[Music]
Hi there and welcome to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland - home to
the nation’s largest organization of scientists, engineers, and technologists.
Our work encompasses the core disciplines of Earth science,
planetary science, heliophysics, which is the study of the Sun and space weather,
and astrophysics, which covers the whole cosmos.
These lines of businesses have helped guide the success of several notable missions,
including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission,
OSIRIS-REx, which is on its way back to Earth with a sample of an asteroid,
and a host of other satellites that monitor Earth, our changing climate
and the dynamic universe.
My name is Travis Wohlrab, and I’m an engagement officer here at Goddard.
And I’m Courtney Lee, a video producer here at the flight center. Our campus
at Greenbelt contains thirty-four buildings over twelve hundred acres,
which translates to over three million square feet of research space.
but Goddard consists of more than just the Greenbelt campus.
We have five other locations: Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia the Goddard
Institute for Space Studies in New York the Katherine Johnson Independent
Verification and Validation Facility in West Virginia the Columbia Scientific
Balloon Facility in Texas, and the White Sands Complex in New Mexico.
Today we’re going take a tour of some of our facilities.
A substantial amount of work is required to get a mission off the ground. Goddard is unique
in that every element of a mission can be facilitated here; from designing,
manufacturing, launching, controlling, and ultimately gathering
and analyzing data, this NASA facility is a one-stop-shop!
Our first stop is at the Visitor Center where everyone can come and learn
about what we do. From strolling through our Rocket Garden to immersing yourself
in our Solarium which explores our Sun through art and technology,
the Visitor Center has multiple interactive exhibits for people to learn more
more about Goddard’s research. Travis: But the Visitor Center isn’t the only place where
you can see our research on display. We’re going to take you behind the gate on an
exclusive tour of our facilities. Come on, let’s go!
[Music Fades]
[Music] Narrator: Before any mission becomes reality, it goes through several stages of development and planning.
At Building 34, scientists think of problems that need to be
solved and get funding to develop practical solutions.
For example, the employees at the Sample Analysis at Mars Suite Investigation,
also known as SAM, examine the habitability of Mars.
I’m here at the SAM Lab, and as you can see, it’s quite a tight space
due to the temporary clean tent. But every day
scientists conduct experiments and investigations to determine if
ancient Mars provided a habitable environment where microbial life might
have thrived. SAM was built on mass spectrometer
technologies that had been developed to explore the atmospheres of Jupiter,
Venus, and Saturn’s moon, Titan. In addition to measuring
atmospheric gases, SAM also measures gases released from rocks and
soils on Mars. Let’s hear more about SAM
from the SAM Deputy Principal Investigator, Charles Malespin.
Here we have the SAM test bed, which is an exact working replica of SAM, which is located
in the Curiosity Rover on Gale Crater Mars. SAM
took about seven years to complete, from a proposal in 2004 to a
2011 launch, and required one hundred fifty people in it’s creation
After landing on Mars in August of 2012
It is still operating on the surface after eight and a half years.
Goddard scientists and engineers
solved problems that arose as SAM was being developed. For example
When the company that was providing the 52 microvalves in SAM went out of business
Goddard stepped up to reinvent the valves, which are still
being used in missions today. In another situation, the turbomolecular pumps
weren’t reaching their planned lifetimes. A Goddard team
worked with the commercial provider to redesign the pumps, and they were still operating on Mars
With SAM and other missions, we focused
on solving problems to create instruments, that will help answer the
questions we have about the universe beyond our planet. Thank you Charles
With missions like SAM and others we implement a project life cycle
where we use scientific findings from current missions to develop
new missions. We head to the Planetary Environments Laboratory,
where a new spacecraft element is being developed.
Narrator: The Planetary Environments Laboratory studies the atmospheres
and surfaces of planetary bodies. Scientists there
participate in all phases of planetary investigation, from developing instruments
to analyzing data sent back to us from spacecraft.
The Planetary Environments Laboratory is the home to a key instrument on Dragonfly
a rotorcraft scheduled to land on Titan, which is Saturn’s largest moon,
in 2034.
[Music]
The team is currently working to design every detail of the craft, and the instruments on
it’s Scientific payload. Here with us is Project Lead Dr. Melissa Trainer
Who will tell us more about Dragonfly. Well we’ve already presented the mission concept
to the rest of NASA, Now our engineering team is hard at work
making sure we’ve thought through all the potential problems in the design.
In this phase, it’s a lot like going from an architect’s sketch of a house,
to a blueprint where every beam and outlet are clearly marked.
We end up spending a lot of time in this stage, where we test
prototypes and plan details, because we want to get it right
before actually build the spacecraft and the instruments.
An example of one design change we’ve experienced, comes with the instrument that drills
samples from the Titan surface, and how it brings them to the Dragonfly
mass spectrometer, which is the instrument we’re building here. At first,
the delivery system was designed to look like a funnel to dump samples on to a tray.
But then we realized there were a couple of problems with that model.
First, Titan’s samples can be sticky, especially if you warm
them up compared to the Titan surface, and it would be hard to clear them off
the tray before more samples are taken. Second, the gravity
on Titan is low compared to Earth, and we can’t rely on the samples
settling easily on the tray. So instead we came up with a
new design that catches particles from a stream, into a cup
and moves them into a chamber. We’ve also worked a detailed design
where the sample chamber sides stays cold, like the surface of Titan,
While the mass spectrometer side stays warmer.
This interface is critical to getting the best measurements of Titan’s surface samples
and it has already been through testing here at Goddard. Now, our team
is continuing the work to make sure that everything fits into the
rotorcraft lander in a way that makes sense and allows us to accomplish
our science mission on Titan. Thanks Melissa, now let’s head over to another part of
campus, which will help us further prepare the spacecraft for launch.
Narrator: Once a spacecraft component has been developed, it has to be cleared for launch
in one of our clean rooms, which can range in size up to almost 37,000 cubic meters.
All of this occurs in the Integration and Testing, or
I&T Complex, which is comprised of four buildings, Goddard
Environmental Test Engineering and Integration facility ensures every
craft is space-ready by putting it through a series of high-stress tests.
Built in 1989, the Space Craft Systems Development and
Integration facility or SSDIF, is the largest cleanroom in North America.
It has an entire wall of 1,600 air filters to help protect
equipment from contaminants, that means the air gets recycled every 60 to 90 seconds.
To tell us more about the cleanroom we’re here with Delaney Burkart,
an integration engineer. The SSDIF cleanroom is like a
surgeon’s operating room. It prevents dirt, dust, and other
contaminants from damaging spacecraft components. The largest source
of this contamination is us, the personnel working on those components.
To enter the room, you first must pass through an air shower.
Then wear a sterile body suit, head cover, boots,
gloves, and face mask, which takes about ten minutes to put on.
Unlike a speck of dirt on a camera, a speck on a telescope
lens cannot be easily removed if the spacecraft is far away
studying distant stellar objects. Once the spacecraft is built, we move on to
testing. Getting is ready for spaceflight conditions.
To make sure the spacecraft can withstand the sounds
it might encounter during its flight. Scientists test the craft
in a 13-meter tall acoustic testing chamber. We’re here with Test Engineer Yan Lui
to tell us more about how the chamber works. In this chamber here, a scientist
use altering flows of gaseous nitrogen to produce sounds
as high as 150 decibels. In other words, 20 decibels
louder than the roar of a jet engine. Using six foot speakers,
the sounds blare in a two minute test to make sure instruments can withstand
such noises. After the acoustics test we need to replicate the conditions
the craft might encounter in space, which is right around the corner.
The Space Environment Simulator,
operational since 1962, is a thermal vacuum chamber
designed to expose spacecraft components to spaceflight conditions.
Well what do those conditions look like? We’re talking about an almost
400 degree temperature range. From negative 233 degrees celsius to
150 degrees celsius. The range
is achieved by passing liquids through thermal shrouds for cold temperatures
or using thermal lamps for high temperatures. Our simulator is roughly
12 meters tall and 8 meters across. It operates with
massive mechanical vacuum pumps, which are like huge versions of the vacuum
cleaners people use at home. We have cryopumps to condense remaining gasses
out of the chamber. The mechanical pumps and the cryopumps work together
to eliminate almost all of the air in the chamber. You wouldn’t
want to be inside while that is happening. It is just a billionth of
Earth’s normal atmospheric pressure. It takes up to 12 hours
to pump the chamber down to that pressure and 2 to 4 days to go
back to room temperature. And we’re not done yet! Next the instruments
gets tested in the high capacity centrifuge. Built in
1965, this used to be an all-in-one machine. It’s not designed for astronauts
however it used to be able to test environmental, vibration
acoustic and G-force conditions. As our spacecraft grew in size
it had to be modified. The centrifuge now only simulates the acceleration
level of a rocket during the launch phase, typically about 10 G’s.
This allows scientists to see how stress affects a craft’s structure
and verify that it can withstand launch. It can rotate at
155 miles per hour, our test limit is 30 G’s,
or 30 times the gravity we have on Earth. The centrifuge draws
one gigawatt of electricity, and when in use generates
200 mile per hour winds. It’s been used for more than just spacecraft testing
in 2002, NASA partnered with the NTSB
to test SUVS and analyze the tipping point for manufactured models.
Once a spacecraft has passed all testing phases, it’s go for launch.
Narrator: For many Goddard launches
we head to the beaches of Virginia. Wallops Flight Facility is NASA’s only
owned and operated launch range for a variety of vehicles.
including research aircraft, sounding rockets, scientific balloons,
orbital vehicles, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
It’s America’s oldest, continuously operating rocket range. With launches
operations dating back to the summer of 1945.
Wallops provides low-cost opportunities to conduce scientific experiments
and for engineers to test their technologies ahead
of their main missions. Many services support these tests, including
integration and testing facilities, launchers and runways, as well as
tracking and data services. Let's head to the launch viewing area
where Sam Henry is going to tell us more about the launch cycle. There are many
moving parts that go into a mission so everything can come together on launch day.
Depending on the vehicle, technicians may arrive anywhere from 4 to 8 hours
ahead of T minus zero, to begin testing on a vehicle and support system
to make sure everything is ready, public safety is a top
priority, so we launch our rockets over the ocean. Surveillance teams will
monitor boat and air traffic before the rocket can take flight
Weather also plays an important role on launch day. Meteorologists give weather updates
from 72 hours until minutes just before launch. So teams
can be as prepared as possible. Winds, severe weather, and cloud thickness
are the biggest concerns on launch day. When conditions align,
we are a go for launch and ready to safely conduct our range operations.
I’ll head back to the control room where Courtney and I
will tell you more about other Wallops missions and responsibilities.
Wallops conducts research here on Earth, as well as in a near
space environment, looking deep into the cosmos. Wallops manages
NASA’s scientific balloon and sounding rockets program.
Which are launched not only from the flight facility in Virginia, but from areas across the globe.
As far North as Norway and as South as Antarctica.
Sam: On average we fly 10 to 20 scientific balloon launches each year.
These platforms allow researchers a chance to gather data with flights in the stratosphere
a near space environment. Flights can run up to weeks at a time
depending on science mission requirements. Sounding rockets are manufactured
tested and launched from Wallops and remote locations
many of these technology missions we support end up being integral to larger missions
like Artemis. With around 20 missions a year, the sounding
rocket program is one of Wallops’ most active platforms.
We also open our facilities to industries for space and aeronautics research.
In the past 25 years, we’ve collaborated with over 50 established
and emerging aerospace companies. We also support other government
agencies with their tests, missions, and training exercises. We look forward
to partnering with these groups and others in coming years. As you can see
Wallops provides a large range of options when it comes to testing equipment
or conducting near-Earth research. And you can often watch
their launches online and join in on the action! Once the vehicle
has been launched, we jet back to Goddard to run communications with the craft.
Narrator: When the craft is finally in space, how do we communicate with it?
Goddard has over 60 years of communications and navigation support, going back
to the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo eras. Goddard’s Near Space
Network coordinates all space-to-ground communications for missions near Earth.
The Near Space Network enables missions to send back significant amounts
of data for investigation and discovery. These include missions like The Hubble Space Telescope
and the International Space Station. In fact, the network plays
a crucial role in NASA’s human space exploration effort
It provides the International Space Station with constant communications, letting astronauts working and living
there to always have a connection back home. We are here with
Rosa Avalos-Warren, a human spaceflight mission manager to tell us
more about the Near Space Network. Goddard’s Exploration and Space Communications
division oversees the Near Space Network. The network blends commercial providers
and government assets to support missions from Earth’s
orbit up to two million kilometers away. These missions include
launch vehicles, robotic and science satellites, technology demonstrations,
and human spaceflight missions. To communicate with astronauts and spacecraft
we download signals from satellites and translate them
into recognizable data. This data ensures mission success for NASA
The network is involved in a variety of missions, including NASA’s commercial crew
program, which provides communications and navigation support to companies like Space-X
and Boeing. As we go to the Moon as part of the Artemis program, the network will provide
telemetry, command, and tracking support to the missions as they launch into space.
In doing so we work alongside the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Deep Space Network.
We’re here with Brandon Bethune, the deputy project manager for the Near Space Network
who will tell us more about some of the recent projects
the scientists are working on. With missions like the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration
and the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System,
we are infusing optical communications into our mission architectures. We are also
advancing our radio frequency capabilities and integrating Ka-band
capabilities into our network so missions can communicate more
data, increasing our capacity for discovery. And that’s not all.
We’re even implementing Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking, which is a building block for NASA’s LunaNe
a communications and navigation architecture at the Moon.
Narrator: Our support to both human exploration and science investigation
is always evolving and adapting to the needs of missions and empowering NASA’s vision.
Thanks for joining us on this tour of Goddard
Space Flight Center. We’ve seen the exhibits at the Visitor’s Center, explored the SAM lab,
investigated how spacecraft are tested at the I&T Complex,
launched a rocket at Wallops Flight Facility and coordinated communications at the
Near Space Operation Control Center. We hope you enjoyed your tour
of Goddard! If you want to learn more, you can visit our website or follow us on social media.
We hope the rest of your day is out of this world!
And keep looking up! [Music Fades Out]