Spaceport NewsJohn F. Kennedy Space Center

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

September 13, 1996Vol. 35, No. 19Mission update

(See OIG, Page 6)

Mission: STS-79 on Atlantis.

Launch date, time: Target dateof Sept. 16, 4:54 a.m. fromLaunch Pad 39A.

Status: Atlantis was returned toLaunch Pad 39A on Sept. 5 afterbeing sent back to the VehicleAssembly Building Sept. 4 as aprecautionary move due to theapproach of Hurricane Fran.

Mission Synopsis: STS-79 isthe fourth in a series of NASAdocking missions to the RussianMir Space Station, leading to theconstruction and operation of theInternational Space Station. Alaunch on the 16th will setAtlantis up for a rendezvous anddocking on the fourth day offlight. Astronaut John Blaha willbe replacing Shannon Lucidaboard the Mir.

Landing date, time: Sept. 26,8:49 a.m. at KSC's ShuttleLanding Facility.

Mission: STS-80 on Columbia.

Launch date, time: No earlierthan Oct. 31, 2:40 p.m. fromLaunch Pad 39B.

Primary payloads: ORFEUS-SPAS-2, Wake Shield Facility - 3

Landing date, time: No earlierthan Nov. 16, 7:25 a.m., at theSLF.

KSC sets a recordin bone marrow drive

Mars Rover undergoes checks

THE MARS Pathfinder small rover undergoes a finalfunctional check by Jet Propulsion Laboratorytechnicians in KSC's Spacecraft Assembly andEncapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2) before beingattached to the Pathfinder lander. The six-wheeledrobotic vehicle will become the first autonomous roverto explore the surface of another planet when it beginscrawling over the Martian terrain next year. The rover

will be attached to one of three petals of the Mars Pathfinder lander. After thepetals are closed, a protective aeroshell will be installed around the lander andparachutes attached to it. This assembled entry vehicle will then be mated to thecruise stage that will carry the spacecraft on its interplanetary trajectory. Thecompleted spacecraft will be mated with an upper stage booster before going tothe launch pad. Liftoff on a Delta II expendable launch vehicle currently is set forDec. 2, the beginning of a 24-day launch period.See more photos, page 4.

Office of Inspector General seeks two-way communication A call from the Office of In-

spector General is often metwith about as much enthusiasmas news that an Internal Rev-enue Service auditor is on theother end of the line.

Those who regularly makethose calls would really like tosee that change. By offeringsome information on the office’shistory and purpose, KennedySpace Center’s Office of Inspec-tor General personnel hope toput employees a little more atease with their occasional re-quests for assistance.

IN THE Multi-Payload ProcessingFacility, workers install the InterstellarMedium Absorption Profile Spectro-graph atop the Astronomy ShuttlePallet Satellite.

FROM THE LEFT are Lanny Van Camp, southeast regional inspector general, JackBuchert, special agent in charge of investigations at KSC, and Len Diamond, audit fieldmanager.

The KSC community ex-tended a helping hand to pa-tients suffering from leukemiaand other blood related diseasesby signing up to be potentialbone marrow donors. KSC’s ef-forts stand out with a recordbreaking number of registra-tions in a single day.

Eight hundred and eighty-eight employees turned out forKSC’s first bone marrow regis-tration drive on Aug. 28, sur-passing any one-day drive con-ducted by the Leukemia Societyof America in the state ofFlorida,Georgia or Alabama.

“The success of this drive wasphenomenal,” said RobynKornhaber, the organization’snational director.

Only a small blood sample isrequired from each participantfor testing and further screen-ing. Bone marrow is later re-quested only if a suitable matchis made.

(See MARROW, Page 3)

Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS September 13, 1996

Hispanic Month celebration planned Employees of the monthHispanic Heritage Month, to

be celebrated at Kennedy SpaceCenter from Sept. 15 throughOct.15, is designed to give em-ployees an opportunity to ac-knowledge the contributions ofAmericans of Hispanic ancestrywhile looking ahead to achieve-ments yet to come.

The 1996 observance hasbeen given the theme “Hispan-ics: Challenging the Future.”Highlights of the month will in-clude a presentation by folksingers and the BalletFolklorico of the AutonomousUniversity of the State ofMorelos on Sept.16, and theannual “Meet your Directors”luncheon Sept. 20.

Martin Torres Gutierrez,Mexican counsul, and MaestroGerardo Avila Garcia, rector ofthe university, will accompanythe group which will be per-forming at EPCOT the follow-

Raoul Barker, president andgeneral manager of SherikonSpace Systems, Inc., retired ef-fective Sept. 6. He will be re-placed by Jarvis L. (Skip) Olson,currently with NorthropGrumman Corporation inMelbourne, on Jan. 1. LarryHall, Sherikon's division man-ager, will be acting general man-ager in the interim.

Barker worked in the defenseindustry 39 years before activat-ing Sherikon’s subcontract withKSC’s Base Operations Contrac-tor EG&G Florida, Inc. in 1993.

He said he is proud of the factthat Sherikon’s subsequent per-formance has given the companyroom to grow.

“Starting during the bidphase, Sherikon’s capabilitiesand responsiveness convincedEG&G to give Sherikon morefunctions,” he said. “Sherikonhas done extremely well and ispositioned to do even more dueto the different capabilities we’vedeveloped,” he said.

As a small disadvantagedbusiness, Sherikon can offer

United SpaceAlliance the op-portunity tomeet federalgoals in thatarea while de-livering aproven product,Barker said.

Barker wasborn in France and lived thereuntil he was 7 when he returnedto the United States where hisparents owned a home in MountDora.

Barker attended publicschools, graduating from MountDora High School in 1950.

After attending PrincetonUniversity and the Universityof Florida Barker joined the AirForce in 1954 and remained inthe service until 1975.

He said he stayed largely be-cause of a piece of advice his fa-ther gave him — never quit any-thing.

While in the Air Force heobtained bachelor ’s andmaster’s degrees in electricalengineering from the University

of New Hampshire. After leaving the service he

went to work for NorthropWorldwide Aircraft Services,Inc. as the Washington SupportGroup director and BDM Inter-national, Inc. as vice presidentfor International Programs be-fore retiring to the family home-stead in Mount Dora in 1989.

The following year he wasconvinced to leave retirement tohead Sherikon's System Tech-nology Division in Orlando.

Barker will remain in MountDora with his wife of 41 years,Betty.

His three grown childrenhave all moved on but the fam-ily, including 8 grandchildren,still gathers together wheneverpossible.

Barker said he will miss thepeople at Sherikon but plans tospend more time with his ownfamily and working around hishome.

“We’ve got eight and a halfacres including orange grove,”he said. “There’s quite a bit todo.”

ing week.The Ballet Folklorico presen-

tation is set for Mexican Inde-pendence Day, Sept.16, at 10a.m. in the Training Audito-rium.

The luncheon is scheduled forSept. 20 at 11:30 a.m. in theOperations and CheckoutBuilding’s Mission BriefingRoom.

Tickets are available throughmembers of the Hispanic Em-ployment Program WorkingGroup at $8 apiece through Sep-tember 19.

Tables will be set up in thelobbies of the Headquarters,O&C, Space Station ProcessingFacility and Operations Sup-port Buildings on Sept. 17through 20 with arts and craftsfor display and sale.

For more information on anyof the events contact OscarGamboa at 867-8025.

Barker retires from Sherikon Space Systems

'The Cape' is set forTV premiere this week

HONORED IN SEPTEMBER are, sitting from the left, Kennetta Campbell,Spacelab Program Office; Dorothea Jardine, Logistics Operations Directorate;and Janet Thompson, Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate. Standing are,from the left, Ed Markowski, Shuttle Operations Directorate; Charles Conley,Engineering Development Directorate; and Maret Tennison, Administration Office.Not pictured are Stephen Ernest, Payload Processing Directorate; MackMcKinney, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and Celene Morgan, ProcurementOffice.

BARKER The pilot movie for the dra-matic series "The Cape," shotlargely on location at KennedySpace Center, will premiere lo-cally tonight.

The two-hour movie will airon WKCF, Channel 18, Sept. 13at 8 p.m. with an encore perfor-mance on Saturday, Sept. 14 at4 p.m. The one-hour series willair on the same station at 8 p.m.Fridays.

"The Cape" follows the per-sonal and professional endeav-ors of a dedicated group of as-tronauts and astronaut candi-dates. MTM Entertainment, theproduction company, was givenaccess to KSC facilities for film-ing the series. Many KSC em-ployees assisted in the produc-tion and served as extras in thefilm.

SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3September 13, 1996

Robert Nelson, an EG&G securityofficer, and his 16-year-old sonChad spent the month of June

participating in the adventure of a lifetime.Robert’s wife Ann works for NASA in theInstallation Operations Directorate’s Traveland Transportation Office.

Chad and several of his TitusvilleAstronaut High School classmates entereda Model-A Speedster they had rebuilt fromscratch into one of the most prestigiousvintage automotive events in the world, and,in a fairy tale ending, won the event’s spirittrophy for their enthusiasm and persever-ance.

The sojourn began more than a yearago when Titusville Astronaut automotiveinstructor Jim LaCoy witnessed a portion ofthe Corel Great Race as it passed throughBinghamton, New York. The race features1,300 vehicles dating from 1909 to 1942traveling 4,000 miles across the country in14 days. The timed, controlled speedendurance rally requires entry fees rangingfrom $6,500 to $10,000 and offers a totalpurse of $250,000. LaCoy decided hisautomotive students should enter.

He and class members located anabandoned Model A chassis in a Scottsmorrpalmetto field (near Mims) and went to

CHAD AND ROBERT NELSON hold the trophy theTitusville Astronaut team received for their spirited run inthe "Astro Flyer" in the Corel Great Race.

work. The students not only spent a yearcreating a showpiece out of a rusted relic,they won the support of hundreds in thecommunity who contributed toward theirentry fees and other expenses. The teamlocated a decommissioned school buswhich they bought for a dollar and reno-vated to transport their car, named the“Astro Flyer,” to Tacoma,WA, for the start ofthe race.

LaCoy, five of the students and threechaperones/mechanics including RobertNelson, started the race in Tacoma on June16 and ended in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

on June 29. Although the team had plans totake turns sleeping in the bus in order tosave money, they found local regulationsand cold temperatures prevented them fromdoing so. As word of their story spreadthrough the media they were taken out tomeals, their accommodations were paid andthey received more than $2,000 in unsolic-ited donations.

Overall the team placed 19th out of 84cars and was awarded the “Doc” RobertFuson Spirit of the Event trophy for bestillustrating the sense of sportsmanship andfair play the race represents.

“When our name was announced as thewinner, we received a standing ovation,”said Chad Nelson. “All the racers were sohelpful and supportive and they cheered uson every day.”

ESPN filmed the entire event for aspecial to air sometime this fall.

Ann Nelson said aside from the excite-ment generated by the event, she is thrilledby the positive message the experiencesent to the students.

She said the team is already planning toenter the 1997 race and has planned afund-raiser for Sept. 21 at Fox Lake Park inTitusville. Next year, she said, she plans togo along for the ride.

Prestigious road race leads to valuable life lessons for KSC couple, son

The Leukemia Society ofAmerica and the American RedCross held the event to educateand recruit volunteers to jointhe National Marrow DonorProgram (NMDP). Establishedin 1986, the NMDP guides pa-tients in their search for a com-patible bone marrow donor.Their organizational networkconsists of recruitment groups,donors and transplant centers.

KSC’s Biomedical Office andvarious ethnic working groupsteamed up to generate civil ser-vice and contractor interest inthe program. With minoritynumbers low on the NMDP com-puter registry of potential do-nors, an emphasis was placed onregistering minority employees.“An astounding 22 percent ofthose registered were fromKSC’s minority population,”said Dr. George Martin, of KSC’sBiomedical Office.

Marrow compatibility be-tween donor and recipient is an

Marrow. . .(Continued from Page 1)

important part of a succesfulbone marrow transplant. “Thecharacteristics of bone marroware inherited much like hairand eye color,” explainedKatosha Belvin, spokespersonfor NMDP.

If a match cannot be foundin a recipient’s family, thesearch continues within theirethnic group.

“The chance of finding amatch that is not directly re-lated to the recipient averagesabout 70 percent,” said Belvin.

Their registry of potentialvolunteer donors is over 2 mil-lion strong.

“While the numbers on theregistry are encouraging thereis still much work to be done.”Thirty percent of the patientssearching our registry still findno match,” said Belvin.

“After I registered and gavethe blood sample, I felt that Iwas possibly saving a life. I feltgood about it,” said ChristopherWhittaker, a McDonnell Dou-glas engineer.

Young galaxy survey

EMBEDDED IN THIS newly released Hubble Space Telescope image of nearbyand distant galaxies are 18 young galaxies or galactic building blocks, eachcontaining dust, gas and a few billion stars. Each of these objects is 11 billionlight-years from Earth and much smaller than today's galaxies. The picture wastaken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. It required 48 orbits around theEarth (more than one day of exposure time) to make the observation.

Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS September 13, 1996

Bernard Torrence, an en-gineering support supervi-sor who played a crucialrole in the development ofexhibits for Kennedy SpaceCenter’s Visitors Informa-tion Center, died Aug. 17 athis home in Lady Lake.

Torrence joined NASA in1955 from his position assupervisor of the electrical/electronic shop for theArmy Ballistic MissileAgency, Missile Firing Lab.He worked for the Navy inPortsmouth, VA, beforejoining the ABMA.

He retired from NASAon Nov. 10, 1977 after 29years of federal service.

Torrence was known forhis fresh, straightforwardapproach to problems, saidDick Young, former chief ofthe Public Affairs OfficeMedia Services Branch.

“Bernie was a ‘what yousee is what you get’ indi-vidual and I always lookedforward to work sessionswith him,” Young said.

Torrence and Youngworked together on modify-ing and designing exhibitsfor the VIC, some of whichwere hand-me-downs fromNASA Headquarters andother science centers.

Torrence’s daughter,Wanda Wenner, who worksin medical services forEG&G Florida, Inc., saidshe recalls when her fatherbuilt the lunar rover at theVIC using an old golf cartand aluminum foil. At onetime the VIC "astronaut"would drive visitors aroundthe center's grssy area inthe rover.

She said he loved beingaffiliated with the spaceprogram and was particu-larly struck by the Apollo 1fire.

Torrence and his wifeHilda moved to Virginia af-ter his retirement before re-locating in Lady Lake.

NASA retiree Torrence

dies at Lady Lake home

8th annual Fall Intercenter Run is set for Oct. 8The 8th annual Fall Intercenter Run, spon-

sored by the KSC Fitness Center, will be heldTuesday, Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. at the Shuttle LandingFacility Runway.

Registration forms are due by midnight, Sept.27.

Three races will be offered - a 10K Run, 5K

Run and 2 mile Run/Walk.Although there is no entry charge for the race,

T-shirts or tank tops will be available for a fee atany NASA Exchange store. Order deadline for T-shirts is Sept. 30.

To obtain an entry form for the race, contactone of the KSC Exercise Facilities.

Rover processing forges ahead at KSC

IN KSC'S Spacecraft Assembly andEncapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2),Jet Propulsion Laboratory workersmate the Mars Pathfinder rover to oneof the landers three petals on Sept. 3.When the lander touches down on thesurface of Mars next year, the threepetals of the lander -- closed for thesix to seven month journey to the RedPlanet -- will open like a flower toallow the rover to begin its quest toexplore the Martian surface.

ONE OF THE FOURmajor elements of

the Mars Pathfinder,the cruise stage --

shown heremounted inside a

support assembly --will carry the Mars

Pathfinder lander ona direct trajectory to

Mars. ThePathfinder lander,

encased in aprotective aeroshell,

still must beattached to the

cruise stage. Therover will be located

inside the lander.

SPACEPORT NEWS Page 5September 13, 1996

KSC employees lend helping hands during Day of Caring

ABOVE, GEORGE VEAUDRY, left, and Dawn Steele, right, deliver ameal to Charles Connell at Titusville Towers as part of the SeniorNutritional Aid Program.

LEFT, JEAN ABERNATHY, left, Terry Willingham and Laura Rochesterhelp paint the Salvation Army building in Titusville.

DELIVERING MEALS on Wheels in Titusville are,from the left, Marina Harris, Joanna Johnson, JayDiggs, Marlene Squires, Tina Adams, JacquelineMorales, Cathy DiBiase, and Joni Richards.

KSC EMPLOYEES participated in the fourth annualDay of Caring sponsored by the United Way of BrevardCounty, Inc. on Sept. 6. Employees formed teams oftwo to ten people and participated in activities rangingfrom serving lunch to the homeless in Brevard Countysoup kitchens; painting and landscaping communitycenters; assisting with chores for elderly, frail and dis-abled adults; and providing enrichment activities for pre-school and elementary classes among other activities.

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Spaceport News The Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy SpaceCenter and is published on alternate Fridays by the Public Affairs Officein the interest of KSC civil service and contractor employees. Contributions are welcome and should be submitted two weeks be-fore publication to the Media Services Branch, PA-MSB. E-mail submis-sions can be sent to Barbara.Compton-1@kmail.ksc.nasa.gov

Managing editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa MaloneEditor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Barb ComptonEditorial support provided by Sherikon Space Systems Inc. writers group.

USGPO: 733-096/20029

SPACEPORT NEWS September 13, 1996Page 6

OIG. . .(Continued from Page 1)

The Office of Inspector Gen-eral (OIG) was created by theInspector General Act of 1978 toprovide independent oversightover 61 federal agencies. Theyconduct audits and investiga-tions in an effort to prevent anddetect fraud, waste, abuse andmismanagement in agency pro-grams and operations.

KSC’s OIG has 19 employees— ten auditors, five investiga-tors, a special agent in charge,an audit field office manager,three program assistants andthe southeast regional inspectorgeneral for investigations.

Lanny Van Camp, whoheaded up the KSC office since1990, was recently named as aregional inspector general forinvestigations over the south-east region. He is still, however,based at KSC.

The work at the KSC officeis divided between audits andinvestigations. Len Diamond isthe audit field office manager.

Diamond says 70 percent ofthe audit work pertains to ma-jor programs such as SpaceFlight. Fifteen percent had beenconcentrated on auditing NASAfinancial statements, howeverthat is in the process of chang-ing as the agency begins to hireprivate contractors to completethose tasks.

An additional 10 percent ofthe auditors’ responsibility is tooffer direct support to OIG in-vestigations, and the balance ofthe time is spent working pro-curement and local issues, Dia-mond said.

The investigative side of theKSC office is headed by JackBuchert, special agent in chargeof investigations at KSC.Buchert said that 90 percent ofthe work done by his investiga-tors arises out of various reportsfrom concerned employees, bothcontractor and civil servant,congressional inquiries, andNASA management. About 5percent of the cases come fromproactive work by investigatorswho have sensed a problem or

felt a need to explore a particu-lar area. The remaining 5 per-cent result from conditions un-covered by audits.

“We focus our resources oncriminal work that is definitelyor potentially a violation of thecriminal code of the UnitedStates,” Buchert said.

While the majority of callsreceived by the OIG office arerelated to perceived misman-agement or employee miscon-duct, most of those issues areultimately handed over to theappropriate KSC or contractormanagement officials. The truecriminal cases worked by the of-fice usually focus on impropri-eties related to procurement orcontracts.

Most people are surprised tolearn that a typical investiga-tor has a background in ac-counting as opposed to law en-forcement, Buchert said.

“I don’t need a Rambo,” hesaid. “I need a person with a vi-sor shade.”

Buchert said employeesshould realize that the OIG isworking for the taxpayer and,more than 90 percent of thetime, contacts employeesstrictly to gather backgroundinformation on a case, not toimply that the employee has

any knowledge of any wrongdo-ing.

The office strives as hard toexonerate an individual un-justly accused of impropriety asit does to convict those who haveperpetrated a crime, he said.

“We have exonerated farmore people and processes thanwe have found fault with. Thereport card for our work is theexcellence of the product, notwhether or not someone ischarged with a crime or pun-ished administratively,” he said.

Statistics on the office’s ac-complishments are publishedevery six months in a report

addressed to NASA Administra-tor Dan Goldin and forwardedto Congress.

In the latest report, for theperiod from Oct. 1, 1995 to Mar.31, 1996, OIG audits and inves-tigations were shown to havethe following impact:

Audits identified $508.5 mil-lion in funds that could be savedor put to better use. Investiga-tions recovered $18.5 million inmisused funds and $1.7 millionin funds that could have beenbetter used. Investigations alsoresulted in 16 indictments and18 convictions throughout theperiod.

Questions and Answers about the OIGThe OIG at NASA Headquar-

ters has prepared some basicinformation about that office andthe how to report suspectactivities.

A synopsis of that informa-tion follows:

Question: If I am asked to beinterviewed, am I required toanswer questions posed by aNASA OIG representative?

Answer: Yes, you have anobligation to cooperate andrespond fully, promptly, andhonestly to inquiries from repre-sentatives of the NASA OIG.However, your constitutionalrights under the Fifth Amendmentare protected.

Question: What about requests

for written or electronic records,files and documents?

Answer: Under the IG Act, repre-sentatives of the OIG are entitled tocomplete access to all books,records, data and other informationmaintained by NASA (includingcontractor operations) and NASAemployees in the performance oftheir official duties. This access isonly limited by other laws (e.g., 42U.S.C. 290dd-2, alcohol and drugabuse treatment records).

Question: Must I report my contactwith or what I said to OIG staff tomy supervisor or any other man-agement representative?

Answer: No. Your contact withOIG staff may be anonymous andconfidential. The IG Act specifically

grants all employeeswhistleblower protection fromreprisal for cooperating withthe OIG.

Question: What should I do ifI am asked or directed toreport meetings or discussionswith the NASA OIG?

Answer: Immediately contactthe OIG representativeidentified as handling thematter, the OIG hotline, or callor write the NASA OIG. Yourcontact will be treatedconfidentially, to the extentpossible, if you request.

Question: How do I contactthe Hotline?

Answer: Call 1-800-424-9183.More information on the OIGis available on the Internet atwww.sba.gov/ignet/