Lessons Learned During the Transition of SORCE Science Operations to Daylight Only Operations

In July 2013, NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment experienced a battery anomaly which placed it into safemode halting all science observations. Initial attempts to recover the spacecraft to an operational configuration failed due to the reduced capacity of the battery. As the keystone mission for measuring total solar irradiance, and the cornerstone mission for measuring the solar spectral irradiance there was a strong motivation for developing a new operations concept that would allow SORCE to resume daily measurements of the Sun. The operations team faced many challenges over the next several months. For a five-day period in late 2013 the operations team was able resume science observations to cross-calibrate SORCE data with a new instrument launched in November 2013. After the cross-calibration campaign was completed a new operations concept was deployed which allowed SORCE to perform daylight only operations. In this mode of operations all non-essential components are powered off at each eclipse entry and then turned back on at sunrise. In March 2014 SORCE resumed making daily measurements of the Sun. This paper will review the events and lessons learned from the six-month recovery effort

Taphonomy After the Fact: Violence and Ritual in Room 33 at Chaco and Room 178 at Aztec

Chaco Canyon‘s Room 33 (excavated by George Pepper) and Aztec Ruins room 178 (excavated by Earl Morris) are recognized for their rich taphonomic context. These two mortuary features reveal a great deal of information about ritualized behavior. Researchers such as Akins and Palkovich have provided partial analyses of the Chaco skeletal material in the 1980s. The reanalysis of those remains considers the Chaco burials in relation to those at Aztec and analyzes their meaning through a thorough analysis of the grave goods, archaeological records, and ethnohistorical documents to provide a better understanding of these elaborate and unique mortuary rooms. Specifically, this study focuses on signatures of identity, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic. Biological identity markers include age, sex, and stature. Cultural identity includes mortuary context, graves goods, and site layout. Socioeconomic identity, which is the hardest to reconstruct is evidenced by the frequency and distribution of trauma related to exposure to violence, changes to anatomy related to unequal amounts of labor, and susceptibility to diseases over time. The result of looking at all these factors is that it is possible to reconstruct identity, such as Burial 3672 in Room 33. This male is especially intriguing because the burial shows evidence of extensive perimortem fractures on the cranium suggesting a violent death, and yet this is a very high status individual based on the stature and isotopic analysis as well as the grave offerings he was interred with. These kinds of taphonomic and mortuary features are explored

Perceptions of Campus Climate by Sexual Minorities

Previous research has indicated that students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) often have negative experiences on university campuses due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Direct and indirect experiences contribute to an overall perception of the campus climate. This study used an online survey to assess students’ perceptions of campus climate, their experiences confronting bias, support of family members and friends, and whether they had considered leaving campus. Multiple regression analysis indicated that perceptions of poorer campus climate were predicted by greater unfair treatment by instructors, more impact from anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) bias on friends’ and families’ emotional support, and having hidden one’s LGBT identity from other students. Cluster analyses revealed four groups of participants distinguished by openness about their sexual orientation and negative experiences, with one group appearing to be at risk for poor retention. Results are discussed in terms of the needs of LGBTQ students on campus

Perceptions of Campus Climate by Sexual Minorities

Previous research has indicated that students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) often have negative experiences on university campuses due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Direct and indirect experiences contribute to an overall perception of the campus climate. This study used an online survey to assess students’ perceptions of campus climate, their experiences confronting bias, support of family members and friends, and whether they had considered leaving campus. Multiple regression analysis indicated that perceptions of poorer campus climate were predicted by greater unfair treatment by instructors, more impact from anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) bias on friends’ and families’ emotional support, and having hidden one’s LGBT identity from other students. Cluster analyses revealed four groups of participants distinguished by openness about their sexual orientation and negative experiences, with one group appearing to be at risk for poor retention. Results are discussed in terms of the needs of LGBTQ students on campus

Observations on Expedited Systems Engineering Practices in Military Rapid Development Projects

This research, conducted in the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), examined systems engineering and engineering management practices for military rapid capability and urgent needs programs. Lifecycle of urgent needs programs is driven by “time to market” as opposed to complete satisfaction of static requirements, with delivery expected in months versus years/decades. The processes and practices applied to urgent needs must add value and not require an excessive bureaucratic oversight to implement, while at the same time address, understand, and manage risk such that programs can understand better where to include, truncate, eliminate, tailor, or scale systems engineering practices and processes. Focusing on aspects of the product, process, and people of military rapid organizations, the analysis showed that these organizations have the right team, develop innovative conceptual solutions, quickly prune the design space, and identify appropriate designs that can deliver warfighting capability expeditiously. While these observations may not seem new, they provide the foundation for a broader framework of rapid development, which is the subject of ongoing research

Observations on Expedited Systems Engineering Practices in Military Rapid Development Projects

This research, conducted in the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), examined systems engineering and engineering management practices for military rapid capability and urgent needs programs. Lifecycle of urgent needs programs is driven by “time to market” as opposed to complete satisfaction of static requirements, with delivery expected in months versus years/decades. The processes and practices applied to urgent needs must add value and not require an excessive bureaucratic oversight to implement, while at the same time address, understand, and manage risk such that programs can understand better where to include, truncate, eliminate, tailor, or scale systems engineering practices and processes. Focusing on aspects of the product, process, and people of military rapid organizations, the analysis showed that these organizations have the right team, develop innovative conceptual solutions, quickly prune the design space, and identify appropriate designs that can deliver warfighting capability expeditiously. While these observations may not seem new, they provide the foundation for a broader framework of rapid development, which is the subject of ongoing research