ALBERT

Description: Set to fly in the Fall of 2013 from Ft. Sumner, NM, the High Energy Replicated Optics to Explore the Sun (HEROES) mission is a collaborative effort between the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Goddard Space Flight Center to upgrade an existing payload, the High Energy Replicated Optics (HERO) balloon-borne telescope, to make unique scientific measurements of the Sun and astrophysical targets during the same flight. The HEROES science payload consists of 8 mirror modules, housing a total of 109 grazing-incidence optics. These modules are mounted on a carbon-fiber - and Aluminum optical bench 6 m from a matching array of high pressure xenon gas scintillation proportional counters, which serve as the focal-plane detectors. The HERO gondola utilizes a differential GPS system (backed by a magnetometer) for coarse pointing in the azimuth and a shaft angle encoder plus inclinometer provides the coarse elevation. The HEROES payload will incorporate a new solar aspect system to supplement the existing star camera, for fine pointing during both the day and night. A mechanical shutter will be added to the star camera to protect it during solar observations. HEROES will also implement two novel alignment monitoring system that will measure the alignment between the optical bench and the star camera and between the optics and detectors for improved pointing and post-flight data reconstruction. The overall payload will also be discussed. This mission is funded by the NASA HOPE (Hands On Project Experience) Training Opportunity awarded by the NASA Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership, in partnership with NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Office of the Chief Engineer and Office of the Chief Technologist

Description: Spacecraft travel between the Sun-Earth system, the Earth-Moon system, and beyond has received extensive attention recently. The existence of a connection between unstable regions enables mission designers to envision scenarios of multiple spacecraft traveling cheaply from system to system, rendezvousing, servicing, and refueling along the way. This paper presents examples of transfers between the Sun-Earth and Earth-Moon systems using a true ephemeris and perturbation model. It shows the (Delta)V costs associated with these transfers, including the costs to reach the staging region from the Earth. It explores both impulsive and low thrust transfer trajectories. Additionally, analysis that looks specifically at the use of nuclear power in libration point orbits and the issues associated with them such as inadvertent Earth return is addressed. Statistical analysis of Earth returns and the design of biased orbits to prevent any possible return are discussed. Lastly, the idea of rendezvous between spacecraft in libration point orbits using impulsive maneuvers is addressed.

Description: Die Dekarbonisierung des deutschen Wohngebäudebestandes stellt einen wichtigen Baustein zum Gelingen der Energiewende dar. Politisches Ziel ist ein "nahezu klima-neutraler" Gebäudebestand bis 2050. Trotz Erfolgen in der Vergangenheit und eines umfangreichen Policy-Mix verbleibt die energetische Sanierungstätigkeit sowohl hinichtlich der Sanierungstiefe als auch der Sanierungsbreite unterhalb des politisch geforderten und ökologisch notwendigen Maßes. Die Arbeit widmet sich daher der Frage, unter welchen individuellen und quartiersbezogenen Rahmenbedingungen Immobilieneigentümer energetische Sanierungsmaßnahmen durchführen und wie die energetische Sanierungstätigkeit durch Multi-Level-Governance gesteigert werden kann. Die Analyse erfolgt fallstudienbasiert für die Eigentümergruppe der privaten Kleinvermieter, die rund 37 Prozent des deutschen Wohnungsbestandes bewirtschaften. Anhand eines mixed method-Ansatzes wird zunächst durch problemzentrierte Interviews ein Modell zur Beschreibung des Investitionsentscheidungsprozesses entwickelt, was anschließend durch eine schriftlich-postalische Befragung und ihre regressions-analytische Auswertung bewertet wird. Durch die Triangulation können förderliche und hemmende Einflussfaktoren identifiziert werden. Aufbauend auf den theoretischen Vorüberlegungen sowie den empirischen Ergebnissen werden anschließend politische Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet.

Description: Durch einen deutlichen Anstieg der getrennten Erfassung und Verwertung sowie durch Abfallvermeidung und effizientere Methoden zur Abfallbehandlung und -beseitigung konnten bislang etwa 28 Mio. t CO2 reduziert werden. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt, welche Handlungspotenziale und -strategien die kommunale Abfallwirtschaft hat, um aufbauend auf den bisherigen Erfolgen einen weiteren Beitrag zur Energiewende in Deutschland zu leisten. Außerdem wird gezeigt, welche Synergien und Kooperationsmöglichkeiten mit anderen kommunalen Spartenunternehmen bestehen, um abfall- und energiebedingte CO2-Emissionen zu vermeiden.

Description: The electric utility sector in Australia, Germany and the U.S. are all going through major changes driven by declining sales, increasing use of distributed energy sources and policy responses to global climate change. This paper discusses efforts in each of these countries to reform their electric industries, address climate change and promote energy efficiency. Going forward, we see a role for government, utilities and private market energy efficiency efforts in all three countries, although the emphasis will vary by country and will evolve over time. Where all three parties can work together with a common vision, reform efforts are likely to be more successful and more sustained. In all three countries the future is uncertain. In the face of this uncertainty, energy efficiency supporters need to keep abreast of these changes, and find more flexible and nimble policy strategies for energy efficiency to prosper, as the future is likely to unfold in unexpected ways.

Description: Die Dekarbonisierung der Mietwohnungsbestände ist zwingende Voraussetzung für die Einhaltung deutscher Klimaschutzziele. Hierzu ist eine schnelle und deutliche Verbesserung der Energieeffizienz unabdinglich. Aber: funktioniert der Markt für Energieeffizienz bei Mietwohnungen? Eine empirische Untersuchung auf dem Wuppertaler Mietwohnungsmarkt gibt Antworten darauf. Um die Sanierungsrate signifikant zu steigern, etwa durch eine höhere Zahlungsbereitschaft für Energieeffizienz, braucht es sowohl für Vermieter als auch für Mieter verbesserte Rahmenbedingungen.

Description: We investigate the abundances of charged particles in very dense (10(exp 5) cm(exp -3) approx. less than n(sub H2) approx less than 10(exp 14) cm(exp -3) molecular cloud (protostellar) cores. We focus on the dust grains, which are the dominant charge carriers for high densities. Previous studies have investigated the abundances of charged grains in the case that the grain radii follow an MRN distribution. We account for the transfer of charge between grains of different size, an effect that was ignored in previous calculations, but which is significant in determining the total abundance of charged grains. The consequences for star formation are considered.

Description: Precision astrometry at microarcsecond accuracy has application to a wide range of astrophysical problems. This paper is a study of the science questions that can be addressed using an instrument with flexible scheduling that delivers parallaxes at about 4 microarcsec (microns)as) on targets as faint as V = 20, and differential accuracy of 0.6 (microns)as on bright targets. The science topics are drawn primarily from the Team Key Projects, selected in 2000, for the Space Interferometry Mission PlanetQuest (SIM PlanetQuest). We use the capabilities of this mission to illustrate the importance of the next level of astrometric precision in modern astrophysics. SIM PlanetQuest is currently in the detailed design phase, having completed in 2005 all of the enabling technologies needed for the flight instrument. It will be the first space-based long baseline Michelson interferometer designed for precision astrometry. SIM will contribute strongly to many astronomical fields including stellar and galactic astrophysics, planetary systems around nearby stars, and the study of quasar and AGN nuclei. Using differential astrometry SIM will search for planets with masses as small as an Earth orbiting in the 'habitable zone' around the nearest stars, and could discover many dozen if Earth-like planets are common. It will characterize the multiple-planet systems that are now known to exist, and it will be able to search for terrestrial planets around all of the candidate target stars in the Terrestrial Planet Finder and Darwin mission lists. It will be capable of detecting planets around young stars, thereby providing insights into how planetary systems are born and how they evolve with time. Precision astrometry allows the measurement of accurate dynamical masses for stars in binary systems. SIM will observe significant numbers of very high- and low-mass stars, providing stellar masses to 1%, the accuracy needed to challenge physical models. Using precision proper motion measurements, SIM will probe the Galactic mass distribution, and through studies of tidal tails, the formation and evolution of the Galactic halo. SIM will contribute to cosmology through improved accuracy of the Hubble Constant. With repeated astrometric measurements of the nuclei of active galaxies, SIM will probe the dynamics of accretion disks around supermassive black holes, and the relativistic jets that emerge from them.

Description: We discovered a low-mass companion to the M dwarf GJ 164 with the CCD-based imaging system of the Stellar Planet Survey astrometric program. The existence of GJ 164B was confirmed with Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS imaging observations. A high-dispersion spectral observation in V sets a lower limit of Deltam 〉 2.2 mag between the two components of the system. Based on our parallax value of 82 +/- 8 mas, we derive the following orbital parameters: P = 2.04 +/- 0.03 yr, a = 103 +/- 0.03, and M-total 0.265 +/- 0.020 M-circle dot. The component masses are M-A = 0.170 +/- 0.015 M-circle dot and M-B = 0.095 +/- 0/015 M-circle dot. Based on its mass, colors, and spectral properties, GJ 164B has spectral type M6-M8 V.