[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 6 - 10:42:55 ]
Good morning everyone. Our sincerest apologies for our technical difficulties. We're now online and ready to go. Thank you so much for your patience while we've troubleshooted these problems today.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 7 - 10:43:08 ]
An update on Rich: "I am a Systems Analyst with the Mars Surveyor Operations Project at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Flight Systems. Following twenty two months as a Systems and Real-Time Ops Analyst flying Mars Global Surveyor and supporting Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander, I was assigned in May '99 to the Mars Surveyor 2001 Program as Mission Ops Design Engineer. My current duties specifically include coordinating and performing updates to command sequences and configuration files for the '01 Lander (and Orbiter for now, until a second Mission Ops Design Engineer is hired), coordinating flight rules updates, and supporting ATLO (Assembly, Test and Launch Operations) testing."

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 8 - 10:43:10 ]
For all those lurkers out there, let me share this. I think we're finally ready to start being proud of great human accomplishments again. After the environmental awakening (which was spurred on by space science and exploration via the Goldilocks problem of Venus, Mars and Earth) we all got a bad taste in our mouths from technology, so to speak. Now, we realize technology in and of itself is not bad. It can do tremendous good. I think space exploration is one of the noblest human activities and that's why so many people are into it. What do you think?

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 9 - 10:43:27 ]
Some interesting tidbits about Rich's life: "I have been a sandwich maker, a deliverer of flowers, a preschool teacher, a taxi driver, a data processing manager and a shareware software author, and to some extent I still am all of these. But space exploration has always been there. Some of my earliest memories are of drawing spacecraft, but for most of my life it was "just a childhood dream."

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 10 - 10:44:05 ]
Some interesting tidbits about Rich's education: "I left college long before finishing. It took me another five years (1988) to realize and believe that I could succeed, to muster the courage to ask for help with college costs and return home, and to develop the patience and persistence to attend college. (I attended The City College in Harlem, New York City, which offered an "Earth and Planetary Sciences" degree at that time; it was close to home and it was affordable) After eight years in college earning a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees (at University of Colorado, Boulder) I finally returned to the workplace, this time with the demonstrated ability to learn about and analyze spacecraft and space missions. And that's how I transformed from sandwich maker to aerospace engineer."

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 12 - 10:45:32 ]
RE: [David] Hello, I have been a middle school science teacher for 5 years, but I'm currently looking for a career change. As a science teacher I developed an old passion from my childhood days for astronomy and space exploration and I'm thinking about going back to school to become an engineer. I was impressed by the long journey that you had to take to get to your present position, because, if I decide to do it, it will be a long journey for me also.
David, welcome!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 13 - 10:45:58 ]
RE: [David] Hello, I have been a middle school science teacher for 5 years, but I'm currently looking for a career change. As a science teacher I developed an old passion from my childhood days for astronomy and space exploration and I'm thinking about going back to school to become an engineer. I was impressed by the long journey that you had to take to get to your present position, because, if I decide to do it, it will be a long journey for me also.
David, Let's talk more about this offline. richard.hogen@lmco.com

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 15 - 10:46:53 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] Hello Rich and Sandy!
Hello

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 16 - 10:47:06 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] Hello Rich and Sandy!
Michelle: Thank you for being persistent!!! We're glad you are here!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 19 - 10:52:44 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] How exactly has the mission changed?
Which mission, Chris? We're flying several missions here.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 25 - 10:56:41 ]
EVERYONE: Due to technical difficulties on the Quest side, Rich has agreed to stay in the chat room for at least another 30 minutes... Thank you Rich :-)

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 27 - 10:58:03 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] Sandy, let us know how to pace the questions. I don't want to overwhelm Rich.
Michelle: Right now there are only your kids and David in the chat room. Go ahead and send your questions and I will let you know if the pace is too fast. (Send a few at a time and wait until you see the answers before you send more :-)

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 28 - 10:58:30 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] The Global Surveyor - the one with the bent solar panel
The MGS mission was the first that required aerobraking, using drag from the Martian atmosphere to reduce the initial elliptical orbit down to a circular one. The solar panels were designed to withstand a certain amount of pressure, and so you could plan for a certain amount (plus or minus natural variations) in a certain amount of time. But the support turned out to be cracked and so we could not get as much drag as planned without breaking the panel off and ending the mission. We had to limit drag to lower pressure levels, so it took many more drag passes to get to the circular orbit. Meanwhile the time of day of the orbit moves, as all elliptical orbits precess, but the instruments need a certain time of day to work right. The new schedule ended up in the same time of day but flying backwards. There's a lot more!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 29 - 10:59:20 ]
RE: [David] Yes, How did you choose the particular branch of engineering that you are in?
I've always been a "big picture" kinda guy, so it was natural for me to study "systems engineering". There really was no choice, other than making sure my graduate program had a program for systems engineering.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 33 - 11:03:05 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] While waiting we were discussing how things can go wrong with technology when you really want things to work right. MGS problems caused the mission to be rethought and I was remembering how the telemetry ops program wasn't quite reliable when the data for the first pictures from Viking started coming through. This is part of the picture, so we are here now and the problems we had getting in this AM sort of go along with what you do, isn't that so, Rich?
That's a great observation, Michelle. If you are designing a spacecraft that has to work for years, millions of kilometers away from the Earth and the warmth and light of the Sun, you have to design the entire system, in space and on the ground, to be able to withstand problems like this without ending the mission. So much of what we do involves adding "margin" to our designs and plans, and developing contingency plans for when problems occur. Last year, just before MGS was to perform a final burn to fix it's circular orbit, we had a water main break in this building which took out our data lines to JPL and the Deep Space Network of antennas. I had to fly to JPL with a coworker to try to take care of critical business on the fly!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 34 - 11:04:12 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] Will you be Sys/ACE on Mars Climate Orbiter and the Polar Lander when they arrive at Mars?
No, I'm not working in Ops any more, not for now. I'll probably work Ops for the Mars 2001 missions, though, because by the time they fly I'll be one of the Systems experts, so I should support Ops for them.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 37 - 11:06:21 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] What do you do when the mission(s) are in nominal operation and nothing really critical is happening?
That's another great question. As it turns out, there are hundreds of things to do, some involving fixes to problems with the way the flight software works, or tuning the telemetry system to make sure you get the data you need to evaluate the health of the spacecraft. Some things are purely planning, testing and preparation for critical events (there's a lot of that -- it all seems quick and easy when a critical event takes place over the course of hours, but each critical event involves tens or hundreds of worker-hours to make sure everything is ready and all the sequence products and configuration files are correct and fully tested and reviewed)

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 39 - 11:08:10 ]
RE: [David] What is your relationship to the science that MGS is doing and to the MGS scientists?
We operate as the engineering team, the "spacecraft" team. The payloads to a great extent command their instruments and experiments themselves, although it's certainly a collaborative effort to make sure nothing the spacecraft does will hurt the payloads and nothing the payloads do or require of the spacecraft will hurt the spacecraft. In fact, we see science results when you do!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 41 - 11:09:52 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] Are you going to be able to map all of Mars now?
Yes, that's one of the main goals of Mars Global Surveyor and the Mars Surveyor Program orbiters. You can learn a great deal about the dynamics of a planet from pictures of its geological features, and you can learn a great deal about the chemistry of a planet from the atmospheric and geological dynamics. In fact, I believe the scientists recently released a preliminary global map of Mars.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 42 - 11:12:05 ]
RE: [Terry] Hi Rich I've had big problems getting through. Looks like i've missed it all !
TERRY: YOU DIDN'T MISS IT ALL!!! RICH HAS GRACIOUSLY AGREED TO CONTINUE CHATTING FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER 30 MINUTES!! We on the Quest team sincerely apologize for the difficulties you had getting to the chat room today. We've had some s/w problems.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 43 - 11:12:18 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] From the pictures I have seen, it looks like MGS is getting quite a bit of the mapping done that it was supposed to do. Was it able to get into a low enough orbit to do what it needed to do? Is it in it's lowest orbit at this point?
Yes, we got MGS into its proper orbit and configured the spacecraft for mapping. But one of the gimbals got stuck at a certain angle. This means yet another change in mission plan for MGS. Some time in February, when we need to move the high gain antenna to that particular angle, it'll probably get stuck again. At that point Ops will switch the mapping mission back into Magellan-style operations: look at planet and collect data, turn toward Earth and transmit the data, repeat cycle. (right now MGS is capable of pointing its high gain antenna at Earth _while_ the instruments are pointed at Mars)

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 46 - 11:15:14 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] What are the Mars 2001 missions?
Please see mars.jpl.nasa.gov for full details. The '01 Orbiter will continue to flesh out our global map of Mars with new instruments, some of which can be used for detecting water in the soil, and also it will act as a radio relay for the '01 Lander. The '01 Lander is a really neat mission. We are flying the Marie Curie rover, which was the engineering model for Pathfinder's Sojourner, we have a robotic arm for digging and obtaining soil samples for soil analyzers, a camera, a microphone for listening to what Mars sounds like, and an experiment for making rocket fuel out of the atmosphere of Mars, which contains a great deal of carbon dioxide.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 49 - 11:16:18 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] Regarding your new job ... can you explain the series of missions that are going to Mars as part of the "better, cheaper, faster" approach. How many pairs of landers/orbiters are planned? Are they still planned at 2 year intervals?
As it turns out, the MSP'03 and '05 missions are almost exclusively, if not exclusively, dedicated to Sample Return. After that, I'm not sure anybody knows what will follow.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 51 - 11:19:36 ]
RE: [Terry] Rich Do you think the Mars direct program will ever get off the ground and if so when ?
Mars Direct isn't a program, per se, it was a proposed plan. As far as I can tell, NASA has essentially adopted the key elements Mars Direct. But a human mission to Mars is very difficult and very dangerous. We as a SPECIES and our collection of governments are going to have to find very strong reasons for going directly to Mars. I myself feel that shorter term goals are a worthwhile goal, like an astronomical observatory on the lunar far side, and a test base at the lunar south pole where water has been detected. Even though it is technically possible to do Mars Direct, it simply isn't socially and politically possible right now, so why wait? Why not go to the moon?

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 52 - 11:20:32 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] (this is Chris' Dad) are there any plans to put up a GPS type system around Mars so that future ground missions can pinpoint features like on earth.
Welcome Chris's dad! It's great to see a parent involved in our chat :-) Glad you're here with your son!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 53 - 11:23:06 ]
RE: [David] When you are working on an important decision to be made about the mission,such as when to deploy the high gain antenna, how many people are involved? How does the process proceed?
There are different kinds of decisions that involve different people at different times. (yikes!) Something like when to deploy a high gain antenna is actually deep in the design of the spacecraft, because a deployed heavy high gain antenna completely changes the center of gravity and the control characteristics of the spacecraft. You can only do it when all your other control perturbations are "just right", and when it won't interfere with other activities. For example, on MGS the high gain antenna deploys into the path of the main engine. You can't deploy until you know you'll never need the main engine again. Then there are other activities less "obvious". The design team and the ops teams on these better, faster, cheaper missions have a total of twenty or thirty people on them, each with a specific area of expertise and responsibility. We have to coordinate all major decisions with everyone we can so no details are overlooked. We have a LOT of meetings.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 54 - 11:24:17 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] Magellan-style ... are you referring to the Magellan project? When was that?
Yes, Magellan, the spacecraft that mapped Venus with synthetic aperture radar earlier this decade. (it also used aerobraking, but for orbit trim to save fuel, not part of the original mission plan)

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 55 - 11:26:22 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] (this is Chris' Dad) are there any plans to put up a GPS type system around Mars so that future ground missions can pinpoint features like on earth.
Welcome Chris's dad! It's great to see a parent involved in our chat :-) Glad you're here with your son!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 56 - 11:27:03 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] (this is Chris' Dad) are there any plans to put up a GPS type system around Mars so that future ground missions can pinpoint features like on earth.
I'm no expert in the master plans of the NASA brass, but I do believe we're heading in the direction of a permanent orbital and landed presence on Mars, both for GPS type benefits but also for communication benefits. Imagine if every spacecraft sent to Mars could rely on an existing network of comm sats for comm to Earth rather than building its own direct-to-earth comm system, which is expensive in terms of mass and power requirements (and therefore solar panel requirements, and therefore mechanical and deployment requirements, ...) On the other hand, if you send a new comm system with each spacecraft you can take advantage of state of the art technology, whereas relying on a network relies on the technology that it uses, which is probably outdated by the time you get there. It's tough work to plan the right thing to do.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 58 - 11:28:59 ]
Don't stop now. My typing fingers are warmed up, and I'm committed until a quarter till.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 62 - 11:32:19 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] For those that don't know (or remember) what is GPS?
Global Positioning Satellite :-)

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 63 - 11:32:55 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] MSP '03 and '05 and sample return? Can you explain your previous answer. I don't know what you mean by Sample return. These projects are planned for 2003 and 2005 and are a pair, no?
Mars Surveyor Program 2003 is a lander only. It will gather samples of rocks and soil from the Martian surface, place them into a very carefully designed anti-contamination container, then launch the container into orbit. (at least this is my understanding of the currently planned '03 mission) The '05 mission will involve another lander like '03, built by someone in the U.S., and an orbiter with sample acquisition and earth return vehicle attached (to be built by ESA, the European Space Agency). Since returning a sample of Mars to Earth is so difficult and contamination concerns are so involved, I believe the '03 and '05 missions are dedicated to sample return almost exclusively.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 64 - 11:36:29 ]
EVERYONE: THERE ARE ABOUT 10 MINUTES LEFT IN TODAY'S CHAT WITH RICH...

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 65 - 11:38:08 ]
RE: [Terry] I think the observatory would be better situated in orbit around the moon, I couldn't see any reason for a base there. I think any worthwile exploration must be done with people as apposed to robots, do you not agree.
The idea behind an observatory on the far side of the moon is that it can be built in the base of a crater, that is, it can be huge. And since the craters are already there, a lot of the work is done for us. To make an equivalent observatory in orbit is very difficult indeed, because it would require huge structures or interferometry, which are both very difficult. Plus, it doesn't have to be a base. People could build it and leave, returning only for maintenance and equipment upgrade. But that practice alone would benefit us greatly. As for "worthwhile" exploration, that's a loaded term. The Pioneer, Mariner and Voyager robotic spacecraft transformed human existence (in what I believe is a good way). There is a place for both, it just depends on what you're trying to do. I would agree, for example, that surface work would benefit greatly from human explorers, but only if it's technologically, socially and politically feasible to put them there. Otherwise, a robot is better than nothing, no?

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 66 - 11:38:23 ]
A FAVOR: Please let us know how we did with today's chat by filling out a short survey at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 67 - 11:40:01 ]
RE: [David] Is computer programming a big part of your job?
In Ops I did some programming because we need a lot of quick tools to automate a lot of work that can take too long, mostly Unix shell scripting and Perl and AWK programming. Now I don't do any programming, except in so far as developing sequences is a very high level programming of the spacecraft itself. (and I don't do that alone, by far)

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 68 - 11:40:46 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] Global Positioning Satellite :-)
Minor correction: GPS=Global Positioning System. You need a constellation of at least 16 (I believe) satellites to do what GPS does.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 69 - 11:42:12 ]
EVERYONE: Michelle Mock/Montessori School teacher in Corona, Southern Calif. just sent me the following URLs if you are interested in further info on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). Thanks Michelle :-)..........
<A HREF="http://emma.la.asu.edu/newsurveyormenu.html">Mars Surveyor Menu</A> <http://emma.la.asu.edu/newsurveyormenu.html>.......... <A HREF="http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/index.html">Mars Global Surveyor - Welcome to Mars!.......... </A> <http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/index.html>.......... <A HREF="http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/status/upcoming/calendar.html">Upcoming Events.......... </A> <http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/status/upcoming/calendar.html>.......... <A HREF="http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/status/wkreport/current.html">Mars Global Surveyor Status.......... </A> <http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/status/wkreport/current.html>

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 70 - 11:42:18 ]
As always, I invite people to contact me directly with questions, if you have any left over after the chat. What good is email if it's nothing but SPAM? richard.hogen@lmco.com

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 71 - 11:43:14 ]
RE: [RichHogen/Mars2001] Minor correction: GPS=Global Positioning System. You need a constellation of at least 16 (I believe) satellites to do what GPS does.
Oops, sorry Michelle! I thought for sure I knew THAT one!! Thanks Rich!

[ Terry - 72 - 11:43:59 ]
I agree but it seems to me as we move towards the new millenium we are moving backwards, in so much as we get more and more careful ! I still remember 1969. But nice talking to you Rich.

[ David - 73 - 11:44:31 ]
Thank you for answering my questions and for offering to communicate with me off line. I will contact you soon.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 74 - 11:46:09 ]
OK EVERYONE; IT'S TIME TO LET RICH GET BACK TO HIS "REAL" JOB! Thank you so much for being persistent in getting into today's chat room! We know it was a royal pain! But please come back and join us again on July 14 and chat with Guy Beutelschies, the spacecraft systems engineer for Mars 2001. The signups will open today at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/chats/sched.html

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 75 - 11:46:21 ]
RE: [Terry] I agree but it seems to me as we move towards the new millenium we are moving backwards, in so much as we get more and more careful ! I still remember 1969. But nice talking to you Rich.
I agree wholeheartedly that we are too skittish about exploration. After the Challenger incident I was as devastated as everyone else, but I was even more devastated by the decision to shut everything down and hide under a rock. That may have been the right thing to do in terms of making administratively sure that the process problems were solved, but culturally it seems like a bad sign.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 76 - 11:46:47 ]
Thanks Rich! We look forward to having you chat with us again soon!

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 79 - 11:48:30 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] Are there going to be any more rovers?
Mars 2001 Lander has a rover, and I don't know if the Sample Return missions are planning on using rovers or not. Keep an eye out for more details as they are announced.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 80 - 11:49:13 ]
Goodbye everyone! I will archive Rich's chat later today. You will be able to find it off of his bio page-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/hogen.html and off the chat page under "Chat archives." Don't forget to: 1) Fill out the chat survey and 2) join us again on July 14!!!

[ Chris/MontessoriSchool - 81 - 11:49:46 ]
Thank you

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 82 - 11:49:52 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] One of the disadvantages to sending humans to Mars is the psychological and physical effects of the travel and the amount of time involved. We are talking years. The biosphere in the desert had problems with people unable to handle that stress ... perhaps that should be tried again before we consider sending people that far? Robots are great and NASA has come a long way since the days when spacecraft were crashed on the moon ... intentionally.
Biosphere was a special case and may not be representative of a Mars trip. The Biosphere team was put under incredible pressure just to stay alive. Astronauts on a Mars trip won't be growing their food and keeping their atmosphere in shape through daily farm-style labor.

[ RichHogen/Mars2001 - 84 - 11:50:12 ]
Bye, folks.

[ Terry - 86 - 11:51:10 ]
Thanks Rich and Sandy

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 87 - 11:51:20 ]
RE: [Chris/MontessoriSchool] (Chris' Dad) what's the survey URL again?
Chris's dad: the survey url is-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 88 - 11:51:56 ]
RE: [Terry] Thanks Rich and Sandy
You're most welcome Terry! Thanks for joining us today. Hope to chat with you again soon :-)

[ Michelle/CoronaCA - 89 - 11:53:19 ]
Wouldn't the Mars team be put under similar (or bigger) pressur? No stores up there ... how would they ever get all their supplies including food and oxygen if they didn't make it themselves? ... but that's for another chat! Thanks again!!!!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 90 - 11:54:55 ]
RE: [Michelle/CoronaCA] Thanks Rich and Sandy. No problem with the problems... we just have to be flexible ... part of technology!
Thank you for being so gracious and accommodating!