NASA Not Ready for Safe Manned Mars Mission

NASA lacks the â€Å"right stuff† to deal with the dangers involved in sending humans to Mars and bringing them back – alive -- according to the space agency’s own Office of Inspector General (IG). In his 48-page report, NASA inspector general Paul K. Martin stated that NASA â€Å"faces significant challenges† in protecting Mars mission crews, and that it is being too â€Å"optimistic† in projecting its timetable for responding to the risks. As a result, Mars-bound humans â€Å"may have to accept a higher level of risk than those who fly International Space Station missions.† Now planned for the 2030s, NASA’s first human mission to Mars will be fraught with new dangers such as deep space radiation, increased cancer risk, impaired vision, negative effects of extended space travel on human behavior and performance. Reality check: By the 2030s, there will still be no warp drives, transporters, replicators or other â€Å"Star Trek† wonders to help our Mars-bound astronauts get there faster and stay alive longer. In fact, as IG Martin notes, they might even run out of food. Running out of Food? Yes, even basic nutrition could become a big problem, according to the report, because: A mission to Mars and back will take at least 3 years, but the current maximum shelf life for NASA’s prepackaged foods is only 1.5 years.The vehicle carrying astronauts to Mars and back will probably be far smaller than the International Space Station, providing significantly less room for food storage.Periodic resupply missions carrying more food, like those currently serving the Space Station, will not be possible.Finally, NASA scientists do not know how deep space radiation will affect the quality, shelf life and nutritional value of food. While NASA is investigating resupply alternatives, including actually growing food in the Mars spacecraft, the IG stated, â€Å"Despite 35 years of experience with space flight and research in this area, NASA food scientists continue to face challenges from crew member weight loss, dehydration, and reduced appetite that can result in nutrient deficiencies both during and post mission.† Dangers and Costs of Dealing with Them Not Known While NASA has developed ways to deal with most of the risks of travel in low Earth orbit, many of the added risks associated with long duration space travel – like trips to Mars and back -- are not yet fully understood. In addition, taxpayers, IG Martin also found that NASA cannot accurately project the true costs of creating ways to deal with the Mars mission risks. In fact, the ability of NASA to pay for a manned Mars mission, safe or not, is questionable given its shrinking share of the annual federal budget, which Congress has shown no signs of enlarging any time soon. â€Å"NASA has taken positive steps to address the human health and performance risks inherent in space travel,† Martin wrote, adding, â€Å"Long duration missions will likely expose crews to health and human performance risks for which NASA has limited effective countermeasures. †¦ Accordingly, the astronauts chosen to make at least the initial forays into deep space may have to accept a higher level of risk than those who fly International Space Station missions.† A ‘Culture of Silos’ Dragging NASA Down In his report, IG Martin contends that NASA’s scientists and engineers are held back by their tendency to work in what he called a â€Å"culture of silos,† in which technical teams work and collaborate only with specialists within their own areas of expertise. In other words, not enough research data is being shared. â€Å"We found multiple examples of work taking place on health and human performance risks that suffered from such communication silos,† Martin wrote. According to the report, NASA’s has so far failed to give its astronaut life safety community a designated representative to work with the engineering, safety, and mission planning communities to ensure that issues of astronaut health and physical performance are fully and properly considered. IG Found Some Progress, But†¦ IG Martin did find that NASA had been taking some steps to lessen the risks of the Mars mission including a new Mars rover, set for launch in 2020, that will be able to extract and collect oxygen from thin Martian atmosphere and ways to grow food in the almost sterile Martian soil. African-American scientist and inventor Emmett Chappelle was integral in the first missions to Mars, developing a method of removing soil from the planet during the Viking program. However, Martin concluded that NASA must speed up its work on astronaut safety in order to meet its established manned Mars mission goals and timetables.

The Cry Of Tamar Of A Healthy Non Abusive Relationship

Pamela Cooper-White discuss very real situations while referencing the Tamar’s story. While, in my opinion, violence against women has decreased over the years, many women are still victims of violence. Cooper-White gives a quiz in her book The Cry of Tamar of a healthy non-abusive relationship. This was a little bit of an eye opener for me with the specific questions that are asked. While I know what a healthy relationship consist of, it made me realize that even more women than I originally thought are probably victims of an abusive relationship. There are some women that I work with now or over the past few years that everyone in the office thinks their spouse is a â€Å"jerk† or that they deserve better but never really thought of them as a victim. A lady that I worked with recently would have to call her husband and talk to him during her lunch hour because he believed that she was cheating on him. He would also control what she wore and would not like when she would have make-up on. Her spouse would think she wore make-up to attract other men. I knew the way he would treat her was not right but never once thought she was involved in an abusive relationship. Abusive relationships to me are relationships in which one is forced to participate in unwanted sexual advances or activities and physical abuse such as hitting, chocking etc. As I continued to read and understand more about violence against women, the myths of battered women shed more light. In a way I feel

The Real World of Strategy Formulation and Implementation

Question: Describe about the Strategic management? Answer: Introduction: Businesses implement many exorbitant corporate strategies in their business front .But are they 100% cost effective? That is the big question in todays world. Process researchers have found out through the help of much research that such strategy implementations are not producing the same results as expected. All executives in organizations know that strategy is important but they find it difficult to implement as they would be forced to encounter such a future that they have no clue about. One of the most important objectives of corporate strategy is to establish the organizations position in the industry relative to competitors. Strategies can be of many types such as retrenchment strategy, diversification strategy, divestment strategy, pricing strategy etc. A small company can apply a number of business strategies. The strategies that they implement could be different from those of their competitors. Diversification strategy is very useful as it is designed to improve opportunitie s for profitability and growth. A successful strategy may help an organization increase its sales volumes and gain revenue or an unsuccessful strategy may be the reason for a companys decline. Business strategies are unpredictable and unprecedented. In this essay I am going to discuss about different implications of business strategies and how it can create or destroy the future of an organization (Businessknowhow.com, 2015).Advantages of corporate strategies:Richard Lepsinger, President of On point Consulting once said that however good is a companys strategy it is of no use if it can execute it I the proper manner. I think that he have said the right thing. As we get plenty of examples where business empires have fallen down because of wrong strategy implementation we see even small businesses thriving because of a successful corporate strategy plan (Charityvillage.com, 2015). Thousands of small companies start up every year and the good news is most of them have learned what to d o in order to be successful in the first few years and that paved the way for them being successful enterprises in the future.Some of the common factors that all these small companies share are:1. Work/life balance2. Company culture3. Attitude4. Business strategy5. Financial roadmap6. Discipline7. Customer service8. Risk9. Business processes10. Marketing11. Information technology12. Sales13. Team of advisors and finally14. Training (David, 2005).Academicians and managers have developed many frameworks and models to help in strategic decision making. Michael porter, Harvard professor states three principles of corporate strategy .These are creating fit by aligning activities of the company with one another to support the chosen strategy, making trade-offs by choosing what not to do and creating a valuable and unique position. Dr. Vladimir Kvint has defined strategy as a system of formulating, finding and developing a doctrine that if followed faithfully will result in long term succe ss (Forbes, 2011).A business strategy can be described as a long term business planning. It generally covers a period of 3- 5 years. Business strategies are concerned with what level of investment to be done in a particular product for example the launching of pooh roo juice by coca cola in America. Strategies are also concerned about the scope of a business activity i.e. where and what the company produce .For example, the scope of BIC is focused on main three product areas razors, lighters and pens (Foss, 2007).There are mainly two main categories of strategies.1. Competitive strategies2. Generic strategiesOrganizations follow some types of generic strategies1. To purchase new assets, the expansion of the company is necessary, including development of new products and new businesses.2. Companies like coca cola, Cadbury, Gillette, and Schweppes are major mncs with operations all over the world.3. Retrenchment involves narrowing the scope of one or more business units for the overal l betterment of the company. The Americans call this as sticking to the knitting or concentrating on what you do best. Michael porters generic strategies describe how a company follows competitive advantage across its chosen market scope (Jeffs, 2008). Three generic strategies of porter are cost differentiation, focus and lower cost. Companies choose strategies like lower costs than their customers to attract customers or they differentiate themselves in some respects to command higher price over their competitors. They also concentrate on focus or selling their products in selected markets or segments or offering their products across many market segments (Managementstudyguide.com, 2015).There are also other types of integration .they are vertical integration, forward integration and backward integration.1. Vertical integration means the company uses more power over their suppliers and distributors in order to increase its revenue in the market place secure distribution channels or supplies and reduces transaction costs.2. Forward integration is a strategy where company gains control over their previous customers such as retailers and distributors.3. Backward integration is a strategy where a firm gains ownership over its previous suppliers (Opentuition.com, 2013).Diversification strategies are that strategy where a company expands its business forum by adding more markets or product lines within its business opportunity. The purpose of diversification is for the company to enter operations which are different from current operations of the company. When the new venture is strategically linked to the existing line of business it is called concentric diversification and conglomerate diversification is tat where the new business is completely unrelated to the old business.By the help of organizational strategies organizations fulfill their aims and aspirations. The company operates within four main elements of a successful strategy. The companys strengths, thei r weaknesses, their opportunities in the competitive environment and threats in the outside world. this four elements, strength, weakness, opportunity and threat together constitute of the SWOT analysis strengths and weakness are internal factors of the organizations which are easier to control than the opportunities and threats which lies in the outside world and is more difficult to control (Reliableplant.com, 2015).Ken Andrewss through his strategic model asked four basic questions about a company and its environment.1. What can the company do? 2. What does the company want to do? 3. What is that they have to do? And finally 4. What others expect the company to do?Another very strong strategy of companies is through mergers and acquisitions activity. Like for example face book acquired instagram in 2012 with a price of $ 1 billion. Instagram allows facebook to compete in a market where despite having no strong presence it helps to retain young users. Moreover, by buying instagram facebook has given a competitive edge to companies such as Microsoft, Google and other competitors.Being different from competitors is also an important aspect for business. Unless customers can differentiate your products from me- too competitors the company would have a hard time in sales. Business can do this by highlighting their products features, superior technology, heritage, styling, price or pedigree. The new apple I pad Air costs $274 which is more by $200 than competitors. Apple is being able to enjoy such high costs as it has been successful in differentiating its products from its competitors through display quality, lightness, engineering, software and finally ease of use. Disadvantages of corporate strategies: One of the easiest ways for organizations to lose credibility is to admit that they dont have a strategic plan. However, due to various obstacles like the recession many organizations cannot follow their strategic plan even if they do have one. So, it is very obvious that the plans that they are having have failed to predict the future of their organizations.The plan often fails to produce new insights. Sometimes it is never used. In some organizations strategic planning is nothing but is seen as a tool to engage board members and staffs by exposing them to the mission of the organization (Small Business - Chron.com, 2015).The uncertainty of strategic planning is not new. There is a famous saying that man proposes and God disposes (Yourarticlelibrary.com, 2015).William starbuck, a scholar said about the downside of planning that at often times strategic planning is little more than superstitious babble. The idea that planning can predict the future is nothing but a myth; it can avert any kind of problems but can never eliminate them. Some exciting business examples to prove that strategic planning cannot predict the future are:1. Coca cola began its career as a pharmaceutical product. It had launched products that are a cure for morphine, headaches, addiction, impotence and many other diseases.2. Raytheon started out as a refrigerator making company and later on went to become the creator of the first missile guidance system.3. Nokia began its career as a pulp mill that shipped to paper mills and later on became one of the greatest mobile phone makers.4. DuPont started out as an explosives company and later on became the manufacturer of Teflon non sticking cooking pans.5. Avon started as a door to door book selling company before starting as a cosmetics manufacturer.6. Oneida Silversmith was a religious communal cult with an exceptional communal lifestyle.7. General Nutrition Centers (GNC), started out as a yogurt company, selling sandwiches and yogurt before b ecoming one of the worlds leaders in sports nutrition, vitamin supplements and beauty products.These drastic changes were not predicted by any strategic plans.The myth about business strategy is that the more you plan the better will be your results. The reality is there is no relationship between the time spent in making business plans and the likelihood of success which will come after implementing it. Actually the reality is very different, the more the organizations plan, the worse is the result as they spend more time in the planning loop and unable to move to effective implementationAnother myth is that strategic planning is an arduous and painful process. It doesnt need to be painful if the right planning group makes the right approach. There is no way that a perfect plan gets perfect results. The time spent in getting the right plan is hardly worth the effort. The strategic management process is time consuming, complex and difficult to implement (Ã…Â ½akaitÄ—, Ã…Â ½akaitÄ— profile, 2013).1. Time consuming: managers spend a lot of time researching, preparing and communicating the strategic plans which disrupt day to day operations and impact the business negatively. For example, managers might overlook daily requirements. When issues are not solved in a timely manner it can result into high turnover for the company. This can compel the company to put aside the strategic planning and concentrate more on day to day operations.2. Complex process: Strategic management always needs to do a SWOT analysis, access long term and short term objectives, strategic control and organizational structure. These components are interrelated so change in one component will affect the other.3. Difficult to implement: The implementation process requires a clear communicated plan. It should be implemented n a way that requires active participation, full attention and accountability of members all over the organization. Managers must always supp ort and gain synergies from the employees to garner support for the companys mission and objectives.4. Skillful planning is required: An organization that needs to anticipate the future in order to plan head had to think of many risks and changes. The managers need to have the right skill sets, to avoid any pitfalls and mitigate risk factors (Worldanimal.net, 2015).There are many reasons behind the failure of strategic planning. They are:Lack of focus, lack of understanding, lack of energy, lack of accountability, lack of flexibility, lack of follow up, having the wrong people in leadership positions, writing the plan and shoving it on the shelf, partial commitment, inability or unwillingness to change, having a plan simply for plans sake. Conclusion: Businesses implement many exorbitant corporate strategies in their business front. . One of the most important objectives of corporate strategy is to establish the organizations position in the industry relative to competitors. Business strategies are unpredictable and unprecedented. It is time consuming, difficult to implement, and very complicated in nature. Strategic planning cannot predict the future. The future is unpredictable. Strategic planning can only provide with a cautious strategy to avoid any pitfalls in the future or so that the company can apply turnaround strategy if it ever have to come across any problems in the future. References: Businessknowhow.com,. (2015). The Top Five Reasons Why Strategic Plans Fail. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/splanfail.htmCharityvillage.com,. (2015). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Strategic Management. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://charityvillage.com/Content.aspx?topic=the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_strategic_management#.VOLW8fmUeosDavid, F. (2005). Strategic management. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.Forbes,. (2011). 10 Reasons Why Strategic Plans Fail. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/aileron/2011/11/30/10-reasons-why-strategic-plans-fail/Foss, N. (2007). Strategic belief management. Strategic Organization, 5(3), 249-258. doi:10.1177/1476127007079977Jeffs, C. (2008). Strategic management. Los Angeles: SAGE.Managementstudyguide.com,. (2015). Disadvantages of Planning. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/planning_disadvantages.htmOpentuition.c om,. (2013). ACCA P3 Advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://opentuition.com/acca/p3/acca-p3-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-strategic-planning/Reliableplant.com,. (2015). Why strategic plans don't work ... and what to do about it. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/15167/why-strategic-plans-don't-work-what-to-do-about-itSmall Business - Chron.com,. (2015). What Are Some Disadvantages of Strategic Management?. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-strategic-management-80740.htmlWorldanimal.net,. (2015). Advantages and Disadvantages of Working in Coalitions. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://worldanimal.net/our-programs/strategic-advocacy-course-new/module-4/networking-and-alliances/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-working-in-coalitionsYourarticlelibrary.com,. (2015). What are the Advantages and Potential Disadvantages of Planning under Management?. Ret rieved 17 February 2015, from https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/management/what-are-the-advantages-and-potential-disadvantages-of-planning-under-management/3501/akait, G., akait, G., profile, V. (2013). Strategic Planning Insights: Advantages and Disadvantages of Strategic Planning. Strategicplanninginsights.blogspot.in. Retrieved 17 February 2015, from https://strategicplanninginsights.blogspot.in/2013/04/advantages-and-disadvantages-of.html

Snow Crash

The passage We are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria or a tune that gets into your head that you keep humming all day until you spread it to someone else.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Snow Crash- by Neal Stephenson specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Theme-Technology and information The globe has noticed several crucial socioeconomic issues and writers consider it imperative to put these realistic issues into literal writing. One of the awesome books that everyone would like to read is the Snow Crash, which is an entertaining cyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. The antics used by Stephenson to reveal issues that sometimes affect the U.S society are credible with the novel portraying social and economic matters affecting the federal government of the United States. The story is set in one of the globally renowned American cities, viz. Los Angeles. The federal government decided to surr ender most of its authority to private entrepreneurs and organisations, which led to several controversies. Due to this aspect, the national governance went into wreckage. Private organisations started allowing individual sovereignty with the country witnessing several cases of increased drug trafficking, violent criminal offences, and traffic congestion. Mercenary armies and Highway companies started fighting for national services and resources for their selfish desires. Snow Crash begins with the main character, Hiro, the protagonist who suddenly discovers a pseudo-narcotic drug nicknamed â€Å"Snow Crash† offered in an exquisite Metaverse night club. The novel rests on ideally a fiction science. This cyberpunk novel portrays Snow Crash as a mysterious latest computer virus that has the capability of affecting not only computers, but also a hacker’s (human) brain. In the mean time, a drug with a similar name is gradually gaining prominence in Los Angles. Snow Crash a lmost declares the end of the world, with the powers of stopping it resting upon only the freelance hackers and the Mafia. The fast-paced detective work and speedy scenes involve several human issues including religion, ancient Sumerian myth, and archaeology touching on some Old Testament writings and history of monotheisms. Unfortunately, Hiro’s fellow hacker and a close friend fall victim to the Snow Crash effects, which forces Hiro to apply his cognitive, sword fighting, and computer hacking skills to discover and eliminate Snow Crash to stop it from causing further harm.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Stephenson’s Snow Crash unveils the reality about the rapidly growing world in the technological field where hackers have become part of the computerised world. Snow Crash reveals how computers and their applications coupled with other technological devices a re rapidly becoming part of human life with the dependence on these devices steadily surging. Currently, computer utilization has increased with a majority of offices globally depending on this device, which is a similar situation in the negative side that Stephenson notices how drug trafficking and other dirty behaviours are consuming the global social and political realm. Ideas and knowledge on the use of computers are becoming familiar to people with computer users enhancing their abilities to manipulate computerised activities. Directly correcting with how narcotic and other drugs affect the normal functioning of human beings’ brains, the newly introduced computer virus bears a similar nickname (Snow Crash) like the drug trafficking zone in the Metaverse nightclub. Snow Crash portrays how the world is heading towards a dystopian future of computerisation. This cyberpunk novel unveils how human beings just like computers harbour susceptibility towards viruses, thus portray ing how such viruses are capable of capturing and infecting both the human and the computer brain, hence taking control over them. The novel’s theme of cyberpunk also reveals how human beings have developed sudden â€Å"firmware† in their brains like computers, which reflects on the history of civilization in the Sumerian culture. Connection of this story to ancient Sumerian culture and the bible demonstrates how computer viruses have become powerful like the goddess Asherah in the Sumerian culture with their linguistic virus, forcing god Enki to provide possible remedies to avert the situation. Just the way Hiro rose against the dangerous computer virus that was capable of affecting both computers and people, god Enki managed to protect the people against Sumerians’ linguistic virus that affected the people of Sumer during the prehistorically era. Through his writing dexterity, Stephenson manages to capture the readers’ mind through the story of the prot agonist, Hiro, who uses his cognitive, physical, sword fighting, and computer information hacking skills to fight the spread of the Snow Crash. Just the way the social media has affected and shaped most of people’s social lives, Snow Crash demonstrates how Metaverse cyberpunk, as an online-shared link, causes issues in Los Angeles. As a contemporary issue in the globe, the theme of cyberpunk, which is a postmodern science that associates with information and technology, is eminent in the novel. After the government cedes most of its powers to the Franchises, who manipulate all government resources and practices poor governance, freelance hackers emerge.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Snow Crash- by Neal Stephenson specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Through their leader, Hiro, and his fellow hackers, readers understand how activities of hacking occurs including spreading dangerous computer viruses that caus e inconveniences to web users especially while using public terminals. Several computer viruses spread through sharing of Internet data. The current era in the field of information technology is increasingly facing challenges from several programmes and software emerging from various developers and users. Stephenson instils necessary computer knowledge to users that with time, just as the human brain suffers from various ailments, computers will bear more challenges than they did earlier due to human made computer viruses. Internet and computer hacking as portrayed in the novel do not only cause the spread of computer viruses, but pose great insecurity challenges to the Internet users and countries as well. Activities affiliated with Internet hackers have currently resulted in controversies between paramount security departments globally like the police, artificial intelligences, and the hackers. Serious Internet hackers are capable of lacerating important security details in a nati on and engaging in the intelligence business with insurgents including dangerous terrorists. In the novel, Hiro and the young girl engage in the intelligence business with the CIC, with the aid of intelligent skateboard posing serious threats to national security. Conclusion Snow Crash is a riveting cyberpunk novel that triggers the readers’ attention not only with its trivia and imaginations, but also from the lessons embedded in it. The novel provides the reader with great knowledge over contemporary issues involving technological advancement and the natural human brain. Ideally, information over technological devices is capable of traversing across a vast populace and psychologically affecting some individuals. Currently, the world social status feels the effect of increased consumption of social media sites (i.e. Google+, Twitter, and Facebook among others) as the novel portrays the use of Metaverse to produce a human-like simulation on the present 3D world. More often, t he novel has provided readers with knowledge based on computer application, where computer and human brains correlate in their functioning. Similar to a computer virus that has constantly caused problems to computer users, Snow Crash provides caution and knowledge on future Information technology within the globe.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This essay on Snow Crash- by Neal Stephenson was written and submitted by user Elements of Doom to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.