Experimental and Computational Aerodynamic Studies of Axially-Oriented Low-Fineness-Ratio Cylinders

For the successful completion of atmospheric entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions, a body geometry must be selected which provides favorable dynamic aerodynamic properties. The types of experimental facilities capable of collecting information on these properties are limited; however, their numbers are growing thanks to the continued work by the aerodynamics community. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is conducting dynamic aerodynamic testing using a subsonic magnetic suspension and balance system (MSBS), with the end goal of implementing a supersonic MSBS facility at NASA Glenn Research Center. MSBSs are also currently used at the Institute of Fluid Science (IFS) at Tohoku University in Japan for blunt body testing. With the MSBS community growing, there is an opportunity for collaboration in overlapping areas of interests, particularly in expanding general blunt body theory and estimating EDL vehicle performance using these modern facilities. The work encompassed in this thesis is a product of such a collaboration, with the specific subject of examination being an axially-oriented low-fineness-ratio cylinder. This geometry which has been previously tested at the IFS facility in Japan, was used as the basis for a multi-faceted campaign at the NASA LaRC MSBS, the Old Dominion University (ODU) low-speed wind tunnel, and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations on the ODU high-performance computing cluster (HPC). Static tests were performed at the ODU wind tunnel on a 6′′ diameter model and were accompanied by static CFD simulations. Dynamic testing was performed at the NASA LaRC MSBS facilities on two 1.75′′ diameter models with varied gravitational centers and were accompanied by a dynamic CFD simulation. The experimental and computational goals were met, with results for static and dynamic aerodynamic forces as well as flow visualization being compared and contrasted. There was reasonable agreement between the static results with empirical data as well as the dynamic results. In particular, the agreements with empirical results for pitch angles from 0◦ to 90◦ stand as a significant validation to the scarce data that exists in this region

I Wanna Know Where the Rule Book Is : YouTube as a Site of Counternarratives to Transnormativity

In June 2015, Caitlyn Jenner created waves of excitement with her coming out announcement on the cover of Vanity Fair: “Call me Caitlyn.” From the perspective of critical trans politics, however, the heightened visibility of trans people in mainstream media does not call for unequivocal celebration. Though trans women of color, such as Laverne Cox and Janet Mock, are more visible in mainstream media than ever before, mainstream media still largely depicts trans people through white constructs of what it means to be trans, namely medicalized binary transitions. Many trans people who deviate from mainstream media’s depiction of trans people are creating their own media on YouTube to voice their lived experiences. I argue that while YouTube is a particularly accessible platform for trans people to challenge transnormativity, the reach of trans YouTubers’ messages are highly limited by the medium’s design and genre conventions

Oceanographic and meteorological observations for project Little Window: March 1970

ENGLISH: Project Little Window was planned to provide some answers to the important scientific question of whether or not the HRIR (high resolution infrared radiometer) sensors aboard NASA and NOAA satellites can provide useful data for much of the oceanographic community. The sensors aboard these satellites were designed in response to the initial needs of meteorologists for temperature measurements integrated over a distance of 5-10 nautical miles and extending over a range from 30°C to about -75°C (i2-4°C). To this end the sensors have been a very powerful tool to the meteorologist in preparing daily weather advisories and in carrying out research. SPANISH: El proyecto Little Window fue planeado para suministrar algunas respuestas al importante tema científico sobre si los captadores (ltsensors") infrarrojos de alta resoluci6n (IRAR) a bordo de los satélites NASA y NOAA, pueden o no proveer datos útiles para la mayor1a de los oceanógrafos. Los captadores a bordo de estos satélites fueron concebidos en respuesta a las necesidades iniciales de los meteor6logos para obtener mediciones de temperatura integradas sobre una distancia de 5-10 millas náuticas, y entre 30°c y aproximadamente -75°C (~2-4°C). Con este fin los captadores han sido un instrumento poderoso para el meteor6logo en la preparaci6n de las informaciones diarias de tiempo y en la realizaci6n de las investigaciones. (PDF contains 171 pages.

Exploring the Department of Defense Software Factbook

The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) conducted an analysis of software engineering data owned and maintained by the Department of Defense (DoD) to produce high-level, DoD-wide heuristics and domain-specific benchmark data. This work yielded basic facts about software projects, such as averages, ranges, and heuristics for requirements, size, effort, and duration. Factual, quantitatively-derived statements were reported to provide users with easily digestible benchmarks. Findings were also presented by system type, or super domain. The analysis in this area focused on identifying the most and least expensive projects and the best and worst projects within three super domains: real time, engineering, and automated information systems. It also provided insight into the differences between system domains and contained domain-specific heuristics. Finally, correlations were explored among requirements, size, duration, and effort and the strongest models for predicting change were described. The goal of this work was to determine how well the data could be used to answer common questions related to planning or replanning software projects. The paper provides a high-level overview of the SEI's research and primary findings.Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Progra

Himalaya gneiss dome formation, focused radiogenic heating in southern Madagascar, and fertilization of the Neoproterozoic ocean by mantle-derived phosphorus

(I) Geochronology, thermochronology, and structural observations across Gianbul gneiss dome provide insight about the exhumation of middle crust in the India-Asia collision zone: Doming (1) initiated during the early stages of extension; (2) was driven by a positive feedback among dehydration melting, buoyancy, and decompression; and (3) culminated with the injection of anatectic melts into the upper levels of the dome. The dome was subsequently exhumed as part of a footwall block beneath a brittle normal fault.(II) Focused internal heating led to melting, metamorphism, and crustal weakening during the Neoproterozoic continent-continent collision between East and West Gondwana. Numerical models based on chronologic and thermal constraints across southern Madagascar indicate that radioactive decay of thorium was the principal heat source responsible for regional metamorphism at temperatures >900° C in the middle to lower crust. (III) The Neoproterozoic era was punctuated by profound tectonic, evolutionary, and environmental change. Biologic and climatic conditions may have been especially sensitive to fluxes of phosphorus (P) from the weathering of continental crust. Large igneous provinces—containing abundant P and highly susceptible to chemical weathering—occurred regularly during the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. An estimated bioavailable P flux to the ocean from the weathering of basalt peaked at ~720 Ma, immediately prior to rapid biologic diversification and the Sturtian glaciation; I postulate that the burial of organic carbon that resulted from this unprecedented P flux helped facilitate glaciation and triggered the oxidation of the ocean-atmosphere system

Oceanographic, meteorological, satellite and aircraft observations for project Little Window 2: May 1971

ENGLISH: In May 1971, a joint united states - Mexican experiment, Project Little Window 2, (LW-2) involving data collected by satellite, aircraft and ship sensors was made in the southern part of the Gulf of California. LW-2 was planned as an improved and enlarged version of LW-l (conducted the previous year; Stevenson and Miller, 1971) with field work scheduled to be made within a 200 by 200 km square region in the Gulf of California. The purposes of the new field study were to determine through coordinated measurements from ships, aircraft and satellites, the utility of weather satellites to measure surface temperature features of the ocean from space and specifically to evaluate the high resolution infrared sensors aboard N~ 1, ITOS 1 and NIMBUS 4 and to estimate the magnitude of the atmospheric correction factors needed to bring the data from the spacecraft sensors into agreement with surface measurements. Due to technical problems during LW-2, however, useful data could not be obtained from ITOS 1 and NIMBUS 4 so satellite information from only NOAA-1 was available for comparison. In addition, a new purpose was added, i.e., to determine the feasibility of using an Automatic picture Transmission (APT) receiver on shore and at sea to obtain good quality infrared data for the local region. SPANISH: En mayo 1971, los Estados Unidos y México realizaron un experimento en conjunto, Proyecto Little Window 2 (LW-2), en el que se incluyen datos obtenidos mediante captadores de satélites, aviones y barcos en la parte meridional del Golfo de California. Se planeó LW-2 para mejorar y ampliar el proyecto de LW-l (conducido el año anterior; Stevenson y Miller, 1971), realizándose el trabajo experimental en una región de 200 por 200 km cuadrados, en el Golfo de California. El objeto de este nuevo estudio experimental fue determinar mediante reconocimientos coordinados de barcos, aviones y satélites la conveniencia de los satélites meteorológicos para averiguar las características de la temperatura superficial del océano desde el espacio, y especialmente, evaluar los captadores infrarrojos de alta resolución a bordo de NOAA 1, ITOS 1 Y NIMBUS 4, y estimar la magnitud de los factores de corrección atmosféricos necesarios para corregir los datos de los captadores espaciales para que concuerden con los registros de la superficie. Sin embargo, debido a problemas técnicos durante LW-2, no fue posible obtener datos adecuados de ITOS 1 y NIMBUS 4, as1 que solo se pudo disponer de la información de NOAA 1 para hacer las comparaciones. Además se quiso determinar la posibilidad de usar un receptor de Trasmisión Automático de Fotografias (APT) en el mar para obtener datos infarojos de buena calidad en la región local. (PDF contains 525 pages.

Updated Lessons in Conducting Basics Legal Research by Pro Se Litigants Who Cannot Afford an Attorney

The first generation of this article was written and published by The Scholar in 2006.1 Because the trend to accessing legal materials is geared more and more toward the Internet, the tour of the book world that was the focus of the original article requires expansion to include those sources available on the World Wide Web.2 Thus, this article contains most of the content in the original article, and then is supplemented by discussions of content currently available from online legal resources