Goddard Space Flight Center

See also: GSFC

The Center of space flights Goddard (GSFC, Goddard Space Flight Center ) is an important research center of NASA, founded on May 1st 1959. It was the first space center created by NASA. The GFSC employs approximately 10  000 people and is to approximately 10 km in the North-East of Washington, precisely in Greenbelt in the Maryland.

The GSFC represents the greatest concentration with the the United States of scientists and engineers working with the improvement of our knowledge of the Ground, the Solar system and the Univers through observations made since space. It is a major American laboratory with regard to the development of space probes. The GSFC directs the scientific research, the development and the interventions on the space systems, and the development of technologies which are dependant there.

The pilot GFSC of the tracking stations of space probes as well as the stations of data acquisition of these probes, it develops and holds up to date information systems advanced of space and terrestrial sciences, just as it develops satellites for the National administration for the oceans and the atmosphere (NOAA).

The operations for many missions, international or NASA, the such space telescope Hubble, the Program To explore, the Program Discovery, the programme of observation of the Earth EOS, INTEGRAL, SoHO, the satellite RXTE of observation in real-time in the field of the X-rays, as Swift are made with the GFSC. Among the finished space missions managed by the GFSC one finds: IUE, GRO, SM, COBE and Rose.

One can summarize the things as follows: the space missions not inhabited in terrestrial orbit are managed by the GFSC, the not inhabited missions more remote are managed by JPL.

It was named thus in the honor of Robert Goddard, pioneer American of the propulsion of the rockets.

Sites

The site of the GSFC with Greenbelt includes/understands a principal site and secondary sites. The principal site is divided into two by the road of the Department of Conservation of the grounds, which delimits the Campus Western and East. These two campuses include/understand in all approximately 50 buildings. One finds other sites of the GSFC with New York and in Virginia.

Western campus

On this campus, one finds the buildings of the administration, the design and the construction of the space probes, the buildings of operation, just as those of file and data storage, like those of the data analysis. The buildings often have two or three stages, facts of bricks, and simple architecture. The administrative buildings comprise two cafeterias, a library, a department of health, a zone of relaxation, as well as the equivalent of a post office.

Here the detail of the buildings of this campus:

  • the building of evaluation of the diffraction patterns (DGEF for Diffraction Grating Evaluation Facility ) was established with the GSFC to evaluate optical components, the such diffraction patterns, the Miroirs, the filters, as well as systems of detection used in the space instruments.

  • the building of dynamics of the flights (FSF for Flight Service Facility ) provides services of engineering to the missions, like the determination of the Orbite and the attitude of the satellites, a planning of the operations of flight as well as the analysis of the performance of the sensors of attitude. Currently, more than 15 missions of NASA base themselves on information coming from this FSF. The FSF also takes part in the operation of the Space shuttle.

  • the Centrifugeuse with high capacity (HCC for High Capacity Centrifuges ) located in building 15 is a rotary accelerator of 30 G which can make turn its payload of 2500 kg for 30 turns by minute. This centrifugal machine makes it possible to test the loads in a large variety of positions.

  • the Communication network of NASA (NASCOM, for NASA Communication ) is a total system which provides an architecture of communication to all the projects of NASA. Voices and data can be transmitted by this network to connect the satellite Système of continuation and data transmission (TDRSS, for Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System ) to the control center of the satellites. This network is composed of land lines, underwater cables, and satellites.

  • the Control center of the network (NCC for Network Control Center ) manages the Space lattice completely . It plans and configures the TDRSS, and checks the advance of maintenance. The operators plan emergency maintenances, isolate from possible problems in the system. The NCC communicates with the other tracking stations thanks to the NASCOM.

  • the buildings 3,13 and 14 or Control centers of the operations of payload (POCC for Payload Operations Control Centers ) are buildings dedicated specifically to one or space missions. Some are independent of the GSFC, like SoHO, and others are controlled elsewhere than with the GSFC, like Swift. The material located in these control centers deals with all the data, deals with sending the orders to the vessels and communicates with the other tracking stations. The orders sent to the experiments on board, as well as telemetry, the control of the payload are it since these buildings. For example, the control center of the HST is in the building 3.

  • the Simulateur of space environment (or ITS for Space Environment Simulator ) is a building of 3 stages located in building 10. One finds there a vacuum chamber of 8,2 m Diamètre and 12 m in height, able to simulate any conditions of vacuum and temperature. The temperature inside the room can vary from -100 °C to + 180 °C.

  • the National center of space data of science (NSSDC for National Space Science Dated Center ) proposes an access in and off line to a great quantity of data concerning astrophysics, solar physics and plasmas as well as the planetary sciences obtained with space missions of NASA. The GSFC also provides an access on line to information concerning the spaceships and the experiments which have or will provide these data publicly.

  • the Bâtiment of manufacture of the vessels is the place where are manufactured the components necessary to the assembly of the vessels. That includes the tools which the astronauts in orbit will need, but also the vessel him even.

  • building 29: Building of development and integration of the space systems makes nearly 8000 m ², and it contains one of largest the Clean room of the world. The large Clean room cuts is a clean room classifies 1000 M4.5 of almost 1200 m ² (30,5x37x27 m). Its ventilators, propelled each one by an engine of 250 CV, produce a flow of air of more than 25000 m ³ /min. It was built in order to allow the integration and the tests of material of flight and can contain two complete loadings of the Space shuttle. This room played an important role in the preparation of the missions of maintenance of the HST.

  • buildings 7 and 10 Building of integration and test of the spaceships have a clean room for the integration of the probes, and a special room intended for the tests of environment of the satellites. One finds there nine vacuum chambers thermal, 4 platforms of vibrations and a room of acoustic tests, able to produce 150 dB. One can see also there a model on the scale 1:1 of the HST.

  • buildings 11 and 30 contain the Laboratoire of development of the detectors , an production unit of semiconductors of world level. Some of the strangest electronics components were here, and much manufactured travelled in space these 35 last years.

Campus Is

The northern part of the campus East contains many buildings being used with maintenance, the continuation of the satellites and the communications. One finds there the antennas and other equipment of communication being used for the operations taking place in this zone. The Southern part comprises buildings used by NASA for the mission Planet Ground. The remainder of this campus is largely unutilised. One finds also a small shopping mall, a center of distraction and cycle tracks. One finds on this campus the following buildings:

  • a factory of electrical production and ice-cold water is in the building 31.

  • building 32 shelters the Information system of the Earth - System of data (EOSDIS for Earth Observing System Data Information System ) which is the center of operation for the EOS (System of observation of the Earth) like for the satellites of the program LANDSAT. The data of the EOS are treated, filed and distributed here.

  • the building of the science of the system Ground (ESSB for Earth Systems Science Building ) is building 33. One finds there the offices in which the data of the observation of the Earth are analyzed.

External bonds

  • Goddard Space Flight Center on the site of NASA.

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