GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 1 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility Facility & Programmatic Overview

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 2 Goddard Space Flight Center Goddard main campus, (Greenbelt, MD) Wallops Flight Facility (VA) Independent Validation & Verification Facility (WVa) Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NY) White Sands Ground Station (NM)

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 3 Wallops Flight Facility Three Major Parcels6000 Acres Wallops Main Base1900 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 Island3000 Acres Launch Sites Blockhouses Radar Processing Facilities Dynamic Spin Balance Navy Operational Facilities Wallops Mainland100 Acres Tracking & Data Acquisition Marshland1000 Acres

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 4 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

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 5 Wallops Main Base

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 6 Wallops Island

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 7 Wallops Tenants Goddard/Wallops Flight Facility Land Owner Tenants Naval Air Warfare Center (Patuxent River) Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport U. S. Coast Guard NOAA Navy/Surface Combat Systems Center BaySys

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 8 Marine Sciences Consortium A non-profit educational institution composed of 16 universities Over 40 acres containing: –Faculty and students residences –Laboratories classrooms, & machine shop –Cafeteria –Recreational areas Owns and operates 3 major marine research vessels –Plus additional smaller vessels Supports approximately 1000 graduate and undergraduate students per year

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 9 Wallops Workforce Percentage of employees residing in area counties

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 10 Sounding Rocket Program Typical mission types: –Space Science research –Technology demonstrations –DoD targets (reimbursable) 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 Black Brant XII Typical Spacecraft

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 11 Sounding Rocket Launch Locations Fixed Launch Sites –Wallops Research Range –White Sands Missile Range (NM) –Poker Flat Research Range (AK) –Andoya & Svalbard (Norway) –Esrange (Kiruna, Sweden) –Kauai Recent Mobile Campaign Sites –Kwajalein –Australia –Puerto Rico –Brazil –Greenland

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 12 Balloon Program Primary mission: –Space Science research missions/year Features –Balloon volumes up to 60M cubic ft. –Suspended loads up to 8000 lbs. –Float altitudes of 100K-160K feet –Mission durations of >1 month Worldwide mission sites Development efforts: –Ultra-Long Duration Balloon –Trajectory control –Planetary balloons Balloon Inflation Balloon Payload Balloon at Float

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 13 Balloon Characteristics

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 14 Airborne Science Program Piloted aircraft & UAV “flying laboratories” supporting Earth Science research –Heavy Lift: Wallops: P-3B –Contract Aircraft: Twin Otter (others pending) –UAVs: AAI/Aerosonde, BAI Viking 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 (based at WFF) Twin Otter (contracted)

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 15 Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles 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 AAI/Aerosonde partnership –Demonstrate utility of small UAVs for science –Establish procedures for science projects –Execute science missions Numerous other UAV companies such as BAI Wallops UAV Runway Aerosonde

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 16 Small Orbital Carriers 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 CubeSats CubeSats Management and I&T support of several programs to fly nano-satellites for education, science, & technology Hawk Institute for Space Sciences National Science Foundation MPE CubeSats & P-Pod Ejector

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 17 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 & Radar Altimetry Antarctic & Greenland Ice Mapping Wallops “Wave Tank” Coastal Zone Research

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 18 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

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 19 Operational Areas Wallops operational areas offer nearly unlimited capabilities to conduct hazardous missions –Restricted airspace –Direct access to the Atlantic Ocean off-shore Warning Areas Access to desirable mid- inclination orbits of degrees

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 20 Numerous & Diverse Launch Capabilities 20K ARC Rail Launcher MARS Pad 0B 20K AML Launcher Navy Target Launchers Orbital Sciences Pegasus Pad 1 50K Launcher

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 21 Provides independent mission support at remote sites worldwide Typical missions –Sounding rocket science campaigns –WFF ELV downrange support –Mobile ELV and X-vehicle missions Recent Campaigns –Kodiak Alaska, Australia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Greenland, Kwajalein, Canary Islands Wallops Mobile Range Kodiak Star Launch Mobile Instrumentation Greenland Launcher Puerto Rico Campaign

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 22 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 operations –Aircraft & airport safety testing –Aircraft noise measurement –Landing system instrumentation demonstration Water Ingestion Testing Wake Vortex Studies Aircraft Noise Testing

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 23 Range Usage ELV Support 1-2 Field Campaigns 1-2 Suborbital-class Rockets 7 Small Rockets 20 Shuttle Launch 1 Orbital Tracks (ISS/STS) 389 UAVs / Drop Models 143 Aircraft Tests 144 Ground System Tests 30 DoD Targets 24 DoD Gun Tests 3 Other Tests 20 Annual Average UtilizationAverage Annual Usage Events NASA Science 28% NASA Aeronautics 23% Non-NASA 28% NASA Space Operations 15% NASA Exploration 6% Activated restricted airspace 182 days in last year! Many different missions, many different customers

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 24 Wallops Small Sat Launch History Past 3 Minotaur I missions (Wallops) 9 Pegasus (8 from Wallops) –1 mobile from Canary Islands 20 Scout missions (Wallops) –Several additional from Kenya 1 Conestoga (Wallops) 1 Athena –Mobile from Kodiak, AK Upcoming 2 DoD missions from Kodiak, AK – 2009/10 ORS-Sat 1 (DoD) Taurus II (NASA) – Beginning in 2011 LADEE (NASA) – 5/2012

GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility 25 Taurus II: Commercial Resupply to the International Space Station Taurus II Launch Pad Design Taurus II Island Site Horizontal Integration Facility