor sea surface temperatures, vegetation, and productivity. Students and 

teachers also used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 

data to monitor chlorophyll concentrations and derive fluorescence in the 

Channel Islands area off the coast of California. JASON participants across 

the country used Goddard’s newly developed Image Composite Editor tool to 

manipulate satellite data, which is later compared with plane and ground-based 

observation measurements. With this information, the students were able to 

determine the abundance, condition, and variability of life in the area during El 

Niño conditions. 

Remote Sensing Earth Science Teacher Program (RSESTeP)

Seventeen JASON Project teachers from across the U.S. then visited Goddard 

in the summer for a week-long training workshop to learn how to use remote 

sensing techniques to plan and implement local Earth science missions with 

their students. As part of the new Remote Sensing Earth Science Teacher 

Program, Goddard and Wallops supplied the teachers and their students 

with local satellite data, a GPS receiver, temperature sensors, and a handheld 

weather station, in addition to a remote-controlled UAV plane equipped with a 

video camera and a thermal infrared imager. In partnership with local scientists 

and pilots, teachers were able to implement local Earth science missions with 

students. In exchange, the teachers are helping Goddard education specialists 

develop an RSESTeP mission module. 

Outreach in the Big Apple

Goddard also made headway among students of all ages in the New York City 

area. In 2003, Goddard launched the New York City Research Initiative, which 

pairs high school and undergraduate students and teachers with graduate 

students and principal investigators who are conducting NASA-funded 

research at universities within a 50-mile radius of the city. At the request of a 

city councilman, Goddard is also assisting with the formulation and implementation of an after-school enrichment program to expose high school students 

to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Many of these students 

were personally affected by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. 

And in 2003, Goddard provided educational materials to the New York City 

New Century High School Project, a charter school network supported in 

part by a $51 million grant from the Bill Gates Foundation. The school project 

also is discussing the possibility of establishing one of its high schools as a 

NASA science, technology, engineering, and mathematics high school. 

Promoting Technical Careers

To expose students to careers important to NASA, Goddard prepared a 

mock-up Web site for the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, a 

nonprofit organization that promotes high-quality, standards-based education 

in the state. Still under development, the Web site will introduce 9th-grade 

students to Goddard information technologists, scientists, and engineers, and 

allow them to explore what these people do to earn a living. Encouraging 

students to make more informed course selection decisions during their high 

school years is the goal of this program.

A 75-foot Mercury Redstone rocket, 

which launched the first Americans 

into space, and a full-size replica of the 

Wright Flyer, seen in the foreground, 

served as centerpieces for “GE Presents 

Centennial of Flight at Rockefeller 

Center,” held July 28–Aug 17, 2003 

in New York City. The two models, 

representing the first 100 years of 

powered flight, were placed on the same 

site as the world famous Rockefeller 

Center Christmas tree.

Goddard-region JASON student 

argonaut Jessica Mahamood, prepares 

NASA’s UAV for mission flight.

GSFC engineer Patrick Coronado 

instructs JASON Project teachers in 

how to attach UAV wing aileron wires.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Splaine/, JASON Foundation

Page 26 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report Page 27
Students with Disabilities

This year also proved productive in efforts to reach out to those with disabilities. Goddard Director A.V. Diaz attended the annual National Federation of 

the Blind convention and gave the keynote address encouraging the blind 

to consider entering scientific and mathematical fields. The NASA Office 

of Space Science also helped to fund the production of a new Braille book 

featuring images by the Hubble Space Telescope. The 64-page book, titled 

Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy, presents color images 

of planets, nebulae, stars, and galaxies, each embossed with lines, bumps, and 

other textures. Finally, during the summer of 2003, Goddard hosted a national 

teacher workshop on how to use NASA educational materials with special 

populations. 

Goddard professionals learned 

firsthand what it is like to be physically 

impaired in a one-of-a-kind workshop 

held at the Goddard in 2003. Goddard Director A. V. Diaz and a blind student read through a 

copy of NASA’s print/Braille tactile-image book, Touch the Universe: 

A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy, at a book release event held 

at the National Federation of the Blind’s national headquarters 

in Baltimore. More than 30 blind school children — including 

Baltimore City public school children, Loyola High School students, 

and students from the Maryland School for the Blind — were on 

hand to celebrate the release of the book.

Page 28 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report
P

Goddard Space Flight Center Financials

Progress with NASA’s Integrated Financial Management Program 

The Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP) is an Agency-wide effort 

to improve NASA’s management of its financial, physical, and human resources 

through the implementation and use of multiple enterprise applications. Begun 

in 2001 and scheduled for completion in 2006, the program has reached a 

significant milestone with the three-phased implementation of the Core 

Financial module in FY 2003.

This Core Financial module provides the Agency with standards for a broad 

range of accounting and budgetary processes and financial reporting. It is the 

backbone of the IFM system, supporting improved information exchange with 

end-users and stakeholders. It also serves as the technical underpinning for 

NASA’s eCommerce and eGovernment initiatives and, as such, will play a key 

role in improving financial management at Goddard Space Flight Center and 

throughout the Agency. 

Specifically, the Core Financial module will support a number of functions:

• Enabling regulatory compliance more efficiently;

• Establishing standard management and reporting business processes across 

NASA;

• Updating technology to increase efficiency, functionality, and flexibility;

• Implementing a single, integrated information and financial management 

system;

• Providing automated audit trails, data processing, reporting, and security 

measures;

• Implementing full cost accounting agency-wide on a timely basis; and

• Providing current, reliable reports to internal customers (e.g., management) 

and external customers (e.g., Congress, OPM, OMB, and the Department of 

the Treasury).

In October 2003, Goddard Space Flight Center also implemented Release 0.5a 

of the Budget Formulation module. The Center is expected to roll out Release 

0.5b and Release 1.0 in February and June 2004, respectively. When fully implemented, the Budget Formulation module will provide a “decision support” 

tool to formulate project, program, institutional, enterprise, and Agency-level 

budget requirements. This tool also will promote full-cost management and 

A demonstration is shown of a novel light-weight, 

compact, rugged, and broad wavelength fiber laser 

system for use in several space applications.



Civil Service Staffing

Scientist & Engineer 58.7%

Professional/Admin. 26.2%

Clerical 7.1%

Technician 6.6%

Wage Grade 1.4%

 Page 31
real-time decision-making. When integrated with the Core Financial module, 

the Budget Formulation module will provide budget execution controls within 

the Core Financial applications.

After implementing five of nine scheduled enterprise modules, IFMP is well on 

its way to reengineering NASA’s business infrastructure using industry bestpractices and enabling technology to provide necessary management information to support NASA’s strategic plan. 

Total Goddard Funding FY2003 ($M)

Space Science 1,353.5

Earth Science 993.2

Biological and Physical Research 2.6

Aeronautics 6.9

Education Programs 90.4

Space Flight 57.2

Crosscutting Technologies 85.2

Reimbursables 286.2

TOTAL 2,875.2

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Total Prime 

Contract Awards 

for FY 2003

GSFC Top 10 

Nonprofit Institutions 

for FY 2003

GSFC Leading 

Contractors for 

FY 2003

Page 32 2003 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Annual Report Page 33
Goddard Aerospace Education 

Services Program instructor Ron 

Ernst gives a lecture to middle 

school students at the Brookhaven 

National Labs Museum in Upton, 

Long Island, NY.

Goddard Space Flight Center

A Year in Review

Goddard Director A. V. Diaz and 

Langley Research Center Director 

Roy Bridges sign a Memorandum 

of Understanding to strengthen and 

formalize a strategic relationship 

between the two Centers in the areas 

of science mission management and 

system design and implementation. 

The two Directors signed the MOU 

during the One NASA Workshop held 

at GSFC in November 2003.

Federal highway 

safety officials 

came to NASA, 

testing a variety of 

ordinary cars and 

SUVs on the space 

agency’s giant 

centrifuge. 

NASA Administator Sean O’Keefe 

visited Goddard for an important NASA 

update to all Agency employees on the 

topic of Return to Flight.

ABOVE: Officials from the National Federation 

of the Blind, including Dr. Betsy Zaborowski, NFB 

director of special programs, Dr. Marc Mauer, 

NFB president and Mr. Jim Gashel, Director of 

Governmental Affairs, tour GSFC facilities. 

NASA’s Associate Administrator for 

Education Dr. Adena Loston reviews 

a bulletin board created by a NASA 

Explorer School teacher during a 

week-long summer workshop held 

at Goddard. 

An illustration of ice sheet 

elevation and cloud data from 

ICESat’s Geoscience Laser 

Altimeter System (GLAS) 

on its first day of operation, 

February 20, 2003. 

Barry Green, Goddard Energy Manager 

(far left), receives a plaque from 

former EPA Administrator Christine 

Todd Whitman at the dedication of 

the Landfill Gas Project at Goddard. 

Holding a Certificate of Appreciation 

presented to NASA by the EPA are 

NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe (far 

right) and Goddard Director A. V. Diaz.

TOP: The first Quality of Work Life Expo 

took place in April 2003, which was a 

day-long event of activities and booths 

representing the various clubs, organizations, 

and benefit offerings at Goddard. 
National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

NP-2004-6-642-GSFC