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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

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Goddard mace Flight Center

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I GREENBELT, MARYLAND

The Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
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Maryland, is responsible for the development of
unmanned orbiting satellites in the interest of basic
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The staff at Goddard totals approximately 3,800
of which nearly one-half (1881) are scientists or
engineers. The majority of personnel are located

and applied science, sounding rocket experiments, at the Center, although a number are located at
and NASA's world-wide network of trac'king stations other continental U.S. installations such as the
I serving manned and unmanned scientific space Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
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missions. In addition. other members of the Goddard team

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's Main Administration Building.

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are located throughout the world operating satellite
tracking and communications network stations, and
some are working with foreign nations on inter-
national space projects.
Goddard Space Flight Center was established by
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
on May 1, 1959. It was the first major United
States laboratory devoted entirely t o the investiga-
tion and exploration of space. Located about ten
miles northeast of Washington, D.C., it is one of the
few installations in the world capable of conducting
a full range space science experimentation program
from theory, through experimentation, design and
construction, satellite fabrication and testing, track-
ing, data acquisition and reduction.
SEARCH FOR NEW KNOWLEDGE:
The Center’s scientific staff is concerned pri-
marily with research into magnetic fields, energetic
particles, ionospheres and radio physics, planetary
atmospheres, meteorology, inter-planetary matter,
solar physics, and astronomy.
Approximately one-third of all the scientific ex-
periments flown in spacecraft by the United States
have been conceived, designed, and built by God-
dard scientists. And, in addition, the Center holds
management responsibility for about one-half of
the earth satellites launched by NASA. Through
such programs, much of the basic scientific infor-
mation essential for a better understanding of our
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
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GREENBELT, MARYLAND
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planet, of the solar system, and of the universe is
being obtained.
SCIENTIFIC SATELLITES:
NASA scientists and engineers at Goddard, work-
ing closely with the scientific community here and
abroad, have launched more than 30 scientific
satellites and approximately 500 sounding rockets
t o study the mysteries of earth-sun relationships,
the nature of near-earth space and the universe.
The satellites range from the specialized-mission
U.S. Explorer series such as the Inter-planetary
Monitoring Platforms, the Atmosphere Explorers,
through international spacecraft like England’s
Ariel, Canada’s Alouette and Italy’s San Marco up t o
the family of observatory satellites (solar, geo-
physical, and astronomical).
Other programs include missions such as the
Radio Astronomy Explorer with antennas measur-
ing 1,500 feet from tip t o t i p and the Anchored
Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (Explorer XXXV)
which was placed into orbit around the moon t o
study interplanetary space July 22, 1967.
APPLICATIONS SATELLITES:
An important area of interest t o NASA is God-
dard’s applications satellite program. Among this
group are the TIROS and Nimbus meteorological
satellite programs. A series of TIROS satellites have
been launched with such reliability that the En-
0 SPACE PROJECTS BUILDING
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CENTRAL FLIGHT CONTROL AND
SPACECRAFT OPERATIONS FACILITY
INSTRUMENT CONSTRUCTION AND
INSTALLATION LABORATORY
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0 PAYLOAD TESTING FACILITY
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O G A T E HOUSE
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@TRACKING AND TELEMETRY LABORATORY
Q) DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS BUILDING
(D METEOROLOGICAL SYSTEMS
DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY
@ MECHANICAL TEST FACILITY
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vironmental Science Services Administration has with the mission control center in Houston and the
adopted the TIROS Operational System (TOS) for recovery fleet deployed on three oceans.
regular weather reporting purposes. Meteorological Named in honor of Dr. Robert H. Goddard, the
research and development is now focused on the NASA Center continues in the scientific tradition of
more versatile and advanced Nimbus satellite. this New England scientist, who has been recog-
In the area of communications satellites, God- nized as the “Father of American Rocketry” and
dard helped develop Echo, the passive communica- as one of the pioneers in the theoretical exploration
tions balloon, and Relay and Syncom, which amplifyof space.
and rebroadcast radio signals back t o earth. The Robert Hutchings Goddard, born in Worcester,
Syncom concept has been employed in the “Early Massachusetts, on October 5, 1882, was a theo-
Bird” communications satellite. retical scientist as well as a practical engineer. His
dream was the conquest of the upper atmosphere
TRACKING AND COMMUNICATIONS: and ultimately space through the use of rocket
Another major responsibility is Goddard’s role propulsion.
as the hub of all of NASA’s tracking activities. Dr. Goddard was probably as responsible for
Without telemetry, command and control, NASA the dawning of the Space Age as the Wrights were
unmanned spacecraft would be silent pieces of for the beginning of the Air Age. Yet his work at-
orbiting hardware, and astronauts in manned craft tracted little serious attention during his lifetime.
would be beyond the reach of the thousands who When the United States began t o prepare for the
support each mission.
Three tracking and data acquisition networks
support NASA’s missions: the manned space flight
network (MSFN), the satellite tracking and data
acquisition network (STADAN), and the Jet Propul-
sion Laboratory’s deep-space network (DSN). This
world-wide system thus serves both manned and
unmanned satellites exploring near-space, and
deep-space missions t o the other planets.
Goddard supports the astronauts with a world-
wide network of tracking stations that link them

NASA’s Goddard Space

Flight Center located at Greenbelt,
Maryland.

Technicians checking and testing an

Interplanetary Monitoring Platform
(IMP) Spacecraft i n the test and
evaluation area.

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Spacecraft being prepared for

a simulation test.

conquest of space in the 1950’s, American rocket
scientists began t o recognize the enormity of the
debt which their science owed t o the New England
professor. They discovered that it was virtually im-
possible to construct a rocket or launch a satellite
without acknowledging the work of Dr. Goddard.
This great legacy was covered by more than 200
patents, many of which were issued after his death.
On May 1, 1959, the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration named its new Space Flight
Center at Greenbelt, Maryland, the Goddard Space
Flight Center. On September 15, 1959, the Con-
gress of the United States authorized the issuance
of a gold medal in honor of the rocket pioneer. The
Smithsonian Institution, long familiar with his work,
awarded him its coveted Langley Medal on June 28,
1960, in honor of his discoveries in rocketry.
The essence of Goddard’s philosophy, as he
expressed in his high school oration, serves as the
motto of the Goddard Space Flight Center: “It is
difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of
yesterday i s the hope of today and the reality of
tomorrow.”
v
DIRECTOR: DR. JOHN F. CLARK
Goddard Space Flight Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

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