Last Update:  8-4-2001
by Walt Reil

In a nutshell, in the words of Billy Crystal from Saturday Night Live, all I can say is .... Marvelous.  Just Marvelous!  Our special personal tour of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near Mountain View, just north of San Jose, was a wonderful event. 

CCAS member and Cal Poly professor Tom Frey invited a small group to be his guests for a personally guided tour of the facility.  Tom has been on sabbatical this summer working at the Ames Astrobiology Department researching object 5145 Pholus which is located in a large band of dust and rocks that rings our Solar System outside the orbit of Pluto.  This band is called the Kuiper Belt (pronounced kyper) and spans approximately 40 to 80 astronomical units from the Sun.  Last summer he performed the same research of Jupiter's moon Europa.  He and several other astrophysicists are using spectroscopy to study the light characteristics of the Kuiper Belt material in determining the organic composition of the Kuiper Belt.

Our group consisted of myself (Walt Reil), my wife Julie and teenage daughter's Wendy and Robin, CCAS member's Jim Carlisle and Cliff Buttschardt, Atascadero Fine Arts Academy 7th & 8th grade math & science teacher Cheryl Hockett and Atascadero High School student Neil Pearson.  We left Atascadero at 6:00 AM, arrived at Ames at 9:30 AM, completed our tour at 3:30 PM and arrived back home at 9:30 PM.  Besides using our van, Jim Carlisle drove his hybrid Toyota Prius gas / electric car.  Boy, what a powerful little car on the freeway and almost totally silent in its operation using a conventional engine and battery system.  Jim loves his new toy.  :-)

After obtaining our badges at Ames security, Tom took us to the very technical Cosmochemistry laboratory to explain his work in attempting to recreate the surface conditions on large objects in the Kuiper Belt using spectral data from Earth based telescopes and the spacecraft.  He works in creating conditions of extreme cold in a total vacuum to generate possible surface conditions on a tiny circular metal plate.  The container vessel holding the test plate is a little larger than a jumbo coffee can.  But that container is surrounded by a large lattice work of lab support rods holding equipment, tubing and wiring.  Once Tom deposits test materials on the surface of the metal plate, an electron gun is used to bombard the plate with electrons to simulate a typical period of irradiation by star light over millions and billions of years.  He then takes spectral images of the plate to compare to the spectral data obtained from telescopes and spacecraft.

Boy, what meticulous and demanding work, working mostly by himself but getting assistance from colleagues when needed.  And talk about a laboratory!  It looks like something from one of those mad-scientist movies having tons of equipment racks, glass, metal and rubber tubing, wires, electrical equipment, vacuum pumps, bottled gases, frozen lines and extremely expensive computer and spectral equipment.  Everyone got a 'chilling' thrill out of Tom's demonstration of how cold liquid nitrogen really is, pouring a little on the floor around our feet and then freezing a rubber tube into a solid shape.  He demonstrated glass blowing techniques that he is called upon to use many times in making new runs of glass tubing and vessels as well as making repairs to the glass test equipment.  He also introduced us to a young scientist on a several-year stay in the United States from Japan who occasionally assists Tom in his research.  They make a good team with the Japanese scientist providing extensive computer programming expertise while Tom provides data analysis expertise.

Tom then took us to another building for an hour of presentations by Dr. Dale Cruikshank and Dr. Friedemann Freund, two highly respected, recognized and publicized NASA astrobiologists.  They summarized for us the group's study of the Kuiper Belt.  They were very informative and great to listen to.  It was truly exciting to get to have a personal presentation by such noted scientists in the field of astrophysics and astronomy.  This was one of the many high points of our tour.  For technical folks who are interested in more detailed information and insight into their work, check the following technical information:

Atmospheres and Surfaces of Outer Planet Satellites and other Solar System Curiosities

Centaur 5145 Pholus As A Comet Nucleus

The Kuiper Belt and the Ort Cloud  from The Nine Planets

Kuiper Belt Page  by David Jewitt

The Kuiper Belt   ORRERY

Pluto-Kuiper Express   NASA/JPL mission & spacecraft information

Back to our tour ...

Following the presentation, we ate lunch at the Ames Cafe.  Afterwards, Tom took us to view the large 20-G Centrifuge that is located beneath the world's largest wind tunnel having an air intake opening the full size of a football field stood up on edge along its long side.  The centrifuge is used for space research on equipment and astronauts.  It's total force is 20 G's, but the maximum used on humans is about 6 G's under the most extreme testing.  This centrifuge was used in the Clint Eastwood movie 'Space Cowboys'.  The wind tunnel can fit a 737 jet airliner and is used for testing aircraft, spacecraft and other special objects.  For further information see the NASA Ames Wind Tunnel website and the following wind tunnel photos by NASA.  Click on each photo below for a larger view.

For more present and historical Ames Research Center and Moffett Field photos, see:
Great Images in NASA
Moffett Field Museum and Photo Gallery
Moffett Field 1954
Space World Hangar One - California Air & Space Center

We next toured the Mars wind tunnel.  In this wind tunnel they are researching air currents on the surface of Mars, in attempting to understand how it is that Mars is presently almost totally covered by a massive dust storm.  An unexpected bonus was walking past and looking in the laboratory where the heat tiles are fabricated for the Space Shuttle.  After that we took a driving tour around the base, past the International Space Station Payload planning and coordination facility and the huge WWII vintage blimp hanger, which will someday become an Air & Space Museum of the west coast, then to the massive air intake of the largest wind tunnel.  The final stop was the Ames visitor center to see the museum and gift shop.

The drive home was long but enjoyable as we all chatted about our tour and other interesting things.  All in all the tour was truly a fantastic day.  We are indebted to Tom Frey for being such a great host and taking a day out of his hectic research schedule to show us around the facility and introduce us to his colleagues.  We are extremely grateful for Tom's kindness and hospitality.  This will be a wonderful memory for all of us.  Being my first visit to a NASA facility, I am very pleased with today's event, one which amateur astronomer's live for.  What a stupendous day.