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
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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
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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:
- design and build spacecraft
- collect and interpret data
- develop, fabricate, test and track spacecraft
- build payloads for the shuttle
- study the Earth
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS)
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)
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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.
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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.
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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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