National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

November 2008

www.nasa.gov

NASA recently released a newly 

restored 42-year-old image of Earth. 

The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took 

the iconic photograph of Earth rising 

above the lunar surface in 1966. 

Using refurbished machinery and 

modern digital technology, NASA 

produced the image at a much higher 

resolution than was possible when it 

was originally taken. The data may 

help the next generation of explorers 

as NASA prepares to return to the 

moon. 

In the late 1960s, NASA sent five 

Lunar Orbiter missions to photograph 

the surface of the moon and gain a 

better understanding of the lunar 

environment in advance of the Apollo 

program. Data were recorded on 

large magnetic tapes and transferred 

to photographic film for scientific 

analysis. When these images were first 

retrieved from lunar orbit, only a portion of their true resolution was available because of the limited technology. 

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, located at NASA’s Ames 

is taking analog data from original 

by Kimberly Newto

NASA restores historic Lunar Orbiter 1 image of Earth

recorders used to store on tape and 

1,500 of the original tapes, converting 

the data into digital form, and reconstructing the images. The restored 

image released Nov. 13, 2008 confirms 

data from the original tapes can be retrieved from the newly-restored tape 

drives from the 1960s when combined 

with software from 2008. 

“I’m glad that we could offer our 

services to the project team and play a 

part in the recovery of such an historic 

image of the moon,” said Ames Center 

Director S. Pete Worden. 

Future images will be made publically available when they are fully 

processed and calibrated. The intent 

of this project is to facilitate, wherever 

possible, the broadest dissemination 

and public use of these images. 

“It’s a tremendous feeling to 

restore a 40-year-old image and know 

it can be useful to future explorers,” 

said Gregory Schmidt, deputy director 

of the NASA Lunar Science Institute at 

Ames. “Now that we’ve demonstrated 

the capability to retrieve images, our 

goal is to complete the tape drives’ 

restoration and move toward retrieving all of the images on the remaining 

tapes,” he added. 

As the images are processed, they 

will be submitted to the Planetary 

Data System, which NASA’s Space 

Science Mission Directorate in Washington sponsors in cooperation with 

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 

Photo by NASA / LOIRP 

Newly restored 42-year-old image of Earth 

rising above the lunar surface in 1966, taken by 

the Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft.

continued on page 5

Page 2 - NASA collaborates to develop

 robotic lunar lander 

Page 3 - NASA supercomputer ranks 

 among world’s fastest

Page 4 - NASA Ames conducts earthquake

 emergency drill

Page 12 - Ames ongoing monthly events

On the Inside . . .

The Airship Ventures Zeppelin ended its dramatic cross-country trek and landed at its new base location 

at Moffett Field on Oct. 25, 2008 in the early afternoon. This airship is the first to fly over the U.S. for

more than 70 years. NASA and Airship Ventures entered into an agreement to use the airship to assist 

with disaster response agencies, for scientific research and educational training with local science centers 

and museums. A festive dedication ceremony was held Nov. 21, 2008. See page 5 for story and photos.

 NASA photo by Eric James

Zeppelin completes journey to Moffett
2 Astrogram November 2008

Combined Federal Campaign extended

NASA photo by Eric James

The 2008 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Kick-off and Keyworker Training took place on Oct. 15 

in the Auditorium, with a reception following the program in the lobby of N-200. Standing left to right, 

Danielle Sutton (guest speaker), Miriam Glazer (CFC deputy chair), Lupe Sanchez (CFC team), Dee 

Sutton (United Way of Santa Clara), Diana Frontella (CFC team), Paul Pinaula (CFC chair), Paul 

Espinosa (CFC team). Kneeling: Gerald DePerio (CFC team) and Don Durston (CFC advisor).

To date, contributions total $191,000. The campaign has been extended until Dec. 12. If you have not 

yet contributed, please contact your keyworker or campaign team member.

NASA Ames Research Center 

is collaborating with a commercial 

partner to develop a lunar lander for 

future low-cost missions to the moon.

 Under the terms of a Reimbursable Space Act Agreement with Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC, Henderson, 

Nev., NASA Ames will share its small 

spacecraft technical data and expertise 

with the company. In return, Odyssey Moon Ventures will reimburse 

NASA Ames for the cost of providing 

the technical support and will share 

its technical data from its engineering 

tests and actual lunar missions with 

NASA.

 “NASA is a big supporter of developing the commercial space sector, 

and is interested in developing small 

spacecraft for future lunar exploration,” said NASA Ames Research 

Center Director S. Pete Worden. By 

making these designs available to 

commercial enterprises, we hope to 

spark rapid development of low-cost, 

small spacecraft missions.” 

 As part of the agreement, NASA 

will share data from a small spacecraft 

system under development at NASA 

Ames called the Common Spacecraft 

Bus, which uses a modular design 

adaptable to a variety of mission 

configurations as either an orbiter or 

a lunar lander. NASA also will share 

data from the Hover Test Vehicle, an 

engineering prototype of the Common 

Spacecraft Bus developed at Ames 

to evaluate hardware and software 

systems. 

 Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC is a 

U.S. company focused on the development of commercial systems for lunar 

exploration. The company is headed 

by Jay Honeycutt, a veteran space 

executive with more than 40 years of 

experience, including serving as director of NASA’s Kenney Space Center, 

Fla., and president of Lockheed Martin 

Space Operations. 

 In addition to the work associated 

with this collaboration, Odyssey Moon 

Ventures will be responsible for the 

U.S. launch operations and ground 

processing of spacecraft that will be 

used in future commercial flights to 

the moon. Odyssey Moon Ventures 

LLC is headquartered in Nevada, with 

offices in Washington DC and Cocoa 

NASA Ames collaborates to develop robotic lunar lander

Beach, Fla. The firm collaborates with 

Odyssey Moon Limited, a company 

headquartered in the Isle of Man, with 

offices in Toronto, Canada, London, 

and Washington DC.

by Michael Mewhi

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

NASA’s Hover Test Vehicle, an engineering prototype of the Common Spacecraft Bus developed at 

Ames, is used to evaluate hardware and software systems.

 For more information about Odyssey Moon Ventures, visit: www.odysseymoon.com
3 Astrogram November 2008

 NASA’s newest supercomputer at 

Ames has garnered the number three 

spot on the Top500 list of the world’s 

most powerful computers. The announcement was made Nov. 17, 2008 

at the International Conference for 

High-Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC08) 

in Austin, Texas.

 The Pleiades supercomputer is an 

SGI® Altix® ICE system with 12,800 

Intel Xeon quad-core processors 

(51,200 cores, 100 racks) running at 487 

trillion floating point operations per 

second (teraflops) on the LINPACK 

benchmark, the industry standard for 

measuring a system's floating point 

computing power. One of the most 

powerful general-purpose supercomputers ever built, Pleiades also features the world’s largest InfiniBand® 

interconnect network. 

 The LINPACK run also measured 

electrical power consumption—an 

increasingly important consideration 

in high-end computing. Using a total 

of 2.09 megawatts, or 233 megaflops 

per watt, Pleiades is among the most 

energy-efficient supercomputers in the 

world.

“Pleiades represents a significant 

engineering achievement in several 

ways,” said William Thigpen, Pleiades project manager at the NASA 

Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) 

Division at Ames. In addition to its 

power and InfiniBand record, “Pleiades can run NASA codes with minimal modifications, and is compatible 

with standard desktop engineering 

workstations so our users can migrate 

codes easily from their desktops. Users 

from all key mission areas will have an 

enormous resource to meet their critical milestones,” Thigpen added. 

 Among the scientific and engineering projects accepted for computer time on Pleiades: 

• Extensive simulations of large 

computational problems for future 

space vehicle design;

• Development of increasingly 

detailed models of large-scale dark 

matter halos and galaxy evolution;

• Running coupled atmosphereocean models to assess decadal climate 

prediction skill for the IntergovernNASA supercomputer ranks among world’s fastest 

mental Panel on Climate Change.

 “Over a record-making few 

weeks, NASA has again deployed one 

of the most powerful supercomputers in the world,” said Eng Lim Goh, 

chief technology officer at SGI. “In the 

race to achieve superior computational 

power, NASA’s knowledge of rapid 

yet productive deployment is a rare 

advantage. We are proud to be part of 

NASA’s ongoing journey to show the 

world what is possible.” 

 “We look forward to seeing the 

science breakthroughs enabled by 

Pleiades,” said Stephen Wheat, senior 

director for high performance computing at Intel Corp. “It’s rewarding to 

see that the performance features of 

the Intel® Xeon® quad-core processors meet the growing computational 

challenges of the nation’s space program.”

 The InfiniBand® fabric interconnecting Pleiades’ 6,400 nodes requires 

more than 20 miles of double data rate 

cabling. InfiniBand® is also used as 

the primary local-area network backbone that interconnects computing, 

storage, and visualization systems, 

and to facilitate cross-system data file 

access. This enables scientific visualization and data analysis to execute 

concurrently as computer jobs run, 

producing ultra-high-fidelity results 

for the enormous datasets used in 

NASA mission projects.

 Pleiades was acquired to augment 

the space agency’s Columbia supercomputer (ranked No. 2 on the Top500 

list in November 2004) in supporting 

NASA’s four key mission areas: aeronautics research, exploration systems, 

science, and space operations.

by Michael Mewhinney and Jill

The Pleiades supercomputer at NASA Ames has attained the number three position on the Top500 list 

of the world’s most powerful computers.

Photos by David Robertson
4 Astrogram November 2008

In preparation for a major earthquake striking the Bay Area, emergency response teams at NASA Ames 

underwent two days of disaster 

response training in November.

 Conducted Nov. 5-6, 2008, the 

Great Worden Quake II emergency 

exercise featured several events designed to train and sharpen the skills 

of the center's emergency and disaster 

assistance responders. In addition, the 

drill also provided an opportunity for 

the entire center’s workforce to participate and become familiar with specific 

procedures they would need to follow 

in the event of a major earthquake. 

 The emergency drill was developed to respond to a 7.3 magnitude 

earthquake striking the Hayward and 

Rogers Creek faults, which if real, 

would undoubtedly cause numerous 

injuries and major damage not only at 

Ames, but also throughout the entire 

Bay Area region.

 "As we all know, one of these days 

we're going to be experiencing a major 

earthquake," said Phillip Snyder, 

deputy chief of Protective Services 

at NASA Ames. "It's not a question 

of whether it will happen, but when. 

This emergency drill will help us prepare for and respond to the real thing.

 During the drill, all center employees participated in a mass evacuation of their buildings when the 

earthquake exercise got underway. 

Employees assembled in various 

evacuation zones established throughout the center. The evacuation zones 

are designed to keep center employees 

away from hazardous areas, assist in 

personnel accountability and improve 

communication. Meanwhile, fire and 

medical crews treated simulated injuries, while search and rescue teams assessed structural damage and rescued 

trapped victims. Damage and utility 

control teams also practiced securing 

and repairing damaged utilities.

 Another scenario during the drill 

featured a simulated crash landing 

of a C-130 cargo aircraft at Moffett 

Field. Members of the NASA Ames 

Fire Department responded to the 

crash, along with security forces of the 

129th Rescue Wing of the California 

Air National Guard. In yet another 

scenario, law enforcement personnel 

of the NASA Protective Services Office 

responded to a law enforcement event.

 The center activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and 

staffed it with employees trained to 

coordinate and support all the simultaneous events occurring throughout 

the center. As part of the EOC activity, 

periodic teleconferences were held 

with EOCs at other NASA centers, 

assisted by Web-based disaster tracking tools, to help identify how other 

NASA centers could assist Ames in its 

disaster response and recovery. NASA photo by John Schultz

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

NASA photo by Dominic Hart NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by John Schultz

 On the second day of the drill, 

members of the center's Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) 

participated in a rescue scenario in the 

Collapsed Structure Training Facility 

to practice rescuing victims trapped in 

a building that had been extensively 

damaged during the earthquake. 

Members of NASA's Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., 

search and rescue team were deployed 

to assist the NASA Ames DART search 

and rescue team during this grueling 

activity. continued on page 6

NASA Ames conducts 2008 earthquake emergency drill by Michael Mewhinney Ames employees participated in the Gr

Worden Quake II Nov. 5 -6 , 2008 which 

included an emergency drill evacuation of all 

center buildings, mock injuries and periodic 

teleconferences activated by the Emergency 

Operations Center. Employees were later 

treated to a lunch outside of Mega Bites Cafe.
5 Astrogram November 2008

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

Pasadena, Calif. The images also will 

be calibrated with standard mapping 

coordinates from the U.S. Geological 

Survey’s Astrogeology Research Program in Flagstaff, Ariz. 

NASA will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009 to map 

the moon’s surface. The restoration of 

the Lunar Orbiter images to high quality images will provide the scientific 

community with a baseline to measure 

and understand changes that have 

occurred on the moon since the 1960s. 

These data could help mission planners assess the long-term risk to lunar 

inhabitants from small meteor impacts 

and establish longitude and latitude 

lines for lunar mapping. 

“This effort was made possible by 

the vision and dedication of Apolloera NASA employees, independent 

researchers, and a true veteran team of 

engineers and young students,” said 

Dennis Wingo, the program lead for 

the project. 

NASA’s Exploration Systems 

Mission Directorate and Innovative 

Partnerships Program Office in Washington provided initial funding for the 

project. 

To view the image and for more 

information about the Lunar Orbiter 

Image Recovery Project, visit: http://

continued from front page

www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/

features/LOIRP

NASA restores historic Lunar Orbiter 1 image of Earth

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project panel discussion recently held at the center featured, left to 

right, Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden; Image Recovery Project Lead Dennis Wingo; Lunar image 

expert Charles Byrne; and Deputy Director NASA Lunar Science Institute Greg Schmidt.

NASA photos by Dominic Hart

The public and media were 

invited to attend Moffett Field’s 

75th Anniversary celebration on 

Nov. 21, 2008, commemorating the 

airship’s return to Moffett Field. 

As part of the celebration, 

NASA joined Airship Ventures in 

the dedication and naming of its 

new Zeppelin airship, “Eureka” 

now based at Moffett Field. 

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. 

William Moffett III, grandson of 

NASA Ames celebrates 75th anniversary of Moffett Field

U.S. Navy Admiral Moffett, was 

in attendance to pay tribute to this 

historic event as well as Wolfgang 

von Zeppelin, great-great-grandnephew of Count Von Zeppelin 

and honorary dignitaries with 

connections to World War II airship 

operations, including former pilots. 

The celebration also included included music and exhibits.

Top left photo, from left to right, Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden, Brian and 

Alexandra Hall of Airship Ventures, and retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. William 

Moffett III, grandson of U.S. Navy Admiral William Moffett, just after revealing 

the name of the Airship Ventures Zeppelin airship “Eureka,” during the dedication 

ceremony held at the center Nov. 21, 2008. Top right and bottom left photos, Ames 

Center Director S. Pete Worden addresses the audience during the event celebration.
6 Astrogram November 2008

The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum (NSEF) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 

(AIChE) recently announced that 

Meyya Meyyappan, chief scientist 

for exploration technology at NASA 

Ames, is one of the 2008 recipients of 

its major NSEF forum award. Meyyappan received the award in recognition of his outstanding contributions 

in the advancement of nanoscale science and engineering through scholarship, education or service. 

“Dr. Meyyappan is receiving this 

award not only for his strong technical 

work at NASA and across government 

agencies, but also for his outstanding efforts to promote nanoscience 

and nanotechnology education at all 

levels,” said Bill Grieco, chair of NSEF.

Until June 2006, Meyyappan 

served as director of the Center for 

Nanotechnology at the Ames. He is 

also an adjunct professor at Arizona 

State University. A founding member 

of the federal government’s Interagency Working Group on Nanotechnology, established by the White House 

Office of Science and Technology 

Policy, he participated in the launch 

of the National Nanotechnology 

Initiative. He has received numerous 

awards including a Presidential Meritorius Award and NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal.

 Established by the American 

Institute of Chemical Engineers, 

AIChE, in 2003, the Nanoscale Science 

and Engineering Forum is a technological community for engineers and 

applied scientists operating at the 

atomic, molecular or macromolecular 

levels. Members of NSEF come from a 

broad spectrum of industries and disciplines such as chemical, biological, 

and materials processes and production. 

Ames employees were invited to join members of the public at the Ames ExplorationCenter (Bldg. 943A) 

to observe the live televised broadcast of the launch of space shuttle Endeavour, STS-126, from Kennedy 

Space Center on Friday, Nov. 14, 2008. A capacity crowd attended the program that began at 4 p.m.,with 

a presentation from Jack Boyd, senior advisor to the center director, about NASA Ames' history. Attendees 

also heard from Alonso Vera about NASA Ames’ software technology contributions to the space shuttle 

and International Space Station programs. Also featured was former astronaut Karol “Bo” Bobko, who 

described launch activities and answered questions from the audience.

Meyyappan receives NSEF award for nanoscience advancements

NASA photo

Meyya Meyyappan is the recipient of the 

Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum 

(NSEF) forum award for his contributions in 

nanotechnology.

Public invited to watch Endeavour’s launchNASA photos by Eric James

 During another scenario, the 

NASA Ames Fire Department and the 

NASA Ames Safety, Environmental 

and Mission Assurance organization 

responded to a hazardous material 

incident simulating a chemical leak. 

 Also during the drill, several 

Ames senior executives flew down 

to NASA's Dryden Flight Research 

Center, Edwards, Calif., to participate 

in a Continuity of Operations (COOP) 

exercise. The COOP objective is to 

rapidly recover the center's essential 

operations and business functions.

 This is the second year in a row 

that NASA Ames has conduced the 

Great Worden Quake emergency exercise that is named after NASA Ames 

Center Director S. Pete Worden.

 "NASA Ames is very fortunate 

to have senior managers who recognize the value of not only planning 

how to respond to disasters, but also 

practicing the implementation of those 

plans," Snyder said. "By involving not 

only the emergency responders, but 

also the center's general population, 

we learn a variety of lessons which 

will allow us to respond more effectively to a real event."

Earthquake drill

continued from page 4
7 Astrogram November 2008

The 2008 issue of NASA Spinoff 

is hot off the press and available for 

Ames employees. This annual publication documents the outcome of successful commercial partnerships from 

the NASA Innovative Partnerships 

Program. Spinoff 2008 highlights new 

products on the market in the areas of 

health and medicine; transportation; 

public safety; consumer goods, homes 

and recreation; environmental and agricultural resources; computer technology; and industrial productivity. 

 This edition celebrates NASA’s 

50th Anniversary with some unique 

features, such as a 50-year timeline 

of NASA-derived technologies from 

historical programs and projects, a 

summary of award-winning NASA 

technologies that have been featured 

in Spinoff over the years, and a partnership news section highlighting 

successful collaborations with private 

industry, academia and other government agencies.

 This edition contains 50 highlights 

of NASA-derived technologies applied 

to commercial products, of which 

eight success stories originated from 

Ames. There are also two successful 

NASA Spinoff 2008 available to Ames employees

Ames partnerships highlighted in the 

partnerships news section.

 To request a free copy of Spinoff 

2008, please contact Dina Salazar at 

by Dina Salaz

Photographs taken from the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station border a collage 

of past, present and future NASA missions and spinoffs are depicted on the NASA Spinoff 2008 edition.

e-mail Dina.A.Salazar@nasa.gov or 

call ext. 4-5238. The full text is available for download at www.sti.nasa.

gov/tto .

In early November, Ward Cunningham, inventor of the 

Wiki technology and currently chief technology officer of 

AboutUs, recently presented a brief introduction to Agile 

Methods and Wiki technology to employees at Ames. Following the introduction, he took part in a park-bench style, 

question-and-answer type discussion on the use of Wikis to 

improve group productivity. Wikis are powerful collaboration tools that allow rapid creation, editing and searching of 

content. Many people are familiar with Wikipedia, but are 

not aware of Wikis being used in the workplace; for example, 

the SharePoint software being piloted by Code I. This event 

was hosted by OpenAmes and sponsored by the Exchange 

Council.

Ward Cunningham holds discussion about Wiki technology

NASA photo by Eric James
8 Astrogram November 2008

This year’s Ames Contractor Council Excellence Awards 

ceremony was held Nov. 20, 2008, recognizing this year’s 

outstanding contractor teams and individuals who contribute 

daily to critical missions at Ames. Photo at left is of one of 

this year’s group award recipients, Jacobs Technology.

Over 100 golfers participated in the 

recent 6th Annual Hispanic Heritage 

Golf Tournament sponsored by the 

Ames Hispanic Advisory Committee 

for Employees (HACE). Eric Kristich, 

co-chair of HACE was the master of 

ceremonies for the event. Frances 

Busby began the festivities by singing 

“Proud To Be An American,” followed 

by Dr. David Lopez, president of the 

National Hispanic University (NHU) 

and Paul Agnew, Ames’ chief financial officer, signing a Memorandum 

of Understanding (MOU) between 

NASA and NHU. Karen Bradford 

represented Ames’ Center Director 

S. Pete Worden and the tournament 

closed with Mariachis playing into the 

evening. 

 The purpose of HACE is to support Hispanic youth, education and 

community. The MOU signing will 

launch an array of activities to bridge 

NASA and the NHU in a focused mission to support diverse communities 

and the NASA vision; as well foster 

and plant the dreams of success in the 

minds and hearts of many Hispanic 

youth. 

Sixth annual Hispanic heritage golf tournament held at Ames

Singer/Songwriter 

Frances Busby, left, 

began the festivities at 

the recent 6th Annual 

Hispanic Heritage Golf 

Tournament by singing 

a soul- stirring rendition 

of “I’m Proud to be an 

American.”

NASA photos by Eric James

Paul Agnew, Ames 

chief financial officer, 

left, and Dr. David 

Lopez, President of 

National Hispanic 

University, right, 

recently signed an 

memorandum of understanding between 

NASA and NHU. 

(Initially published on 

front page of October 

2008 Astrogram.)

Contractors recognized for work excellence at awards ceremony

NASA photo by Dominic Hart
9 Astrogram November 2008

Ames employees and their friends and families 

were invited to the NASA Ames Fall Festival on 

Oct. 30 in the lobby and basement of Bldg. N-200. 

Light refreshments were served, organized games 

were held, and raffle prizes were awarded. Other 

festival attractions included a pumpkin patch, a 

pumpkin hunt, a ‘looney laboratory’ and science 

archive, a castle treasure room and dungeon, and a 

graveyard, crypt and morgue. Everyone received 

door prizes and raffle tickets with those wearing a 

costume receiving an additional five raffle tickets. 

Raffle prizes included silver eagle silver dollars, 

small meteorites, amber with insects, trilobites, 

pumpkins and more. Bev Girten, along with her 

dedicated group of support staff organized the 

event.

photo by Leticha Hawkins

Daughters of Leticha Hawkins, chief, Workforce Development Branch, Niambi and Naomi Hawkins, are seen 

here as fellow pirates with Ames Center Director S. Pete 

Worden during the recent Fall Festival held Oct. 30 in 

Bldg. 200 in celebration of Halloween. 

Goblins, ghouls and more appear at Ames’ Fall Festival

On Oct. 31, the Ames Exchange hosted the annual 

Halloween Costume Contest, with the top four 

entrants receiving gift certificates. Also featured was 

a pumpkin-carving contest and ghouly treats were 

distributed to Ames employees at Mega Bites Café.

...and return for Ames’ Halloween Costume Contest 

NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by Eric James photo by Astrid Olson

NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by Eric James

NASA photo by John Schultz

NASA photo by John Schultz
10 Astrogram November 2008

Recently, a panel of prominent economists discussed the most pressing issues facing 

the U.S. economy. "Jobs, Health, and Business: Elections and the Economy," was the 

subject of the discussion and was moderated by Russell Hancock, president and CEO 

of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, shown speaking at the event. Panelists included University of California at Santa Cruz economics professors Robert Fairlie, Lori Kletzer 

and Nirvikar Singh, as well as Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Foundation.

The 16th Annual Information Technology Expo took place at Ames in the 

Mega Bites Cafe in early November. A variety of exhibitors representing 

today’s leading small businesses, technology and services companies, were 

on hand to answer questions and to demonstrate their products. The event 

was hosted by the Office of Small Business Programs at NASA Ames.

Colloquium explains microgravity and how it affects lungs NASA photo by Eric James

Prominent economists discuss issues facing U.S. economy

NASA photo by Eric James

Ames hosts info tech expo

NASA photo by Eric James

Recently, the Human Tended Suborbital Science Program, in conjunction 

with the Space Biosciences Division, co-hosted a colloquium by Dr. G. Kim 

Prisk of UC San Diego entitled, "Gravity and the Lung: Lessons from 

Microgravity." The lung is exquisitely sensitive to gravity with large differences in alveolar size, ventilation, blood flow and gas exchange induced by 

gravity. It comes as no surprise that in weightlessness, there are significant 

changes in lung function when gravity is removed. In addition, because the 

lung presents the largest surface area of the body to the environment, it is 

sensitive to inhaled pollutants and especially particulate matter. Since the 

deposition of inhaled particulates depends on gravity, profound changes are 

expected in reduced gravity (such as on the lunar surface). This colloquium 

summarized many of the fundamental studies pertaining to lung function 

and aerosol deposition in the lung performed in both transient microgravity 

(parabolic flight), sustained microgravity (on the space shuttle) and longduration microgravity (International Space Station). 
11 Astrogram November 2008

The Employees with Disabilities Advisory Group invited center employees to a special event 

sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity with David Roche as the guest 

speaker. This event was held in recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness 

Month for October. Roche inspires, entertains and teaches with remarkable warmth, humor 

and dignity. He has transformed the lessons of a lifelong facial disfigurement into a compelling 

message that leaves audiences prepared to face their own challenges and better understand differences in others. The story of Roche’s heroic journey from shame to strength has been an inspiration, from appearances at the White House to corporations and academic facilities throughout the 

country. Roche was born with a facial disfigurement called Cavernous Hemangioma (a benign 

tumor consisting of blood vessels). Without the knowledge of the advanced removal treatments 

known today, he was left with radiation scarring and the remains of much primitive reconstructive surgery. Roche does not hesitate, however; to call his face "a gift from God."

David Roche gives inspiring talk about overcoming life’s challenges

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

Mark your calendars for 

NASA PM Challenge 2009, Feb. 

24-25, 2009 in Daytona Beach, 

Fla. 

The NASA Office of General 

Counsel has determined that 

the PM Challenge is an internal 

NASA training meeting. The PM 

Challenge is not subject to the 

conference reporting requirement or conference attendance 

restrictions associated with the 

2008 NASA Authorization Bill. 

The PM Challenge is focused 

on training, lessons learned, 

knowledge sharing, and new 

ideas in the areas of program/

project management, systems 

engineering, risk management 

and related disciplines. “Connect and Discover” is the PM 

Challenge 2009 theme. 

The PM Challenge is organized by the NASA Academy of 

Program, Project and Engineering Leadership within the Office 

of Chief Engineer and the Office 

of Safety and Mission Assurance.

For more information, please 

visit the PM Challenge Web site: 

http://pmchallenge.gsfc.nasa.

gov/

PM Challenge 

2009 is a go! Ames for Exoplanet Studies recently 

hosted a colloquium entitled, “Imaging 

other Earths and High Contrast Coronagraphy at Ames” featuring Ruslan Belikov, 

an astrophysicist at Ames. Belikov serves 

as the technical lead for the Ames Coronagraph Experiment lab, where he is developing coronagraph technologies for exo-Earth 

imaging. The field of exoplanet detection 

has exploded over the past decade, and the 

indirect detection of exo-Earths is tantalizingly within reach (notably by the Kepler 

mission launching next year). Belikov described Ames’ plans in this field and gave 

a progress report of the Ames Coronagraph 

Experiment.

Ames’ Coronagraph Experiment explained NASA photo by Dominic Hart

Marc Kuchner of NASA’s Goddard Space 

Flight Center recently hosted a colloquium 

entitled,"Exozodiacal Dust and Direct Imaging of 

Extrasolar Planets." Direct imaging of extrasolar planets means contending with dust from 

extrasolar asteroids and comets. This "exozodiacal 

dust" creates a structured background light that 

can easily outshine the light from an exoEarth and 

confuse a planet-search mission. But exozodiacal 

dust can be both friend and foe: planets can stir 

dust clouds into patterns that reveal the presence 

of the planet and constrain its mass and orbit. 

Kuchner described some recent research about the 

topic of 3-D dynamical models of dust clouds with 

planets and searches for exozodiacal dust with the 

Keck Interferometer.

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

Kuchner discusses exozodiacal dust
12 Astrogram November 2008

Ames Ongoing Monthly Events Calendar

Security/Law Enforcement Activity

Fire Protection Activity

A statistical summary of activities of the Protective Services Division’s 

Security/Law Enforcement and Fire Protection Services units for the month 

of October 2008 is shown below.

Protective Services monthly activity

 Safety Data NASA-Ames Occupational

 Illness-Injury Data for 

 Calendar Year-to-Date 2008

 Jan. 1, 2008 - Oct. 31, 2008

 Civil Contractors

 Servants

 

 First aid cases 20 16

 Lost Workday cases 1 2

 Recordable cases 3 5

 Restricted duty days 0 3

 Above data are as of Oct. 31, 2008. 

 May be subject to slight adjustment in

 the event of a new case or new informa- 

 tion regarding an existing case.

African American Advisory Group (AAAG) 

Mtg., every fourth Wednesday of each month, 

12 - 1 p.m., Bldg. N255 Rm 101C. POC: Chair - 

Jim Busby, ext. 4-2792. 

Ames Amateur Radio Club, third Thurs., 

of ea. month, 12 noon, N-T28 (across from 

N-255). POC: Michael Wright, KG6BFK, at ext. 

4-6262. 

Ames Ballroom Dance Club, Classes on 

Tuesdays. Beginning classes meet at 5:15 p.m. 

Higher-level class meets at 5:50 p.m. Held 

in Bldg. 944, the Rec. Center. POC: Helen 

Hwang at helen.hwang@nasa.gov, ext. 4-1368.

Ames Bicycling Club, every third Wednesday 

of each month, 12 noon - 1 p.m., Bldg. N-245 

Auditorium. POC: Julie Nottage at jnottage@

mail.arc.nasa.gov, ext. 4-3711. 

Ames Bowling League, Homestead Lanes 

Thursdays at 6:20 p.m. Need substitute bowlers. Sign up questions: Mike Liu at ext. 4-1132. 

Ames Child Care Center Board of Directors 

Mtg., every other Monday, 1 - 2:30 p.m., Bldg. 

N-262/Rm 180. POC: Sally Miller, ext. 4-5411.

Ames Contractor Council Mtg., first Weds. of 

ea. month, 11 a.m., Bldg. N-200, Committee 

Room. POC: Kathleen Starmer, ext. 4-6959

Environmental Forum, first Thursday every 

other month, 9 a.m. - 10 a.m., T20-G conference 

Rm. 129. URL: http://q/qe/events/EHSseries/ POC: Stacy St. Louis, ext. 4-6810.

Ames Federal Employees Union (AFEU) Mtg, 

third Wednesday ea. month, noon. Bldg. N-247, 

Rm. 109.. Guests welcome. Info at: http://

www.afeu.org. POC: Paul K. Davis, ext. 4-5916. 

The Hispanic Advisory Committee for 

Excellence (HACE) Mtg., first Thursday of each 

month, 11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., Bldg. N-255, Rm. 

101C. POC: Eric Kristich, ext. 4-5137 and Mark 

Leon, ext. 4-6498.

Jetstream Toastmasters, Mondays, 12 p.m. 

- 1 p.m., Bldg. N-269/Rm.179. POC: Miwa 

Hayashi, ext. 4-1397, mhayashi@mail.arc.nasa.

gov. Web: http://jetstream.freetoasthost.com

Ames Mac Support Group Mtg., third Tuesday 

of each month, 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m., Bldg. N-262, 

Rm 180. POC: Tony ext. 4-0340.

Ames Model Aircraft Club, flying radio-controlled aircraft at the north end of Parsons Ave. 

on weekend mornings. POC: Mark Sumich, ext. 

4-6193.

Moffett Aikido Club, Monday and Wednesday evenings, 6:30 p.m., Bldg. 944, across from 

former McDonalds. Aikido is a non-competitive, defensive martial art known as the 

“Way of Harmony.” POC: Diane Pereda (650) 

575-9070 or Robert Dean (650) 787-1007, email: 

mfaikido@aol.com

Native American Advisory Committee Mtg., 

fourth Tuesday each month, 12 noon - 1 p.m., 

Bldg. 19, Rm 1096. POC: Mike Liu, ext. 4-1132.

Ames Nimble Knitters Club, every Tuesday 

at 11:30 a.m., Bldg. N-241/Rm 237. POC: 

Rosalyn Jung, knitfan2@yahoo.com or Diane 

Alexander at ext. 4-3140. URL: http://knit.arc.

nasa.gov

Ames Safety Committee, third Thursday of 

each month, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m., Bldg. N-237, 

Rm. 201. POC: John Livacich, jlivacich@mail.

arc.nasa.gov, ext. 4-3243 or Terry Reichert, 

treichert@mail.arc.nasa.gov, ext.-4-0375.

Ames Sailing Club Mtg., second Thursday of 

each month (March through November), from 

12 p.m. - 1 p.m., Bldg. N-260, Rm. 113. URL: 

http://sail.arc.nasa.gov/. POC: Clif Horne, 

ext. 4-4571.
13 Astrogram November 2008

The Ames Cat Network needs help finding 

homes for cats trapped at Moffett. They 

range from feral to abandoned/lost pets. 

Tested, altered and inoculated. Call Iris at 

ext. 4-5824 if you or someone you know are 

interested in fostering or adopting a cat.

Ames Cat Network

Looking for housing within biking distance of 

Ames in the $500/month range. Quiet, neat, 

nice. Call (207) 253-9803.

Furnished room in nice home in Santa Clara, 

Free wireless DSL, washer and dryer, kitchen 

privileges,central AC, heat. Free utils. 10 mins 

from Ames. Close to HW101, 237, 280, train stn, 

bus stop. Beautiful, safe, peaceful neighborhood, $750 a month. First, last and $400 deposit 

to move in. No drugs, N/S, no extended stay 

of friends or overnight guests. Month-to-month 

or long term. E-mail frank586@sbcglobal.net or 

(408) 247-7974.

Ames emergency 

announcements

To hear the centerwide status recording, call (650) 604-9999 for information announcements and emergency 

instructions for Ames employees. You 

can also listen to 1700 KHz AM radio 

for the same information.

Ames Classifieds

Exchange Information

Beyond Galileo Gift Shop N-235 in 

the cafeteria , 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., ext. 4-6873

Don’t forget to purchase your baby shower, birthday, holiday gifts at Ames’ two gift shops!

Mega Bites Cafeteria N-235, 6 a.m. to 

2 p.m., ext. 4-5969/Catering ext. 4-2161

Visitor Center Gift Shop N-943 

M-F, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., ext. 4-5412

NASA logo merchandise, souvenirs, toys, gifts and 

educational items. 

Ongoing Vacation Opportunities

Information about products, services and opportunities provided to the employee and contractor 

community by the Ames Exchange Council. Visit 

the web site at: http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov

NASA Lodge (N-19) 603-7100

Tickets, etc... N-943 outside the main gate, 

10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., ext. 4-5412 and Beyond 

Galileo, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ext. 4-6873

See daily menu at: http://exchange.arc.nasa.gov

The pool is heated year round! The pool is currently available for lap swim, pool parties and 

special events. POC -Chana Langley, Pool Manager 

(650) 603-8025. Memberships: single memberships: $40/yr. Family memberships: $60/yr. After 

purchasing a membership, there is an entrance fee: 

daily entrance fee - $3/day or lap pass fee - $40 for 

20 uses. Platinum membership - $360/yr. (no daily 

fee). Special events: include military training, swim 

team events, kayak role practice, etc. The cost for 

special events is $50/hr.

Ames Swim Center (N-109) 603-8025

Ads for the next issue should be sent to astrogram@

mail.arc.nasa.gov and must be resubmitted for each 

issue. Ads must involve personal needs or items; (no 

commercial/third-party ads) and will run on a spaceavailable basis only. First-time ads are given priority. 

Ads must include home phone numbers; Ames extensions and email addresses will be accepted for carpool 

and lost and found ads only. Due to the volume of 

material received, we are unable to verify the accuracy 

of the statements made in the ads. Caveat emptor! 

RV Lots Available Call to reserve a 

space at (650) 603-7100/01.

 Civilian/Contractors, $50/mo; military $25/mo

Where to stay when you’re too tired to drive home? 

What about the lodge?! Two types of rooms: Bldg. 

19 (43 rooms), rate: $55/night ($5 ea add’l adult); 

Bldg. 583 (150 rooms), rate: $45/night ($5 ea. add’l 

adult) 

Moffett Field Golf Club with ‘Tee minus 

1’ Grill and Sports Bar. Call (650) 603-8026.

Lake Tahoe-Squaw Valley Townhse, 3bd/2ba, 

View of slopes, close to lifts. Per night: $250, plus 

$145 cleaning fee. Two night minimum. Includes 

linens, propane fireplace, fully equipped. Call (650) 

968-4155, DBMcKellar@aol.com.

Bass Lake vacation rental, 4 mls south of Yosemite. 

3bd/1.5 ba, TV, VCR, MW, frplc, BBQ, priv. boat 

dock. Sleeps 8. $1,050/wk. Call (559) 642-3600 or 

(650) 390-9668.

Big Sur vacation rental, secluded 4bd/2ba house 

in canyon setting. Fully eqpd kitchen. Access to 

priv. beach. Tub in patio gdn. Halfway between 

Carmel and Big Sur. $175/night for 2; $225 for 4 

and $250 for more, plus $150 cleaning dep. Call 

(650) 328-4427.

Pine Mountain Lake vacation home. Access to golf, 

tennis, lake, swimming, horseback riding, walk 

to beach. Three bedrooms/sleeps 10. $100/night. 

Call (408) 799-4052 or (831) 623-4054.

Incline Village, Forest Pines, Lake Tahoe condo, 3 

bdrms/2 ba, sleeps 8, fireplace, TVs/VCR/DVD, 

stereo w/CD player, microwv, W/D, jacuzzi, 

sauna, outdoor pool. Walk to lake. Close to ski 

areas. Visit web site for pictures: http://www.

ACruiseStore.com $135/night spring and fall, 

$173/night summer and winter (holidays higher) 

plus $125 cleaning fee and 12 percent Nevada 

room tax. Charlie (650) 743-8990.

New York, 5th Ave., one fully furnished bedroom 

apt. in 24 hour security fbldg. overlooking

Washington Square Park, $1,000/week or

3,000/month, negotiable. Call (650) 430-6977.

Paris/France: Fully furnished studio. 5th arr, Latin 

Quarter, Notre Dame and Lie-St. Louis, $1,400/

week, negotiable. Call (650) 430-6977.

Santa Cruz townhouse, 2 bedrooms plus study, 

2 baths, decks, totally furnished, 3 blocks from 

beach, available July, August, September; $1,600 

per month. Call (831) 423-5777 (H) or (831) 277-

8476 (C).

Lake Tahoe cabin rental in Agate Bay, North Shore. 

4bd/3ba tri-level, AEK, cable TVs, fireplace, BBQ, 

deck, sleeps 10. Closest skiing is Northstar, Alpine 

and Squaw. Rates are $375 a weekend, $1,000 a 

week. Call (408) 867-4656.

Florida west coast vacation in St. Petersburg, 

beautiful 2bd/2ba condo, fully equipped kitchen 

and furnished, sunset views, 1/4 mile from St. Pete 

Beach, monthly or 2 week minimum rentals only. 

Call (703) 299-8889 or e-mail: jdgoehler@aol.com

Monterey Bay vacation rental at Pajaro Dunes, 20 

miles south of Santa Cruz, 3bd/2ba beach house 

with distinctive architecture. Beautiful ocean and 

valley views, only 150 ft from the beach, first-class 

tennis courts. $700/wkend, $2,100/wk including 

cleaning by the maid service when you depart. 

Call (408) 252-7260.

South Lake Tahoe large cabin surrounded by 

protected forest, 8 miles from Stateline Sleeps 12 

comfortably, 4 bd/3ba. Hot tub/pool table/65” TV 

Matt (408) 482-5286

South Lake Tahoe cozy home backs up to large 

open meadow, 1 mile from Heavenly Valley. Sleeps 

11, 3 bd/2.5 ba. Large deck with hot tub. Matt (408) 

482-5286.

Drive in the carpool lane alone anytime in 

the most fuel efficient car in the country. 2000 

Honda Insight, 5-speed manual, ~50 K miles, 

60/70 mpg city/hwy. Carpool sticker. Battery 

warranty. Email: max.bernstein@nasa.gov

‘08 Mazda 3, four-door, touring sedan. White 

with sand color interior. Under factory warrenty only 750 miles on it. Price: $15,800. Call 

(650) 787-1375 during evening hours after 6 p.m. 

Ask for Anna.

Transportation

Housing

Miscellaneous

2006, 6HP Mercury outboard motor, four 

stroke, Less than three hours on motor, looks 

and is new, $1,595. Two Scotty downriggers, 

short arms, crank style, both for $80. Joe (650) 

369-0578.

Two tickets to Celine Dion concert at HP 

Pavilion Feb. 20, 2009. Section 106, Row 13. 

$400. Email: acsullivan@comcast.net 
14 Astrogram November 2008

Dr. James Gosling, Fellow and vice president 

of Sun Microsystems, recently presented a 

Director's Colloquium at the center entitled, 

"The Impact of Open Source Software on Space 

Exploration." Attendees learned about open 

source software from the pioneer who created 

the Java programming language. Gosling 

discussed the importance of open source 

software, which has been a cornerstone of the 

Sun Microsystems business model. Today, 

NASA conducts research and development 

in software and software technology as an 

essential response to the needs of NASA missions. Currently, NASA has several options for 

the release of these NASA-developed software 

technologies, including using the NASA Open 

Source Agreement (NOSA). Gosling relayed 

his thoughts on what the impacts of open 

source software might be on NASA’s space 

exploration program.

Java open source software discussed

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

The National Association of Science Writers recently 

visited Ames to tour the NASA Advanced Supercomputer 

facility, FutureFlight Central, the Robotics Lab, Crew 

Vehicle Systems Research Facility, the Vertical Motion 

Simulator and the Arcjet. 

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

National Association of Science Writers tour Ames

My name is Enayat Feizzadeh. I 

have been working at NASA Ames for 

more than 20 years. I am from Iran and 

I previously have worked for several 

companies there and also in Japan. 

Before I began working at NASA 

Ames, I worked for several companies 

in the United States.

As noted, I have worked for many 

different companies, but I have never 

worked in a place like NASA Ames. 

People who never worked outside 

NASA Ames do not understand how 

blessed or lucky they truly are. In other 

places, you could lose your job just 

because your child is sick and you have 

chose to stay home with the child.

When I was very young, I lost my 

good health due to a painful illness. 

One day during my youngest years, 

I wrote in my diary, “God, have you 

created any other person less lucky 

fortunate than me?” Last week, I found 

myself reviewing my diary and saw 

that same page I wrote decades ago. 

I smiled and added this quote to that 

same page: “God, thank you for giving 

me the opportunity to work at NASA 

Ames; I feel like I am the luckiest man 

in the world.”

by Enayat Feizzad

Kudos to Ames

The Ames Astrogram is an official publication of 

Ames Research Center, National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration.

Managing Editor......................Michael Mewhinney

Editor, Layout and Design...................Astrid Olson

You can reach the Astrogram Office at: astrogram@

mail.arc.nasa.gov or by phone at (650) 604-3347. 

Astrogram Web site: http://www.nasa.gov/

ames/astrogram.

Astrogram deadlines

Please submit articles, calendar 

and classified advertisements to 

astrogram@mail.arc.nasa.gov no later 

than the 10th of each month. If this 

falls on a weekend or holiday, then the 

following business day becomes the 

deadline. For Astrogram questions, 

contact Astrid Olson at the aforementioned e-mail address or ext. 4-3347.