America’s gateway to the universe. Leading the world in preparing and launching missions to Earth and beyond.

June 22, 2001

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Spaceport Newshttp://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/snews/snewstoc.htm

Vol. 40, No. 13

Pages 4-5 – Spaceport Newsgoes inside the EmergencyOperations Center.

Page 7 – FireMAN Web sitemonitors fire risk conditions.

Page 3 – Rob Ellison explainsimportance of ISO 9000 audits.

Page 2 – “Recognizing OurPeople” highlights awards.

(See MAP, Page 3)

Page 6 – Space CommerceWay will offer new route.

(See SPCSO, Page 8)

MAP to probe Big Bang

Office serves Spaceport customersInside

The one-stop shopping concept,which has done wonders for theretail industry, is now being appliedhere by the Cape CanaveralSpaceport Planning and CustomerService Office (SPCSO).

First opened a year ago, theoffice has received good reviewsfrom customers and is helping togenerate new launch and businessopportunities for Kennedy SpaceCenter and the 45th Space Wing.

The office, a cooperativepartnership of NASA, the Air Forceand the Spaceport Florida Author-ity, integrates and overseesplanning initiatives to support anevolving vision for development ofthe Spaceport.

SPCSO serves to assure that theneeds of the government, commer-cial industry, the State of Floridaand other local stakeholders are

included in the future Spaceport.“Developing the Spaceport

concept is important for NASA, theAir Force, the State of Florida,those who live on the Space Coast,and most of all anyone planning todo business at the Cape CanaveralSpaceport. By combining our

resources, planning together andstandardizing our businessprocesses, we could operate moreefficiently,” said Rick Blucker,director of the SPCSO. “That’s vitalfor our nation’s space program as

Before the formation of the Spaceport Planningand Customer Service Office (SPCSO), launchcustomers of both NASA and the Air Force wereconcerned with the complexity of getting a pay-load into orbit, primarily because of the multiplegovernment offices they had to work with toaccomplish their launch.

STS-104 update

Scientists and other workers watch as the solar panels on the MicrowaveAnisotropy Probe (MAP) spacecraft are deployed in the SpacecraftAssembly and Encapsulation Facility (SAEF-2) at Kennedy Space Center.

The Microwave AnisotropyProbe (MAP) was scheduled atpress time for launch June 30aboard a Delta II rocket from CapeCanaveral Air Force Station.

NASA’s MAP spacecraft willjourney into deep space on avoyage to explore some of thedeepest mysteries of the cosmos.

Scientists hope to determine thecontent, shape, history, andthe ultimate fate of the universe byconstructing a full-sky picture ofthe oldest light.

MAP is designed to capture theafterglow of the Big Bang, whichcomes to us from a time wellbefore there were any stars,galaxies or quasars.

Patterns imprinted within thisafterglow carry with them theanswers to mysteries such as:

At press time, STS-104was scheduled to launchaboard Atlantis no earlierthan July 12 at 5:04 a.m.

Because of concernsabout the InternationalSpace Station’s robot arm,Shuttle and Station manag-ers had considered theoption to postpone theSTS-104 Joint Air Lockmission until September.

If STS-104 were to bepostponed, STS-105 wouldbe launched first.

Launch for STS-105 is setfor no earlier than Aug. 5.

STS-105 will deliver theExpedition Three crew as areplacement for ExpeditionTwo aboard the Interna-tional Space Station.

SPACEPORT NEWS June 22, 2001Page 2

Recognizing Our People

Before each critical component ofthe International Space Station(ISS) is launched from KennedySpace Center and assembled inorbit, it is tested and integratedwith other components here onEarth.

The responsibility of testing theearly components of the ISS restedin the hands of hundreds of menand women led by NASA’s CherylMcPhillips.

For her part, McPhillips is thewinner of the 2001 National SpaceClub Eagle Award, an award shesaid that she accepted “on behalfof the Multi-Element IntegrationTest (MEIT) team as the projectlead of MEIT-1.”

“It was truly a team effort,” saidMcPhillips.

MEIT-1 was a joint effortbetween NASA and The BoeingCo. that consisted of ISS personnelwho saw to it that all of the SpaceStation’s components were inperfect working order and able tocommunicate with each other asthey were prepared in the SpaceStation Processing Facility (SSPF)for launch.

MEIT-1 took three years ofintense planning and is credited

McPhillips, MEIT-1 team honored

IEEE recognizes KSC team’s contributionsMay 25, 2001 – Forty years, to the day, after

President John F. Kennedy stood beforeCongress and vowed to land an American onthe moon by the end of the 1960’s, KennedySpace Center, the Florida space center named inhis memory, was presented with an award forachieving that very feat.

The event was hosted by the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

The IEEE Milestone award honored the KSCpioneers who raced to develop the technologythat would eventually land the Apollo 11 crewon the moon in July 1969.

The Milestone plaque, given by IEEE Presi-dent Joel Snyder, recognized KCS for success-fully creating an infrastructure necessary toaccommodate the world’s first spaceport.

It is an infrastructure that included state-of-

the-art radar tracking, data telemetry, instrumen-tation, space-to-ground communications, on-board guidance, and real-time computation.

NASA-KSC’s Director of External Relationsand Business Development JoAnn Morgan,who witnessed the technology developmentsfirst hand, was on hand to accept the award onbehalf of KSC.

“This award signifies the historical impacttheir work (KSC pioneers) has had on aninternational level, ” Morgan said.

More than 200 honorees and guests inattendance were treated to presentations fromU.S. Senator Bill Nelson and Florida’s Lieuten-ant Governor Frank Brogan.

In addition, the ceremony also featured avideo excerpt of President Kennedy’s famous“Special Message to Congress” speech.

with the successful testing of someof the Station’s primary compo-nents including the U.S. Laboratory“Destiny,” the Canadian roboticarm and the large Z-1 truss.

Since its inception just two yearsago, MEIT has detected andresolved thousands of anomalies.

MEIT-2 is currently being held inthe SSPF.

The National Space Clubreserves the annual Eagle Awardfor those who have had the mostsignificant influence over thesuccessful and safe completion of ahuman space flight mission.

Former astronaut and Chairmanof the NSC Awards Committee RickHauck said, “Those who have ledthe MEIT project are perfect

examples of individuals who workon the front line towards a success-ful and safe space program.”

Boeing’s Christian Hardcastleand NASA’s Kenneth Todd fromJohnson Space Center in Houstonare also named in the award inrecognition of their leadershipduring MEIT-1.

JoAnn Morgan, director of External Relationsand Business development, accepted the IEEEaward on behalf of the KSC team.

Cheryl McPhillips, who led the MEIT-1 effort, was among those honoredwith the 2001 National Space Club Eagle Award for the success of theMEIT-1 testing of International Space Station elements.

“Those who haveled the MEITproject are perfectexamples of indi-viduals who workon the front linetowards a success-ful and safe spaceprogram.”

Rick HauckChairman of the NSCAwards Committee

SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3June 22, 2001

Rob Ellison, center, KSC senior management’s representative forISO 9000, works with Opportunity For Improvement managersWilliam Johnson and Michele Foster of the External Relations andBusiness Development Directorate.

Periodic department reviews arestandard for Kennedy Space Centeremployees, but the significance ofthese ISO 9000 audits still mystifiessome workers and makes othersuncomfortable.

Sometimes employees only seetheir piece of the process, but it isimportant for team members tounderstand where their contribu-tions fit into the total picture, saidRob Ellison, KSC senior manage-ment’s representative for ISO 9000.

Once employees realize they arevital in keeping KSC effective andefficient, they understand howimportant ISO 9000 standards are,Ellison said.

“People want to do a good joband they want recognition for thatgood work,” he said.

Fortunately, a new company,National Quality Assurance (NQA),is now auditing KSC and isproviding a more positive auditexperience.

KSC recently completed a re-certification audit. NQA recom-mended that KSC’s registration toISO 9001 be extended for threemore years

“NQA wants to add value toNASA,” he said. “One area auditedby NQA involved JPMO DirectorRay Lugo and his joint Air Force/NASA team. Their contract

surveillance plan was recognized asoutstanding.”

While all audits may not producesuch a glowing evaluation,employees can learn to use theexaminations to gauge theirorganizational and individualperformances and make improve-ments, said Ellison, who alsoserves as a Baldrige NationalQuality Program examiner.

Ellison uses his experience as aBaldrige examiner to encourage

KSC to develop more effectiveprocedures, to go beyond basicISO standards.

Whereas ISO just measuresconformance, Baldrige standardslook beyond to excellence. ManyBaldrige concepts have beenincorporated into ISO 9000’srevision.

“The Baldrige Program encour-ages organizations to strive forperformance excellence by show-casing award recipients – world-

class organizations – that committo sharing their knowledge andtheir best practices,” Ellison said.

As a Baldrige examiner, Ellisonhas been trained to evaluate U.S.companies trying to become thebest in the marketplace.

Ellison uses his Baldrigeexperience to help guide KSCemployees in improving their workprocedures.

For example, Ellison recentlyworked with External Relations andBusiness Development’s Chief ofthe Customer Assurance andAnalysis Office Michele Foster onimproving the Opportunity ForImprovement (OFI) system.

“We developed the OFI systemto manage corrective and preven-tive actions, resolve customerissues, lead improvement initia-tives, and measure how well weaccomplish these activities. Thesystem captures customer sugges-tions for improvement and cus-tomer complaints,” he said.

“Also, the system capturesemployee-identified problems thatrequire action, potential problemsthat should be looked at, orsuggested improvements that mayenhance Center performance.

“The OFI system is key to man-aging and ultimately improving ouroverall business system at KSC.”

ISO 9000 helping to improve processes

MAP ...(Continued from Page 1)

• What happened during the firstinstant after the Big Bang?• How did the universe evolve intothe complex patterns of galaxiesthat we see today?• Will the universe expand foreveror will it collapse?

To answer these questions,MAP’s measured pattern of the BigBang’s afterglow, like a fingerprint,will be compared against theunique fingerprint pattern predictedby each cosmic scenario to findthe right match.

“We are tremendouslyexcited about this mission becauseit will help answer basic questionsthat people have been asking for

ages,” said Dr. Charles L. Bennett,principal investigator for the MAPmission at NASA’s Goddard SpaceFlight Center. “MAP’s unprec-edented accuracy and precision willallow us to determine the natureand destiny of the universe.”

According to the Big Bangtheory, the universe began about14 billion years ago as anunimaginably hot and dense fog oflight and exotic particles.

The universe has since continu-ously expanded and cooled.

The whole universe is bathed inthe afterglow light from the BigBang.

The light that is now reaching ushas been traveling for about 14billion years, thus allowing us alook back through time to see theearly universe.

“The cosmic microwave light is afossil,” said Professor DavidWilkinson, Princeton University.“Just as we can study dinosaurbones and reconstruct their lives ofmillions of years ago, we can probethis ancient light and reconstructthe universe as it was about 14billion years ago.”

MAP views the infant universeby measuring the tiny temperaturedifferences within the extraordinar-ily evenly dispersed microwavelight, which now averages a frigid2.73 degrees above absolute zerotemperature.

MAP will resolve theslight temperature fluctuations,which vary by only millionths of adegree. These temperature differ-ences point back to densitydifferences in the young universe,

where denser regions gave way tothe vast web-like structure ofgalaxies that we see today.

MAP required an extraordinarydesign to achieve its accurateand precise measurements.

“Nothing has ever been built likeit before,” said Dr. Edward Wollack,a science team member at Goddard.“To measure the cosmic glowreliably to a part in a million, tomillionths of a degree has beenthe grand challenge. That’s likemeasuring the weight of acup of sand down to the resolutionof a single grain.”

After a three month journey,MAP will begin to chart thefaint microwave glow from the BigBang. It will take about 18months to build up a full-skypicture and perform the analysis.

Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS June 22, 2001

Inside the EmergenThe new Emergency Operations Center

(EOC) on the second floor in the LaunchControl Center (LCC) is Cape CanaveralSpaceport’s powerful new resource inpreparing for and reacting to emergencies.

The EOC is equipped to respond toemergencies of all kinds, from severeweather, which is a fairly common occur-rences at the Spaceport, to a terroristattack, which has never happened here.

The new operations center has comeonline in the LCC’s Central OperationsFacility just in time for the start of Hurri-cane season, which officially began June 1.

Because the LCC is rated to withstand150-mph winds, it offers an excellentlocation for preparation and response, saidRoger Scheidt, senior emergency manage-ment analyst with Research Planning Inc.RPI is the Emergency Preparednesssubcontractor on the Joint Base Opera-tions and Support Contract.

“The LCC is the safest building on thespace center,” Scheidt said. “You couldn’task for a better location for hurricanepreparation and response.”

The new EOC is equipped with two 50-inch plasma screens that will be used todisplay broadcast and computer informa-tion needed by the Emergency Prepared-ness team. It also features two banks ofconsoles that give the team access tomultiple computer servers and voicetransmission systems.

If a hurricane approaches the SpaceCoast, the team will gather in the EOC todirect and monitor storm preparations.They will work with fire and security, dutyofficers and other organizational hurricanecoordinators to make sure the Spaceport iswell prepared to weather the storm.

The team – RPI staff and emergencymanagement representatives from NASA,Air Force, United Space Alliance andBoeing – will, if necessary, ride out ahurricane at the EOC to help ensure criticalsystems on Center and at Cape CanaveralAir Force Station (CCAFS) continuefunctioning.

After the hurricane passes, the team will

work with various groups to help reestab-lish normal operations at the Spaceport.

Previously, two emergency preparednessoperation centers were used to respond tohurricane threats, one at KSC and one atCCAFS.

“The new center will function as a nervecenter bringing together all the emergencyresponders,” said Wayne Kee, NASA KSCemergency preparedness officer. “We’vealready tried out the EOC with a hurricaneexercise and we think it will be a big asset incase we do have to face a hurricane thisseason.”

KSC has had on average one brush with ahurricane each year for the past decade,Kee said.

The EOC will also be manned for otheremergencies as needed and for Shuttlelaunches. Emergency Preparedness will manthe Alternate EOC, BlockHouse 25, and theMobile Command Center for other CCAFSlaunches.

The EOC became a part of the CentralOperations Facility (COF) at the LCCthrough an invitation of United SpaceAlliance (USA), which established the COFto better serve Shuttle operations.

The COF offers a centralized locationwith modern workstations for managers andsupport personnel to easily gather andwork together.

Duty officers from USA and SpaceGateway Support monitor consolesadjacent to the Emergency OperationsCenter. The Emergency Preparedness teamconstantly needs to communicate with theduty officers during emergency operations,so the new EOC location offers face-to-facecommunication, a significant improvementover the previous system of having to makenumerous phone calls.

“We asked Emergency Preparedness tojoin the COF because we thought it wouldbetter facilitate coordinating emergencyresponse,” said Michael Shacreaw, COF sitemanager for USA. “There are so manyplayers. It’s important for us all to be able toclearly communicate with each other duringthese crucial operations.”

Page 5SPACEPORT NEWSJune 22, 2001

cy Operations Center

Pictured above is the Launch Control Centerwhere the new Emergency Operations Center(EOC) is located. At left is the EOC, which iscontained within United Space Alliance’s CentralOperations Facility. Staff of EmergencyPreparedness subcontractor Research PlanningInc. and Jim Cheek, a USA safety officer, monitorthe consoles. Pictured from left to right are CharlesStreet, Dennis Reddecliff, Roger Scheidt, NedScheerhorn and Cheek. Below, Scheidt andReddecliff discuss emergency procedures. Atbottom left, a United Space Alliance duty officerand JBOSC duty officer Kathy Alderman are readyto support the EOC staff.

June 22, 2001 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 6

Space Commerce Way underwayAn aerial view of the area where the Space Commerce Way is being built. The road’s intersection with State Road 3 is shown toward the bottom of thephotograph. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex can be seen near the top of the photograph.

Orange cones and flags on StateRoad 3 were a familiar sight inrecent weeks for Kennedy SpaceCenter employees traveling to andfrom work.

The cones and flags werenecessary for beginning construc-tion of the new Space CommerceWay road. It may have been a littletrickier getting to the office, but theroad will make it easier for employ-ees to traverse the Center and offerless hassle for tourists traveling toKSC Visitor Complex.

The first phase of the 2.7-mileSpace Commerce Way began withconstruction of an intersection justsouth of the JBOSC CorrosionControl Facility.

Completion of the first phase isplanned for early 2002.

The first phase is being funded

by the Florida Department ofTransportation.

Construction of the second legof the road will be funded byDelaware North Parks Services ofSpaceport Inc.

Construction will begin in early2002.

Space Commerce Way is beingbuilt so that the planned SpaceExperiment Research and Process-ing Laboratory (SERPL) will fallwithin KSC’s secure area.

The new road will also provideaccess for the future SpaceCommerce Park, said Jose Perez-Morales, NASA project managerfor the road and SERPL.

“This new road is going to havea major effect on the traffic patternout here,” Perez-Morales said. “Itdefinitely will be a change for the

better and I think everyone whodrives in the area is really going toappreciate the change.”

When completed in 2003, SpaceCommerce Way will permit travelfrom Merritt Island to Titusville 24hours a day, seven days a week.

KSC security gates will berelocated ed because of the alteredroute. Because of the move,employees will no longer have tore-identify themselves whentraveling to and from the LaunchComplex-39 and the Industrial Area.

The first phase of the SERPLconstruction, site preparation, isexpected to begin in July. Theintent is for the Space CommerceWay to be completed before theSERPL is opened.

Planning for the Space CommercePark, which is expected to draw a

variety of technology companiesnearer to the Center, is in the initialstages.

When completed in2003, the SpaceCommerce Waywill permit travelfrom Merritt Islandto Titusville 24hours a day, sevendays a week.

SPACEPORT NEWSJune 22, 2001 Page 7

FireMAN Web site monitors conditionsFire is a global process, and to

Florida residents, smoke billowingup on the horizon is a familiar sight.

Our local ecosystems haveevolved with and adapted to fire,and fire management has become anecessary task at Kennedy SpaceCenter (KSC) and surroundingareas. Fire is used to control fuelloads and to maintain habitats fornative species.

The presence of several thou-sand employees, millions of dollarsworth of sensitive equipment, andthe environment of the MerrittIsland National Wildlife Refuge(MINWR) and Canaveral NationalSeashore have made KSC a uniqueand valuable area. In addition tothe obvious dangers of firedamage, contamination andcleanup costs of smoke damagecan be massive.

The MINWR Fire ManagementOffice needed more information tomonitor the conditions across theKSC landscape, in turn allowingthem to take full advantage of thefew opportunities available to carryout prescribed burns.

The solution was to create agraphic, available on the Internet,detailing the conditions across theKSC landscape and areas sched-uled for prescribed burns.

It resulted in the Fire Manage-ment and Analysis Network(FireMAN), a Web site that quicklyprovides NASA, the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service and the Air Forceinformation regarding our currentfire risk.

The Earth Systems Modeling andData Management Laboratory(ESMDML), operated by DynamacCorp. with support from Matrix, hastapped into the base meteorologicalgrid. A Geographic InformationSystem processes the data thatpours in from across the base, andrelays it to FireMAN. A softwarepackage called WeatherProcalculates indices such as theNational Fire Danger Rating Systemand Keetch-Byram Drought Index.

The lab also archives all of thisinformation for future reference.

FireMAN was born of a partner-ship between the SpaceportEngineering and Technology and

the Spaceport Services Director-ates, MINWR and ESMDML.

“We’d like to see this analysiscapability transferred to otherregions,” said Ron Schaub,ecologist/remote sensing analystwith Dynamac. “There is also greatpotential for adding educationalcontent that would be of value andinterest to the general public.”

But for now, pending furtherfunding, fire managers are excitedabout FireMAN’s uses here.

“We are the stewards of thislandscape,” said Schaub. “It’shome to so much wildlife, and whenyou add the technology to it,there’s no place else like it on Earth.FireMAN is a great tool.”

FireMAN is available at http://dugong.ksc.nasa.gov/fireman/.

The screen shot above shows the FireMAN Web site’s ability todisplay fire risk conditions in the area. Above the screen shot is anaerial view of a prescribed burn in the Refuge area.

Page 8 SPACEPORT NEWS June 22, 2001

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Managing editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce BuckinghamEditor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathy Hagood

Editorial support provided by InDyne Inc. Writers Group.NASA at KSC is located on the Internet at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov

USGPO: 633-096/00059

Spaceport News

Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy Space Center andis published on alternate Fridays by the Public Affairs Office in the interest ofKSC civil service and contractor employees. Contributions are welcome and should be submitted two weeks beforepublication to the Media Services Branch, XAE-1. E-mail submissions can besent to Katharine.Hagood-1@ksc.nasa.gov

SPCSO ...(Continued from Page 1)

budgets get tighter and competi-tion in the launch business getstougher.”

The office is currently workingon 14 active programs, includingthe Advanced Technology Devel-opment Center (ATDC), Delta IV,Atlas V and X-37.

Before the formation of theSPCSO, launch customers of bothNASA and the Air Force wereconcerned with the complexity ofgetting a payload into orbit,primarily because of the multiplegovernment offices they had towork with to accomplish theirlaunch, Blucker said.

Launch customers saw theCanaveral launch site as one entityand wanted to work with it as suchvs. needing 12 to 15 of their ownengineers to work through thenumerous aspects of payloadprocessing and launch.

Small, new commercial launchcompanies especially were per-plexed and somewhat intimidatedby the many layers of bureaucracyrequired to launch.

Now the one-stop-shop officeassigns each new customer a“spaceport manager.” The manageracts as a facilitator and advocateand works to make the process astransparent as possible from thetime the customer arrives until thelaunch or program is complete.

It is referred to as the “cradle toorbit” philosophy. Managers helpiron out public safety issues, realestate agreements and environmen-tal concerns in addition to walkingcustomers through all unfamiliarrequirements.

“Our customers say they likehaving an individual dedicated torunning interference and breakingup log jams for them,” said FrankDavies, chief of customer servicefor the SPCSO. “The larger playerslike Boeing, Lockheed and OrbitalSciences are well-plugged into thesystem here, but they still need usto help them work out somespecific and unique issues. Thesmaller players don’t know who togo to for what and we shepherdthem through the whole process.”

NASA payload customer RichardBlakeslee said he has found work-ing with his spaceport managerextremely helpful. Blakeslee, with

the Global Hydrology and ClimateCenter at Marshall Space FlightCenter in Huntsville, is principleinvestigator for the Altus CumulusElectrification Study (ACES).

The Altus, a remotely operatedaircraft the size of a Cessna, will flyout of Patrick Air Force Base andconduct weather studies over KSCbeginning in July 2002.

“I appreciate the fact the officeprovides a single point interfacewith the various groups we need towork with,” Blakeslee said. “It’scertainly convenient because thereare many entities we have to dealwith on this project.”

Spaceport Florida AuthorityExecutive Director Ed Gormel seesthe SPCSO as another step increating greater cooperation amongNASA, the Air Force and the Stateof Florida with the result of bettercustomer service and planning forthe future, he said.

Pictured second from right, Suzy Cunningham, a senior spaceport manager in the Spaceport Planning andCustomer Service Office, is working with Greg Clements, far left, project manager for the Advanced TechnologyDevelopment Center (ATDC). Cunningham’s job is to be Clements advocate, guiding him through the process ofcoordinating with a multitude of government agencies to get approvals for his ATDC project. Also pictured areVivian Dear, Air Force range safety systems safety engineer, and Gregory Popp, director of business operationsfor the Spaceport Florida Authority (SFA). The Air Force and the SFA are among the agencies Clements needs towork with to be able to build and run the ATDC at the old Titan 20 pad, which is pictured behind the group. TheATDC will serve as a test bed for proposed improvements for ground processing equipment and launch padinfrastructure for the Shuttle and other space launch vehicles.

An earlier step was the creationof the Joint Performance Manage-ment Office (JPMO), whichoversees the Joint Base Operationsand Support Contract for KSC andthe 45th Space Wing.

“This office is another piece inthe development of the CapeCanaveral Spaceport,” Gormel said.“It’s had a number of successesand continues to evolve to betterserve Spaceport customers.”