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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, November 7, 2011 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Bryan Fafaul

"Glory: Challenges and Lessons Learned"

ABSTRACT -- Understanding the Earth's energy balance and the effect on climate requires measuring black carbon soot and other aerosols, and the total solar irradiance. Glory is a low Earth orbit (LEO) scientific research satellite designed to collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon in the Earth's atmosphere. Glory will also collect data on solar irradiance for the long-term effects on the Earth climate record.

The Glory mission's scientific objectives are met by implementing two separate science instruments, one with the ability to collect polarimetric measurements along the satellite ground track within the solar reflective spectral region and one with the ability to monitor changes in sunlight incident on the Earth's atmosphere by collecting high accuracy, high precision measurements of total solar irradiance. Glory accomplishes these objectives by deploying two instruments aboard a low Earth orbit satellite, the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS) and the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM). Additionally, a cloud camera system will provide images that allow the APS scans along the spacecraft ground track to be put into spatial context and to facilitate determination of cloud occurrence within the APS instantaneous field of view.

This talk will give an overview of the spacecraft, the scientific instruments, some of the development challenges of the mission, and the failed launch attempt of the Glory Mission.

SPEAKER -- Bryan Fafaul has worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center since 1986 in a wide variety of technical and management positions. Mr. Fafaul started his career in the Parts Branch and then moved into project management. He has served as the Mission Manager for the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE), the Instrument Systems Manager for Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing Mission 3A, 3B and 4, the Deputy Project Manager for the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP), and the Project Manager for Glory prior to his current position as the Project Manager for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Flight Project.




Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov