occupation john h. hoffman
The Telecom Corridor is a technology business center in Richardson , Texas , a northern suburb of Dallas , which contains over 25 million square feet ( 2 . 3 million square meters ) of office space and accounts for over 130 , 000 jobs . Located in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and home to the University of Texas at Dallas , the Corridor is a strip about long along U . S . Route 75 ( US 75 ) ( the North Central Expressway ), between ___MASK40___ George Bush Turnpike and Interstate 635 ( I - 635 ) and is often considered an area of the Silicon Prairie . More than 5 , 700 companies , including 600 technology companies are headquartered in the area , including significant players such as AT & T , Alcatel - Lucent , Ericsson , Verizon , Samsung , Texas Instruments , and MetroPCS . Some of these companies also have offices in Telecom Valley located in California . Although the Telecom Corridor was a booming area of Dallas ' s economy during the late 1990s , the dot - com bust of 2001 hit the region hard . However , it began recovering in 2004 , and that recovery has since picked up momentum , gaining both the operations of many non - technology - related companies and a large number of previously non - existent residential units designed in the New Urbanist style . The name " Telecom Corridor " is a registered trademark and may technically only be used to describe the area mentioned in this article . Ames ___MASK90___ Center ( ARC ), commonly known as NASA Ames , is a major NASA ___MASK90___ center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California ' s Silicon Valley . It was founded as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ( NACA ) laboratory . That agency was dissolved and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) on October 1 , 1958 . NASA Ames is named in honor of Joseph Sweetman Ames , a ___MASK83___ and one of the founding members of NACA . At last estimate NASA Ames has over US $ 3 . 0 billion in capital equipment , 2 , 300 ___MASK90___ personnel and a US $ 860 million annual budget . A ___MASK90___ university is a university that expects all its tenured and tenure - track ___MASK46___ to continuously engage in ___MASK90___ , as opposed to merely requiring it as a condition of an initial appointment or tenure . Such universities can be recognized by their strong focus on innovative ___MASK90___ and the prestige of their brand names . On the one hand , ___MASK90___ universities strive to recruit ___MASK46___ who are the most brilliant minds in their disciplines in the world , and their students enjoy the opportunity to learn from such experts . On the other hand , new students are often disappointed to realize their undergraduate courses at ___MASK90___ universities are overly academic and fail to provide vocational training with immediate " real world " applications ; but many employers value degrees from ___MASK90___ universities because they know that such coursework develops fundamental skills like critical thinking . Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the United States ' Apollo program , the fourth to land on the Moon , and the eighth successful manned mission . It was the first of what were termed " J missions ", long stays on the Moon , with a greater focus on ___MASK84___ than had been possible on previous missions . It was also the first mission on which the Lunar Roving Vehicle was used . The University of Texas at Dallas ( UT Dallas or UTD ) is a public ___MASK90___ university in the University of Texas System . The main campus is in the Richardson , Texas , Telecom Corridor , north of downtown Dallas . The institution , established in 1961 as the Graduate ___MASK90___ Center of the Southwest and later renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies ( SCAS ), began as a ___MASK90___ arm of Texas Instruments . In 1969 , the founders bequeathed SCAS to the state of Texas officially creating The University of Texas at Dallas . Charles Moss " Charlie " ___MASK4___ Jr . ( born October 3 , 1935 ), ( Brig Gen , USAF , Ret .), is an American engineer , retired U . S . Air Force officer , ___MASK87___ , and a former astronaut for NASA . As Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 16 in 1972 , he became the tenth and youngest person to walk on the Moon . Skylab was the United States ' first space station , orbiting Earth from 1973 to 1979 , when it fell back to Earth amid huge worldwide media attention . Launched and operated by NASA , Skylab included a workshop , a solar observatory , and other systems necessary for crew survival and scientific experiments . It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket , with a weight of . Lifting Skylab into low earth orbit was the final mission and launch of a Saturn V rocket ( which was famous for carrying the manned Moon landing missions ). Skylab was not simply a place of habitation ; it was a place of massive ___MASK84___ experiments for which when the bulk of data was returned , such as on films that had to be physically returned to Earth began the process of analyzing scientific and ___MASK95___ data as each mission was completed . Skylab ' s solar observatory was one major aspect of study , and solar ___MASK84___ was significantly advanced by the telescope ; it observed the Sun as it never before . As Skylab finished up NASA ' s focus had shifted to development of the Space Shuttle , which had the promise of reducing the cost of space access compared to the previous launch systems John Hoffman is a space scientist who developed instruments for Apollo 15 , Apollo 16 , Apollo 17 , the ___MASK43___ Venus project , and Giotto mission . He also designed the mass spectrometer for the Phoenix Mars Lander mission in May 2008 . He is currently a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Dallas . Apollo ( Attic , Ionic , and Homeric Greek : , " Apolln "; Doric : , " Apelln "; Arcadocypriot : , " Apeiln "; Aeolic : , " Aploun ") is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman ___MASK67___ and Greek and Roman mythology . The ideal of the " kouros " ( a beardless , athletic youth ), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of music , truth and prophecy , healing , the sun and light , plague , poetry , and more . Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto , and has a twin sister , the chaste huntress Artemis . Apollo is known in Greek - influenced Etruscan mythology as " Apulu ". The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace ___MASK90___ . Eugene Andrew " Gene " Cernan ( March 14 , 1934  January 16 , 2017 ), ( ___MASK52___ , USN ), was an American ___MASK60___ , naval aviator , electrical engineer , aeronautical engineer , and fighter pilot . The ___MASK43___ Venus Multiprobe , also known as ___MASK43___ Venus 2 or ___MASK43___ 13 was a spacecraft launched in 1978 to explore Venus as part of NASA ' s ___MASK43___ program . The ___MASK43___ Venus project was part of the ___MASK43___ program consisting of two spacecraft , the ___MASK43___ Venus Orbiter and the ___MASK43___ Venus Multiprobe , launched to Venus in 1978 . The program was managed by NASA ' s Ames ___MASK90___ Center . Dallas is a ___MASK27___ city in the state of Texas and is the largest urban center of the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States . The city proper ranks ninth in the U . S . and third in Texas after Houston and San Antonio . The city ' s prominence arose from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries , and its position along numerous railroad lines . The bulk of the city is in Dallas County , of which it is the county seat ; however , sections of the city are located in Collin , Denton , Kaufman , and Rockwall counties . According to the 2010 United States Census , the city had a population of 1 , 197 , 816 . The United States Census Bureau ' s estimate for the city ' s population increased to 1 , 300 , 092 as of July 1 , 2015 . The ___MASK43___ program is a series of United States unmanned space missions that were designed for planetary exploration . There were a number of such missions in the program , but the most notable were ___MASK43___ 10 and ___MASK43___ 11 , which explored the outer planets and left the solar system . ___MASK43___ 10 and ___MASK43___ 11 carry a golden plaque , depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin and the creators of the probes , should any extraterrestrials find them someday . Apollo 17 was the final mission of NASA ' s Apollo program , the enterprise that landed the first humans on the Moon . Launched at 12 : 33 a . m . Eastern Standard Time ( EST ) on December 7 , 1972 , with a crew made up of Commander Eugene Cernan , Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans , and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt , it was the last use of Apollo hardware for its original purpose ; after Apollo 17 , ___MASK47___ Apollo spacecraft were used in the Skylab and Apollo  Soyuz programs . Texas Instruments Inc . ( TI ) is an American technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors , which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globally . Headquartered in Dallas , Texas , United States , TI is one of the top ten semiconductor companies worldwide , based on ___MASK72___ volume . Texas Instruments ' s focus is on developing analog chips and embedded processors , which accounts for more than 85 % of their revenue . TI also produces TI digital light processing ( DLP ) technology and education technology products including calculators , microcontrollers and multi - core processors . To date , TI has more than 43 , 000 patents worldwide . Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the United States Apollo space program , the fifth and penultimate to land on the Moon and the first to land in the lunar highlands . The second of the so - called " J missions ," it was crewed by Commander John Young , Lunar Module Pilot Charles ___MASK4___ and Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly . Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12 : 54 PM EST on April 16 , 1972 , the mission lasted 11 days , 1 hour , and 51 minutes , and concluded at 2 : 45 PM EST on April 27 . Harrison Hagan " Jack " Schmitt ( born July 3 , 1935 ) is an American ___MASK7___ , retired NASA ___MASK60___ , university professor , former U . S . ___MASK98___ from New Mexico , and the most recent living person to have walked on the Moon . He is also the last living crew member of Apollo 17 . Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II ( born March 17 , 1936 ), ( RADM , USN , Ret .), better known as Ken Mattingly , is a former American naval ___MASK82___ and aviator , aeronautical engineer , ___MASK87___ , Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and astronaut who flew on the Apollo 16 , STS - 4 and STS - 51 - C missions . He had been scheduled to fly on Apollo 13 , but was held back due to concerns about a potential illness ( which he did not contract ). He later flew as Command Module Pilot for Apollo 16 , making him one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon . The University of Texas System ( UT System ) encompasses 14 educational institutions in the U . S . state of Texas , of which eight are ___MASK96___ universities and six are health institutions . The UT System is headquartered in Austin , and has a total enrollment of over 216 , 000 students ( largest university system in Texas ) and employs more than 87 , 000 ___MASK46___ and staff . The UT System ' s $ 36 billion endowment ( as of May 31 , 2016 ) is the largest of any public university system in the United States . The ___MASK43___ Venus Orbiter , also known as ___MASK43___ Venus 1 or ___MASK43___ 12 , was a mission to Venus conducted as part of the ___MASK43___ Venus project . Launched in May 1978 atop an Atlas - Centaur rocket , the spacecraft was inserted into an elliptical orbit around Venus on December 4 , 1978 . It returned data on Venus until October 1992 . The Apollo program , also known as Project Apollo , was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ), which accomplished landing the first humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972 . First conceived during Dwight D . Eisenhower ' s administration as a three - man spacecraft to follow the one - man Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space , Apollo was later dedicated to ___MASK40___ John F . Kennedy ' s national goal of " landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth " by the end of the 1960s , which he proposed in an address to Congress on May 25 , 1961 .