Managing Drivers of Cost in the Construction of Nuclear Plants

To make a meaningful contribution toward clean, reliable, and economical future energy systems, nuclear power plants (NPPs) must be cost and risk competitive with other low-carbon technologies within near-term timeframes. Recent new builds in the United States and western Europe have suffered from two phenomena. First, they are expensive in absolute and relative terms: the cost per MW installed, along with the size of the plant, makes them among the most expensive power plants of any type. Second, they have all been delivered overbudget and late, making the construction of an NPP a risky investment, which in turn increases the cost of borrowing money for new projects

Exploring Planets with Directed Aerial Robot Explorers

Global Aerospace Corporation (GAC) is developing a revolutionary system architecture for exploration of planetary atmospheres and surfaces from atmospheric altitudes. The work is supported by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC). The innovative system architecture relies upon the use of Directed Aerial Robot Explorers (DAREs), which essentially are long-duration-flight autonomous balloons with trajectory control capabilities that can deploy swarms of miniature probes over multiple target areas. Balloon guidance capabilities will offer unprecedented opportunities in high-resolution, targeted observations of both atmospheric and surface phenomena. Multifunctional microprobes will be deployed from the balloons once over the target areas, and perform a multitude of functions, such as atmospheric profiling or surface exploration, relaying data back to the balloons or an orbiter. This architecture will enable low-cost, low-energy, long-term global exploration of planetary atmospheres and surfaces. This paper focuses on a conceptual analysis of the DARE architecture capabilities and science applications for Venus, Titan and Jupiter. Preliminary simulations with simplified atmospheric models show that a relatively small trajectory control wing can enable global coverage of the atmospheres of Venus and Titan by a single balloon over a 100-day mission. This presents unique opportunities for global in situ sampling of the atmospheric composition and dynamics, atmospheric profiling over multiple sites with small dropsondes and targeted deployment of surface microprobes. At Jupiter, path guidance capabilities of the DARE platforms permits targeting localized regions of interest, such as "hot spots" or the Great Red Spot. A single DARE platform at Jupiter can sample major types of the atmospheric flows (zones and belts) over a 100-day mission. Observations by deployable probes would reveal if the differences exist in radiative, dynamic and compositional environments at these sites

Study of particles collected by the 1966 Luster rocket /Luster 2/ Final report

Electron diffraction and microprobe analysis of extraterrestrial particles collected by Luster 2 rocket during Orionid showe

Study of particles collected by the 1965 Luster rocket

Heat annealing tests of Luster rocket collected micrometeorites to determine whether radiation damage can distinguish extraterrestrial from terrestrial particle

Genome-Wide Analysis of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Uncovers Population Structure in Northern Europe

Peer reviewe

A benchmark for microRNA quantification algorithms using the OpenArray platform

miRcompData R package source. The source code for the miRcompData R package, also available at: http://bioconductor.org/packages/miRcompData/ . (GZ 8765 kb

The global energy balance of Titan

The global energy budget of planets and their moons is a critical factor to influence the climate change on these objects. Here we report the first measurement of the global emitted power of Titan. Long-term (2004–2010) observations conducted by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) onboard Cassini reveal that the total emitted power by Titan is (2.84 ± 0.01) × 10^(14) watts. Together with previous measurements of the global absorbed solar power of Titan, the CIRS measurements indicate that the global energy budget of Titan is in equilibrium within measurement error. The uncertainty in the absorbed solar energy places an upper limit on the energy imbalance of 6.0%

Time variability of the Enceladus plumes: Orbital periods, decadal periods, and aperiodic change

The Enceladus plumes vary on a number of timescales. Tidal stresses as Enceladus revolves in its eccentric orbit lead to a periodic diurnal variation in the mass and velocity of solid particles in the plume. Tidal stresses associated with an orbital resonance with Dione lead to a periodic decadal variation. Aperiodic variations occur on time scales of months, and may be due to ice buildup and flow of the walls of the fissures that connect the ocean to the surface. We document these variations using all the relevant data taken by the ISS instrument from 2005 to 2017. Key questions now include how a 5% peak-to-peak variation in orbital eccentricity, which itself is only 0.0045, could lead to a 2-fold decadal variation in plume properties. Another question is how the plumes stay open if ice builds up every month and clogs the vents. Other questions include why the solid particles exit the vents several times slower than the gas, and why the speeds vary inversely with the mass of the plumes. The Cassini data are in, but the modeling has just begun

Time variability of the Enceladus plumes: Orbital periods, decadal periods, and aperiodic change

The Enceladus plumes vary on a number of timescales. Tidal stresses as Enceladus revolves in its eccentric orbit lead to a periodic diurnal variation in the mass and velocity of solid particles in the plume. Tidal stresses associated with an orbital resonance with Dione lead to a periodic decadal variation. Aperiodic variations occur on time scales of months, and may be due to ice buildup and flow of the walls of the fissures that connect the ocean to the surface. We document these variations using all the relevant data taken by the ISS instrument from 2005 to 2017. Key questions now include how a 5% peak-to-peak variation in orbital eccentricity, which itself is only 0.0045, could lead to a 2-fold decadal variation in plume properties. Another question is how the plumes stay open if ice builds up every month and clogs the vents. Other questions include why the solid particles exit the vents several times slower than the gas, and why the speeds vary inversely with the mass of the plumes. The Cassini data are in, but the modeling has just begun

Earth imaging results from Galileo's second encounter

The recent flyby of the Galileo spacecraft en route to Jupiter contributes a unique perspective to our view of our home planet. Imaging activities conducted during the second Earth encounter provide an important opportunity to assess new methods and approaches on familiar territory. These include unique multispectral observations, low light-level imaging (searches for aurorae, lightning and artificial lights on the nightside) and experiments with multiple exposure times to extend the effective radiometric resolution and dynamic range of the camera system. Galileo imaging data has the potential to make important contributions to terrestrial remote sensing. This is because the particular set of filters included in the Solid State Imaging system are not presently incorporated in any currently operating Earth-orbiting sensor system. The visible/near-infrared bandpasses of the SSI filters are well suited to remote sensing of geological, glaciological, botanical, and meteorological phenomena. Data from this and the previous Earth encounter may provide an extremely valuable reference point in time for comparison with similar data expected from EOS or other systems in the future, contributing directly to our knowledge of global change. The highest resolution imaging (0.2 km/pixel) during the December, 1992 encounter occurred over the central Andes; a five filter mosaic of visible and near infrared bands displays the remarkable spectral heterogeneity of this geologically diverse region. As Galileo departed the Earth, cooperative imaging with the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) instrument targeted Antarctica, Australia, and Indonesia at 1.0 to 2.5 km/pixel resolutions in the early morning local times near the terminator. The Antarctic data are of particular interest, potentially allowing ice grain size mapping using the 889 and 968 nm filters and providing an important means of calibrating the technique for application to the Galilean satellites. As the spacecraft receded further, regional scale imaging provided data which, along with data from the previous encounter, will enable the production of global multispectral mosaics of Earth in each of the SSI filters