Goddard Space Flight Center 1 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centers Wallops Flight Facility Participating in NASAs Suborbital Missions

Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center’s

Wallops Flight Facility

Participating in NASA’s Suborbital Missions

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Wallops Island

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Wallops Island

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Wallops Island Horizontal IntegrationFacility


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Wallops Education Flight ProjectsAuthentic Technology and Engineering

Experiences

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Wallops Rocket Academy for Teachers and Students WRATS

• Provides high schools with a technical flight experience that will reinforce science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) concepts.

• Teachers and students participate in person or virtually in authentic, hands-on experiences that are based on NASA’s sounding rocket engineering and science data collection.

• In 2011, there will be 20 teachers that participate in a workshop at Wallops in connection with the RockOn experience for university students and faculty.

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The Sounding Rocket Educational Pipeline

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High School Flight Opportunities

RockOn!

RockSat X

Interns and Co-Ops

Inspiration

Exposure to Space Flight Projects

Develop Science & Engineering Experience

Accelerated Professional Development

Piggyback Opportunities

RockSat-C

Hands-On Project Experience (HOPE)

WRATS

University Flight Opportunities

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It is Rocket Science and Engineering

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The Sounding Rocket Program “goes to where the science is…”

World-Wide Operations

Kwajalein

Woomera

Esrange

Andoya

SvalbardPoker

White Sands

Wallops

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Wallops Balloon Experience for Educators WBEE

• Provides an opportunity for high school teachers and students to be involved in balloon flights.

• Balloons can help NASA inspire and train the next generation of engineers and scientists.

• In the summer of 2011, 30 teachers will participate in a workshop in conjunction with the High Altitude Student Project (HASP) for university students in Palestine, Texas.

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Balloon Program Training Vision for the future …

NASA NRA for graduate and undergraduate students with emphasis on small multi-payloads

Flights of Undergrad Engineering research

projects

Routine piggyback flights for undergrad and graduate student payloads

NASA Roadmap: “Use NASA missions and other activities to inspire and motivate the nation’s students…, and to advance the scientific and technological capabilities of the nation.”

Science Teams train undergrads, grad students, and PhD candidates

HASP

NASA NRA

Science Missions

Piggy Back Flights

WBEE

High SchoolTeachers and Students

http://cosmicray.umd.edu/cream/hang_test3.jpg

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HASP Launch Day

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Wallops Flight Facility

Three Major Parcels 6000 Acres

• Wallops Main Base 1900 Acres• Administrative & Technical Offices• Tracking & Data Acquisition• Range Control Center• Ordnance Storage/Processing• R&D, Processing Facilities• Research Airport• Navy Administration/Housing• Coast Guard Housing

• Wallops Island 3000 Acres• Launch Sites• Blockhouses• Radar• Processing Facilities• Dynamic Spin Balance• Navy Operational Facilities

• Wallops Mainland 100 Acres• Tracking & Data Acquisition

• Marshland 1000 Acres

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• Established by National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics in 1945 as test site for aerodynamic research

• Over 16,000 launches conducted during 64 year history

• Wallops’ mission has evolved to include:• Flight program management• Technology development• Scientific research

Wallops History

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Wallops Tenants

Naval Air Warfare Center(Patuxent River)

Mid-AtlanticRegional Spaceport

U. S. Coast Guard

NOAA

Navy/Surface Combat Systems Center

BaySys Technologies

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Sounding Rocket Program• Typical mission types:

– Space Science research (core)– Technology demonstrations– DoD targets (reimbursable)

• 20-30 missions/year

• Features:– Apogee altitudes >1500 km– Flight times >20 minutes– Spacecraft weights >1300 lbs.– Allows quick response missions (<1 yr.)– 14 launch vehicle configurations– Uses low-cost surplus military rockets– Recovery/re-use of flight hardware

• End-to-end in-house capabilities (design, fabrication. integration, testing, & launch)

• World-wide fixed and mobile launch sites

BlackBrant XII

Typical Spacecraft

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Balloon Program

• Primary mission:– Space Science research

• 15-20 missions/year

• Features– Balloon volumes up to 60M cubic ft.– Suspended loads up to 8000 lbs.– Float altitudes of up to 160K feet

• Balloon Classes– Conventional: 2-36 hour duration– Long Duration: >50 days– Super Pressure: Up to 100 days

• Worldwide launch sites

• Technology efforts:• Planetary balloons• Arc-second pointing• Trajectory Control

BalloonInflation

BalloonPayload

Balloonat Float

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Small Satellites @ Wallops

• Multi-Payload Ejector (MPE)• Modular carrier allowing multi-spacecraft

to be flown on small ELVs• MPE can dispense up to 7 spacecraft

weighing up to 400 lbs. + 12 CubeSats

• CubeSats• Management & I&T support of programs to

fly nano-satellites for education, science, & technology

• Hawk Institute for Space Sciences• National Science Foundation

• Development of a 6U CubeSat & ejector

MPE

CubeSats &P-Pod Ejector

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Research activities include:• Atmospheric chemistry• Beach erosion• Arctic ice mapping• Hurricanes• Satellite Altimetry• Biological modeling• Coastal Zone Research

Remote & in-situ instruments flown on aircraft, balloons, & rockets

Worldwide data measurements

Cal/Val instrument support

Laboratories include:• Air-Sea Interaction Facility• Rain-Sea Interaction Facility

Earth Science Research

Laser & RadarAltimetry

Antarctic & GreenlandIce Mapping

Wallops“Wave Tank”

Coastal Zone

Research

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Airborne Science Program• Piloted aircraft & UAV “flying

laboratories” supporting Earth Science research– P-3 heavy-lift aircraft– Contract Aircraft– UAVs

• Research examples:– Atmospheric Chemistry– Climate Change

• Ice cap & beach mapping• Ocean current & biology studies• Coastal Zone Research

– Natural Disasters• Hurricane studies & volcano eruptions

• Aircraft activities– Mission planning – Aircraft operations & maintenance– Aircraft modifications & certification

NASA P-3

Twin Otter

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Uninhabited Aerial Systems

• WFF UAV Activities– Science missions– Operations – Science-enabling technology development

• NASA investigating UAV contribution to science. UAVs offer:– More hazardous flight regimes– Longer duration missions– Potentially lower costs

• Wallops Focus– Enabling use of small platforms for science– Developing/demonstrating new science-

enabling technologies– Developing platform-independent instrument

interfaces

• WFF UAV Assets– UAV Runway– Restricted Airspace

Aerosonde

Aurora GE-80

Hurricane Ophelia

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Research Airport

• Primary Missions:– Aircraft & airport research– Basing for WFF Earth Science &

transient research aircraft– Support to WFF Launch Range

• 3 main runways + 1 UAV runway– 2 runways >8000 feet– Restricted airspace

• Research Examples– UAV flight test operations– Aircraft & airport safety testing– Aircraft noise measurement– Landing system instrumentation

demonstration

Water Ingestion Testing

Wake Vortex Studies

Aircraft Noise Testing

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Launch Range

• NASA’s only launch range– Over 16,000 launches conducted since

1945

• Support:– NASA science & technology (primary)– DoD & other gov’t agencies– Commercial industry

• Full suite of support services– Launchers– Processing facilities & logistics– Range safety– Tracking & data services

• Specialized focus:– Suborbital & small orbital launch vehicles– Experimental vehicles & payloads– Responsive & low-cost missions

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Numerous & DiverseLaunch Capabilities

20K ARC Rail Launcher

MARS Pad 0A(under redevelopment)

MARS Pad 0B

7.5 MRL LauncherNavy Target Launchers

Runway-Based Launches

Pad 1 50K Launcher

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Upcoming Missions Taurus II & ISS Resupply

• Orbital Sciences selected by NASA to carry out 9 ISS resupply missions through 2015, using Taurus II

• Launched from Wallops, supported by NASA & Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS)

• $90M+ of federal/state investments in new infrastructure to increase WFF capabilities to support medium-class ELVs

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Upcoming Missions Lunar Atmosphere Dust Experiment Explorer (LADEE)

• Lunar orbiting spacecraft (4 instruments) being developed by NASA/Ames & Goddard– Dust Detector– UV Spectrometer– Neutral Mass Spectrometer– Laser Communications Demonstrator

• WFF managing launch service– Uses interagency agreement with USAF– Launched from WFF Pad 0B

• To be launched from WFF on first flight of Minotaur V in early 2013

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Wallops UAS/SmallSat Initiative

• Objective: • To develop & demonstrate advanced technologies

that enable advanced Earth Science research conducted on small satellite and UAV platforms

• Approach:• Modular “Plug-n-Play” instrument interfaces• Miniaturization of instrument & support systems

• Benefits:• Very short integration schedules• Common instrument interfaces for UAV & SmallSat• Research conducted on platforms previously

requiring larger systems• Highly responsive, low-cost missions

Documents

Goddard Space Flight Center 1 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centers Wallops Flight Facility Participating in NASAs Suborbital Missions