Techno-Political Space Cooperation: A Longitudinal Analysis of NASA's Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements

NASA's international programs are both numerous and successful, with over two thousand international agreements forming a foundation of U.S. government cooperation that involved over half the United Nation's membership. Previous research, by the author, into these agreements has identified five variables underlying NASA's international cooperation efforts and these variables form a framework for explaining international cooperation behavior on a macro-level. This paper builds upon that research to effectively explain lower-level patterns of cooperation in NASA's experience. Two approaches for analyzing the space agency's history are used: aggregation of all agreements and a cluster (disaggregated) analysis of four key segments. While researchers of NASA's international cooperation often considered individual cases first, and then generalize to macro-level explanations. This study, in contrast, begins by considering all agreements together in order to explain as much as possible at the macro level before proceeding to lower tier explanations. These lower tier assessments are important to understanding regional and political influences on bilateral and multilateral cooperation. In order to accomplish this lower-tier analysis, the 2000 agreements are disaggregated into logical groupings enabling an analysis of important questions and clearer focus on key patterns concerning developing states, such as the role of international institutions or privatization on international cooperation in space technology

AN EVALUATION OF A COLLEGE READING IMPROVEMENT COURSE AT KANSAS STATE COLLEGE OF PITTSBURG, PITTSBURG, KANSAS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a six-weeks college reading improvement course at Kansas State College of Pittsburg, Pittsburg, Kansas. Two methods of instruction (workbook vs. machines) were investigated in this study. Gains made in vocabulary, speed of comprehension, level of comprehension, and total reading for both methods of instruction were compared. The experimental method was used for this study. The Cooperative Reading Comprehension Section of the Cooperative English Test, Form 1A and 1B, Cooperative Test Division, Education Testing Service, Princeton, N.J. was used as a pre and post test

Motivation and Learning in an Online Collaborative Project Using Gamification

In 2012, there were 2.9 million students enrolled in graduate degrees and 22% were taking strictly online courses (Kena et al., 2014). Many students are not motivated to participate in collaborative learning experiences in online courses (Dirkx & Smith, 2004). Gamification, the inclusion of game elements in non-game contexts, has been shown to have a positive impact on motivation (Deterding, 2012; Kapp, 2012). Prior work has focused on structural gamification including elements such as points, levels, and badges as extrinsic motivators to traditional course activities. The current study explored content gamification including narrative, role-play, interactivity, and feedback in an online collaborative learning environment. Thirty-nine master’s degree students enrolled in an online educational technology program participated in a six-week, collaborative project as part of their online research methods course. Within two sections of a research methods course, students were randomly assigned to either a collaborative project with no gamification or a collaborative project with gamification. Outcome measures included motivation, learning, and student perceptions. Results were not statistically significant but indicated a trend for increased motivation, higher levels of satisfaction with the collaborative experience, and greater improvement from pre- to posttest scores among those experiencing the gamified treatment. Discussion will focus on considerations for utilizing specific types of gamification in online collaborative projects

Paper Session I-A - Value Chain Analysis of the Ariane-4 Launch Campaigh

This paper discusses the concept of Value Chain and proposes the use of this philosophy to analyze the Ariane program. The objective of analyzing this concept is to clearly identify the competitive advantages of this European vehicle over its competitors. This paper also provides a description of the method followed to formulate a value chain analysis. Furthermore, it links the Ariane program, to the concepts of value chain analysis and competitive advantage. WhatÕs more, the explanation of the methodology presents the possibility of its application in other fields. This document presents a brief report of the entire Ariane program, emphasizing the description of the Ariane-4 (A-4) rockets, the launch campaign and the performance of the A-4 vehicles. Finally, Arianespace’s (A-Space) short-term plans for the 21st century are presented and conclusions are established

Analysis of the regional carbon balance of Pacific Northwest forests under changing climate, disturbance, and management for bioenergy

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been steadily increasing from anthropogenic energy production, development and use. Carbon cycling in the terrestrial biosphere, particularly forest ecosystems, has an important role in regulating atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. US West coast forest management policies are being developed to implement forest bioenergy production while reducing risk of catastrophic wildfire. Modeling and understanding the response of terrestrial ecosystems to changing environmental conditions associated with energy production and use are primary goals of global change science. Coupled carbon-nitrogen ecosystem process models identify and predict important factors that govern long term changes in terrestrial carbon stores or net ecosystem production (NEP). By quantifying and reducing uncertainty in model estimates using existing datasets, this research provides a solid scientific foundation for evaluating carbon dynamics under conditions of future climate change and land management practices at local and regional scales. Through the combined use of field observations, remote sensing data products, and the NCAR CESM/CLM4-CN coupled carbon-climate model, the objectives of this project were to 1) determine the interactive effects of changing environmental factors (i.e. increased CO₂, nitrogen deposition, warming) on net carbon uptake in temperate forest ecosystems and 2) predict the net carbon emissions of West Coast forests under future climate scenarios and implementation of bioenergy programs. West Coast forests were found to be a current strong carbon sink after accounting for removals from harvest and fire. Net biome production (NBP) was 26 ± 3 Tg C yr⁻¹, an amount equal to 18% of Washington, Oregon, and California fossil fuel emissions combined. Modeling of future conditions showed increased net primary production (NPP) because of climate and CO₂ fertilization, but was eventually limited by nitrogen availability, while heterotrophic respiration (R[subscript h]) continued to increase, leading to little change in net ecosystem production (NEP). After accounting for harvest removals, management strategies which increased harvest compared to business-as-usual (BAU) resulted in decreased NBP. Increased harvest activity for bioenergy did not reduce short- or long-term emissions to the atmosphere regardless of the treatment intensity or product use. By the end of the 21st century, the carbon accumulated in forest regrowth and wood product sinks combined with avoided emissions from fossil fuels and fire were insufficient to offset the carbon lost from harvest removals, decomposition of wood products, associated harvest/transport/manufacturing emissions, and bioenergy combustion emissions. The only scenario that reduced carbon emissions compared to BAU over the 90 year period was a 'No Harvest' scenario where NBP was significantly higher than BAU for most of the simulation period. Current and future changes to baseline conditions that weaken the forest carbon sink may result in no change to emissions in some forest types

Climate, management, and forest type influences on carbon dynamics of West-Coast US forests

Net uptake of carbon from the atmosphere (net ecosystem production, NEP) is dependent on climate, disturbance history, management practices, forest age, and forest type. To improve understanding of the influence of these factors on forest carbon flux in the western U.S., a combination of federal inventory data and supplemental ground measurements was used to estimate several important components of NEP in forests in Oregon and Northern California during the 1990’s. The specific components studied were live and dead biomass stores, net primary productivity (NPP), and mortality. In the semi-arid Northern Basin and mesic Coast Range, mean total biomass was 4 and 24 Kg C m-2, and mean NPP was 0.28 and 0.78 Kg C m-2 y-1, respectively. These values were obtained using species- and ecoregionspecific allometric equations and tended to be higher than those obtained from more generalized approaches. There is strong evidence that stand development patterns of biomass accumulation, net primary production, and mortality differ due to climate (ecoregion), management practices (ownership), and forest type. Among those three factors and across the whole region, maximum NPP and dead biomass stores were most influenced by climate, while maximum live biomass stores and mortality were mostly influenced by forest type. Live and dead biomass, NPP, and mortality were most influenced by forest type. Decrease in NPP with age was not general across ecoregions, with no marked decline in old stands (>200 years) in some ecoregions, and in others, the age at which NPP declined was very high (458 years in East Cascades, 325 in Klamath Mountains, 291 in Sierra Nevada). There is high potential for increasing total carbon storage by increasing rotation age and reducing harvest rates in this region. Only 1% of forest plots on private lands were >200 years old, whereas 41% of the plots were greater than 200 years old on public lands. Total carbon stocks could increase from 3.2 Pg C to 7.3 Pg C and NPP could increase from 0.109 Pg C y-1 to .168 Pg C y-1 (a 35% increase) if forests were managed for maximum carbon storage by increasing rotation age.Keywords: climate, forests, carbon, inventor

Climate Change, Woodpeckers, and Forests: Current Trends and Future Modeling Needs

The structure and composition of forest ecosystems are expected to shift with climate‐induced changes in precipitation, temperature, fire, carbon mitigation strategies, and biological disturbance. These factors are likely to have biodiversity implications. However, climate‐driven forest ecosystem models used to predict changes to forest structure and composition are not coupled to models used to predict changes to biodiversity. We proposed integrating woodpecker response (biodiversity indicator) with forest ecosystem models. Woodpeckers are a good indicator species of forest ecosystem dynamics, because they are ecologically constrained by landscape‐scale forest components, such as composition, structure, disturbance regimes, and management activities. In addition, they are correlated with forest avifauna community diversity. In this study, we explore integrating woodpecker and forest ecosystem climate models. We review climate–woodpecker models and compare the predicted responses to observed climate‐induced changes. We identify inconsistencies between observed and predicted responses, explore the modeling causes, and identify the models pertinent to integration that address the inconsistencies. We found that predictions in the short term are not in agreement with observed trends for 7 of 15 evaluated species. Because niche constraints associated with woodpeckers are a result of complex interactions between climate, vegetation, and disturbance, we hypothesize that the lack of adequate representation of these processes in the current broad‐scale climate–woodpecker models results in model–data mismatch. As a first step toward improvement, we suggest a conceptual model of climate–woodpecker–forest modeling for integration. The integration model provides climate‐driven forest ecosystem modeling with a measure of biodiversity while retaining the feedback between climate and vegetation in woodpecker climate change modeling

Strategic Options for International Participation in Space Exploration: Lessons from U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation

The President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy suggests that after NASA establishes the Space Exploration vision architecture, it should pursue international partnerships. Two possible approaches were suggested: multiple independently operated missions and an integrated mission with carefully selected international components. The U.S.-Japan defense sectors have learned key lessons from experience with both of these approaches. U.S.-Japan defense cooperation has evolved over forty years from simple military assistance programs to more complex joint development efforts. With the evolution of the political-military alliance and the complexity of defense programs, these cooperative efforts have engaged increasingly industrial resources and capabilities as well as more sophisticated forms of planning, technology transfers and program management. Some periods of this evolution have been marked by significant frictions. The U.S.Japan FS-X program, for example, provides a poor example for management of international cooperation. In November 1988, the United States and Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to co-develop an aircraft, named FS-X and later renamed F -2, as a replacement to the aging Japan support fighter F-l. The program was marked by numerous political disputes. After over a decade of joint development and testing, F -2 production deliveries finally began in 1999. The production run was curtailed due to much higher than anticipated costs and less than desired aircraft performance. One universally agreed "lesson" from the FSX/F-2 case was that it did not represent the ideal approach to bilateral cooperation. More recent cooperative programs have involved targeted joint research and development, including component development for ballistic missile defense systems. These programs could lay the basis for more ambitious cooperative efforts. This study examines both less-than-stellar international cooperation efforts as well as more successful initiatives to identify lessons from military programs that can help NASA encourage global investment in its Space Exploration Vision. The paper establishes a basis for examining related policy and industrial concerns such as effective utilization of dual-use technologies and trans-Pacific program management of large, complex cooperative programs

Integrated Network Architecture for NASA's Orion Missions

NASA is planning a series of short and long duration human and robotic missions to explore the Moon and then Mars. The series of missions will begin with a new crew exploration vehicle (called Orion) that will initially provide crew exchange and cargo supply support to the International Space Station (ISS) and then become a human conveyance for travel to the Moon. The Orion vehicle will be mounted atop the Ares I launch vehicle for a series of pre-launch tests and then launched and inserted into low Earth orbit (LEO) for crew exchange missions to the ISS. The Orion and Ares I comprise the initial vehicles in the Constellation system of systems that later includes Ares V, Earth departure stage, lunar lander, and other lunar surface systems for the lunar exploration missions. These key systems will enable the lunar surface exploration missions to be initiated in 2018. The complexity of the Constellation system of systems and missions will require a communication and navigation infrastructure to provide low and high rate forward and return communication services, tracking services, and ground network services. The infrastructure must provide robust, reliable, safe, sustainable, and autonomous operations at minimum cost while maximizing the exploration capabilities and science return. The infrastructure will be based on a network of networks architecture that will integrate NASA legacy communication, modified elements, and navigation systems. New networks will be added to extend communication, navigation, and timing services for the Moon missions. Internet protocol (IP) and network management systems within the networks will enable interoperability throughout the Constellation system of systems. An integrated network architecture has developed based on the emerging Constellation requirements for Orion missions. The architecture, as presented in this paper, addresses the early Orion missions to the ISS with communication, navigation, and network services over five phases of a mission: pre-launch, launch from T0 to T+6.5 min, launch from T+6.5 min to 12 min, in LEO for rendezvous and docking with ISS, and return to Earth. The network of networks that supports the mission during each of these phases and the concepts of operations during those phases are developed as a high level operational concepts graphic called OV-1, an architecture diagram type described in the Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF). Additional operational views on organizational relationships (OV-4), operational activities (OV-5), and operational node connectivity (OV-2) are also discussed. The system interfaces view (SV-1) that provides the communication and navigation services to Orion is also included and described. The challenges of architecting integrated network architecture for the NASA Orion missions are highlighted

Enabling Communication and Navigation Technologies for Future Near Earth Science Missions

In 2015, the Earth Regimes Network Evolution Study (ERNESt) proposed an architectural concept and technologies that evolve to enable space science and exploration missions out to the 2040 timeframe. The architectural concept evolves the current instantiations of the Near Earth Network and Space Network with new technologies to provide a global communication and navigation network that provides communication and navigation services to a wide range of space users in the near Earth domain. The technologies included High Rate Optical Communications, Optical Multiple Access (OMA), Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN), User Initiated Services (UIS), and advanced Position, Navigation, and Timing technology. This paper describes the key technologies and their current technology readiness levels. Examples of science missions that could be enabled by the technologies and the projected operational benefits of the architecture concept to missions are also described