Left page: NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard News Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Md. Vol. 28 no.1 January 5, 1981 Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-C to be terminated The 8½ year old Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-C, the heaviest and most complex U.S. unmanned space observatory ever launched by NASA, will be terminated in a two-phase, ground-controlled procedure recently implemented by spacecraft engineers at Goddard. Designed to seek answers to some of the fundamental questions concerning stars and interstellar matter, OAO-C was launched aboard an Atlas-Centaur rocket at 6:28 a.m. EDT August 21, 1972, from the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Upon achieving orbit, OAO-C was named "Copernicus" in honor of the famed Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus who lived from 1473 to 1543. The conduct of formal scientific investigations through Copernicus will end on December 31, after which a series of engineering tests will be conducted for another 6 weeks. On February 15, 1981, all contact with the spacecraft will be terminated. Project engineers are uncertain whether Copernicus will permanently orient itself toward the Sun, begin a permanent orbital tumbling action, or a variation of both modes. What is certain is that OAO-3 will thereafter be irrecoverable; no chance of revival will exist, nor will opportunities for revival be attempted. Engineering data acquired through the terminal 6 weeks tests have value beyond casual housekeeping information. Copernicus' performance profile has been nothing short of astonishing to project engineers and scientists. Since Copernicus performed consistently beyond design specifications, and 7½ years beyond project requirements, spacecraft engineers are eager to compile modeling data for possible use in the design of future spacecraft. From its 460-mile high orbit above the Earth, the 4900-pound automated space- Continued to page 4 Four key personnel changes announced by Center Director Center Director A. Thomas Young announced that as of December 14, there will be four key personnel changes within Goddard. James J. Fleming, formerly Assistant Director for Center Automatic Data Processing, Mission and Data Operations Directorate, is assigned as Assistant Director for Center Automatic Processing in the Program and Institutional Planning Office (Code 110), Office of the Director. Fleming's responsibilities remain unchanged as well as his location. Former Applications Directorate Resources Manager James E. Zerega is assigned to the new position of Assistant Director for Institutional Planning in the Program and Institutional Planning Office (Code 11 0), Office of the Director, where he will be responsible for directing the Center's annual manpower planning, analyzing the Center skill-mix balance, and recommending long-range reductions in the Center manpower and facilities resources. He will be located in Building 8. Waddell Longus, former Chief of Personnel Division in the Management Operations Directorate, is assigned to the new position of Assistant Director for Personnel Planning in the Program and Institutional Planning Office (Code 110), Office of the Director. He will be responsible for the long-range planning of methods to correct skill-mix imbalances, including recommending new training programs, hiring policies, and other personnel related matters. Longus will be located in Building 8. Kenneth Jacobs has been appointed Chief, Technical Information and Administrative Support Division (Code 250), Management Operations Directorate, replacing Don C. Hutchison, recently appointed Energy Resources Officer within the Management Operations Directorate. In addition to his permanently assigned duties, Jacobs will also lead the Personnel Division in an acting capacity depending selection of the permanent division chief. Right column: Goddard News January 5, 1981 OAO-C Continued from page 1 craft has viewed the heavens with a precision and clarity never before possible. Its supersensitive ultraviolet telescope, largest ever orbited, is capable of pointing accuracies equivalent to seeing a volleyball from a distance of 400 statute miles. The 32-inch-diameter reflecting device is housed in the central tube of the 10-foot-long cylinder-shaped spacecraft and provides data in the form of ultraviolet spectral readings otherwise invisible to ground-based observatories because of the obscuring effect of Earth's atmosphere. The instrument was provided by Princeton University. Professor Lyman Spitzer, Jr., is the Principal Investigator. England's University College, London, under the sponsorship of the United Kingdom Science Research Council, provided the second instrument. It consists of three small telescopes and an associated counting device designed to study X-ray sources in space at various wavelengths. The University College experiment has helped open the door to a better understanding of new celestial X-ray phenomena. For example, the experiment yielded important information on X-ray sources such as black holes and neutron stars and was instrumental in the discovery of the first black hole (CYG X-1 ). In combination with the UV experiment, it discovered the newest black hole candidate (OAO 1653-40). Copernicus also produced information on star temperatures, gravities, and chemical composition. Additionally, it studied the atmosphere of Earth, Mars, Jupiter , and Saturn. During its 8½ years of operation, Copernicus has been used by more than 160 investigators from the United States and 13 foreign countries to observe over 450 unique objects. The greater stability of the satellite, the high resolution and wide observing range of the primary experiment (Princeton Experiment Package-PEP), have enabled numerous significant astronomical observations to be made. In many cases, the observations made could not have been accomplished by any other astronomical satellite operating or in the planning stage.