Goddard at 60

Space Down to Earth (1970) Creator(s): National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 10/1/1958- (Most Recent)Series: Headquarters' Films Relating to Aeronautics, 1962 - 1981Record Group 255: Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1903 - 2006Production Date: 1970Scope & Content: This film shows the role of applications satellites in solving Earthbound problems. The film illustrates what such satellites were doing in 1970, and what can be expected in the next decade, the 1970s, in such fields as performing Earth resources surveys, tracing and measuring pollution levels, locating mineral resources, making long-range weather forecasts, providing more precise Earth measurements, and improving navigation and communications. Related pages

Footage of cleanroom work, scientists on SOHO, XTE and the STOCC Footage of Landsat office, International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) and campus shots from the 1970s. Aerial from 1960s, early testing and integration, thermal vacuum chamber, Building 7 anechoic chamber, NASCOM, Explorer 10, Explorer 28 From G1995-005 GSFC Stock Footage, Clean room, control room, testing in B29, Dan Goldin and George HW Bush, Barbara Mikulski post HST Servicing Mission, COSTAR Compilation of archival footage made for the 40th anniversary of Goddard Space Flight Center. Related pages

“Seas of Infinity” (1968), full-length version scanned from 16mm color film and color corrected; run time 14:25. Original description: The film opens with an explanation of the electromagnetic spectrum. The limited capabilities of skyhook balloons and sounding rockets are used to illustrate the need for orbiting observatories. Reviews the planning, development, launching and function of the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, a series of orbiting telescopes which are being used to study our solar system and the stars beyond. Features comments by the following leading scientists on the potential of this advancement in astronomy: Dr. Arthur Code, Wisconsin telescopes; Dr. James Kupperian, Goddard Flight Center using Cassegrain designs; Dr. Fred Whipple on the ultraviolet light sky mapping project; and Dr. Donald Morton on the Princeton OAO ultraviolet spectroscopy project. The film has scenes of the assembly of the OAO. The OAO will be launched by an Atlas-Centaur. Credit: NASAComplete transcript available. A shortened cut of "Seas of Infinity" above; run time 7:13.Credit: NASAComplete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. “Orbiting Astronomical Observatory" (1968), full version, color corrected; run time 2:21.Credit: NASAComplete transcript available. Clean room footage of OAO 2 extracted from both of the above films.Credit: NASA An illustration of OAO 2, nicknamed Stargazer, in orbit around Earth. Credit: NASA James Kupperian Jr., the project scientist for the Orbiting Astronomical Observatories, adjusts a model of the spacecraft on the set of "Seas of Infinity" in 1966.Credit: NASA James Kupperian Jr. (center), the project scientist for Orbiting Astronomical Observatories, adjusts a model of the spacecraft on the set of "Seas of Infinity" in 1966.Credit: NASA Technicians in a clean room at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, check out OAO 2 before the mission’s Dec. 7, 1968, launch. The white conical structures visible near the top of the spacecraft are two of its six star trackers, small telescopes that lock onto appropriate guide stars to keep the instruments on target.Credit: NASA NASA's OAO 2 satellite is shown mated to its Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle on Launch Complex 36B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in fall 1968. It was NASA's largest, heaviest and most complex uncrewed spacecraft to date.Credit: NASA At 3:40 a.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 7, 1968, NASA's OAO 2 blasts into the sky from Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: NASA In a dust-free plastic tent, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 1 spacecraft undergoes checkout tests at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. in Bethpage, New York, in 1965. OAO 1 launched into orbit on April 8, 1966, but the spacecraft began experiencing problems in its power supply, including high-voltage arcing in the star trackers, just seven minutes after separating from its rocket. After three days and 20 orbits, controllers terminated the mission without activating any of the experiments. Credit: NASA In a dust-free plastic tent, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 1 spacecraft undergoes checkout tests at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. in Bethpage, New York, in 1965. OAO 1 launched into orbit on April 8, 1966, but the spacecraft began experiencing problems in its power supply, including high-voltage arcing in the star trackers, just seven minutes after separating from its rocket. After three days and 20 orbits, controllers terminated the mission without activating any of the experiments.Credit: NASA Three OAO spacecraft stand in various stages of completion in the clean room at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Bethpage, New York, in 1964. The spacecraft in the background is a prototype being readied for shock, vibration, and thermal vacuum tests. The other two spacecraft are production models intended for flight.Credit: NASA Three OAO spacecraft stand in various stages of completion in the clean room at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Bethpage, New York, in 1964. The spacecraft in the foreground is a prototype being readied for shock, vibration, and thermal vacuum tests. The other two spacecraft are production models intended for flight.Credit: NASA Three OAO spacecraft stand in various stages of completion in the clean room at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Bethpage, New York, in 1964. The spacecraft in the foreground is a prototype being readied for shock, vibration, and thermal vacuum tests. The other two spacecraft are production models intended for flight.Credit: NASA Technicians at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. in Bethpage, New York, inspect electrical connections on a production model of an Orbiting Astronomical Observatory satellite during construction in 1964.Credit: NASA Arthur Code (left), principal investigator of the Wisconsin Experiment Package on OAO 2, examines one of the 8-inch telescopes used as stellar photometers. Others shown are, from left to right, Theodore Houck, John McNall and Robert Bless.Credit: Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison Pre-integration checkout of the four 12-inch telescopes that formed the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Celescope experiment on OAO 2, circa mid-to-late 1960s. The next step would be placing the payload within the satellite housekeeping shroud. Credit: Photograph courtesy of Bill Waggener and Ball Aerospace. Curatorial Files, "Celescope," Department of Space History, National Air and Space Museum A sticker design for the OAO satellites.Credit: NASA On Dec. 7, 1968, an Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying NASA’s heaviest and most ambitious uncrewed satellite to date blasted into the sky from Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Formally known as Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) 2 and nicknamed Stargazer, it would become NASA’s first successful cosmic explorer and the direct ancestor of Hubble, Chandra, Swift, Kepler, FUSE, GALEX and many other astronomy satellites.OAO 2 provided the first orbital stellar observations in ultraviolet light, shorter than wavelengths in the visible range spanning 3,800 (violet) to 7,500 (red) angstroms. Much of UV light is screened out by the atmosphere and unavailable to ground-based telescopes. Stargazer's experiments made nearly 23,000 measurements, showed that young, hot stars were hotter than theoretical models of the time indicated, confirmed that comets are surrounded by vast clouds of hydrogen and discovered a curious feature of the interstellar medium that would take scientists decades to understand.One of the key problems scientists had to solve was how to direct a telescope to any point on the celestial sphere and hold it there for a half hour or so in order for instruments to record the data from faint sources. This makes OAO 2 the ancestor of all space telescopes that can point to a given spot on the sky and track it for an extended period.Prior to OAO 2, ultraviolet observations of stars were acquired by suborbital sounding rockets which collect data for only five minutes each flight as they arc above much of the atmosphere. By 1968, it was estimated that sounding rockets had captured a total of three hours of stellar UV measurements in some 40 flights. OAO 2 could collect more data than this in a single day.OAO 2 carried two experiments. Project Celescope (from "celestial telescope") was led by Fred Whipple, director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Wisconsin Experiment Package was led by Arthur Code, a professor of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The experiments were mounted back-to-back within the 4,436-pound (2,012 kilogram) spacecraft and looked out opposite ends, taking turns viewing the universe. For More InformationSee [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-s-first-stellar-observatory-oao-2-turns-50](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-s-first-stellar-observatory-oao-2-turns-50) Related pages

Pre-Servicing Mission 1 Resource ReelHubble Servicing Mission 1 was in December, 1993.00:01 - Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, Marshall Space Flight Center04:00 - Astronaut Training, Johnson Space Center04:06 - Astronaut Training, Precision Air Bearing Floor05:23 - Astronaut Training, Pogo Concept06:00 - Astronaut Training, Virtual Reality07:33 - Astronaut Training, Weightless Environment Training Facility09:24 - Mechanical Testing, Goddard Space Flight Center, COSTAR insertion12:29 - Goddard Space Flight Center, WF/PC II insertion15:51 - Goddard Space Flight Center, Astronaut Training with Tools16:31 - Extra Vehicular Activities Animation, Johnson Space Center16:36 - Johnson Space Center, WF/PC II changeout20:32 - Johnson Space Center, RSU changeout23:44 - Johnson Space Center, COSTAR changeout26:50 - Johnson Space Center, Solar Arrays changeout28:32 - Solar Array VNR, European Space Agency34:36 - COSTAR VNR, Ball Aerospace37:35 - COSTAR Animation, Space Telescope Science Institute38:14 - WF/PC II Animation, Space Telescope Science Institute39:04 - Testing and Verification VNR, NASA Headquarters STS-61 Crew Preflight Press BriefingNovember 18, 1993Astronauts Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Claude Nicollier, Story Musgrave, Tom Akers, Jeff Hoffman, and Kathy Thornton discuss their upcoming servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Servicing Mission 1 HighlightsHighlights from upconverted 16mm film B-roll of Servicing Mission 1 (SM1). Includes crew training, EVA highlights, HST deployment, MOCR activities and COR activities, Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) installation to counter effects of the flawed shape of the mirror, solar array jettison and more. Post-Servicing Mission 1 First LightServicing Mission 1 was proven to be a complete success, especially after astronomers and scientists confirmed that the spherical abberation was corrected by using the COSTAR and the WFPC2. STS-61 Flight Day 1 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 2, 1993Launch of Space Shuttle EndeavourAstronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas Akers25:00 - Launch STS-61 Flight Day 2 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 3, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas AkersThe crew inspected the payload bay, robotic arm, and spacesuits while Endeavour performed a series of burns to start to close in on Hubble. STS-61 Flight Day 3 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 4, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas AkersThe astronauts approached and captured the telescope. STS-61 Flight Day 4 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 5, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jefrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas AkersSpacewalk #1, Story Musgrave and Jeffrey Hoffman - replaced Rate Sensing Units with gyroscopes. STS-61 Flight Day 5 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 6, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas AkersSpacewalk #2, Kathryn Thornton and Thomas Akers replaced Hubble's solar arrays. STS-61 Flight Day 6 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 7, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas AkersSpacewalk #3, Jeffrey Hoffman and Story Musgrave replaced the Wide Field Planetary Camera (WFPC) with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and changed out two magnetometers. STS-61 Flight Day 7 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 8, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas AkersSpacewalk #4, Thomas Akers and Kathryn Thornton installed COSTAR and added a co-processor to the telescope's computer. Pilot Kenneth Bowersox performed two orbital maneuvers to boost the telescope's orbit. STS-61 Flight Day 8 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 9, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas AkersSpacewalk #5, Jeffrey Hoffman and Story Musgrave replaced the solar array drive electronics and installed covers on the magnetometers. STS-61 Flight Day 9 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 10, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas Akers STS-61 Flight Day 10 & 11 HighlightsHubble Servicing Mission 1December 11-12, 1993Astronauts: Richard Covey, Kenneth Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, Thomas Akers Shortly after the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in 1990, the observatory's primary mirror was discovered to have an aberration that affected the clarity of the telescope's early images. Fortunately, Hubble, orbiting 353 miles (569 km) above the surface of the Earth, was the first telescope designed to be visited in space by astronauts to perform repairs, replace parts, and update its technology with new instruments. Servicing Mission 1, launched in December 1993, was the first opportunity to conduct planned maintenance on the telescope. In addition, new instruments were installed and the optics of the flaw in Hubble's primary mirror was corrected. Related pages

Digitized tape of the press conference from June 27, 1990 where Ed Weiler and others explain the Hubble Space Telescope's spherical aberration problem and its impact to the science instruments. The aberration wouldn't much affect UV or IR observations, but the Wide Field Planetary Camera would be largely affected since it used visible wavelengths. TRT: 30:00Participants: Douglas Broome, HST Program Manager; Jean Olivier, Deputy Project Manager; Dr. Edward Weiler, HST Program Scientist at NASA HQ; Dr. Lennard A. Fisk, Associate Administrator Space Science and Applications at NASA HQ; Dr. Peter Stockman, Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science InstituteLonger notes:Describing the initial spherical aberration problem with the Hubble Space Telescope’s primary mirror. Describe how they conclusively determined the nature of the problem. It affects one of their science objectives. Weiler: “We can still do important science.” UV capability and IR capability not impacted. Spatial resolution is about at ground-based resolution. Explains impacts to each of the instruments. HRS - will be able to do most of the science, just not in crowded fields, still excellent for planetary features, least impacted instrument FOS - UV science not impacted except on crowded fields, quasar absorption lines won’t be impacted because point sources, FOC - highest spatial resolution of the cameras, visible wavelengths will be ground-based resolution except maybe better for bright objects, HSP - won’t be able to do science with high signal to noise, but can do about half of proposed science esp in UV WFPC - probably no real science we can do with this because in visible Fine guidance sensors for astrometry - can do 100% of science we proposed, will be able to look at star’s wobble to find exoplanetsBiggest impact is loss of spatial resolution for WFPCInsurance policy - planned for maintenance program, are already building a second wide-field camera with a corrective mirror, think we can take out all the aberration and get back to original specification, 40% of science was going to be done with wide-field camera, developing NICMOS for near-IR capability that includes corrective opticsFor HRS and FOS, have STIS under development which would replace spectrographic capabilities Haven’t yet figured out how the problem occured; putting together a review boardDon’t know if the aberration is in the primary or secondary mirrorDidn’t test the two mirrors in combination because it would have been tremendously costly and difficult (hundreds of millions of dollars)Cuts off at endAudio missing from 11:10 - 11:20 "Observing with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope" Tape from 02/19/1992People: Peter Stockman, STScI Deputy Director; Duccio Macchetto, Division Head, Science Programs Division; Bruce Gillespie, Branch Chief, User Support Branch; Kirk Borne, Associate Scientist, Science Porogram Selection Office; Chris Blades, Branch Chief Telescope and Instruments Branch; Brett Blacker, Technical Manager, Science Planning Branch; Doug McElroy, Branch Chief, Science Planning & Scheduling Branch; Wayne Kinzel, Operations Astronomer, Science Planning & Scheduling Branch; Vicki Balzano, Lead Operations Astronomer, Engineering Support Branch; Joe Ryan, HST Mission Operations Manager, Goddard Space Flight Center; Dorothy Fraquelli, Operations Astronomer, Observation Support Branch; Sid Parsons, Branch Chief, Post-Oberservation Data Processing Branch; Herb Kennedy, Archive Operations Supervisor, Operations Branch; Daniel Golombek, Science Data Analyst Coordinator, Research Support Branch; Nino Panagia, Division Head, Academic Affairs Division; Eric Chaisson, Head, Educational & Pubilc Affairs Office Includes footage of scientists working at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and mission operators working at the Space Telescope Operations Control Center (STOCC.) Produced by the STScI Educational & Public Affairs OfficeProducer/Director/Editor: Andrea BriccaProduction Engineer: Walt FeimerProduction Coordinators: Cheryl Gundy, Ray VillardAnimator: Dana BerryCamera Operators: Andrea Bricca, Walt Feimer, Chris Meaney Panel discussion from April 23, 1992A Space Astronomy Update from the Hubble Space Telescope and a review of its first two years in orbitPeople: Paula Cleggett-Haleim, Public Affairs Officer; Dr. Steve Maran, NASA Astronomer; Dr. John Bahcall, Professor of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton; Dr. Sally Heap, Astronomer, Goddard Space Flight Center; Dr. Daniel Weedman, Professor of Astronomy, Penn. State University, Dr. Bruce Margon, Professor of Astronomy, University of Washington; Dr. John Caldwell, Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science; "There were some early years of disappointment, but those days of gloom turned into true grit." - paraphrase of the moderator's intro. Discusses aurora on Jupiter, globular star clusters, and gravitational lensing40:45 - Q&A1:11:02 - montage footage of launch, deploy, and science oberservations Related pages

January 10, 1994 Footage January 13, 1994 Footage (part 1 of 3) January 13, 1994 Footage (part 2 of 3) January 13, 1994 Footage (part 3 of 3) July 1994 Footage Related pages

The Webb Telescope Element captured in special lighting conditions at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Cleanroom. Footage is availabel in 4K, 1080p ProRes and 1080p h264. Simulated inspection of the Webb Telescope Element captured in special lighting conditions inside the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center cleanroom. Footage is availabel in 4K, 1080p ProRes and 1080p h264. The optical segment of the Webb Telescope with the Secondary Mirror fully deployed inside NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Cleanroom. This footage was captured before the science instruments were integrated. Footage is availabel in 4K, 1080p ProRes and 1080p h264. The completed Telescope Element of the James Webb Space Telescope is tilted vertically on a special rollover fixture inside the NASA Goddard Space Telescope cleanroom. The footage is available in 4k, 1080p ProRes and 1080p h264. Various b-roll clips of the Webb Telescope Element in the cleanroom at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The footage is available in 4k, 1080p ProRes and 1080p h264 for editors For More InformationSee [www.jwst.nasa.gov](www.jwst.nasa.gov) Related pages

Edited archival video from 1973.For complete transcript, click here.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. The Landsat program is the longest continuous global record of Earth observations from space — ever. On July 23, 1972 NASA launched the first satellite in this program, then known as ERTS, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite and later renamed Landsat 1. In honor of that history, NASA edited together selections of an archive video from 1973 about the ERTS launch.Featured in this 1973 video was a senior geologist at NASA, Nicholas Short, and at Dartmouth College, Robert Simpson and David Lindgren. NASA and the U.S. Department of the Interior through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) jointly manage Landsat, and the USGS preserves a nearly 50-year archive of Landsat data that is freely available over the Internet. The next Landsat satellite, known as Landsat 9, is scheduled for launch in 2021.For more information about Landsat visit www.nasa.gov/landsat, or landsat.usgs.govTo watch the entire 23-minute long NASA archive video of the ERTS Launch, go here. Related pages

Short video featuring interviews with Dr. Charles Bennett and Dr. Lyman PageFor complete transcript, click here. On June 20, 2012, Dr. Charles Bennett and the WMAP team were awarded the Gruber Cosmology Prize. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) was built and launched by NASA to measure a remnant of the early universe - its oldest light. The conditions of the early times are imprinted on this light. It is the result of what happened earlier, and a backlight for the later development of the universe. This light lost energy as the universe expanded over 13.7 billion years, so WMAP now sees the light as microwaves. By making accurate measurements of microwave patterns, WMAP has answered many longstanding questions about the universe's age, composition and development.This video from Goddard's tape archive features Dr. Bennett after the first results were announced in 2003. Related pages

Footage of Goddard Space Flight Center through the years. Footage includes TIROS, Wallops Flight Facility launches in the 1970s, and GSFC clean room and operations room footage from the 1980s and 1990s. Footage of Goddard Space Flight Center through the years. Footage includes TIROS, Wallops Flight Facility launches in the 1970s, and GSFC clean room and operations room footage from the 1980s and 1990s. Related pages

This COBE informational video was produced back in 1989, before the satellite embarked on its mission to study the cosmic microwave background. NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite rocketed into Earth orbit on Nov. 18, 1989, and quickly revolutionized our understanding of the early cosmos. This video was reissued by NASA for COBE's 20th Anniversary. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/cobe_20th.html](http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/cobe_20th.html) Related pages

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2009, Goddard Space Flight Center has seen a lot of changes over its first five decades. Yet at the same time, the core values and mission of the center has changed little. This vintage film from 1976 shows a time-capsule glimpse of GSFC's early foundations and how remarkably similar they are to today. For complete transcript, click here. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/50th/](http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/50th/) Related pages