Heliocentric Escape and Lunar Impact from Near Rectilinear Halo Orbits

Spacecraft departing from the Gateway in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) experience gravitational forces from the Moon, the Earth, and the Sun, all of which can be simultaneously significant. These complex dynamics influence the post-separation risk of recontact with the Gateway and the eventual destinations of the departing spacecraft. The current investigation examines the flow of objects leaving NRHOs in the Bicircular Restricted Four-Body Problem, and results are applied to heliocentric escape and lunar impact trajectories in a higher-fidelity ephemeris model. Separation maneuver magnitude, direction, and location are correlated with risk of recontact with the Gateway and successful departure to various destinations

Characterization of Lunar Access Relative to Cislunar Orbits

With the growth of human interest in the Lunar region, methods of enabling Lunar access including surface and Low Lunar Orbit (LLO) from periodic orbit in the Lunar region is becoming more important. The current investigation explores the Lunar access capabilities of these periodic orbits. Impact trajectories originating from the 9:2 Lunar Synodic Resonant (LSR) Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) are determined through explicit propagation and mapping of initial conditions formed by applying small maneuvers at locations across the orbit. These trajectories yielding desirable Lunar impact final conditions are then used to converge impacting transfers from the NRHO to Shackleton crater near the Lunar south pole. The stability of periodic orbits in the Lunar region is analyzed through application of a stability index and time constant. The Lunar access capabilities of the Lunar region periodic orbits found to be sufficiently unstable are then analyzed through impact and periapse maps. Using the impact data, candidate periodic orbits are incorporated in the the NRHO to Shackleton crater mission design to control mission geometry. Finally, the periapse map data is used to determine periodic orbits with desirable apse conditions that are then used to design NRHO to LLO transfer trajectories

ECT in pregnancy and the postpartum

It is becoming increasingly well-established that maternal mental illness has a significant impact on the development of the fetus as well as the ability of the mother to parent her baby. For some women with severe mental illness in pregnancy pharmacological therapy can be problematic with a delay to response and therefore risk of maternal morbidity and mortality as well as the risks to the fetus. ECT has long been used as a treatment for severe mental illness and in some cases it may offer a viable option for treating these more severe disorders in pregnancy. When making a decision regarding treatment of mental illness in pregnancy it is important to have the available information regarding risks and benefits in order to guide treatment in the individual patient. In this chapter the relevant literature regarding ECT and pregnancy will be reviewed, and management guidelines offered for the implementation of ECT across pregnancy and early postpartum, including management of anaesthesia and fetal wellbeing during the period of treatment

Learning accountability literacies in educational workplaces:situated learning and processes of commodification

Literacies are always learned in particular social places and spaces, and the nature of a site shapes the experiences people have of learning literacies there. This paper considers the experiences of staff in two contrasting workplaces: an early years centre, and an adult education college. Both are educational workplaces, and staff are engaged in extensive literacy practices relating to recording and accountability, which they colloquially term ‘the paperwork’. In both sites, this paperwork is a source of struggle. However, closer analysis based on interviews and observations showed that there were significant differences between people’s experiences of learning accountability paperwork practices in the two sites. The paper identifies the key characteristics of these sites which seemed to foster or discourage the development of ‘mastery’ or ‘skilled knowledgeability’, drawing on situated learning theory. These site-specific characteristics are related to the broader processes of commodification of education within which the sites are situated

The Standards Paradox: How quality assurance regimes can subvert teaching and learning in higher education

The quest continues to standardise quality assurance systems throughout the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) under the auspices of the Bologna Process and led by the European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA). Mirroring its member organisation in England, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), ENQA identifies, as one of its core aims, the development of quality assurance processes as instruments for both ‘accountability’ and ‘enhancement’. However, the recent history of QAA appears to indicate that the balance between these core aims has been lost and the discourse of accountability and efficiency prevails. This paper presents a case study of a Business Faculty (BF) in a post-1992 English university based on interviews with academics and documentary data. Findings suggest that the BF’s Quality Assurance Unit affirms the primacy of accountability and efficiency, resulting in, paradoxically, a distortion of academic professional practice. For example, undergraduate curriculum development is narrowly framed as an ‘administrative process’ from which most academics feel ‘dissociated’ and approaches to teaching appear to lack coherent organising principles beyond standardised learning outcomes expressed as ‘skills’. The paper concludes by briefly considering the implications of the case study findings for the future direction of ENQA Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance