Status, Plans, and Initial Results for ARES 1 Crew Launch Vehicle Aerodynamics

Following the completion of NASA's Exploration Systems Architecture Study in August 2004 for the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), the Exploration Launch Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center was assigned project management responsibilities for the design and development of the first vehicle in the architecture, the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), which will be used to launch astronauts to low earth orbit and rendezvous with either the International Space Station or the ESMD s earth departure stage for lunar or other future missions beyond low Earth orbit. The primary elements of the Ares I CLV project are the first stage, the upper stage, the upper stage engine, and vehicle integration. Within vehicle integration is an effort in integrated design and analysis which is comprised of a number of technical disciplines needed to support vehicle design and development. One of the important disciplines throughout the life of the project is aerodynamics. This paper will present the status, plans, and initial results of Ares I CLV aerodynamics as the project was preparing for the Ares I CLV Systems Requirements Review. Following a discussion of the specific interactions with other technical panels and a status of the current activities, the plans for aerodynamic support of the Ares I CLV until the initial crewed flights will be presented

Space Launch System Base Heating Test: Environments and Base Flow Physics

The NASA Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle is composed of four RS-25 liquid oxygen-hydrogen rocket engines in the core-stage and two 5-segment solid rocket boosters and as a result six hot supersonic plumes interact within the aft section of the vehicle during flight. Due to the complex nature of rocket plume-induced flows within the launch vehicle base during ascent and a new vehicle configuration, sub-scale wind tunnel testing is required to reduce SLS base convective environment uncertainty and design risk levels. This hot-fire test program was conducted at the CUBRC Large Energy National Shock (LENS) II short-duration test facility to simulate flight from altitudes of 50 kft to 210 kft. The test program is a challenging and innovative effort that has not been attempted in 40+ years for a NASA vehicle. This paper discusses the various trends of base convective heat flux and pressure as a function of altitude at various locations within the core-stage and booster base regions of the two-percent SLS wind tunnel model. In-depth understanding of the base flow physics is presented using the test data, infrared high-speed imaging and theory. The normalized test design environments are compared to various NASA semi-empirical numerical models to determine exceedance and conservatism of the flight scaled test-derived base design environments. Brief discussion of thermal impact to the launch vehicle base components is also presented

The Rise of Money and Class Society: The Contributions of John F. Henry

This paper explores the rise of money and class society in ancient Greece, drawing historical and theoretical parallels to the case of ancient Egypt. In doing so, the paper examines the historical applicability of the chartalist and metallist theories of money. It will be shown that the origins and the evolution of money were closely intertwined with the rise and consolidation of class society and inequality. Money, class society, and inequality came into being simultaneously, so it seems, mutually reinforcing the development of one another. Rather than a medium of exchange in commerce, money emerged as an "egalitarian token" at the time when the substance of social relations was undergoing a fundamental transformation from egalitarian to class societies. In this context, money served to preserve the façade of social and economic harmony and equality, while inequality was growing and solidifying. Rather than "invented" by private traders, money was first issued by ancient Greek states and proto-states as they aimed to establish and consolidate their political and economic power. Rather than a medium of exchange in commerce, money first served as a "means of recompense" administered by the Greek city-states as they strived to implement the civic conception of social justice. While the origins of money are to be found in the origins of inequality, a well-functioning democratic society has the power to subvert the inequality-inducing characteristic of money via the use of money for public purpose, following the principles of Modern Money Theory (MMT). When used according to the principles of MMT, the inequality-inducing characteristic of money could be undermined, while the current trends in rising income and wealth disparities could be contained and reversed

Status, Plans, and Initial Results for Crew Launch Vehicle Aerodynamics

Following the completion of NASA s Exploration Systems Architecture Study in August 2004 for the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), the Exploration Launch Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center began design and development of the first vehicle in the architecture, the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), which will be used to launch astronauts to low earth orbit and rendezvous with either the International Space Station or the ESMD s earth departure stage for lunar missions. The primary elements of the CLV project are the first stage, the upper stage, the upper stage engine, and vehicle integration. Within vehicle integration is an effort in integrated design and analysis which is comprised of a number of technical disciplines needed to support vehicle design and development. One of the important disciplines throughout the life of the project is aerodynamics. This paper will present the status, plans, and initial results of CLV aerodynamics as the project was preparing for the CLV Systems Requirements Review. Following a status of the current activities and a discussion of the specific interactions with other technical panels, the plans for aerodynamic support of the CLV until the initial crewed flights will be presented. The paper will conclude with a review of initial results acquired since project inception, including engineering-code vehicle assessment, computational fluid dynamics analysis, and wind tunnel test data

Understanding sustainable prosperity — Towards a transdisciplinary research agenda

Understanding sustainable prosperity is an essential but complex task. It implies an ongoing multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research agenda. This working paper sets out the dimensions of this task. In doing so it also establishes the foundations for the research of the ESRC-funded Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). Our guiding vision for sustainable prosperity is one in which people everywhere have the capability to flourish as human beings – within the ecological and resource constraints of a finite planet. CUSP’s work will explore not just the economic aspects of this challenge, but also its social, political and philosophical dimensions. It will address the implications of sustainable prosperity at the level of households and firms; and it will explore sector-level and macro-economic implications of different pathways to prosperity. It will pay particular attention to the pragmatic steps that need to be taken by enterprise, government and civil society in order to achieve a sustainable prosperity. The work programme itself is split into five themes – the MAPSS framework – which is described in more detail in this working paper. Theme M explores the moral framing and contested meanings of prosperity itself. Theme A explores the role of the arts and of culture in our society. Theme P addresses the politics of sustainable prosperity and explores the institutional shifts that will be needed to achieve it. Theme S1 explores the social and psychological dimensions of prosperity. Theme S2 examines the complex dynamics of social and economic systems on which sustainable prosperity depends. This working paper explores the conceptual foundations for the MAPSS themes. It also sets out a portfolio of research and describes a strategy for cross-sector engagement involving government, business, academia and civil society. The overall aim of CUSP is to explore the economic, ecological, social and governance dimensions of sustainable prosperity and to make concrete recommendations to government, business and civil society in pursuit of it