Beyond Money: A Study of Funding Plus in the UK

This report examines different approaches to funding plus used by UK charitable foundations. In addition, the survey tries to uncover the principal benefits, challenges and risks of these approaches in order to generate practically useful learning about funding plus.In this regard, the research found that the funding plus field comprises a broad range of definitions, purposes and activity. Within this we were able to identify five overarching preconditions for success in funding plus:- strong personal relationships- good knowledge of grantees and the sector in which they operate- grantees that are ready and willing for an engaged relationship with a funder- bespoke rather than standardised or prescriptive approaches- careful and responsible management of power relationships between funder and grante

SHERPA: A Flexible, Modular Spacecraft for Orbit Transfer and On-Orbit Operations

The Department of Defense Space Test Program is responsible for launching small experimental payloads and demonstration technologies as directed by the Space Experiments Review Board (SERB). The Shuttle Expendable Rocket for Payload Augmentation (SHERPA) program will develop a highly functional space vehicle – with several variants – that incorporates a scaleable, modular architecture to support a wide variety of missions, technologies, and configurations. The initial application of SHERPA will be as an orbit transfer vehicle designed to raise a payload from a low Space Transportation System (STS) flight altitude to an orbit with a nominal one-year lifetime. This capability will allow STP to take advantage of the low-cost Space Shuttle launch services and still achieve the mission lifetimes required for experiments. In this paper, analysis and design of the SHERPA scalable, modular architecture will be discussed. In addition, applicable requirements and constraints levied upon the design by the customer, secondary payload deployment mechanisms, such as the Canister for All Payload Ejections (CAPE), STS safety, the concept of operations, and envisioned applications, will be addressed

YouTube and the public sphere: What role does YouTube play in contributing towards Habermas’ notion of the public sphere

The manner in which western audiences consume and engage with news has dramatically changed within the last decade. The introduction of the video sharing platform YouTube in 2005 combined with improving internet speeds, provided a new platform from which a wide variety of content could be easily consumed. Habermas’ concept of the public sphere provides a conceptual framework to analyse how YouTube may be contributing towards a healthy democracy. By examining how various aspects of videos on YouTube uploaded to the channels of the news organisations CNN, Fox News, BBC News, Al Jazeera English and The Young Turks, this thesis aims to examine what role YouTube may play in contributing to Habermas’ concept of the public sphere. The study’s sample comprises a total of 1239 videos uploaded by the five news organisations over two separate weeks. A mixed methodological approach was taken where a content analysis and an automated sentiment analysis was conducted. The content analysis was used to determine what links if any there were across several of the variable recorded in the data collection. The automated sentiment analysis used the software SentiStrength to determine the levels of positive and negative language used in the titlesof the videos. Additionally a number of case studies regarding the types of user comments were discussed in order to explore the potential contribution they could be making towards the public sphere.The findings of this study were that the topic of the news videos did seem to play a role in the levels of user engagement with the videos. Similarly, the sentiment of the language used in the titles of the videos also had an impact, with negatively sentimented titles generated more user engagement. The exploration of user comments found that they were emblematic of similar trends found in communications research. The findings in this thesis go some way to answering the extent to which YouTube can be seen as contributing towards Habermas’ notion of the publicsphere. However, due to the aspect of emotionality that is present in the data analysed, this thesis suggests that due to the ongoing process of media hybridization, a new conceptual framework of the public sphere that acknowledges how both thoughtful discussions as well as ones which express feelings in an overt way needs to be developed

Multiple Payload Adapters: Opening the Doors to Space

In order to increase the number of satellites that can be flown with reduced costs, Multiple Payload Adapters (MPAs) are needed to take advantage of excess payload capability on launch systems. This paper will discuss the development of several MPAs at the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate in support of current and future Air Force and Department of Defense requirements. The adapters are being designed using state-of-the-art manufacturing processes, launch vibration isolation, and low-shock separation technology that can accommodate multiple satellite configurations. The MPAs can deploy multiple satellites, in a large range of sizes (15 kg to 1000 kg), depending on the design configuration. The MPAs are being developed to support the Minuteman and Peacekeeper derived space launch vehicles, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, and the Space Shuttle. The successful development of these adapters will greatly reduce the cost of launching satellites into orbit by allowing for the efficient use of currently unused payload margins. These MPA concepts maximize the opportunity for low-budget satellites to be manifested for launch, and are being proposed to fly as early as 2003. Additionally, work has begun to standardize adapter configurations and connections across multiple launch vehicles to provide reduced flight integration costs and greater opportunities for inclusion of small experiments on larger missions

Development of a Light-Weight, Reliable, Booster System for SHELS-Launched Payloads

Small satellite missions are often used to support low-cost space missions demonstrating new technologies. An economical source of low-cost space lift is to fly these satellites as secondary payloads aboard the Space Shuttle. The Shuttle has accommodations for flying these payloads using the Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launch System (SHELS). While the relative costs for a Shuttle launch are at least an order of magnitude below the cost of a dedicated Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV), final orbit altitude selection is limited to Shuttle mission goals. The Air Force Space Test Program (STP) is responsible for flying the Space Experiments Review Board (SERB) recommended experiments on a level-of-effort basis. Low-cost space lift is crucial to maximizing the number of SERB payloads that STP can support. Unfortunately, the typical Shuttle orbit does not provide a high enough orbit to guarantee the oneyear orbital lifetime required to meet STP mission objectives. A low-cost, autonomous STP Transfer Upper stage, Guided (TUG) that can boost an STP payload from a typical Shuttle orbit to a higher, longer duration orbit would allow STP to take advantage of the low-cost space lift provided by the Shuttle and still meet their mission requirements. The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/VS) is pursuing a solution to fulfill STP’s satellite lifting requirements by developing a low-cost, lightweight, reliable, strap-on propulsion module using several Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contracts focused on various parts of the TUG system. The Shuttle Expendable Rocket for Payload Augmentation (SHERPA) program will integrate all of these SBIR programs to meet the STP TUG requirement. The TUG system would be composed of several technologies being developed or already developed by AFRL/VS such as separation systems, guidance systems, propulsion modules, and modular bus architecture. The TUG would be re-startable for multiple orbit changes, station keeping, or deorbiting at the completion of a mission. Three versions of the TUG are envisioned. The first is a simple propulsion module that uses the satellite\u27s Attitude Control System (ACS) and Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) to provide stack guidance. The second is a fully autonomous TUG that lifts the payload to the higher orbit as cargo, separates from the payload, and then accomplishes a collision avoidance maneuver and propellant burn after payload separation. The third configuration is an autonomous TUG with a long duration module that allow experiments to use the TUG\u27s ACS, GN&C, and power systems in the intended final orbit. There are many challenges in the development of this vehicle. The most difficult of these is meeting the man-rating requirements of the Shuttle. All critical systems must have triple redundancy to ensure that the system does not threaten the Shuttle, its crew, or its mission. Another complication is producing a structure that meets the strict mass and volume restrictions of the SHELS system. Integration is als o a challenge, as many contractors and technologies are brought together under this program

Nanosatellite Launch Adapter System (NLAS)

The utility of small spacecraft based on the University cubesat standard is becoming evident as more and more agencies and organizations are launching or planning to include nanosatellites in their mission portfolios. Cubesats are typically launched as secondary spacecraft in enclosed, containerized deployers such as the CalPoly Poly Picosat Orbital Deployer (P-POD) system. The P-POD allows for ease of integration and significantly reduces the risk exposure to the primary spacecraft and mission. NASA/ARC and the Operationally Responsive Space office are collaborating to develop a Nanosatellite Launch Adapter System (NLAS), which can accommodate multiple cubesat or cubesat-derived spacecraft on a single launch vehicle. NLAS is composed of the adapter structure, P-POD or similar spacecraft dispensers, and a sequencer/deployer system. This paper describes the NLAS system and it s future capabilities, and also provides status on the system s development and potential first use in space