Center Director’s All Hands Meeting, September 17

Invitation: I am inviting the entire Kennedy Space Center team to my first All Hands Meeting, September 17, at 9:30 a.m. in the Training Auditorium. I know seating is limited, so arrangements have been made to broadcast the meeting on NASA Television. Along with KSC’s new Deputy Director, Dr. Woodrow Whitlow, and our Associate Director, Jim Hattaway, representatives from our Shuttle program and contractor team will be on hand to discuss the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report and where KSC stands in our progress toward return to flight. I’ll also address a few other items that affect the entire workforce. I’m very interested in your questions, and plenty of time is set aside to answer them. For those who won’t have a seat in the auditorium, please submit your questions prior to the meeting by e-mailing them to KSC Internal Comm. I’ll read and answer as many as possible at the meeting. If you would like your questions to be addressed anonymously at the meeting, please so indicate in your e-mail. I look forward to the first of many All Hands Meetings to come. I appreciate everyone’s efforts as we work toward our top priority of returning the Space Shuttle program safely to flight.

— Jim Kennedy, Center Director

ELV Update
Gravity Probe B, developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Stanford University and Lockheed Martin, is at a NASA spacecraft processing hangar on North Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB). The 18-month mission will test two of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity predictions. It is undergoing work to achieve and maintain the necessary level of cryogenic superfluid vacuum conditions. Also, erection of the Delta II launch vehicle is scheduled to begin Sept. 15. To accommodate the time necessary to perform a precautionary change of three of the nine solid rocket boosters, the VAFB launch has been rescheduled for Dec. 6. Gravity Probe B comprises four sophisticated gyroscopes to be launched into a 400-mile-high orbit.

Foot Care and Exercise Clinic Sept. 16
RehabWorks is proud to present a foot care clinic for all KSC and CCAFS employees, to be held in the O&C Mission Briefing Room from 10-11 a.m. and OSB Room 6320 from 2-3 p.m. Learn about common foot injuries such as plantar fasciitis, sprained ankles, heel spurs, Achilles tendonitis and much more. The one-hour lecture will include how to treat and prevent these painful and frustrating foot injuries. For more info on the Foot Care and Exercise Clinic, please call Erik at 867-7497.