GP-B Post-Flight Analysis—Final Report - Gravity Probe B - Stanford ...

3. Payload Integration, Testing and Repairs (1997-2002). During this five year period, a few criticalproblems surfaced during the integration and testing of the payload, including the dewar, probe, andScience Instrument Assembly. These problems were addressed, the payload was integrated into thespacecraft, along with several electronics systems, and the Gas Management Assembly. The presence ofthese problems caused NASA to significantly increase its management oversight of the program. This ledto communications issues between Stanford, NASA, and Lockheed Martin that were successfullyaddressed towards the end of this time period.4. Final Integrated Testing, Launch & Science Mission (2002-2005). During the pre-flight integratedtesting of the GP-B spacecraft, two final problems emerged which postponed the launch from 2002 to2003, and then to 2004. GP-B finally launched on April 20, 2004, followed by a successful 17.3-monthflight mission, which concluded on September 29, 2005.5. Data Analysis Period (2005-2007). Following the successful GP-B flight mission, focus shifted fromspacecraft operations to science data analysis and results determination. As planned, this shift resulted ina considerable reduction in staff, of which the spacecraft operations team was a large component, as wellas a final change in program management.These five time periods provide the main organizational structure for discussing GP-B program management inthis chapter.6.2 The Early Years (1959-1984)The early history of GP-B is covered in Chapter 2, Section 2.1.1 “A Brief History of GP-B” . To preserve context,parts of the current chapter are somewhat redundant to the history in Chapter 2; however this section focusesprimarily on the program management aspects of GP-B.6.2.1 Concept DevelopmentThe idea of testing general relativity by means of orbiting gyroscopes was suggested independently by twophysicists, George Pugh and Leonard Schiff, in late 1959-early 1960. Pugh's Proposal for a Satellite Test of the CoriolisPrediction of General Relativity appeared in an unusual location: the U.S. Department of Defense Weapons SystemsEvaluation Group (WSEG) Memo #11 (November, 12, 1959). Schiff 's Possible New Experimental Test of GeneralRelativity Theory was published in the March 1, 1960 issue of Physical Review letters. What was then called theStanford Relativity Gyroscope Experiment (later dubbed Gravity Probe B) began in late 1959-1960 as a researchcollaboration among Schiff, a theoretical physicist and then Chairman of the Physics Department, and twoother professors at Stanford University—William Fairbank, a low-temperature physicist, and Robert Canon, agyroscope and guidance control expert, and later Chairman of the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department. InJune 1960, Schiff published an expanded paper, more completely defining the experiment, while Fairbank andCannon focused on the cutting-edge technological innovations that would be necessary to actually carry it out.What became apparent early on, and proved critical to the eventual success of the experiment, was the necessityfor collaboration—both inter-departmental collaboration within Stanford and also collaboration betweenStanford, NASA, and eventually, Lockheed Martin. GP-B was a fundamental physics experiment that had to beperformed in a spacecraft. As such, it required cutting-edge knowledge and expertise from both physicists andengineers—especially aerospace engineers.6.2.2 Initial ResearchRealizing the need for such aerospace collaboration, Schiff and Fairbank approached NASA in 1961 with ashort, non-funding proposal outlining an experiment to be performed in an orbiting spacecraft. At that time,Dr. Nancy Roman was Chief of Astronomy and Relativity Programs in the NASA Office of Space Science at142 March 2007 Chapter 6 — The GP-B Management Experiment