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The WSSH also participates in shuttle missions. As part of the test facility, the WSSH is the primary training area for space shuttle pilots to fly practice approaches and landings in shuttle

training aircraft. It is also fully configured to support shuttle landings as one of three continental U.S. landing facilities for shuttle missions. A contingency landing can occur when weather at KSC and

Skip Rasmussen, a White Sands Space Harbor landing and runway technician, scans the runways in preparation for a shuttle aircraft training sortie.

Edwards Air Force Base is simultaneously uncertain or the shuttle's flight trajectory requires WSSH be designated the abortonce-around landing site. If an emergency landing is declared, the space harbor can also be used. "At the WSSH, every time a shuttle flies, we have a call-down list of preparations that those people go through," Daugherty said. When the need arises for WSSH to be designated the primary landing site, a Holloman Air Force Base convoy of medical and support personnel will be launched. The White Sands Missile Range will also gear up support, augmenting the WSSH convoy contingent. On the second and third days of a landing window, if the shuttle has not yet landed, WSSH is called into action and could be selected as the primary landing site. WSTF personnel were also part of these high-profile projects during the recent STS-121 mission: Advanced Crew Escape Suits, Oxygen Fire Hazard Control International Space Station's Oxygen Generator Assembly Standard test on STS-121 repair materials Imagery calibration on Reinforced Carbon-Carbon testing Quick-don mask assemblies While supporting NASA's exploration goals at WSTF and WSSH is always exciting, it becomes even more so during shuttle missions. Employees at both facilities have worked together to ensure the safe launch and return of shuttles and crews since the inception of the program in the early 1980s. "We love what we do," Daugherty said. "It's a great place to work, a lot of fun. We're real happy to be part of the shuttle team."

Jo Leyva (left), propulsion engineer, and Shane Daugherty, Propulsion Systems test technician, are shown at work in Test Cell 405 on one of the shuttle's Primary Reaction Control System thrusters.

NASA/Elliott WSTF1205E09211

NASA/Elliott WSTF1205E09240

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How does your garden
grow?
JSC NATIONAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION FARMS A NEW CROP OF LEADERS FOR THE FUTURE
by Amiko Nevills

that innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. No place exemplifies this statement more than NASA. The National Management Association (NMA) chapter at JSC also understands leaders are not born; they are made, or rather grown. JSC founded its chapter of NMA, a national professional development organization, to cultivate its garden and grow innovative leaders. It's no surprise what an organization gains when its people inspire and engage others, envision the future together and foster teamwork. But what's in it for you? "JSC NMA isn't just for managers," JSC Director Mike Coats said. "It's for anyone interested in developing their leadership skills for the future. Whether through monthly lunch meetings or training courses, JSC NMA provides its members an opportunity to learn and grow." Leadership is critical to success. Such success relies on an organization's employees and their initiative. The philosophy: You get out of it what you put into it. JSC NMA gives employees the tools to harvest the leadership that brings success. For years, JSC NMA has offered members and guests a chance to hear from experts on related topics as well as opportunities to build networks. This knowledge sharing is what sets an organization apart from others and creates leaders. In the face of accelerating change, amidst exciting innovations while NASA takes the next steps in exploration, knowledge now is

It's been said

more vital than ever before. NMA looks for ways to build on the emergence of knowledge. JSC NMA is led by a board of members and supported by a web of committees and advisors dedicated to promoting leadership growth. The chapter not only embraces leadership and management skills, but also serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information and encourages the spirit of cooperation among leaders at all levels across government and industry. "My number-one goal for JSC NMA this year is to drive a stronger professional development program and introduce dynamic speakers on a variety of topics more relevant to today's management challenges," said Jeanie Carter, JSC NMA president and longtime member. Developing your professional self will also grow a better you. Leadership and management skills spill over into all areas of life, including friendships, family and finances. Several new prospects for professional development are cropping up for budding leaders. JSC NMA is making available to its members a quarterly Folklore Series, where retired leaders will share their experiences. Working internationally and managing information and knowledge are among the topics. Also, the program will tap into JSC's Joint Leadership Team for quarterly talks with practiced leaders. Talk topics will be based on specific areas of the NASA Leadership Model.

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"We're partnering with the Joint Leadership Team to offer training opportunities targeted for existing and emerging leaders," said Brady Pyle, JSC NMA Professional Development Committee chairperson. JSC NMA members will soon mine valuable learning from one-on-one coaching and developmental reviews using the Birkman Method, which is designed to help individuals reach greater performance. The JSC Mentoring Program will also become available to all members next spring. "Both of these opportunities will prove beneficial for those members who don't currently have access to such resources," Pyle said. "JSC NMA has made a difference for many of us who are actively involved. The increased focus on professional development will take you to the next level." Some members have remained active for many years, gaining a wealth of professional and personal growth. "Since we are so spread out as a NASA community, we have the opportunity, through NMA, to get to know what other folks are working on and the status of the various programs and projects they support," said Ann Hammond, past program chairperson and NMA member since 1984. Hammond, a former NASA program analyst of 40 years, still seeks leadership guidance from guest speakers and community leaders. She has retired and returned as a consultant for Al-Razaq Computing Services. "I continue to be interested in hearing how the rest of the community manages their business challenges," Hammond said. Speakers have been lined up for the rest of this year and into 2007. For more information on JSC's NMA chapter, and for a schedule of upcoming events, go to: http://nma.jsc.nasa.gov/ index.cfm

A peek at future speakers
October
John Lienhard
"The Engines of Our Ingenuity"


November
Bill Gerstenmaier "Shuttle and Station as Training Grounds for Exploration"

December
Childcare Center Choir "Holiday Music"

February
Diane Savage
"Motivating the Workforce"


Stay tuned for the upcoming member incentives during the SC NMA Membership Drive in October.

Members of the JSC chapter of NMA attended a luncheon recently at the Gilruth Center.

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Is there life elsewhere?

TEN YEARS LA TER, JSC SCIENTISTS `MORE CONVINCED' THAN EVER EVER

by Bill Jeffs by

Ten years after announcing finding evidence for primitive life in a meteorite from Mars, Johnson Space Center's astrobiology chief scientist is "more convinced" than ever the claims were accurate. "I am more convinced today than I was 10 years ago," said David McKay, NASA chief scientist for astrobiology at JSC and lead author of the 1996 paper published in the journal Science that detailed his team's findings. "We have not been able to convince the outside community, but I think we will because we have a lot of data and we have a lot of features that can only be explained or can best be explained by past life in these samples." For the past 10 years, McKay, Everett Gibson, Kathie ThomasKeprta, Sue Wentworth, Dorothy Oehler, John Lindsay and Penny Morris-Smith have continued to study the meteorite called ALH84001 as well as other Martian meteorites and terrestrial analogs. Older than any known rock from Earth, ALH84001 was discovered in 1984 in the Allan Hills region of Antarctica by an annual expedition of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Meteorite Program. Its Martian origin was not recognized until 1993. One of 38 meteorites discovered on Earth thought to be from Mars, it is a softball-sized igneous rock weighing 1.9 kilograms (4.2 pounds). ALH84001 is 4.5 billion years old. Scientists continue to debate whether the meteorite contains biogenic evidence, but they do agree that it has become the most studied geological sample in human history. Tiny samples of it have been sent to thousands of researchers worldwide who have published hundreds of papers. McKay, Gibson, Thomas-Keprta and fellow scientist Simon Clemett have published 10 additional papers and more than 50 abstracts on ALH84001. THE MAGNETITE CONNECTION In the early 1990s McKay and Gibson, NASA senior scientist, began studying what were then a dozen or so rocks collectively called the Martian meteorites to understand the nature of Martian water. As part of that effort, they analyzed the carbonate minerals within the Allan Hills meteorite. Astrobiologists look for carbon and water in their search for extraterrestrial life. Carbon is the building block of terrestrial life, forming the basis for organic chemistry, and water is necessary to support all forms of life on Earth. McKay and Gibson noticed unusual structures within disk-shaped deposits called carbonate globules. In 1996, McKay and his team proposed a suite of four lines of evidence that, taken together, were consistent as a package with a possible biological origin. The four lines of evidence were: water-deposited carbonates; organic molecules called "polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons," or PAHs; squiggly shapes that resemble bacteria; and chains of tiny magnetites within the carbonates.

Magnetite is an iron-bearing, magnetic mineral. On Earth, some water and soil bacteria secrete the mineral within their cells. Magnetite crystals in ALH84001 have been a focus of debate about the possibility of life on Mars. The 1996 study led by McKay suggested that some magnetite crystals associated with carbonate globules in ALH84001 are biogenic because they share many characteristics with those found in bacteria on Earth. A study led by Thomas-Keprta in 2000 showed that some of the magnetite crystals in ALH84001 carbonate globules are characterized by elongation, a "unique habit" identical to magnetite grains produced by bacteria on Earth. Critics have claimed that the magnetite in ALH84001 was likely caused by inorganic processes, and that those same processes can be recreated artificially in the laboratory by heating carbonates in a process known as thermal decomposition, forming magnetite that is identical to that found in the Mars meteorite. The JSC team claims the magnetite in the meteorite could not have been formed by thermal decomposition. One flaw in the artificial method is the heat required to make artificial magnetites was above 450 degrees Celsius. Independent studies done by Cal-Tech, MIT and a German research group concluded that the carbonate globules within Allan Hills never were subjected to heat greater than 110 degrees Celsius. That finding is significant because for life to have participated in their formation, as the team argued then and claims today, it had to have formed at about 100 degrees Celsius. Any higher temperature would have destroyed the biological activity. Another flaw in the artificial method is that the critics' magnetites do not match the shape of those in ALH84001. And finally, the critics are using pure carbonates in their studies-- unlike those in ALH84001. "You can envision a jar of differently colored marbles," said Thomas-Keprta, senior scientist for Jacobs Engineering. "One marble color represents iron, another marble color is magnesium, another is manganese, and another one is calcium. These marbles are mixed together in this jar. And they say when you heat up the carbonate that only the marbles representing iron will come together and make a magnetite crystal. So that way the magnetite is chemically pure. "In the case of our critics, they are taking carbonates that are pure. They contain only one type of marble. So if you heat up only one type of marble, you're going to get only one type of product. And the sample that we're looking at doesn't look like that at all." An overlooked part of the JSC team's 1996 argument is that by proposing that magnetites were present in the rock, the team

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