NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has had a thriving year of missions, developments and outreach programs despite the challenges of the pandemic. Associate Center Director Ray Rubilotta gave a presentation on these efforts to Greenbelt City Council on March 21. Both council and Rubilotta agreed on the vital and proud relationship between the city and the Center, expressing the shared commitment to help both entities move forward.
Rubilotta first reported on the James Webb Space Telescope. Launched on December 25, 2021, it has attained its proper orbit and is now operational. Its first calibration photo revealed “galaxies that we didn’t know existed,” said Rubilotta, and like its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, will “rewrite the books.”
Covid Status
The Center is now deemed in the green Covid category, removing the universal mandate of wearing masks; masks continue to be a personal option. Around 95 percent of employees are vaccinated. With 10,000 employees as its normal on-site complement, the number working at the Center is now over 4,000; as a comparison, when the Center was at its most Covid restrictive, no more than 8 percent were on site.
The Visitor Center will move to Stage One on Sunday, May 1, which means opening to the public once more. Staff are focused on developing programs to again engage guests. Council was eager to assist in promoting this to city residents.
Space Missions
Of the recent space missions, the list includes: NG-16 and NG-17 International Space Station resupply crafts; Landsat-9 observation satellite; the weather forecasting GOES-T satellite; and the asteroid study Lucy probe. The Laser Communication Relay Data satellite is poised to vastly improve communication between satellites.
With low Earth orbit missions now moving into the private sector, NASA is looking to establish a presence on the Moon, under the aegis of the Artemis Program, from which journeys to other places in the Solar System (namely Mars) can commence. NASA is dependent on purchasing its propulsion needs from commercial entities like Northrup Grumman.
The Center, said Rubilotta, has a robust program tracking the myriad pieces of space debris, which can threaten the millions in assets of devices orbiting the Earth. There is currently no international combined effort in this area, with each agency pursuing its own approach.
The International Space Station is approaching the end of its funding period, set to cease in 2031. Rubilotta said that this may be extended. The Moon-orbiting Gateway Station, part of Artemis, would be its likely successor.
Area 400
The fate of Area 400, a mostly wooded 105-acre site at the Center, was of keen interest to council. Formerly used for propulsion development and now devoted to storage, the Center no longer has the funds to properly maintain it to agency standards and must divest it. Rubilotta assured council that, through ongoing discussions with the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Patuxent Research Refuge, the Center is making strong efforts to ensure that the site is never developed commercially or residentially. Rubilotta stressed NASA’s devotion to addressing climate change and being good stewards of the environment.
While the majority of NASA areas are being properly funded, Rubilotta said that funding for the mission support directorate has “flatlined.” While Congressional representatives have been made aware, Rubilotta stressed that “it is not a quick process.”
Upcoming Changes
The Goddard Facility Master Plan, which looks to revitalize the Center to meet its future needs, was approved by the agency this February. A panoply of new plants, laboratories and development facilities is planned, along with wooded areas.
The Center’s gate will also be moved 0.3 miles east to the intersection of Greenbelt Road and ICESat Road. Government and Community Relations Manager Phillina Tookes said, in a separate interview, that “construction activities will address pedestrian access to Greenbelt Road, access to public transportation and ICESat Road improvements,” through the period of September to December 2022, in conjunction with the State Highway Administration.
Parkway Access Bridge
On September 16, 2021, the Center’s Baltimore-Washington Parkway access bridge was severely damaged in a trailer accident. It remains closed due to safety, with the Center working with the National Park Service on redesign and repair efforts. Rubilotta estimated a start of reconstruction, which will require a lane closure, at mid-to-post Fiscal Year 2023.
Mayor Emmett Jordan suggested creating a separate bike lane in the meantime, with Director of Planning and Community Development Terri Hruby offering the city’s services in finding alternate and safe bike routes.
Intern Programs
Five hundred and three virtual interns were hosted in 2021, with a commensurate number expected in 2022. July 8, 2022 is the Fall application deadline. The Center also has a vigorous STEM Academic Research Experience, targeted to 11th and 12th graders from local schools; in the 2021-22 school year, six students from Eleanor Roosevelt High School were hosted. The virtual approach has provided an added tool to the learning experience at the Center.
The hope at the Center is that many of these participants will further their scientific studies and pursue careers at NASA.
