The Lunar Roving Vehicle: Historical perspective

As NASA proceeds with its studies, planning, and technology efforts in preparing for the early twenty-first century, it seems appropriate to reexamine past programs for potential applicability in meeting future national space science and exploration goals and objectives. Both the National Commission on Space (NCOS) study and NASA's 'Sally Ride study' suggest future programs involving returning to the Moon and establishing man's permanent presence there, and/or visiting the planet Mars in both the unmanned and manned mode. Regardless of when and which of these new bold initiatives is selected as our next national space goal, implementing these potentially new national thrusts in space will undoubtedly require the use of both manned and remotely controlled roving vehicles. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to raise the consciousness level of the current space exploration planners to what, in the early 1970s, was a highly successful roving vehicle. During the Apollo program the vehicle known as the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) was designed for carrying two astronauts, their tools, and the equipment needed for rudimentary exploration of the Moon. This paper contains a discussion of the vehicle, its characteristics, and its use on the Moon. Conceivably, the LRV has the potential to meet some future requirements, either with relatively low cost modifications or via an evolutionary route. This aspect, however, is left to those who would choose to further study these options

Advanced research and technology programs for advanced high-pressure oxygen-hydrogen rocket propulsion

A research and technology program for advanced high pressure, oxygen-hydrogen rocket propulsion technology is presently being pursued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to establish the basic discipline technologies, develop the analytical tools, and establish the data base necessary for an orderly evolution of the staged combustion reusable rocket engine. The need for the program is based on the premise that the USA will depend on the Shuttle and its derivative versions as its principal Earth-to-orbit transportation system for the next 20 to 30 yr. The program is focused in three principal areas of enhancement: (1) life extension, (2) performance, and (3) operations and diagnosis. Within the technological disciplines the efforts include: rotordynamics, structural dynamics, fluid and gas dynamics, materials fatigue/fracture/life, turbomachinery fluid mechanics, ignition/combustion processes, manufacturing/producibility/nondestructive evaluation methods and materials development/evaluation. An overview of the Advanced High Pressure Oxygen-Hydrogen Rocket Propulsion Technology Program Structure and Working Groups objectives are presented with highlights of several significant achievements

Advanced High Pressure O2/H2 Technology

Activities in the development of advanced high pressure oxygen-hydrogen stage combustion rocket engines are reported. Particular emphasis is given to the Space Shuttle main engine. The areas of engine technology discussed include fracture and fatigue in engine components, manufacturing and producibility engineering, materials, bearing technology, structure dynamics, fluid dynamics, and instrumentation technology

Energy performance contracting and public-private partnership: how to share risks and balance benefits

Public private partnerships (PPPs) are a well-known instrument used worldwide by public administration (PA) to build public infrastructure using private knowhow and financial resources, and sharing risks. In recent years, PPPs have been widely adopted to develop energy efficiency projects between public and private sectors. In this context, a successful project requires a contractual arrangement based on energy performance contracting (EPC) that balances the interests of the two parties. This paper aims to answer two questions: how to share the benefits between the contractual parties and reach an optimal long-term contractual agreement; and which type of contract ensures a consistent risk transfer to the private partner, allowing the PA an "off balance"accounting treatment. The research questions are answered through the development of a mathematical equation able to calculate the optimal percentage of benefits sharing between partners in a long-term contractual agreement. The results are tested with a simulation based on a case study about the energy efficiency project of an Italian hospital. The paper is innovative because it provides suggestions to improve the EPC-PPP contractual structure and realize a balanced agreement between the public and private partners. Moreover, it analyzes the different allocation of risks in EPC contracts to identify the implication for the PA in terms of on-off balance accounting treatment in energy efficiency investment. We show how a successful long-term EPC-PPP can benefit from a mixed contractual structure in which profit-sharing percentage changes during the contract's life to ensure the same net present value (NPV) to both public and private partners. This paper supports public decision making in order to choose contracts that are able to transfer energy and management risks. Moreover, it helps to understand the balance between public and private interests in a long-term EPC-PPP contract

Automatic Detection of Local Cloud Systems from MODIS Data

Abstract This paper describes an algorithm that is aimed at the identification of cloudy and clear pixels in Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images to support earth science and nowcasting applications. The process from geolocated and calibrated data allows one to obtain cloud masks with four clear-sky confidence levels for five different cloud system types. The technique has been developed using the MODIS cloud-mask algorithm heritage, but the threshold tests performed have been executed without comparing solar reflectances and thermal brightness temperatures with thresholds determined in advance, but instead with thresholds carried out from classification methods. The main advantage of this technique is that the thresholds are obtained directly from the images. Seventy-five percent of the spectral signatures (known as end members) derived from the winter images in the detection of the various cloud types and 80% of the summer end members can be considered as being well discriminated. Furthermore, it seems that the end members characterizing the different cloud systems are constant throughout the various seasons of the year (they vary with a confidence level of 60%), whereas those describing clear sky change in a notable manner (the associated confidence level is 99%). The algorithm is able to produce cloud masks pertinent to limited regions at a mesoscale level, which may be a key factor for nowcasting purposes. This work shows that the use of end members and spectral angles, as opposed to spectral thresholds, should be carefully examined because of the fact that it might be simpler or that higher performances may be achieved at a regional scale

Corporate social responsibility as a catalyst of circular economy? A case study perspective in Agri-food

Purpose: This study aims to analyze how, under the stakeholder theory, corporate social responsibility (CSR) might favor the emergence of circular economy (CE) in the Agri-food sector, which is a relevant context, as it is technologically dynamic and requires paying attention to all the stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory, qualitative research design has been adopted to study the phenomenon in detail, as it facilitates the understanding of complex phenomena such those under investigation and helps enrich existing theory with new insights from real-world cases to add theoretical generalizations to the existing body of research in the field. Findings: The results of this study highlight that companies adopting CSR models are oriented toward circularity. Practical implications: This study provides useful indications to managers and policymakers as to how to favor the two approaches (CSR and CE) and benefit all the stakeholders. Originality/value: While there is wide scholarly and managerial interest toward CSR and CE, previous research has mainly analyzed CE and CSR as two independent phenomena. Therefore, there is a lack of understanding about how the two areas are linked. Following previous studies that have started to theoretically argue an interconnection between CSR and CE, in this research, it has been empirically investigated, and further explored theoretically, whether CSR can implicitly encourage the emergence of CE approaches

Risk analysis of Bacillus spp. isolated from cured pork sausages

This study was undertaken to acquire information about the toxigenic potential of Bacillus strains isolated from eight cured pork sausages obtained from traditional or industrial processings. The application of RAPD-PCR protocols made it possible to identify 52 different biotypes among 220 heat-resistant Gram-positive endospore-forming colonies. The sequence analysis of the 5’ region of 16S rDNA revealed that 36 strains belonged to B. subtilis and 16 to B. pumilus species. No strains belonging to B. cereus species were isolated from the cured sausages analysed. The toxigenic potential of these strains was assayed by PCR analysis and physiological tests to identify the most important B. cereus toxins and virulence factors. No specific PCR fragment was obtained from any of the strains; however, some of them were found positive for hemolytic and lecithinase activity.These preliminary results reassure about the microbiological risk related to the presence of pathogenic Bacillus strains in cured pork sausages analysed even though the hemolytic and lecithinase activities found in some strains suggest that more in-depth analyses need to be carried out

Circular Economy Impact Analysis on Stock Performances: An Empirical Comparison with the Euro Stoxx 50® ESG Index

Environmental issues have a considerable impact in all economic sectors, also influencing financial markets. As a result, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) awareness is rising in the financial sector. In this perspective, the concept of circular economy (CE) assumes central relevance. The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between CE strategies and market performance; to this end, we use ESG scores as a proxy for CE. Our initial assumption is that since CE is a component of the “E” factor—in that it can generate positive and measurable environmental impacts—then it can be associated with the ESG score. Therefore, we can methodologically overcome the lack of a specific score related to CE. We use a preselection model based on historical performance by verifying the percentages of the presence of stocks in the two selected indices, namely ESG Euro Stoxx 50® and Euro Stoxx 50-ESG. Overall, we find that ESG profiles have a positive impact on stock performance, although ESG scores do not express higher performance per se. Furthermore, our analysis shows that, to date, there is no evidence that CE initiatives can influence stock returns

Can the current state support mechanisms help the growth of renewable energies in wind markets?

The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on the effectiveness of the current state support mechanism incentive adopted by the Italian government in the wind market. In particular, this paper intends to investigate the effectiveness of the auction mechanism as an incentive tool for renewable sources as required by the transposition of Directive 2009/28/EC. In order to demonstrate the economic and financial feasibility of a typical wind-sector investment, we performed a scenario analysis (Monte Carlo simulation) determining a 52,500 Net Present Value (NPV) by varying the key underlying variables of the investment. The results show that with the mechanism currently in place the percentage of positive leveraged NPV is approximately equal to 70%. Despite the state contribution provided through the “Feed-in tariff” mechanism, the profitability of wind projects is not always successful, and this problem could be amplified by the slowness of the authorization procedures. The article offers prime reflections for scholars and policy makers who have long been committed to promoting sustainable development and important considerations on the introduction of further incentive models