Apollo Spacecraft Integrated Checkout Planning

The Apollo pa^loads, Command Module, Service Module, and Lunar Excursion Module require long range integrated checkout planning to assure mutual checkout compatibility and launch vehicle/spacecraft checkout compatibility. This function, performed in support of NASA\u27s Checkout and Test Division of the Manned Spacecraft Center, provides integrated checkout planning on an inter-center and intercontractor level. The end product results in NASA approved checkout flows and activities, in conjunction with their related ground support equipment, which delineate optimized prelaunch checkout operations and requirements. This presentation describes some of the aspects of the integrated checkout planning activity and gives examples of benefits derived from this task

Assessing Cyberbiosecurity Vulnerabilities and Infrastructure Resilience

The convergence of advances in biotechnology with laboratory automation, access to data, and computational biology has democratized biotechnology and accelerated the development of new therapeutics. However, increased access to biotechnology in the digital age has also introduced additional security concerns and ultimately, spawned the new discipline of cyberbiosecurity, which encompasses cybersecurity, cyber-physical security, and biosecurity considerations. With the emergence of this new discipline comes the need for a logical, repeatable, and shared approach for evaluating facility and system vulnerabilities to cyberbiosecurity threats. In this paper, we outline the foundation of an assessment framework for cyberbiosecurity, accounting for both security and resilience factors in the physical and cyber domains. This is a unique problem set, but despite the complexity of the cyberbiosecurity field in terms of operations and governance, previous experience developing and implementing physical and cyber assessments applicable to a wide spectrum of critical infrastructure sectors provides a validated point of departure for a cyberbiosecurity assessment framework. This approach proposes to integrate existing capabilities and proven methodologies from the infrastructure assessment realm (e.g., decision science, physical security, infrastructure resilience, cybersecurity) with new expertise and requirements in the cyberbiosecurity space (e.g., biotechnology, biomanufacturing, genomics) in order to forge a flexible and defensible approach to identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities. Determining where vulnerabilities reside within cyberbiosecurity business processes can help public and private sector partners create an assessment framework to identify mitigation options for consideration that are both economically and practically viable and ultimately, allow them to manage risk more effectively

The Investment in College Education: Is it Worth it?

Hypotheses: This study tested two hypotheses: that an educational degree (independent variable) is positively correlated to wages (dependent variable), making college a good financial investment; and that education (Independent) contributes to differential income (dependent) across ethno-racial groups in the US; such that the income gap across these groups is driven not only by race but above all by education as the causal variable of economic disparity. Methods: I used US Census data (2010 to 2020) to test these hypotheses. Data are analyzed by means of univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the benefit of education in general and the extent to which education contributes to ethno-racial disparities related to income. Results: The first hypothesis seems correct according to univariate analysis of US Census data: The higher the educational degree, the higher the median wage income. The data shows a continuous climb in wages that is proportional to education degree level. For example, the most significant jump in wage from less than high school education level to graduate or professional degree involves a 77% difference in media of earnings. Analyses for the second hypothesis are still being conducted. Discussion: Investment in college is money well spent. As the median wage shows in the census data, the investment pays for itself. Colleges can use these types of analyses as part of their recruitment efforts; and students considering college should be aware of these data as well. Multivariate analyses pertaining to education and median income among ethno-racial groups are still being conducted, but analysis of the first hypothesis suggests that access to education may close income gaps among ethnoracial groups