Morale \u3ci\u3eThe Essential Intangible\u3c/i\u3e

We knew going into Ramadi that it was going to be a gunfight. Weekly updates and reports from Ramadi painted a picture of tough days for units in the city. Although the city was small and densely populated (500,000), it was all two battalions-one Army in the east and one Marine in the westcould do to conduct offensive operations.1 Hotel Company was tasked to provide a mobile unit for security as the battalion commander circulated the battlefield. Because we were the forward command post (CP) during battalion operations, our call sign was Blade Jump or as we called ourselves, The Jump. Morale was high in The Jump. We were a highly trained and experienced organization. Hand selected for the task, our mission was important and relevant. As a group, we had been together for several months and had forged bonds and a sense of togetherness through the crucible of training for combat and combat itself. Individually and collectively, our will and spirit was far above that of the average unit. Throughout the deployment we did many things typical of other companies in the battalion; however, because of the operational tempo and our requirement to circulate throughout the entire city, we became very good at identifying and destrOying improvised explosive devices (IEDs). We were so good that we became the asset of choice for the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team\u27s escort and route clearance when high-level general officers or State Department officials would visit our area of operations. I must admit that even with practice, this skill, which we never took for granted, took time to develop. In fact, early in the deployment we were more lucky than good. On a few occasions we were hit by an IED planted only a few feet from us. With one exception, when a Marine in the gun turret had his hand ripped in half, we never received a serious casualty. Our success can be attributed to high morale, tough vehicles, a thorough turnover from the battalion we relieved, and our ability to capitalize and learn quickly from mistakes, thus ensuring we never made the same mistake twice. As good as we were at identifying IEDs, we never became complacent because we knew the enemy was always getting better and training to kill u

Morale \u3ci\u3eThe Essential Intangible\u3c/i\u3e

We knew going into Ramadi that it was going to be a gunfight. Weekly updates and reports from Ramadi painted a picture of tough days for units in the city. Although the city was small and densely populated (500,000), it was all two battalions-one Army in the east and one Marine in the westcould do to conduct offensive operations.1 Hotel Company was tasked to provide a mobile unit for security as the battalion commander circulated the battlefield. Because we were the forward command post (CP) during battalion operations, our call sign was Blade Jump or as we called ourselves, The Jump. Morale was high in The Jump. We were a highly trained and experienced organization. Hand selected for the task, our mission was important and relevant. As a group, we had been together for several months and had forged bonds and a sense of togetherness through the crucible of training for combat and combat itself. Individually and collectively, our will and spirit was far above that of the average unit. Throughout the deployment we did many things typical of other companies in the battalion; however, because of the operational tempo and our requirement to circulate throughout the entire city, we became very good at identifying and destrOying improvised explosive devices (IEDs). We were so good that we became the asset of choice for the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team\u27s escort and route clearance when high-level general officers or State Department officials would visit our area of operations. I must admit that even with practice, this skill, which we never took for granted, took time to develop. In fact, early in the deployment we were more lucky than good. On a few occasions we were hit by an IED planted only a few feet from us. With one exception, when a Marine in the gun turret had his hand ripped in half, we never received a serious casualty. Our success can be attributed to high morale, tough vehicles, a thorough turnover from the battalion we relieved, and our ability to capitalize and learn quickly from mistakes, thus ensuring we never made the same mistake twice. As good as we were at identifying IEDs, we never became complacent because we knew the enemy was always getting better and training to kill u

Galaxy Evolution Probe: a concept for a mid and far-infrared space observatory

The Galaxy Evolution Probe (GEP) is a concept for a mid and far-infrared space observatory designed to survey sky for star-forming galaxies from redshifts of z = 0 to beyond z = 4. Furthering our knowledge of galaxy formation requires uniform surveys of star-forming galaxies over a large range of redshifts and environments to accurately describe star formation, supermassive black hole growth, and interactions between these processes in galaxies. The GEP design includes a 2 m diameter SiC telescope actively cooled to 4 K and two instruments: (1) An imager to detect star-forming galaxies and measure their redshifts photometrically using emission features of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. It will cover wavelengths from 10 to 400 μm, with 23 spectral resolution R = 8 filter-defined bands from 10 to 95 μm and five R = 3.5 bands from 95 to 400 μm. (2) A 24 – 193 μm, R = 200 dispersive spectrometer for redshift confirmation, identification of active galactic nuclei, and interstellar astrophysics using atomic fine-structure lines. The GEP will observe from a Sun-Earth L2 orbit, with a design lifetime of four years, devoted first to galaxy surveys with the imager and second to follow-up spectroscopy. The focal planes of the imager and the spectrometer will utilize KIDs, with the spectrometer comprised of four slit-coupled diffraction gratings feeding the KIDs. Cooling for the telescope, optics, and KID amplifiers will be provided by solar-powered cryocoolers, with a multi-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator providing 100 mK cooling for the KIDs

Galaxy evolution probe

The Galaxy Evolution Probe (GEP) is a concept for a mid- and far-infrared space observatory to measure key properties of large samples of galaxies with large and unbiased surveys. GEP will attempt to achieve zodiacal light and Galactic dust emission photon background-limited observations by utilizing a 6-K, 2.0-m primary mirror and sensitive arrays of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). It will have two instrument modules: a 10 to 400  μm hyperspectral imager with spectral resolution R  =  λ  /  Δλ  ≥  8 (GEP-I) and a 24 to 193  μm, R  =  200 grating spectrometer (GEP-S). GEP-I surveys will identify star-forming galaxies via their thermal dust emission and simultaneously measure redshifts using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission lines. Galaxy luminosities derived from star formation and nuclear supermassive black hole accretion will be measured for each source, enabling the cosmic star formation history to be measured to much greater precision than previously possible. Using optically thin far-infrared fine-structure lines, surveys with GEP-S will measure the growth of metallicity in the hearts of galaxies over cosmic time and extraplanar gas will be mapped in spiral galaxies in the local universe to investigate feedback processes. The science case and mission architecture designed to meet the science requirements is described, and the KID and readout electronics state of the art and needed developments are described. This paper supersedes the GEP concept study report cited in it by providing new content, including: a summary of recent mid-infrared KID development, a discussion of microlens array fabrication for mid-infrared KIDs, and additional context for galaxy surveys. The reader interested in more technical details may want to consult the concept study report

The galaxy evolution probe

The Galaxy Evolution Probe (GEP) is a NASA Astrophysics Probe concept designed to address key questions about star formation and supermassive black hole growth in galaxies over cosmic time. GEP will achieve its goals with large mid- and far-infrared imaging and spectroscopic surveys. ..

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) Mission Concept Study Final Report

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory, or HabEx, has been designed to be the Great Observatory of the 2030s. For the first time in human history, technologies have matured sufficiently to enable an affordable space-based telescope mission capable of discovering and characterizing Earthlike planets orbiting nearby bright sunlike stars in order to search for signs of habitability and biosignatures. Such a mission can also be equipped with instrumentation that will enable broad and exciting general astrophysics and planetary science not possible from current or planned facilities. HabEx is a space telescope with unique imaging and multi-object spectroscopic capabilities at wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to near-IR. These capabilities allow for a broad suite of compelling science that cuts across the entire NASA astrophysics portfolio. HabEx has three primary science goals: (1) Seek out nearby worlds and explore their habitability; (2) Map out nearby planetary systems and understand the diversity of the worlds they contain; (3) Enable new explorations of astrophysical systems from our own solar system to external galaxies by extending our reach in the UV through near-IR. This Great Observatory science will be selected through a competed GO program, and will account for about 50% of the HabEx primary mission. The preferred HabEx architecture is a 4m, monolithic, off-axis telescope that is diffraction-limited at 0.4 microns and is in an L2 orbit. HabEx employs two starlight suppression systems: a coronagraph and a starshade, each with their own dedicated instrument

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) Mission Concept Study Final Report

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory, or HabEx, has been designed to be the Great Observatory of the 2030s. For the first time in human history, technologies have matured sufficiently to enable an affordable space-based telescope mission capable of discovering and characterizing Earthlike planets orbiting nearby bright sunlike stars in order to search for signs of habitability and biosignatures. Such a mission can also be equipped with instrumentation that will enable broad and exciting general astrophysics and planetary science not possible from current or planned facilities. HabEx is a space telescope with unique imaging and multi-object spectroscopic capabilities at wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to near-IR. These capabilities allow for a broad suite of compelling science that cuts across the entire NASA astrophysics portfolio. HabEx has three primary science goals: (1) Seek out nearby worlds and explore their habitability; (2) Map out nearby planetary systems and understand the diversity of the worlds they contain; (3) Enable new explorations of astrophysical systems from our own solar system to external galaxies by extending our reach in the UV through near-IR. This Great Observatory science will be selected through a competed GO program, and will account for about 50% of the HabEx primary mission. The preferred HabEx architecture is a 4m, monolithic, off-axis telescope that is diffraction-limited at 0.4 microns and is in an L2 orbit. HabEx employs two starlight suppression systems: a coronagraph and a starshade, each with their own dedicated instrument.Comment: Full report: 498 pages. Executive Summary: 14 pages. More information about HabEx can be found here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex