Frank Cepollina
Encyclopedia
Frank J. "Cepi" Cepollina was born in 1936 in Castro Valley, California
is an American engineer and inventor. He was officially inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame
for his pioneering concept of in-orbit satellite servicing in May 2003. His organizational leadership style has been compared to that of Al Davis
of the National Football League
's Oakland Raiders
.
native, Cepollina attended the University of Santa Clara and earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering
in 1959. Before joining NASA
in 1963, he worked for four years for the Aerojet General Corporation and the Defense Intelligence Agency
. When he was 27 years old, he signed on with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
where he helped developing several spacecraft
. He also led the development of the Explorer Platform, which enabled the exchange of scientific payloads in orbit.
Since his early career, he specialized in designing satellite
s and spacecraft, and looked for engineering solutions that would make satellites more robust. The problems he dealt with were the difficulties spacecraft industry was facing in the late 1960s. His list of accomplishments includes innovative techniques for servicing satellites, designing new tools and interfaces for astronaut
s, and leading the historic 1993 repair mission for the Hubble Space Telescope
.
Cepollina is a researcher even in his everyday life; it is noted that when he is not busy looking for ways to improve Hubble's eye on the universe, he can be found at home tinkering with model O gauge railroads
. "I've found great satisfaction in this hobby for more than 40 years," he says. "And it's a nice escape from the daily grind. "
Cepollina is currently the manager of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Development Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
. He and his wife, Ann [deceased] raised their 4 children in Annandale, Virginia
. Cepollina has eight grandchildren (one deceased) located in the Northern Virginia area, as well as on the West Coast.
in order to understand better the improvements made by Cepollina. The amount of engineering and effort required to do work in space were surprising for the engineers in the early days of the manned space program. For instance, the astronauts Eugene Cernan and Thomas Stafford who were launched into space aboard Gemini 9 on June 3, 1966 had to deal with unimagined difficulties as soon as Cernan began a space walk. The plan called for Cernan to take some photographs and enjoy weightlessness
for a few minutes before working his way to the rear of the capsule. From the moment he emerged from the capsule, everything Cernan did was much harder than what he expected. He said his space suit felt like a suit of armor, and that every weightless movement triggered an equal, opposite reaction
. He found himself repeatedly flying out to the end of the umbilical cord
connecting him to the Gemini
capsule and then rebounding in an unexpected direction. Medics on the ground were alarmed when his heart rate increased to 155 beats a minute
. He perspired enough to fog his helmet visor, and sweat pooled in his eyes . He ripped an insulating layer in the back of his suit, and he instantly felt the fierce, bare sunshine; he returned to Earth with painful burns.
Cepollina marks that "the experiences of NASA's first space walkers pioneered a lot of the technologies we use today." First of all, these initial attempts made clear the need for a change in space-suit design. The Gemini 9 astronauts wore suits inflated to 14 pounds per square inch
because that's about normal pressure on earth. NASA cut the level to 4 PSI, reducing the feeling of working inside an overinflated balloon. Furthermore, a new training was developed for moving about in space: practice sessions underwater since moving in a liquid resembles the effects of weightlessness. However, the main challenge was conquering the exhaustion that Cernan had encountered. Cepollina states that their solution was to come up with power tools they could use to limit fatigue, and in order to reduce fatigue, an engineer in Cepollina's team, Paul Richard
came up with a pistol-grip device that looks like a battery-powered hand drill on steroids.
In-orbit servicing
In his article "In-Orbit Servicing", Cepollina states that in the late 1960s, as inflation and constrained budgets limited the space program, NASA determined three ways of reducing costs: standardized spacecraft components; use of the same spacecraft to do several missions; and use of the Shuttle
to extend or renew the useful life of the spacecraft by replacing subsystems and instruments in the orbit.
Why in-orbit servicing? Earth Observing System
(EOS), which is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit, asked Grumman Aerospace, General Electric
and TRW
Systems to define the most cost effective mode for using the space shuttle. The companies identified four different methods of “renewing” the defective spacecraft:
When the costs of these four methods were compared, in-orbit servicing was found to be the lowest.
What are the changes that comes with in-orbit servicing? On the other hand, such an approach called for a totally different spacecraft design. In this new concept, each subsystem occupied its own separate drawer or removable module in the spacecraft. For example, all the components having to do with supplying power (the power unit of the space craft) would make up one module so that if something wrong happened with the power unit, that part of the spacecraft was easily taken out and renewed.
satellite, launched in 1980 to conduct astronomical observations of the sun. When it began to fail several months into orbit, Cepollina was asked to lead the repair mission, begun in 1984. The mission the first of its kind was a success; the modular craft concept proved effective. Cepollina was lauded for his leadership on the project and was subsequently named Satellite Servicing Project Manager.
Satellite, as the Satellite Servicing Project Manager, Cepollina was faced with an enormous challenge: repairing the Hubble Space Telescope
. The mission he undertook has widely been cited as the most difficult on-orbit repair mission ever attempted. Having worked on the development of its modular design, as well as its command and control subsystem, Cepollina knew the Hubble well. However, few could have anticipated that the Hubble, launched in 1990 and orbiting 375 miles above the Earth, would have such a simple but crucial problem: a flawed mirror. NASA officials were appalled and embarrassed to discover that the contractor responsible had a miscalculation that made the telescope incapable of coming to a sharp focus.
This unexpected problem was too serious to fix by simply swapping out a defective module, so Cepollina became project manager of a hurriedly assembled team charged with repairing the telescope. "The first Hubble repair mission took us to the next level of servicing", he said. His team designed new optical elements that could correct the Hubble's flawed vision yet also fit in with the modular instrument design philosophy. Cepollina's leading additional successful repair and improvement missions for Hubble followed in 1997, 1999 and 2002. These additional missions enhanced the satellite so that the technologies which were not available at the time of Hubble's initial deployment, including better cameras, more efficient solar arrays, and a more powerful processor
for data transfer.
that uses technology originally developed for Hubble's charge coupled device (CCD). Other improvements are smaller and faster microchips created with highly sophisticated Hubble-type optics, and manufacturing applications employing an intelligent, programmable, hand-held power tool.
In his presentation “The Hubble Experience”, he mentions that the success of the Hubble repair mission was due to the harmony among the partners of the project. Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center
, Marshall Space Flight Center
, Glenn Research Facility, Langley Research Center
, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
of NASA all worked together and shared responsibilities in order to repair Hubble. As the team leader, Cepollina was responsible for keeping the individual groups in accord, and he managed to do so.
Eagle Manned Mission Success Award. In April 1995, he received the University of Santa Clara Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award and was inducted into Tau Beta Pi
Engineering Honor Society as an Eminent Engineer. In October 1997, Mr. Cepollina was presented with the James J. Kerley Award, the top NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Award for innovation and exceptional contributions to NASA’s technology transfer and commercialization
efforts.
In 1997, Mr. Cepollina was named a finalist for the Design News
Engineer of the Year Award. In April 1998, he received the distinguished Federal Laboratory Consortium
Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. In February 2000, he was awarded Goddard Space Flight Center's highest honor for mission success, the Robert C. Baumann Memorial Award. In 1999, he and his team received the Aviation Week & Space Technology
Laurels Award for Outstanding Achievement. In 2000, the President of the United States conferred upon Mr. Cepollina the rank of Meritorious Executive in Senior Executive Service for his sustained, superior accomplishments in managing NASA programs. He and the entire Hubble Space Telescope Team won the prestigious 2001 Space Foundation
Space Achievement Award. In 2003, he was inducted to the National Inventor's Hall of Fame for satellite servicing techniques.
Castro Valley, California
Castro Valley is a census-designated place in Alameda County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, it is the fifth most populous unincorporated area in California, and the twenty-third in the United States...
is an American engineer and inventor. He was officially inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
for his pioneering concept of in-orbit satellite servicing in May 2003. His organizational leadership style has been compared to that of Al Davis
Al Davis
Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Life and education
A Northern CaliforniaNorthern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
native, Cepollina attended the University of Santa Clara and earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
in 1959. Before joining NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
in 1963, he worked for four years for the Aerojet General Corporation and the Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
. When he was 27 years old, he signed on with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...
where he helped developing several spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
. He also led the development of the Explorer Platform, which enabled the exchange of scientific payloads in orbit.
Since his early career, he specialized in designing satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s and spacecraft, and looked for engineering solutions that would make satellites more robust. The problems he dealt with were the difficulties spacecraft industry was facing in the late 1960s. His list of accomplishments includes innovative techniques for servicing satellites, designing new tools and interfaces for astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s, and leading the historic 1993 repair mission for the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
.
Cepollina is a researcher even in his everyday life; it is noted that when he is not busy looking for ways to improve Hubble's eye on the universe, he can be found at home tinkering with model O gauge railroads
Rail transport modelling
Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale...
. "I've found great satisfaction in this hobby for more than 40 years," he says. "And it's a nice escape from the daily grind. "
Cepollina is currently the manager of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Development Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
Greenbelt, Maryland
Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Contained within today's City of Greenbelt is the historic planned community now known locally as "Old Greenbelt" and designated as the Greenbelt Historic District...
. He and his wife, Ann [deceased] raised their 4 children in Annandale, Virginia
Annandale, Virginia
Annandale is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 41,008 at the 2010 census, down from 54,994 in 2000 due to the splitting off of the western part of it to form Wakefield and Woodburn CDP's.-Geography:...
. Cepollina has eight grandchildren (one deceased) located in the Northern Virginia area, as well as on the West Coast.
Cepollina as an inventor
It is important to note the dissatisfaction and the problems in the early days of space explorationSpace exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
in order to understand better the improvements made by Cepollina. The amount of engineering and effort required to do work in space were surprising for the engineers in the early days of the manned space program. For instance, the astronauts Eugene Cernan and Thomas Stafford who were launched into space aboard Gemini 9 on June 3, 1966 had to deal with unimagined difficulties as soon as Cernan began a space walk. The plan called for Cernan to take some photographs and enjoy weightlessness
Weightlessness
Weightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration except the acceleration that defines their inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall...
for a few minutes before working his way to the rear of the capsule. From the moment he emerged from the capsule, everything Cernan did was much harder than what he expected. He said his space suit felt like a suit of armor, and that every weightless movement triggered an equal, opposite reaction
Newton's laws of motion
Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those forces...
. He found himself repeatedly flying out to the end of the umbilical cord
Umbilical cord
In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
connecting him to the Gemini
Project Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....
capsule and then rebounding in an unexpected direction. Medics on the ground were alarmed when his heart rate increased to 155 beats a minute
Heart rate
Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute . Heart rate can vary as the body's need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during exercise or sleep....
. He perspired enough to fog his helmet visor, and sweat pooled in his eyes . He ripped an insulating layer in the back of his suit, and he instantly felt the fierce, bare sunshine; he returned to Earth with painful burns.
Cepollina marks that "the experiences of NASA's first space walkers pioneered a lot of the technologies we use today." First of all, these initial attempts made clear the need for a change in space-suit design. The Gemini 9 astronauts wore suits inflated to 14 pounds per square inch
Pounds per square inch
The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
because that's about normal pressure on earth. NASA cut the level to 4 PSI, reducing the feeling of working inside an overinflated balloon. Furthermore, a new training was developed for moving about in space: practice sessions underwater since moving in a liquid resembles the effects of weightlessness. However, the main challenge was conquering the exhaustion that Cernan had encountered. Cepollina states that their solution was to come up with power tools they could use to limit fatigue, and in order to reduce fatigue, an engineer in Cepollina's team, Paul Richard
Paul Richard
Paul Richard was the Mayor of New York from 1735 to 1739....
came up with a pistol-grip device that looks like a battery-powered hand drill on steroids.
In-orbit servicing
In his article "In-Orbit Servicing", Cepollina states that in the late 1960s, as inflation and constrained budgets limited the space program, NASA determined three ways of reducing costs: standardized spacecraft components; use of the same spacecraft to do several missions; and use of the Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
to extend or renew the useful life of the spacecraft by replacing subsystems and instruments in the orbit.
Why in-orbit servicing? Earth Observing System
Earth Observing System
The Earth Observing System is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans of the Earth. The satellite component of the program was...
(EOS), which is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit, asked Grumman Aerospace, General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
and TRW
TRW
TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, automotive, and credit reporting. It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software and systems engineering. TRW built many spacecraft,...
Systems to define the most cost effective mode for using the space shuttle. The companies identified four different methods of “renewing” the defective spacecraft:
- Launch replacement satellites on conventional booster
- Launch replacement satellites by shuttle
- Launch replacement satellites by any of the methods mentioned above and retrieve the defective one for ground refurbishment by Shuttle
- Replace the malfunctioning system of the defective satellite in orbit by Shuttle
When the costs of these four methods were compared, in-orbit servicing was found to be the lowest.
What are the changes that comes with in-orbit servicing? On the other hand, such an approach called for a totally different spacecraft design. In this new concept, each subsystem occupied its own separate drawer or removable module in the spacecraft. For example, all the components having to do with supplying power (the power unit of the space craft) would make up one module so that if something wrong happened with the power unit, that part of the spacecraft was easily taken out and renewed.
In-orbit serviced satellites
From his early days with NASA, Cepollina has worked on engineering solutions for satellites and spacecraft. In the late 1960s, satellite failure was becoming a significant problem, and engineers at NASA, including Cepollina, began working on a new type of Multimission Modular Craft. As described by Cepollina, these crafts would have swappable parts and could potentially be fixed easily by space-walking astronauts.Solar Maximum Mission satellite
The first modular craft to fly was the Solar Maximum MissionSolar Maximum Mission
The Solar Maximum Mission satellite was designed to investigate solar phenomenon, particularly solar flares. It was launched on February 14, 1980....
satellite, launched in 1980 to conduct astronomical observations of the sun. When it began to fail several months into orbit, Cepollina was asked to lead the repair mission, begun in 1984. The mission the first of its kind was a success; the modular craft concept proved effective. Cepollina was lauded for his leadership on the project and was subsequently named Satellite Servicing Project Manager.
Hubble Space Telescope
After the Solar Maximum MissionSolar Maximum Mission
The Solar Maximum Mission satellite was designed to investigate solar phenomenon, particularly solar flares. It was launched on February 14, 1980....
Satellite, as the Satellite Servicing Project Manager, Cepollina was faced with an enormous challenge: repairing the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
. The mission he undertook has widely been cited as the most difficult on-orbit repair mission ever attempted. Having worked on the development of its modular design, as well as its command and control subsystem, Cepollina knew the Hubble well. However, few could have anticipated that the Hubble, launched in 1990 and orbiting 375 miles above the Earth, would have such a simple but crucial problem: a flawed mirror. NASA officials were appalled and embarrassed to discover that the contractor responsible had a miscalculation that made the telescope incapable of coming to a sharp focus.
This unexpected problem was too serious to fix by simply swapping out a defective module, so Cepollina became project manager of a hurriedly assembled team charged with repairing the telescope. "The first Hubble repair mission took us to the next level of servicing", he said. His team designed new optical elements that could correct the Hubble's flawed vision yet also fit in with the modular instrument design philosophy. Cepollina's leading additional successful repair and improvement missions for Hubble followed in 1997, 1999 and 2002. These additional missions enhanced the satellite so that the technologies which were not available at the time of Hubble's initial deployment, including better cameras, more efficient solar arrays, and a more powerful processor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
for data transfer.
Inventions applied in other fields
Not only has Cepollina's work benefited the advancement of space technology, but it has also led to improvements in several other industries including a much more accurate method to detect breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
that uses technology originally developed for Hubble's charge coupled device (CCD). Other improvements are smaller and faster microchips created with highly sophisticated Hubble-type optics, and manufacturing applications employing an intelligent, programmable, hand-held power tool.
Cepollina as a team leader
In addition to being a successful inventor, Cepollina is also a team leader. His work with the Hubble highlights his character as a leader. He is currently the manager of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Development Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Among his numerous awards, Cepollina received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for the Hubble Space Telescope First Servicing Mission.In his presentation “The Hubble Experience”, he mentions that the success of the Hubble repair mission was due to the harmony among the partners of the project. Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
, Marshall Space Flight Center
Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest center of NASA, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program...
, Glenn Research Facility, Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center is the oldest of NASA's field centers, located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It directly borders Poquoson, Virginia and Langley Air Force Base...
, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
of NASA all worked together and shared responsibilities in order to repair Hubble. As the team leader, Cepollina was responsible for keeping the individual groups in accord, and he managed to do so.
Awards
In 1985, Cepollina received a NASA Exceptional Achievement Award for leading the Solar Max Repair Mission. For his outstanding leadership of the Hubble Space Telescope First Servicing Mission, which corrected Hubble's vision, he was awarded a NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, as well as the prestigious 1994 National Space ClubNational Space Club
The National Space Club is a non-profit organization whose mission is devoted to promoting space activity. It is based in Washington D.C.. It has four main objectives:* Promote US Space Leadership* Continue to push for the advancement of space technology...
Eagle Manned Mission Success Award. In April 1995, he received the University of Santa Clara Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award and was inducted into Tau Beta Pi
Tau Beta Pi
The Tau Beta Pi Association is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States and the second oldest collegiate honor society in America. It honors engineering students who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to personal and professional integrity...
Engineering Honor Society as an Eminent Engineer. In October 1997, Mr. Cepollina was presented with the James J. Kerley Award, the top NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Award for innovation and exceptional contributions to NASA’s technology transfer and commercialization
Commercialization
Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing...
efforts.
In 1997, Mr. Cepollina was named a finalist for the Design News
Design News
Design News is a US trade publication published by UBM Electronics, a division of United Business Media. Design News serves the information needs of the field of design engineering....
Engineer of the Year Award. In April 1998, he received the distinguished Federal Laboratory Consortium
Federal Laboratory Consortium
The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer is a U.S.-based nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities to help transfer laboratory mission technologies into commercial products for the global marketplace.The FLC was...
Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. In February 2000, he was awarded Goddard Space Flight Center's highest honor for mission success, the Robert C. Baumann Memorial Award. In 1999, he and his team received the Aviation Week & Space Technology
Aviation Week & Space Technology
Aviation Week & Space Technology, often abbreviated Aviation Week or AW&ST, is a weekly magazine owned and published by McGraw-Hill...
Laurels Award for Outstanding Achievement. In 2000, the President of the United States conferred upon Mr. Cepollina the rank of Meritorious Executive in Senior Executive Service for his sustained, superior accomplishments in managing NASA programs. He and the entire Hubble Space Telescope Team won the prestigious 2001 Space Foundation
Space Foundation
The Space Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the global space industry through information and education programs. It is a resource for the entire space community - industry, national security organizations, civil space agencies, private space companies and the military around the...
Space Achievement Award. In 2003, he was inducted to the National Inventor's Hall of Fame for satellite servicing techniques.
Patents
- Method and Associated Apparatus for Capturing, Servicing, and De-Orbiting
- Application US 2007/0125910 A1
- Application US 2007/0138344 A1
- Application US 2007/0164164 A1
- Application US 2008/0011904 A1
- Patent Number: 7240879
- Strain Gauge Measuring Techniques
- Patent Number: 3460378