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How do I get a job at Goddard? Opportunities to work with NASA range from working as a NASA civil servant assigned to a NASA facility; working for our contractors at one of hundreds of locations throughout the country; performing research at a major university; or participating in one of our numerous educational outreach activities. Search this page for information on how to apply - http://www.nasajobs.nasa.gov, choose How To Apply. How can I get a job or internship at NASA?
Contact:Office of Human Resources and Education Mail Code F NASA Headquarters 300 E St. SW Washington, DC. 20546 The Goddard Space Flight Center job lines are 1-301-286-7918 or 1-301-286-5326 To learn about other federal employment opportunities, try:
Call the Career America Connection at 912/757-3000. It provides information about current employment and career opportunities, special programs for students, veterans and the disabled, and salaries and benefits. Material requested by phone is normally mailed within 24 hours. Use your computer to log in to the Federal Job Opportunities Bulletin Board at 912/757-3100. You may scan current open examination and vacancy announcements worldwide while online or download them. Call the Nationwide TDD (Telephone Device for the Deaf) at 912/744-2299. Telnet to the Federal Job Opportunities Bulletin Board (FJOB.MAIL.OPM.GOV or IP address 198.78.46.10). Visit your local State Employment Service Office. It has a list of current open Federal examination and vacancy announcements. How can I become an astronaut? Any adult man or woman in excellent physical condition who meets the basic qualifications can be selected to enter astronaut training. For mission specialists and pilot astronauts, the minimum requirements include a bachelor's degree in engineering, science or mathematics from an accredited institution. Three years of related experience must follow the degree, and an advanced degree is desirable. Pilot astronauts must have at least 1,000 hours of experience in jet aircraft, and they need better vision than mission specialists. Competition is extremely keen, with an average of over 4,000 applicants for about 20 openings every 2 years. Astronaut recruiting occurs periodically. For more information, write to the Astronaut Selection Office, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058. For answers to other questions check out NASA's Frequently Asked Questions Page I want to volunteer at Goddard - What do I do? If you would like to volunteer your time and serivces, please see our Goddard Visitor's Center What does GSFC do? Goddard Space Flight Center has played a major role in space and Earth science. The Goddard team is made up of some of the world's premiere scientists and engineers devoted to research in Earth and space science, astronomy, space physics, tracking and communications. Goddard's mission is to expand knowledge of the Earth and its environment, the solar system and the universe through observations from space. The Center is committed to excellence in scientific investigation, in the development and operation of space systems and in the advancement of essential technologies. Goddard has some of the most diverse capabilities of all the NASA centers. For example:
Who was Dr. Robert Goddard? The father of modern rocket propulsion is the American, Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard. On March 16, 1926, Goddard successfully tested the first liquid fuel rocket, at Auburn Massachusetts. He was granted about 70 patents on rockets and rocket apparatus; they led to many of today's powerful launch vehicles and spacecraft. In memory of the brilliant scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., was established on May 1, 1959. What was the first U.S. spacecraft? On February 1, 1958, Explorer I, the first U.S. spacecraft, was launched by a modified Army Ballistic Missile Agency-Jet Propulsion Laboratory Jupiter C missile. It collected data leading to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts. It demonstrated the feasibility of temperature control by satellite surface treatment and showed that micrometeorites are not necessarily a major consideration in space travel near the Earth.Why do we need "clean rooms" at Goddard? The clean rooms are unique facilities for working on spacecraft. Tests are conducted to assure successful launch and delivery to orbit of spacecraft. The cleanliness of the area is critical to prevent dust or foreign matter from getting into the components of a spacecraft being assembled to undergo testing; a speck of dust in a switch or relay can cause partial or total malfunction of the spacecraft. Also, because of the tremendous amounts of optics work performed at Goddard, a contaminant-free environment is required to protect sensitive equipment. What are thermal vacuum chambers used for at Goddard? A spacecraft must survive various space environmental conditions while in orbit; three of which are temperature extremes, solar radiation, and vacuum. These three conditions are simulated one by one or simultaneously in thermal vacuum test chambers. Typically, whole spacecraft or spacecraft subsystems are installed inside the chamber and the chamber is closed and sealed. Mechanical, turbomolecular, and cryogenic vacuum pumps are used to evacuate the chamber of all air. Coils and plates inside the chamber carry temperature controlled liquid and gaseous nitrogen at temperatures varying from -310 degrees F to 300 degrees F. These coils are used to control the temperature of the test payload through radiative heat transfer. Typically, the temperatures are cycled from hot to cold to help simulate predicted payload temperatures caused by various payload operational and orbital conditions. Some chambers also have the ability to simulate solar radiation-sunlight by means of bright external light sources generating radiation spectra close to that of sunlight. Light from these sources shine into the chamber through a window made of quartz. The chambers are also used to clean payloads by "baking" them out under vacuum. This process causes molecules trapped in materials to come out in the chamber. This will help prevent contamination occurring in orbit. What is EOS and NASA Earth Science Program? In 1992, NASA began a global-scale examination of the Earth to study the interaction of the atmosphere, oceans and land that make up the Earth system. This global program, called NASA's Earth Science Program (formerly Mission to Planet Earth), is NASA's long term, coordinated effort to study the Earth as a global environmental system. This program, using spacecraft, aircraft and ground instruments will allow humans to better understand environmental changes and to distinguish between natural and human-induced changes. Phase II of NASA's Earth Science Program begins in 1998 with the launch of the first Earth Observing System (EOS) spacecraft EOS AM-1. EOS is a series of polar-orbiting and low inclination spacecraft and supporting ground and data systems that will study the interactions of the atmosphere, land, and oceans. EOS will develop a 15-year environmental database to focus on climate change. NASA's Earth Science Program is NASA's contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a multi-agency effort to understand how our Earth changes over time. The U.S. program complements larger international efforts to study the environment, including the International Biosphere Geosphere Program and the World Climate Change Research Program. International cooperation on NASA missions includes the flight of other nations' instruments aboard NASA satellites and provision of NASA experiments to foreign missions. Later in the decade, EOS will be complemented by observations from several European Space Agency and Japanese satellites. Why is the Space Telescope named Hubble? The telescope is named for Edwin P. Hubble, the astronomer who in the 1920's first identified galaxies outside our own milky Way Galaxy and determined that most are speeding away from us. On his work is based the idea that our universe is expanding from an original "big bang" that occurred between 15 to 20 billion years ago. Although most astronomers support this theory, it is still not known if the universe will continue to expand, collapse back in on itself or remain unchanged. The mission of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is to explore our expanding and evolving universe. From its orbit over 300 miles above the Earth and beyond the Earth's atmosphere, HST can peer far out into space and back into time with high resolution and unprecedented clarity. HST is the largest and most complex astronomical observatory ever placed into orbit. Launched April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has observed galaxies and quasars billions of light-years from Earth. This great observatory is named in honor of the American astronomer, Edwin P. Hubble (1889-1953), discoverer of external galaxies and the expanding universe. What are Sounding Rockets? Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term "to sound" which means to take measurements. They are divided into two parts-a solid fueled rocket motor and the payload. The payload is the section which carries the instruments to conduct the experiment and send data back to Earth. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) currently uses 14 different sounding rockets. The rockets come in a variety of sizes from the single-stage Super Arcas which stands 7-feet (3 meters) high to the four-stage Black Brant XII which stands at 65-feet (20 meters) tall. These rockets can carry scientific payloads of various weights to altitudes from 30 miles (48 km) to more than 800 miles (1,287 km). Experiments flown aboard sounding rockets provide a variety of information on the upper atmosphere, the Sun, stars, galaxies and other planets. Wallops Flight Facility, Va., operated by Goddard, is responsible for the NASA sounding rocket program and is currently launching from 40-50 rockets a year from various sites around the world. Some of the sounding rockets on display at the Visitor Center include the Nike Tomahawk, Black Brant and Javelin. How does information get from spacecraft to the scientists? A new space tracking system has significantly enhanced NASA's data communications capability. The system's implementation in the late 1980's produced a constellation of satellites and a ground terminal, called the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). This system achieves the highest amount of communication coverage ever for low-Earth orbiting satellites. With a growing number of spacecraft placed in orbit for voice, video, and digital uses and with increasing data rates, the need for a more advanced system of communicating with manned and unmanned spacecraft was recognized by engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Researchers determined that a series of geostationary spacecraft in fixed positions above the Earth could provide better tracking of spacecraft than the existing ground stations, could cover almost the entire orbital period of a spacecraft, and simultaneously could support several space vehicles.
Spacecraft supported by TDRSS include:
Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) X-Ray Timing Explorer Satellite (XTE) Space Transportation System (Shuttle)
What is a geosynchronous orbit? An orbit is the path an object takes as it travels around another object. Spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 35,785 kilometers (22,236 miles), complete one orbit in exactly one day. Because the orbital velocity matches the spin rate of the Earth, a spacecraft in a circular equatorial geosynchronous orbit appears to hover motionless over a single location on the equator. From this extremely high vantage point, a spacecraft can see effectively about one third of the Earth's surface. This broad view and the ability to hover over a single equatorial location makes geostationary orbits very popular for communications relay spacecraft and weather monitoring spacecraft. Syncom, was the first geosynchronous satellite launched. Is there a tenth planet? We do not know for sure--some astronomers believe that one may exist, while others do not. Recent observations suggest that there are some large asteroids or fragments of planetary bodies beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, but no planet has been found. I want to submit an idea to NASA? If you would like to submit an idea to NASA, please visit http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/hq/library/unSol-Prop.html . This site will give you guidance for the preparation and submission of unsolicited proposals. |
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