Photoheliograph Functional Verification Unit Test and Operations Plan, November 1967 - June 1968

Test and operations plan for functional verification unit of photoheliograph to be used with Apollo telescope moun

Use of Carbon Arc Lamps as Solar Simulation in Environmental Testing

This report covers work done by the authors on the solar simulator for the six-foot diameter space simulator presently in use at JPL. The space simulator was made by modifying an existent vacuum chamber and uses carbon arc lamps for solar simulation. All Ranger vehicles flown to date have been tested in this facility. The report also contains a series of appendixes covering various aspects of space-simulation design and use. Some of these appendixes contain detailed analyses of space-simulator design criteria. Others cover the techniques used in studying carbon-arc lamps and in applying them as solar simulation

A Gedanken spacecraft that operates using the quantum vacuum (Dynamic Casimir effect)

Conventional rockets are not a suitable technology for deep space missions. Chemical rockets require a very large weight of propellant, travel very slowly compared to light speed, and require significant energy to maintain operation over periods of years. For example, the 722 kg Voyager spacecraft required 13,600 kg of propellant to launch and would take about 80,000 years to reach the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, about 4.3 light years away. There have been various attempts at developing ideas on which one might base a spacecraft that would permit deep space travel, such as spacewarps. In this paper we consider another suggestion from science fiction and explore how the quantum vacuum might be utilized in the creation of a novel spacecraft. The spacecraft is based on the dynamic Casimir effect, in which electromagnetic radiation is emitted when an uncharged mirror is properly accelerated in the vacuum. The radiative reaction produces a dissipative force on the mirror that tends to resist the acceleration of the mirror. This force can be used to accelerate a spacecraft attached to the mirror. We also show that, in principal, one could obtain the power to operate the accelerated mirror in such a spacecraft using energy extracted from the quantum vacuum using the standard Casimir effect witha parallel plate geometry. Unfortunately the method as currently conceived generates a miniscule thrust, and is no more practical than a spacewarp, yet it does provide an interesting demonstration of our current understanding of the physics of the quantized electromagnetic field in vacuum.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

The Southern Methodist University Map-Library

In an especially equipped room in the Fondren Science Building on the campus of Southern Methodist University may be found the University\u27s sheet map collection. There steel map cases hold a file of more than 93,000 maps and charts and 3,500 aerial photographs. In addition, atlases, gazetteers, and cartographic bibliographies are available for research and the large world globe offers more than 22,000 place names for reference. There are map tables suitable for assembling map series. The Map Library now ranks as one of the ten largest university map libraries in the United States and the largest in the Southwest. It has expanded from an original collection of some 27,000 maps and photos to its present size through the depository program of the major governmental mapping agencies and through private acquisition

The Impact of Generalized Anxiety Disorder on Academic Performance in Undergraduate Students Following a Brief Guided Meditation

Many undergraduate college students report high levels of anxiety, which can negatively impact their academic performance. Meditation is currently being explored as a method to reduce anxiety, with the duration and frequency under investigation to optimize outcomes. Therefore, this pilot study examined whether the severity of generalized anxiety disorder affected the influence of a brief, one-time, guided meditation on undergraduate academic performance. This study also investigated student perceptions of meditation and test anxiety. Students completed the GAD-7 to assess levels of anxiety, participated in a brief meditation, completed a lab quiz, and evaluated their meditation experience through a post-survey. We hypothesized that students with high GAD scores would perform similarly to those with low GAD scores on a quiz following a brief meditation. We also hypothesized that students with a more positive view of meditation would score higher on the quiz compared to those who did not find the meditation to be helpful. There was no significant difference in quiz scores based on anxiety level. Students who reported that the meditation reduced test anxiety and students who reported that they do not experience test anxiety tended to score better on the lab quiz. Even though there was not a statistically significant correlation between lab quiz scores and GAD-7 scores, there does appear to be a strong trend: as GAD-7 scores increase (higher anxiety), lab quiz scores decrease. This pilot study provides the foundation for future research exploring brief meditation on test anxiety in undergraduate students

Army Psychiatry: In and Out of Battle, Its Relationship to the Soldier and to the Service

1. Until the early years of the Great War of 1914-1918 Military Psychiatry as an entity had little place within the scheme of medical care of troops. Since then it has developed into a subject of increasing scope and importance. 2. The various types of Neurotic and Psychotic reaction that are found in medical practice among troops in wartime are discussed, but the organic reactions are not dealt with in this paper. The causative factors are studied and differences among various racial groupings receive comment. The symptomatology is briefly outlined. 3. Seventeen clinical cases are discussed in some detail. 4. The treatment of the various reactions is discussed, but it is detailed only in so far as it bears particularly on the Service aspects of the case. A few prognostic indications are touched upon. 5. Three statistical tables are included, it having been impossible to date to obtain complete statistical information. 6. A few suggestions and recommendations are made with regard to the future of military psychiatry, the examining and placing of recruits, the training of medical officers and one or two matters of general application. Cape Town, S.A., June, 1946