Los Alamos studies of the Nevada test site facilities for the testing of nuclear rockets

The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include the following: Nevada test site geographic location; location of NRDA facilities, area 25; assessment program plan; program goal, scope, and process -- the New Nuclear Rocket Program; nuclear rocket engine test facilities; EMAD Facility; summary of final assessment results; ETS-1 Facility; and facilities cost summary

Antimatter propulsion, status and prospects

The use of advanced propulsion techniques must be considered if the currently envisioned launch date of the manned Mars mission were delayed until 2020 or later. Within the next thirty years, technological advances may allow such methods as beaming power to the ship, inertial-confinement fusion, or mass-conversion of antiprotons to become feasible. A propulsion system with an ISP of around 5000 s would allow the currently envisioned mission module to fly to Mars in 3 months and would require about one million pounds to be assembled in Earth orbit. Of the possible methods to achieve this, the antiproton mass-conversion reaction offers the highest potential, the greatest problems, and the most fascination. Increasing the production rates of antiprotons is a high priority task at facilities around the world. The application of antiprotons to propulsion requires the coupling of the energy released in the mass-conversion reaction to thrust-producing mechanisms. Recent proposals entail using the antiprotons to produce inertial confinement fusion or to produce negative muons which can catalyze fusion. By increasing the energy released per antiproton, the effective cost, (dollars/joule) can be reduced. These proposals and other areas of research can be investigated now. These short term results will be important in assessing the long range feasibility of an antiproton powered engine

The Political Career of Erskine Hamilton Childers, 1905-74

Erskine Hamilton Childers, hereafter cited as Childers, was born on the 11 December 1905 and died during his term as President of Ireland on 17 November 1974. First elected to Dáil Éireann in 1938, Childers successfully contested all subsequent general elections until he resigned his Dáil seat to successfully contest the presidential election in 1973. Childers held the ministerial portfolios of Posts and Telegraphs, Lands Forestry and Fisheries, Transport and Power and Health. He also served as Tánaiste while Minister for Health. Childers represented the constituency of Athlone-Longford, later reconstituted as Longford-Westmeath, from 1938 until 1961 at which time he transferred to Monaghan where he remained until his resignation in 1973. Childers was educated in England but he developed a love for Ireland from a very young age. He was greatly influenced by both his parents, particularly his father, Robert Erskine Childers, who was executed by the Irish Free State in 1922. Childers was totally dedicated to all his portfolios, he was named Minister of the Year in 1970 by Newsweek magazine. This thesis explores Childers political contribution and examines a number of key issues and themes throughout his political career. Such themes include the development and subsequent management of the Irish broadcasting service; the development of natural resources such as land, fisheries and tourism; the evolution of infrastructural services including train services and the Irish post and telecommunications system, and the development of the health system. Childers held responsibilities in all of these areas at different stages in his political career. Other more controversial issues which are examined include Childers decision to return to Ireland in 1931, his place within the Fianna Fáil party, the extent to which Childers ever understood the Irish political system, and the influence of the Catholic Church on his political career

The Neurospora crassa genome opens up the world of filamentous fungi

The filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, which has played an important role in the development of modern genetics, has several unique genome-defense mechanisms, including a process called repeat-induced point mutation. The draft genome sequence has revealed several unusual features, which suggest that the evolution of N. crassa has been greatly influenced by these defense mechanisms