National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2019 ANNUAL REPORT

SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Bringing the Universe Into View Since 1959

www.nasa.gov
ii

WE

BEGIN WITH SCIENCE . . . .AND END WITH SCIENCE

C O N C E I V E

D E S I G N

B U I L D

T E S T

L A U N C H

O P E R A T E

A N A L Y Z E

S H A R E

I N T E G R A T E

SCIENCE

THE GODDARD PROJECT 

LIFE CYCLE

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An interactive version of this report is also 

posted on Issuu.com.
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World-Class Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

A Message From the Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Our Celebration: Goddard’s 60th Anniversary . . . . . . . . . 4

2019 in Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Our Focus Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Applied Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

Goddard Explores: Moon To Mars Effort . . . . . . . . . . 12

Communications Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

IV&V Renaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Highlights of Fiscal 2019 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Our Lines of Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 

Earth Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

Astrophysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Heliophysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Planetary Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Space Communications and Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Suborbital Programs and Range Services . . . . . . . . . . 24

Orbital Servicing and Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Our Life @ Goddard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Public Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

Our People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Economic Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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xpert in the study of our world, the solar system and beyond, NASA’s 

Goddard Space Flight Center has been working since 1959 to increase 

scientific understanding, answer humanity’s big questions, and benefit the 

society and communities we serve. The center’s work in science, engineering, 

technology and communications strengthens our ability to envision the origins 

of life, preserve our way of living and chart our place in the universe. We 

identify requirements and innovations; design, build and launch spacecraft; and 

manage and support entire space missions. Our foundational communications 

infrastructure enables NASA and others to retrieve knowledge from space, 

share it with diverse stakeholders and apply it to society in countless ways.

OVER 10,000 PEOPLE

World-Class Organization

2

E

SIX UNIQUE SITES
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 or the past 60 years, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has taken on 

some of the most compelling questions about the nature of our universe and 

provided critical information about the weather, climate and environment 

here on Earth. In six decades, our work has yielded countless achievements 

and discoveries that have moved humanity forward. 

Since our beginnings in 1959, we have supported NASA’s efforts in human 

spaceflight, from the Mercury and Gemini programs and Apollo lunar 

landings to today’s International Space Station expeditions and tomorrow’s 

Artemis program. With the world’s largest concentration of scientists and 

engineers dedicated to the study of Earth and space, Goddard has produced 

hundreds of groundbreaking missions. We have modeled Earth’s ongoing 

changes; worked on characterizing the Sun, moons and planets comprising 

our solar system; and begun to explain how the first stars and galaxies may 

have evolved over billions of years. 

This year, Goddard’s body of work continued to build upon our legacy of 

success. Aligned with national priorities, our highlights include the OSIRISREx asteroid sample return mission, which reached its target site; the TESS 

satellite that returned data on dozens of planets outside our solar system 

that may be capable of supporting life; and the recently launched ICESat-2 

Earth-observing sentinel, which has collected over a trillion measurements 

of our planet’s ice and forests. 

We also made significant progress on flagship missions of the future. Select 

components of the James Webb Space Telescope—which will be the most 

powerful space telescope ever built—were integrated together for the first 

time as testing continues toward launch in 2021. Furthermore, Goddard will 

play a leading role in the agency’s next solar system mission, Dragonfly, 

which is designed to explore the prebiotic organic chemistry of Saturn’s 

largest moon, Titan. 

By 2024, NASA is chartered to send the next man and first woman to the 

surface of the Moon—the start of a sustained presence—before eventually 

setting off to Mars. As these visionary projects are developed, the center’s 

expertise will be critical. Goddard’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been 

providing vital data about the Moon’s surface for the past decade, while 

the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite aboard the Mars Curiosity 

rover and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission have been 

examining the surface and atmospheric conditions of the Red Planet. 

I invite you to read the report that follows, which highlights our 

accomplishments over the past year and more. It also provides a general 

blueprint for where we are headed. The nature of exploration itself means 

there is always more to achieve and more truths to discover. 

As we look back at the last 60 years and accept the challenges of the decades 

ahead, we use our past as precedent, knowing there is no limit to what we 

can accomplish in the universe.

George W. Morrow

 Center Director (Acting)

A MESSAGE FROM

THE DIRECTOR

F
When then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the executive 

order that established NASA in 1958, leaders soon realized the need 

for a new facility to house the nation’s brightest space scientists and 

engineers now part of the fledgling agency. Thus began our history as 

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on May 1, 1959.

Space exploration was still in its infancy, but NASA came to rely on its 

first spaceflight center to expand and enhance its capabilities. Project 

Mercury—the nation’s first human spaceflight program—commenced less 

than a year before we began operations, and NASA called on Goddard to 

provide the program’s computing center for its communications network. 

We would go on to develop and operate the communications networks 

for Project Gemini and for the Apollo Moon landings while also pioneering 

robotic scientific spacecraft, further demonstrating our indispensability to 

Our Celebration

NASA’s early ambitions.

INTO REALITY

SIXTY YEARS OF TURNING

DREAMS AND HOPES

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5

Six Locations

Nationwide

Plus many other 

locations worldwide

*Goddard-managed ground communications stations

^Goddard-assumed management

GODDARD

Greenbelt

Campus

Maryland

Las Cruces, New Mexico

WHITE SANDS COMPLEX

Est.1978*

Est.1959

Est.1945

Wallops Island, Virginia

WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY

Palestine, Texas

COLUMBIA SCIENTIFIC BALLOON FACILITY

Est.1961

New York, New York

GODDARD INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES

Est.1961

Est.1993^

Fairmont, West Virginia

KATHERINE JOHNSON INDEPENDENT

VERIFICATION & VALIDATION FACILITY

The Father of

Modern Rocketry

ROBERT H.

GODDARD

Although the trajectory of exploration has changed considerably since those early days, 

Goddard is more critical than 

ever to NASA’s mission.

As the focus on space science 

has developed alongside human 

spaceflight efforts, Goddard has 

been leading the way in bringing 

the universe into view. Our modest beginnings with programs 

such as Project Vanguard have 

evolved to encompass more 

than 300 missions and 800 patents—as well as a Nobel Prize. 

We are NASA’s preeminent 

science center, executing the 

agency’s most complex science 

missions, enabling transformational research, and improving 

lives daily through the exploration of Earth and space. 

Our engineering and project 

management leadership bolsters 

our unique ability to conceive, 

build, integrate, test, launch and 

operate spacecraft and science 

instruments of all sizes and to all 

destinations. Our partnerships 

with other federal agencies, industry and academia; our efforts 

to inspire the next generation of 

explorers; and the application of 

our innovative technologies and 

scientific research all have profound impacts on society and 

move Earth and space exploration forward.

As our namesake, rocketry pioneer Robert H. Goddard, famously said, “It is difficult to 

say what is impossible, for the 

dream of yesterday is the hope 

of today and the reality of tomorrow.” No place exemplifies 

his words better than the NASA 

center that bears his name.

Over six decades, Goddard has grown from 1,200 acres in Greenbelt, 

Maryland, to an organization comprising five additional sites across the 

country. Our collective capabilities today include the talented workforces 

of Wallops Flight Facility, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Katherine 

Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility, White Sands 

Complex, and Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility.
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2019 IN FIGURES ICESat-2

TESS

Direct GSFC Budget: $3.9B

BUDGET:

$4.9B

Reimbursable GSFC Budget: $1.0B

ONE GODDARD

3,000+ 6,000+ 1,000+

CIVIL

SERVANTS

ON-SITE

CONTRACTORS

OTHERS

MORE THAN 10,000+ PEOPLE

(Including off-site contractors, emeritus employees and interns)

Japan Aerospace

Exploration Agency

7AGENCIES

Joint Agency Satellites

(From other government and nongovernment entities)

BEST PLACES

TO WORK IN THE FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT

#1NASA RANKED OUT OF

17 LARGE AGENCIES

(Seventh Consecutive Year)

(2018 Rankings)

#16 GODDARD RANKED OUT OF

415 AGENCY SUBCOMPONENT

ORGANIZATIONS

(Second-Highest Among NASA Centers)

315

BILLION

LASER SHOTS FIRED

32EXOPLANETS

DISCOVERED

FIRSTS

GODDARD

Observation of a

star-shedding

black hole

TESS

High-resolution

measurements of an

interplanetary shock 

MMS

Detection of water

vapor on a habitable

zone exoplanet 

Hubble

TRANSITING

SURVEY SATELLITE

EXOPLANET
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75COUNTRIES PARTICIPATED IN INTERNATIONAL

OBSERVE THE MOON NIGHT, LED BY GODDARD

ON BEHALF OF NASA

3 NEW

EXHIBITS

41,113 TOTAL

VISITORS

40 50

High school

students attend

STEM Girls Night In event

High school

students attend first

STEM Boys Night In event

Closest

orbit of a

planetary body

Smallest

object ever

orbited

Goddard Visitor Center

NASA MISSIONS SUPPORTED 15

46 SEVERITY-ONE ISSUES IDENTIFIED

Figures are for fiscal 2019 unless noted otherwise.

IV&V FACILITY

KATHERINE JOHNSON

1,700+

BALLOONS LAUNCHED

SINCE 1961 FOR:

35 Universities

23 Research Agencies

33 Foreign Groups

articles posted

to NASA .gov

508

videos uploaded

to YouTube

126

launches

since 1945

116,000+

WALLOPS

FLIGHT

FACILITY

(GREENBELT)

17 BALLOON

MISSIONS

1,000+ AIRCRAFT

FLIGHT

HOURS

2ISS RESUPPLY 

MISSIONS 

SUPPORTED

20 SOUNDING

ROCKET

LAUNCHES

Est.1961

COLUMBIA

SCIENTIFIC

BALLOON

FACILITY

selected to analyze

unopened Apollo

samples

TWO TEAMS

2

Guinness

World

Records
8

EARTH SCIENCE

Our Focus Areas

ASTROPHYSICS

HELIOPHYSICS

PLANETARY SCIENCE

THIS IS SCIENCE

We observe and study Earth’s system to further scientific understanding 

of our home planet and to improve predictions of its evolving state due 

to human behavior and natural changes.

We investigate the universe through astronomy, astrophysics and 

fundamental physics on issues such as dark matter and energy, life-harboring 

planets and black holes.

We study the Sun and how it influences and affects the space environment—

ours and those of the other planets in our solar system—and in turn, the 

technology we send into space.

We investigate the planets, moons and small objects in the solar system and 

beyond, including their evolution, inner structures and forces that alter them.

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CROSS-CUTTING TECHNOLOGIES

OTHER ENABLING CAPABILITIES

SPACE COMMUNICATIONS AND 

NAVIGATION

SUBORBITAL PROGRAMS AND 

RANGE SERVICES

Sensor Systems and Instrument Platforms

Goddard builds instruments for missions, ranging from subsystems—such as detectors and optical 

elements—to full instruments and complex instrument suites.

Large-Scale Scientific Information Systems, Data Processing and Dissemination

Goddard designs and implements custom, large-scale data systems and supercomputing applications 

for high-performance computing and archiving of a wide range of science data.

Orbital Servicing and Assembly

Goddard services enable extended mission operations, reconfiguration and recovery, including in-orbit 

spacecraft refueling and repair, assembling large structures in orbit and enabling modular designs.

We develop systems, technologies and services in support of science, exploration and space operations missions that are near Earth and in deep space.

We manage programs and services for sounding rockets, balloons, aircraft and commercial space, 

including NASA’s only owned-and-operated launch facility—Wallops Launch Range.

Program and Project Management

Goddard conducts effective, tailored management and cost estimation, maintains schedules, develops technology, manages risk, and assures outcomes for missions and their supporting elements 

and services.

End-to-End Mission Systems Architecture and Engineering

Goddard addresses the full life cycles of science missions, spacecraft, in situ and remote-sensing 

instruments, and payloads, from advanced concepts through implementation.

Safety and Mission Assurance

Goddard is a recognized leader in safety and mission assurance with a lengthy history of implementing 

effective and innovative approaches to reduce risk and enable mission success.
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 oddard employs expert teams of scientists and engineers to manage its 

complex missions. Many of these missions have revolutionized our fundamental 

understanding of how our own planet functions as an interconnected system. 

People continue to find ways of applying NASA’s view of Earth to everyday life. 

Applied science activities link researchers across the Goddard Earth Sciences 

Division with end users and foster interagency collaborations and external 

partnerships. Such collaborations produce practical and innovative uses for 

Earth observations to benefit society, such as crop yield forecasts and other 

decision-support tools. 

In addition, NASA has a long history of transferring technology to the private 

sector. “Spinoffs” are commercial products and services derived from NASA 

technology or improved through NASA partnerships. These technologies—

developed for the study of space and Earth—have generated billions of dollars 

in both revenue and saved costs combined, created tens of thousands of jobs, 

and improved quality of living across the United States and around the world. 

G

Applied Science

HELPING HUMANKIND

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BRINGING NASA 

DOWN TO EARTH
11

A joint campaign led by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality, 

FIREX-AQ, is targeting broad questions about the chemical and physical properties 

of smoke from fire, how it is measured and how it changes from the moment of 

combustion to its final dissipation hundreds or thousands of miles downwind. All 

of these have implications for public health. 

The availability of water plays a vital role in food 

security. Goddard satellites inform agricultural decisions by monitoring changes in the volume and flow 

of water in Earth’s atmosphere, land surfaces and 

underground aquifers.

Using data from Landsat 8, a collaboration between Goddard and the U.S. Geological Survey, first responders were able to better track water levels and evacuate 

residents during floods in the Midwest in March 2019.

Compact spectrometers, such as the 

one pictured, are unveiling clues to 

diagnose cancer. They were developed from a similar device used in the 

1990s to detect planets outside of our 

solar system.

Since 2016, Oscar trophies have been 

plated in gold using a technique that 

was improved in part for the Mars 

Orbiter Laser Altimeter. The same plating was used for the cooling tube on 

the interior of the James Webb Space 

Telescope because of its reflective and 

tarnish-proof properties.

-1 0

Soil Moisture (May 16-18, 2018)

1
12

Space Communications: A mission to the Moon would be impossible without 

the communications networks managed and operated by Goddard. These networks provide data return, tracking, telemetry and command to missions, from 

launch all the way to lunar orbit. Goddard is also developing next-generation 

technology to allow astronauts to connect with Earth faster than ever before, 

beginning with the Artemis II mission. (See diagram on page 13.) 

Orbital Servicing and Assembly: Through satellite servicing missions, Goddard 

is developing and demonstrating technology for servicing spacecraft, as well as 

performing manufacturing and assembly, in orbit. These capabilities are a necessity for building and maintaining NASA’s lunar outpost, the Gateway.

Instrument and Spacecraft Development: Goddard has a storied legacy of 

developing reliable instruments and spacecraft for robotic missions. The center 

applies this expertise and catalog of existing technology to instrument development for exploration missions. 

Interplanetary Navigation: Goddard astrophysicists today are developing the 

ability to navigate accurately in deep space using pulsars, similar to how GPS 

enables navigation on Earth. 

Space Weather and Radiation: Goddard’s solar science missions provide detailed data about space weather and solar radiation. What we learn helps scientists understand how to keep astronauts, instruments and spacecraft safe from 

the devastating effects of the Sun and the space environment. 

Planetary Environments: Discoveries like those enabled by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s high-resolution, topographical maps of the Moon will help 

determine a safe landing location on the Moon, while our Earth scientists’ environmental expertise will give astronauts knowledge they need about the water, 

Goddard Explores

atmosphere and geology at their destinations. 

OUR CONTRIBUTIONS

MOON TO MARS EFFORT

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13

LCRD

TDRS

ORION

GATEWAY

ISS

HOW WE DO IT

Space Network (SN)

SN is a constellation of 10 Earth-orbiting Tracking and 

Data Relay Satellites and four ground terminal locations 

that collectively provide a continuous global link 

between spacecraft and the ground.

Optical Communications

As the center of excellence for optical communications, 

Goddard is implementing next-generation 

communications infrastructure that uses infrared waves 

to deliver more data at a time—while using smaller, 

lighter and more power-efficient systems. 

NASA Communications Network 

(NASCOM)

NASCOM is the central nervous system connected to all 

of NASA’s communications circuits. NASCOM transports 

and delivers data to control centers and data centers, 

which process and disseminate the data for the scientific 

community, other agencies and the public.

Near Earth Network (NEN)

NEN is a series of more than 15 globally located 

NASA-owned and contracted commercial ground terminals 

that provides comprehensive communications services to 

satellites from near-Earth orbit to a million miles from Earth.

The International Space Station 

and Commercial Crew Program 

are two human spaceflight 

endeavors that use the Tracking 

and Data Relay Satellite System 

(TDRS) for their communications 

with Earth. The system uses radio 

waves, or radio frequency (RF), to 

communicate with spacecraft and

relay data back to Earth. 

The Laser Communications 

Relay Demonstration (LCRD) 

will test optical communications 

between the ISS and Earth. As 

part of its mission, LCRD will 

communicate with the 

Integrated LCRD Low-Earth 

Orbit User Modem and 

Amplifier Terminal—or 

ILLUMA-T—an optical 

module that will launch

to the space station in

the early 2020s. LCRD 

will launch aboard the 

U.S. Air Force Space 

Test Program 

Satellite-6. 

Goddard is working on 

optical communications 

between Earth and the 

yet-to-launch Artemis 

missions to the Moon. The 

Orion Artemis II Optical 

Communications System— 

or O2O—will prepare

the technology for 

implementation on 

future missions. TDRS 

and the Goddardmanaged Near Earth 

Network, which 

also uses RF, will 

also support 

Orion at 

different 

points in its 

mission.

Goddard 

networks

will provide 

communications 

and navigation 

support to the 

agency’s Gateway, 

a platform that will 

enable sustained 

lunar presence.

TDRS

COMMERCIAL

CREW VEHICLE

SN

LASER

LASER

NEN

SN

LASER

BENEFITS OF

NEW TECHNOLOGY

Better Data Rates

Goddard is working on implementing several new 

communications technologies that will deliver more data at a 

time to Earth. NEN is constructing new antennas that can 

communicate via Ka-band to support the higher data 

requirements of new science missions. Optical 

communications also transmit more data at a time through

its higher infrared electromagnetic frequency. 

Size, Weight and Power Efficiencies

Optical communications can enable better data rates, and its 

systems can be much smaller than current RF systems. Optical 

telescopes on the ground can be as small as a few inches, while 

RF antennas are at least several meters in diameter.

Technology Transfer

NASA-developed technologies are often transferred to the 

private sector for the public's benefit. One of NASA’s goals 

is to transfer space communications technologies to the 

private sector, including the technology for optical 

communications payloads and ground stations.

Industry Partnerships

Working with industry provides economic benefits to NASA 

and helps infuse emerging commercial technologies into the 

agency’s space communications capabilities. These 

collaborations also create jobs within industry.

13

COMMUNICATIONS

LEADERSHIP
14

ince its inception more than a quarter-century ago, the Independent 

Verification & Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, has provided 

software safety and assurance services for some of NASA’s most important 

missions, including the Space Shuttle Program, International Space Station 

and now the Artemis lunar exploration program.

On July 2, 2019, the facility was renamed in honor of NASA mathematician 

and West Virginia native Katherine Johnson, who played key roles during 

some of the agency’s early human spaceflight endeavors. Her story, along 

with those of fellow mathematicians Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan, 

IV&V Renaming

was documented in the 2016 film “Hidden Figures.”

KATHERINE JOHNSON

INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION

& VALIDATION FACILITY

HONORING THE BEST

14

S
15

HIGHLIGHTS OF FISCAL 2019

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility launched a 

significantly larger number of suborbital 

missions in fiscal 2019 compared to past years. 

These included 20 sounding rockets, 17 highaltitude balloons and about 1,000 aircraft flight 

hours. Three scientific balloons were launched 

from Antarctica, with one super-pressure 

balloon setting a pathfinder flight record of 

76 days. Wallops also managed 30 CubeSat 

missions and launched two resupply missions 

to the International Space Station, one of which 

included a payload for the orbiting laboratory.

SUBORBITAL

Wallops

Launches

The James Webb Space Telescope—an 

international project led by NASA with its 

partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and 

the Canadian Space Agency—will observe the 

formation of the first stars and galaxies and help 

discover how they have evolved over billions 

of years. In August 2019, all elements of the 

telescope were assembled for the first time at 

a Northrop Grumman facility in California. It 

will be the most powerful space telescope ever 

built upon its completion and launch in 2021.

ASTRO

Webb

Less than a year after its launch in September 

2018, the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation 

Satellite-2 (ICESat-2)—with the Goddarddeveloped Advanced Topographic Laser 

Altimeter System, or ATLAS, aboard—collected 

more than a trillion new measurements on 

Earth’s glaciers, sea ice, forests and more, 

allowing scientists to track the slightest changes 

in our planet’s polar regions. ICESat-2 has far 

surpassed the 2 billion measurements taken by 

its predecessor, ICESat, which operated from 

2003 through 2009.

EARTH

ICESat-2

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource 

Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer 

(OSIRIS-REx) launched in 2016 to return a sample 

from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu by 2023. The 

mission reached its target in December 2018 

and has identified potential sites for sample 

acquisition. Upon the arrival of OSIRIS-REx, 

Bennu became the smallest celestial body ever 

orbited by a spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx also set a 

record for the closest orbit of a planetary body 

by a spacecraft. 

OSIRIS-REx 

PLANETARY
16

HIGHLIGHTS OF FISCAL 2019

NASA selected Dragonfly as the fourth addition 

to its New Frontiers program—a series of space 

exploration missions designed to research 

bodies in the solar system. A rover-size, dronelike 

vehicle, Dragonfly will explore the prebiotic 

organic chemistry of Titan—Saturn’s largest 

moon. Scheduled to launch in 2026, the mission 

includes several partners. Goddard will build the 

Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer, a key instrument 

that will analyze samples collected from the 

surface.

PLANETARY

Dragonfly

The Hubble Space Telescope continues its 

legacy as the most productive scientific mission 

in NASA’s history, still providing discoveries 29 

years after launch. In September 2019, Hubble 

detected water vapor for the first time on an 

exoplanet in a habitable zone—the region around 

a star in which liquid water could potentially 

pool on the surface of a rocky planet. Earlier in 

December 2018, Hubble celebrated the 25th 

anniversary of the first its five servicing missions, 

which collectively extended and enhanced the 

telescope’s scientific capabilities.

ASTRO

Hubble

NASA’s Space Environment Testbeds (SET) 

mission, which launched in June 2019, studies 

how energetic particles from the Sun or deep 

space can affect spacecraft over time, providing 

valuable information on how to better protect 

spacecraft and improve their design, engineering 

and operations. The mission is equipped with 

a space weather monitor and Goddard-built 

experiments to characterize such effects. SET is 

part of the Goddard-managed Living With a Star 

program, which explores aspects of the Sun-Earth 

system that directly affect life and society. 

The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem 

(PACE) mission will measure the distribution of 

phytoplankton and other organisms that sustain 

the marine food web and augment existing 

measurements of key atmospheric variables 

associated with air quality and Earth’s climate. 

The mission—whose spacecraft bus and primary 

instrument, the Ocean Color Instrument, will be 

built at Goddard—was approved to begin the 

implementation phase of its life cycle. The PACE 

team is moving ahead with its proposed plan in 

preparation for a 2022 launch.

EARTH

PACE

HELIO

SET
17

The Visualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral Atom 

Sensing-2 (VISIONS-2) rockets launched from 

Norway in December 2018 to study atmospheric 

escape, the process by which Earth’s atmosphere 

slowly leaks into space. Understanding this 

process may provide insight into determining the 

habitability potential of other planets or how the 

Martian landscape became exposed and desolate. 

VISIONS-2 is supported through the NASA 

Sounding Rocket Program, which is managed by 

the NASA Heliophysics Division, at NASA’s Wallops 

Flight Facility. 

The Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3), launched 

in December 2018, is developing tools and 

techniques for storing and replenishing cryogenic 

spacecraft fuel. The ability to resupply cryogens 

in space could minimize the amount of fuel that 

spacecraft are required to carry from Earth, 

enabling them to travel farther and operate longer. 

RRM3 builds on previous phases, which practiced 

preparatory operations for robotically refueling 

spacecraft. It has accomplished several objectives, 

including the longest-ever in-space storage of 

cryogenic fluid with zero loss—four months.

TECHNOLOGY

RRM3

Launched in April 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet 

Survey Satellite (TESS) is searching for planets 

outside our solar system-known as exoplanets—

some of which may even be capable of supporting 

life. The mission completed one year of surveying 

the southern sky in July 2019, discovering more 

than two dozen such exoplanets. TESS has also 

identified more than 1,000 candidate exoplanets 

that are awaiting confirmation from ground-based 

telescopes. It has now turned its attention to the 

northern sky to continue the most comprehensive 

planet-hunting expedition to date.

ASTRO

TESS

Launched in December 2018, the Goddarddeveloped Global Ecosystem Dynamics 

Investigation Lidar (GEDI) is helping scientists 

create the first 3D map of the world’s temperate 

and tropical forests. From its vantage point aboard 

the International Space Station, GEDI is collecting 

information on forests worldwide, including their 

height, the density of their branches, and the 

vertical and horizontal distribution of their foliage. 

The collective data provide insights into Earth’s 

carbon cycle by fostering a better understanding 

of how forests store carbon.

EARTH

GEDI

SUBORBITAL

VISIONS-2
18

We help answer crucial science questions through complex missions 

that depend on dedicated and innovative teams to develop pioneering 

technologies. Goddard is one of the few organizations worldwide that 

manages missions from the concept phase through operations, utilizing 

internal, partner and industry expertise and resources along the way. 

The depth and expertise of our scientists, engineers, technologists, project 

managers and support personnel form the foundation of our unique strength. 

With our leadership in scientific research and instrument and spacecraft 

development, the center has a renowned capability to conceive and manage 

advanced science, technology and space systems through the entire mission 

life cycle.

Our Lines of Business

A PLACE FOR SUCCESS

THIS IS WHAT WE DO

18
19

• Aqua

• Aura

• Deep Space Climate Observatory 

(DSCOVR)*

• Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI)

• Global Precipitation Measurement 

(GPM)*

• GOES-13*, GOES-14*, GOES-15*, 

GOES-16*, GOES-17*

• Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation 

Satellite-2 (ICESat-2)

• Joint Polar Satellite System-1 

(JPSS-1/NOAA-20)

• Landsat 7*, Landsat 8*

• MetOp-C*

• NOAA-20*

• Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) 

Radiometer

• Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE)

• Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP)*

• Terra

• Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance 

Sensor (TSIS-1)

*Joint Agency Satellite

• Joint Polar Satellite System-2 

(JPSS-2)*

• Landsat 9*

• Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean 

Ecosystem (PACE)

OPERATIONAL MISSIONS

MISSIONS IN DEVELOPMENT

https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth/

EARTH SCIENCE

• Facilities:

 - Greenbelt

 - Wallops

 - GISS

• 13 Labs/Offices

• 1,400+ Staff

The Goddard Earth Sciences 

Division plans, organizes, evaluates and implements a broad 

program of research on our 

planet’s natural systems and 

processes to meet the challenges of environmental change 

and to improve life on Earth. 

The largest Earth sciences unit 

within NASA, the division looks 

at Earth as an environmental 

system, addressing questions 

related to how the components 

of that system have developed, 

how they interact and how they 

continue to evolve. 

Combined

Budget: $1.7B

Combined

Goddard Budget 

Percentage: 35%
20

• CALorimetric Electron Telescope 

(CALET)* 

• Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope 

• HaloSat 

• Hubble Space Telescope 

• International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)* 

• Neutron star Interior Composition 

ExploreR (NICER) 

• Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope 

Array (NuSTAR) 

• Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory 

• Primordial Inflation Polarization 

Explorer (PIPER) 

• Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element 

Recorder (SuperTIGER) 

• Transiting Exoplanet Survey 

Satellite (TESS) 

• X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMMNewton)*

*Joint Agency Satellite

• Advanced Telescope for High 

Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA)* 

• BurstCube 

• High-Resolution Mid-Infrared 

Spectrometer (HIRMES) for SOFIA 

• James Webb Space Telescope 

• Laser Interferometer Space 

Antenna (LISA)* 

• High-Resolution Microcalorimeter 

X-ray (Micro-X) 

• Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) 

• Wide-Field Infrared Survey 

Telescope (WFIRST) 

• X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy 

Mission (XRISM)*

OPERATIONAL MISSIONS AND

INSTRUMENTS

MISSIONS AND INSTRUMENTS

IN DEVELOPMENT

https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/astrophysics/

Budget: $1.0B

Goddard Budget

Percentage: 20%

ASTROPHYSICS

• Facilities:

 - Greenbelt

 - Wallops

• 5 Labs/Offices

• 370 Staff

20

The Goddard Astrophysics 

Science Division comprises eight 

specialized laboratories and 

offices. Its major focus areas 

include the nature of dark matter 

and dark energy, the search for 

habitable planets outside our 

solar system, the origin and 

evolution of the universe, and 

the nature of space and time at 

the edges of black holes. 
21

Space seethes with energy, 

magnetic fields and countless 

particles, many of which come 

from the Sun. This radiation and 

magnetic energy can affect Earth’s 

atmosphere, spacecraft, radio 

communications and astronauts. 

Understanding the environment 

surrounding Earth is critical for 

protecting satellites and helps 

us learn more about the space 

through which astronauts travel. 

Goddard conducts research on 

the Sun and how its output 

modifies space throughout the 

solar system.

• Advanced Composition Explorer 

(ACE) 

• Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere 

(AIM) 

• Deep Space Climate Observatory

(DSCOVR)* 

• Geotail* • Global Observations of the Limb

and Disk (GOLD) 

• Hinode* • Interface Region Imaging

Spectrograph (IRIS) 

• Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) • Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) • Parker Solar Probe (managed by Johns 

Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

• Solar and Heliospheric Observatory

(SOHO)* 

• Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) • Solar Terrestrial Relations 

Observatory (STEREO) 

• Thermosphere Ionosphere 

Mesosphere Energetics and 

Dynamics (TIMED) 

• Time History of Events and

Macroscale Interactions during 

Substorms (THEMIS/ARTEMIS) 

•Van Allen Probes 

• Wind

*Joint Agency Satellite

• Atmospheric Waves Experiment 

(AWE)

• Ionospheric Connection Explorer 

(ICON)

• Polarimeter to Unify the Corona 

and Heliosphere (PUNCH)

• Solar Orbiter*

• Tandem Reconnection and Cusp 

Electrodynamics Reconnaissance 

Satellites (TRACERS)

OPERATIONAL MISSIONS

MISSIONS IN DEVELOPMENT

https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/heliophysics/

HELIOPHYSICS

• Facilities:

 - Greenbelt

 - Wallops

• 5 Labs/Offices

• 350+ Staff

Budget: $319.3M

Goddard Budget

Percentage: 7%

21
22

https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/solarsystem/

PLANETARY SCIENCE

Budget: $424.9M

Goddard Budget

Percentage: 9%

• Facility:

 - Greenbelt

• 6 Labs/Offices

• 323 Staff

• Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) 

• Mars Atmosphere and Volatile 

Evolution mission (MAVEN) 

• Origins, Spectral Interpretation, 

Resource Identification, SecurityRegolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx)

• LEISA for New Horizons Ralph

Camera 

• Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA)

for LRO

• Magnetometers for Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), ACE, 

Juno, MAVEN, Van Allen Probes, 

Voyager and Parker Solar Probe 

• Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) for MAVEN 

• OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared 

Spectrometer (OVIRS)

• Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on Mars Curiosity rover 

• Search coils on USAF/DSX 

• Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) 

for Landsat 8 

*Joint Agency Satellite

• Lucy

• Commercial lunar lander instruments 

(4), including mass spectrometers, a 

magnetometer and search coils

• Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer 

(DraMS)

• L’Ralph for Lucy 

• Mass Spectrometer for Mars 

Organic Molecule Analyzer 

(MOMA) on ExoMars 

• Search coils on the BEAM Plasma Interaction Experiment (BEAMPIE) and 

Space Measurement of A Rocketrelease Turbulence (SMART) mission 

• Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 (TIRS-2) 

for Landsat 9

OPERATIONAL MISSIONS AND

INSTRUMENTS

MISSIONS AND INSTRUMENTS

IN DEVELOPMENT

22

With more than 50 years of experience in designing and building 

instruments for spaceflight, the 

Goddard Solar System Exploration Division conducts theoretical 

and experimental research to 

explore the solar system and 

understand the formation and 

evolution of planetary systems. 

Its research encompasses areas 

as diverse as astrochemistry, 

planetary atmospheres, extrasolar planetary systems, planetary 

geology and comparative planetary studies.
23

• Integrated LCRD LEO User Modem 

and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T)

• Laser Communications Relay

Demonstration (LCRD) 

• Laser-Enhanced Mission 

Communications Navigation and 

Operational Services (LEMNOS) 

• Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-3, 

5-13 (TDRS-3, 5-13)

OPERATIONAL MISSIONS

MISSIONS IN DEVELOPMENT

https://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov

S p a c e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s 

and navigation are pivotal in 

enabling NASA’s mission. These 

capabilities, along with their 

continued development, provide 

astronauts and spacecraft the 

critical connection needed to 

communicate with Earth and 

transmit valuable science data.

Goddard manages operations 

for two of NASA’s networks, the 

Near Earth Network and Space 

Network, which collectively 

transmit and receive 98% of 

NASA’s data. Goddard also 

performs cutting-edge research 

and advances communications 

technology, network capabilities 

and exploration to anticipate 

the evolving needs of NASA and 

other partners.

• Facilities:

 - Greenbelt

 - Wallops

 - White Sands

• 3 Labs/Offices

Budget: $399.3M

Goddard Budget

Percentage: 8%

23

SPACE COMMUNICATIONS

AND NAVIGATION
24

• Airborne Carbon and Transport – 

America (ACT-America) 

• Cloud and Aerosol Monsoonal 

Processes – Philippines Experiment 

(CAMPEX) 

• Grand Challenge Initiative

• Northrop Grumman missions for 

two Antares launches 

• Observation of Aerosols above 

Clouds and their intEractionS 

(ORACLES) 

• Operation IceBridge

• SmallSat program management 

and development

• HaloSat and TROPICS small 

satellite missions 

• National Reconnaissance Office

launch

• Rocket Lab’s first flight from 

Wallops, launch pad construction

• Scientific balloon missions (17)

• Sounding rocket missions (20) 

OPERATIONAL MISSIONS

MISSIONS IN DEVELOPMENT

https://www.nasa.gov/wallops

SUBORBITAL PROGRAMS

AND RANGE SERVICES

Budget: $143.5M

Goddard Budget

Percentage: 3%

• Facilities:

 - CSBF

 - Wallops

 - White Sands

• 6 NASA Aircraft

• 1,100+ Staff

24

Thanks to NASA’s Wallops Flight 

Facility, Goddard provides agile, 

low-cost flight and launch range 

services for meeting government and commercial sector 

needs for accessing flight regimes, from Earth’s surface to 

the Moon and beyond. Assets 

range from research aircraft, 

unmanned aerial systems, highaltitude balloons, and suborbital 

and orbital rockets.
25

• Raven

• Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3)

• Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 

(AMS) Repair Mission (Tools 

Support) 

• Restore-L 

• Robotic External Leak Locator 2

(RELL2) 

• Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) 

OPERATIONAL MISSIONS

MISSIONS IN DEVELOPMENT

https://sspd.gsfc.nasa.gov

Goddard is pioneering in-orbit 

servicing, assembly and manufacturing capabilities to enable 

exploration and science missions, from extending the life 

span of satellites via refueling 

and repair, to assembling massive life-seeking telescopes in 

space, to upgrading and augmenting observatories via cooperative, modular interfaces.

The center is collaborating with 

and transferring these technologies to civil, security and commercial stakeholders to usher in 

a new era of more sustainable, 

affordable and resilient spaceflight and jump-start new U.S. 

industries.

ORBITAL SERVICING

AND ASSEMBLY

• Facility:

 - Greenbelt

25

Cross-Cutting 

Technologies and 

Capabilities

Budget: $281.5M

Goddard Budget

Percentage: 6%
26

ur talented people, driven by passion toward a common and worthy purpose, 

have made possible countless improvements to our knowledge and way of life. 

We safeguard the long-term public trust by cultivating our workforce, ensuring 

a safe and sustainable workplace, effectively meeting our mission commitments 

and applying our scientific breakthroughs to stimulate economic growth, foster 

education, inspire the nation and impact the world. All of this is accomplished 

through a broad spectrum of institutional support efforts, including:

• Legal

• Procurement

• Information technology

• Financial management

• Human capital management

• Equal opportunity programs

• Diversity and inclusion

• Conflict management

Our Life @ Goddard

• Protective services

A PLACE FOR SERVICE

WHY IT MATTERS

26

• Logistics

• Environmental and medical management

• Facilities management and transportation

• Knowledge and information management

• Government and community relations

• Proposal development

• Education and public outreach

• Public communication

O
27

+

+

MILLION

SOCIAL MEDIAFOLLOWERS

1.2

2.5 MILLION

568,000+

608,000+

The commitment by the Goddard 

Office of Communications to public 

engagement and communications 

ensures that the public—our most 

important stakeholder—remains informed and engaged in our missions 

and projects. The Goddard Visitor 

Center, tours and public engagement events provide an opportunity 

to directly engage with our work. 

Multimedia resources allow external news organizations and others 

to access Goddard’s activities and 

subject matters experts. As social 

media has become more prominent, 

Goddard has developed large followings across multiple platforms 

for its own accounts and others on 

behalf of the agency.

PUBLIC COMMUNICATION
28

EDUCATION

For the second 

year, Wallops 

hosted the NASA 

Community College Aerospace 

Scholars program 

with participants 

from five states.

Students speak 

to astronauts 

a b o a r d t h e 

International 

Space Station. 

A student engages in a virtual reality exhibit at the 

Goddard-sponsored Earth Day event in Washington, D.C.

The Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation 

Facility hosts teams for the FIRST® LEGO® League Mountain 

State Open Invitational robotics competition at Fairmont State 

University in West Virginia.

Goddard scientist C. Alex Young 

speaks to attendees at the International Society 

for Technology 

in Education conference in Philadelphia about 

accessibility and 

space science 

communication.

The Goddard Office of Education immerses students and educators at all levels of NASA’s work, 

enhances STEM literacy and inspires the next 

generation to explore.
29

OUR PEOPLE

State of the Workforce 2019

GODDARD CIVIL SERVANTS by Age Group

GODDARD

CIVIL

SERVANTS

by Disability

GODDARD

CIVIL

SERVANTS

by Gender

29 and

Under

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70 and

Over

19.7%

20.1%

14.4%

635

2.2%

2.4%

6.1%

7.7%

35.9%

GODDARD CIVIL SERVANTS by Skill Mix

Clerical • 1.3% 

AST Scientists • 12.7% 

Non-AST Engineers/ Scientists • 6.1% 

Professional

Administrative • 29.9% 

AST Engineers • 50.0% 

GODDARD CIVIL SERVANTS by Ethnicity

Hawaiian Pacific Islander • 0.2% 

Hispanic • 6.5% 

Multiracial • 1.6% 

Native American • 0.3% 

Asian • 8.7% 

Nonminority • 67.2% 

African-American • 15.6% 

36.9%

Female

63.1%

Male

72

248

647

1,157

465

Targeted

Disability

Nontargeted

Disability

77

198

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center values the diversity of experiences, viewpoints and talents of its employees. Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity are vital to the center’s mission, helping to drive innovation, 

collaboration and creativity along the path to mission success.

Diversity and inclusion and equal employment opportunity advisory committees across the center ensure that 

the interests of employees from all backgrounds are represented in recruitment, hiring, retention, outreach and 

professional development.
30

BUDGET

Reimbursable

(Earth Science)

$800.7 • 16.4%

Space Communications

and Navigation

$399.3 • 8.2%

Human Exploration

and Operations

$25.8 • 0.5%

Suborbital Programs

and Range Services

Reimbursable (Other) $143.5 • 2.9%

$133.9 • 2.7%

Management and

Operations

$513.8 • 10.5%

Earth Science

$889.7 • 18.2%

Astrophysics

$957.2 • 19.6%

Cross-Cutting

Technologies 

and Capabilities

$281.5 • 5.8%

Heliophysics

$319.3 • 6.5%

Planetary and Lunar Science

$424.9 • 8.7%

Goddard Program Year 2019 Budget

Categorized by Lines of Business (as of Sept. 30, 2019)

BUDGET: $4.9B

DIRECT GODDARD BUDGET: $3.9B

REIMBURSABLE GODDARD BUDGET: $1.0B

Chart Is in $Ms
31

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Goddard’s success in enabling NASA missions and applying these scientific achievements to society is evident. 

Each of Goddard’s six locations supports the center’s ability to stimulate and strengthen economic activity by:

 • Expending goods and services to perform its mission.

 • Generating technology transfer and spinoff activities.

 • Broadening small business opportunities through its robust contracting program.

Garrett

Allegany Washington

Frederick

Carroll

Howard

Montgomery

Baltimore

Baltimore

City

Harford

Kent

Anne

Arundel Queen

Anne's

Prince Talbot

George’s Caroline

Calvert Charles

Dorchester

Wicomico

Worcester

Accomack

Somerset

St. Mary's

Cecil

Annapolis

Obligations by State Obligations by Maryland County 

Allegany $2,475

Anne Arundel $1,695,292

Baltimore $13,535,344

Baltimore City $163,721,879

Carroll

$80,063

Harford $335,125

Howard $13,243,379

Montgomery $3,775,511

Prince George’s $1,461,462,005

St. Mary’s $41,995

Dorchester

$529,193

Frederick $5,000

Somerset $23,000

Washington $41,349

All numbers are based on NASA Procurement Data View and FPDS obligation data for fiscal 2019 as of Oct. 7, 2019.

Obligated funds, both Goddard and NASA Shared Services Center.

Goddard’s Top Contractors

1.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN SPACE AND

MISSION SYSTEMS CORPORATION

$211.2 M

2.

SCIENCE SYSTEMS AND

APPLICATIONS, INC.

$210.2 M

5.

$162.7 M

3. HARRIS CORPORATION

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION

$188.9 M

4. PERATON INC. $179.9 M

KBRWYLE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, LLC

6. $144.7 M

8. GENERAL DYNAMICS MISSION SYSTEMS, INC.

9.

ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES FOR

RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY, INC.

$105.4 M

10. $101.0 M

$124.8 M

7.

ORBITAL ATK

SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL $139.0 M

CORPORATION

GODDARD

SPACE FLIGHT

CENTER

Greenbelt,

Maryland

WALLOPS

FLIGHT 

FACILITY

Wallops Island,

Virginia

Total $1,658,491,615

District of Columbia $17,147,381

Delaware $1,692,816

Maryland $1,658,491,615

New Jersey $12,857,492

New York

Pennsylvania $12,231,282

$131,611,417

West Virginia $42,636,994

Virginia $249,375,560

Goddard invests over 80 cents of every

dollar it receives in American businesses,

academia and nonprofit organizations. 

Obligations by 

Congressional Districts MARYLAND

MD-1 $973,399

MD-2 $502,754

MD-3 $8,774,595

MD-4 $43,305,217

MD-5 $1,419,547,516

MD-6 $554,383

MD-7 $181,649,174

MD-8 $3,184,573

VIRGINIA

VA-2 $149,646,813

All Districts $1,808,138,424
32

AWARDS

NICER Team

Athelstan Spilhaus Award

C. Alex Young

Cryosphere Early Career 

Award

Ludovic Brucker

Excellence in Earth and Space 

Science Education Award

Mark Chandler

Fellows

Mei-Ching Fok

Dorothy Hall

Christa Peters-Lidard

Gavin Schmidt

Jule Gregory Charney Lecture

Paul Newman

Outstanding Reviewer

Gina DiBraccio Riemer

American Astronautical 

Society ISS Compelling 

Results Award

American Geophysical Union

Fellows

Scott Braun

George Huffman

Joanne Simpson Mentorship 

Award

Anne Douglass

Mian Chin

Jeff Masek

Ben Poulter

Matthew Rodell

Gavin Schmidt

Dennis Felkison

Ozone Monitoring Instrument 

International Team

Giada Arney

Shawn Domagal-Goldman

Jennifer Stern

Aaron Gerace

Matthew Montanaro

United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation

United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation

American Meteorological 

Society 

Clarivate Analytics Highly 

Cited Researchers List

International Association of 

Cryospheric Sciences Early 

Career Award 

U.S. Geological Survey 

William T. Pecora Award

Presidential Early Career 

Awards for Scientists and 

Engineers 

U.S. Geospatial 

Intelligence Foundation 

Academic Achievement 

Award 

NASA

IPC Stan Plzak Corporate 

Recognition Award
33

IN MEMORIAM

*NASA does not have access to this information for former NASA civil servants. The report authors have been informally notified of such individuals 

who have been added to the list under contractors and others.

‡NASA does not have access to this information for contractors and others affiliated with Goddard. An earnest attempt was made to manually collect 

this information. However, the nature of the process could result in an incomplete list.

Please email omissions to Darrell Dela Rosa at darrell.d.delarosa@nasa.gov. The electronic version of this report will be updated accordingly.

*Active civil servants who 

passed away from October 

2018 through September 

2019 include:

SALLY BARCUS

STEVEN SCOTT

‡Contractors, former civil 

servants and others whose 

reported passing occurred 

from October 2018 through 

September 2019 include:

RICHARD A. AUSTIN

WILLIAM F. BANGS

WESLEY J. BODIN JR.

DORA L. CARLE

WILLIAM D. CARPENTER

ROBERT E. CARR SR.

CHARLES C. CASTO

JOSEPH PATRICK MICHAEL

 CORRIGAN III

GEORGE E. CROFT

DAVID L. DAVIS

JOSEPH J. ECK

JIMMIE C. ELSWICK

TON L. ENG

MARK E. ERICKSON

DELORIS J. FINCH

JOHN E. FIRMIN

WALTER T. FLOURNOY

JAMES C. FLOYD

STAMER C. GEMINDEN JR.

RAYMOND L. GRANATA

BRANDON WILLIAM HANEY

RICHARD E. HARTLE

JEAN E. HUBBARD

THOMAS HUBER

JOHN A. HUGHES

ARTHUR H. JACKSON

THOMAS M. JANOSKI

JAMES L. JEW

FRED L. KING

DANIEL A. KLINGLESMITH III

ALBERT D. LATZKO

FRANCIS J. LOGAN

PAMELA MAXWELL

STEPHEN G. MCCARRON

EARL R. MOYER

JOSEPH A. MULLER

ALEX P. NAGY

PHILLIP A. NEWMAN

RICHARD NOVARIA

ROBERT L. OWEN

ANGELINE C. PUGLISI

JAMES J. RAST

ROBERT W. RHODES III

MICHAEL F. ROBERTS

NANCY G. ROMAN

FRANCIS P. RUSSO

JOHN SCHULTHEIS

MICHAEL C. SHAI

LAWRENCE P. SKISCIM SR.

DON SMITH

DANA SOUTHWOOD 

PAUL SPUDIS

JAMES M. STEVENS

PATRICIA A. STONE

GRANVILLE L. TAYLOR

VIRGIL TRUE

ROBERT S. WATSON

RICHARD J. WIRTH

JOHN J. WOLFF JR.

As we celebrate our collective achievements, we also honor all of 

those who have contributed to Goddard and are no longer with us.

Your dedication and talent will never be forgotten.
For more information, please visit our website:

www.nasa.gov/goddard

NP-2019-8-418-GSFC

There can be no thought of finishing, 

for aiming at the stars, both literally 

and figuratively, is the work of generations, but no matter how much 

progress one makes there is always 

the thrill of just beginning.

– Robert H. Goddard