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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Land use politics and law in the 1970's

Political facets of the general land use challenge faced in the United States, and the legal authority for governmental action by state and federal officials under given conditions are discussed. Some current and future implications of these political and legal developments are presented. An overview of local versus state versus federal powers is presented along with practices for solving the nation's land use challenge. An analysis is provided of land use law and politics in five states playing active roles in land control. Land use politics and law at the federal level is addressed, with emphasis on three key legislative measures.

Lamb, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Political and legal implications of developing and operating a satellite power system

A number of political and legal implications of developing and operating a satellite power system (SPS) are identified and studied in this report. These include the vulnerability of SPS to actions of adversaries, communications impacts, the legality of an SPS in orbit including on-orbit military protection, alleviation of political concerns about deployment and operation of SPS, programmatic planning for SPS and the interaction of SPS with federal regulatory agencies and major departments. In comparing SPS to terrestrial power stations, it is seen that the political problems are neither clearly larger nor clearly smaller--they are clearly different and they are international in nature. If SPS is to become a reality these problems must be dealt with. Five major issues are identified. These must be resolved in order to obtain international acceptance of SPS. However, this study has found no insurmountable obstacles that would clearly prohibit the deployment, operation and protection of an SPS fleet.

Hazelrigg, G. A., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Getting Politically Active

Projects can, and do, succeed because of politics. And they can fail due to politics, as well. Politics does not have to be a dirty word, if it means working closely and openly with customers and stakeholder s; it is an essential approach that requires continuous dedication of time and attention. Project management is a people industry. Gainin g the trust of your followers will grant you more influence than any formal authority.

Shaw, Robert J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multi-dimensional resilience: A quantitative exploration of disease outcomes and economic, political, and social resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic in six countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a need for better understanding of countries’ vulnerability and resilience to not only pandemics but also disasters, climate change, and other systemic shocks. A comprehensive characterization of vulnerability can inform efforts to improve infrastructure and guide disaster response in the future. In this paper, we propose a data-driven framework for studying countries’ vulnerability and resilience to incident disasters across multiple dimensions of society. To illustrate this methodology, we leverage the rich data landscape surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic to characterize observed resilience for several countries (USA, Brazil, India, Sweden, New Zealand, and Israel) as measured by pandemic impacts across a variety of social, economic, and political domains. We also assess how observed responses and outcomes (i.e., resilience) of the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with pre-pandemic characteristics or vulnerabilities, including (1) prior risk for adverse pandemic outcomes due to population density and age and (2) the systems in place prior to the pandemic that may impact the ability to respond to the crisis, including health infrastructure and economic capacity. Our work demonstrates the importance of viewing vulnerability and resilience in a multi-dimensional way, where a country’s resources and outcomes related to vulnerability and resilience can differ dramatically across economic, political, and social domains. This work also highlights key gaps in our current understanding about vulnerability and resilience and a need for data-driven, context-specific assessments of disaster vulnerability in the future.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1991

The Space Station decision - Politics, bureaucracy, and the making of public policy

The lack of consensus that dominates the conception of major scientific and technological programs is demonstrated via a comparison of the decisions to build the Space Station and the Space Transportation System, and the decision to go to the moon. It is argued that the way political reality conditions administrative behavior in NASA is shown by the decision to promote international cooperation prior to program approval. It is concluded that so long as NASA remains a government agency, its officials will struggle to learn how to balance professional accountability with political reality.

Mccurdy, Howard E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Selling the Space Telescope - The interpenetration of science, technology, and politics

Attention is given to the politics of initiating the Space Telescope program and to the manner in which the coalition, or working consensus, for the Telescope was assembled, in particular, the role played by astronomers. It is contended that what ensued was a case study in the influence of government patronage on a large-scale scientific and technological program. It is concluded that while a politically feasible Space Telescope did result, in the selling process the Telescope had been both oversold and underfunded.

Smith, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Single Stage to Orbit: Politics, Space Technology, and the Quest for Reusable Rocketry

While the glories and tragedies of the space shuttle make headlines and move the nation, the story of the shuttle forms an inseparable part of a lesser-known but no less important drama-the search for a re-useable single-stage-to-orbit rocket. Here an award-winning student of space science, Andrew J. Butrica, examines the long and tangled history of this ambitious concept, from it first glimmerings in the 1920s, when technicians dismissed it as unfeasible, to its highly expensive heyday in the midst of the Cold War, when conservative-backed government programs struggled to produce an operational flight vehicle. Butrica finds a blending of far-sighted engineering and heavy-handed politics. To the first and oldest idea-that of the reusable rocket-powered single-stage- to-orbit vehicle-planners who belonged to what President Eisenhower referred to as the military-industrial complex added experimental (" X "), "aircraft-like" capabilities and, eventually, a "faster, cheaper, smaller" managerial approach. Single Stage to Orbit traces the interplay of technology, corporate interest, and politics, a combination that well served the conservative space agenda and ultimately triumphed-not in the realization of inexpensive, reliable space transport-but in a vision of space militarization and commercialization that would appear settled United States policy in the early twenty-first century. "The 'holy grail' of the spaceship movement has been the development of a vehicle that could accomplish single stage to orbit (SSTO) flight. This study describes the evolution of this concept from the 192'0s to the present, revealing a conservative space agenda that has not yet been the subject of historical analysis. As such, it makes an important contribution to space history literature."-Roger D. Launius, The Smithsonian Institution.

Butrica, Andrew J.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Politics of problem definition: Comparing public support of climate change mitigation policies using machine learning

Public support is a key contributor to successful policy adoption and implementation. Given the urgency of climate change mitigation, scholars have explored various determinants that affect public support for climate change mitigation policy. However, the relative decisiveness of these factors in shaping public support is insufficiently examined. Therefore, we deploy interpretable machine learning to understand which factors, among many previously investigated, are most decisive for structuring public support for various climate change mitigation policies. In this paper, we particularly look at the decisiveness of problem definition for shaping public support among various factors. Using U.S national survey data, we find that how individuals define the issue of climate change is more decisive for structuring public support for promoting renewable energy and regulating pollutants to mitigate the risks associated with climate change. However, the results also indicate that the most decisive factors associated with public support vary depending on the types of mitigation policy. Here, we conclude that different strategies should be utilized to increase public support for various climate change mitigation policy options. Our findings contribute to a scholarly understanding of the specific politics of problem definition in the context of environmental and climate change policy.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Estimating IDP Origins Using ACLED Political Violence Events: Validation with Lebanon IDP Flow Data

A key input in modeling population distribution and flows following conflict events is the inclusion of Internally Displaced Person (IDP) flows between administrative units within a country. These flows are critical for capturing population movement and redistribution driven by current events, particularly conflict. In some cases, IDP destination data are available while origin data is incomplete or unavailable. This creates a gap in understanding where displacement is occurring, limiting the ability to model population redistribution accurately. Without origin data, it is not possible to reallocate population flows or accurately represent where displacement is occurring within the country. This report evaluates whether Armed Conflict Location Event Data (ACLED) political violence event data can be used to estimate IDP origin distributions when direct origin data are unavailable. The approach is validated using historical IDP flow data from Lebanon, where both origins and destinations are observed. Results show that ACLED event distributions strongly correspond to observed IDP-origin patterns, particularly when using cumulative 60-day event windows. The method is most reliable for identifying major origin districts and approximating proportional origin shares. However, it is not intended to reconstruct exact individual displacement flows, but rather to provide a probabilistic spatial allocation of displacement origins.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nuclear history, politics, and futures from (A)toms-to(Z)oom: Design and deployment of a remote-learning special-topics course for nuclear engineering education

To address the lack of familiarity with nuclear history common among nuclear engineers and physicists, we outline the design and deployment of a special-topics course entitled “NE290: Nuclear History, Politics, and Futures” throughout which we contextualize the importance of the field at its inception, in current affairs, and in future endeavors. We argue that understanding this history is paramount in internalizing a sense of respect for the scientific, technical, and sociological ramifications of an unlocked atom—as well as its perils. We begin by outlining the gaps in secondary educational offerings for nuclear history and their importance in consideration with nontechnical engineering guidelines. We then outline a number of ABET specifications as pedagogical goals for NE290 from which we derive a list of target student learning objectives. Next, we outline the NE290 syllabus in terms of assignments and an overview of course content in the form of a class timeline. We provide an extensive description of the materials and teaching methodologies for the four units of NE290: Twentieth-Century Physics, Physics in WWII, the Early Cold War, and the Late Cold War and Modern Era. We detail the sequence of lectures across the course and historical timelines leading up to a showcasing of NE290 final projects which mirror in creativity the novelty of course offering. Because NE290 was first offered during Spring 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, additional measures in the form of new tools were used to augment the mandate of remote learning. In particular, we leveraged the newfound ubiquity of videoconferencing technology to recruit geographically diverse guest lecturers and used the MIRO tool for virtual whiteboarding. Lastly, we provide an accounting of course outcomes drawn from student feedback which—in tandem with the complete distribution of course material—facilitates the integration of nuclear history into the curriculum for the wider nuclear engineering and physics communities.

Berliner, Aaron J.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Law and politics in outer space: A bibliography.

The materials are categorized by specific topics and by types of materials. The sources are books, articles, reports, United Nations materials, U.S. Government documents, etc. Books are listed by geographical areas, and articles are divided into what are considered to be the major space topics. Book and article sections are also divided into English and foreign language entries. A bibliographical essay introduces the literature to those unacquainted with law and politics of outer space.

White, I. L.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Political bugs.

Certain decisions, problems, and successes are selected to recall the great impact of the 1950s on the history of rocketry, and particularly the inauguration of the space age. In reviewing the history of the Redstone, Juno, and Jupiter, some of the largest stepping stones to space, problems stand out in three areas: technical or engineering, management, and political.

Lucas, W. R.↗
NASA NTRS1972

The political and legal aspects of space applications

The political and legal repercussions of space programs both domestic and foreign are explored. Emphasis are placed on earth resources exploration (exploration based on information rights), jurisdictional problems, problems of sharing space benefits with other countries, criminal launch and use of satellites, intrusion into territorial sovereignty, and problems of establishing data ownership.

Hanessian, J., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1975

The political economy of conservation

A political economic purview of energy conservation in the United States was delineated. The concepts of substitution and elasticity are distinguished, and further distinctions are made between short run price elasticity, cross price elasticity, and available fund elasticity. An assessment of the role which cost factors can play in conservation is given. The structure of the petroleum industry and foreign petroleum resources is discussed. Also discussed is the role of government, industry and the consumer with the economic sphere.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1976

Technology and politics: The regional airport experience

The findings of a comparative study of the following six regional airports were presented: Dallas/Fort Worth, Kansas City, Washington, D.C., Montreal, Tampa, and St. Louis. Each case was approached as a unique historical entity, in order to investigate common elements such as: the use of predictive models in planning, the role of symbolism to heighten dramatic effects, the roles of community and professional elites, and design flexibility. Some of the factors considered were: site selection, consolidation of airline service, accessibility, land availability and cost, safety, nuisance, and pollution constraints, economic growth, expectation of regional growth, the demand forecasting conundrum, and design decisions. The hypotheses developed include the following: the effect of political, social, and economic conflicts, the stress on large capacity and dramatic, high-technology design, projections of rapid growth to explain the need for large capital outlays.

Starling, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1985

New technology implementation: Technical, economic and political factors

An analysis is presented of the process of implementing advanced manufacturing technology, based on studies of numerous organizations. This process is seen as consisting of a series of decisions with technical, economic, and political objectives. Frequency decisions involve specifications, equipment, resources/organization, and location. Problems in implementation are viewed as resulting from tradeoffs among the objectives, the tendency of decision makers to emphasize some objectives at the expense of others, and the propensity of problems to spread from one area to another. Three sets of recommendations, based on this analysis, are presented.

Dean, J. W., Jr.↗