Baby h Update

Today is a big day for us. This morning, we get to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. The first sonogram suggested that it might be a boy. Understand, though, that this sono happened at 14 weeks - too soon to be conclusive about the gender. Today's sono will tell us for sure.

Assuming the kid cooperates and shows us its bits. Our kids aren't always so helpful.

A lot of people ask if we're trying for a boy, or if we are disappointed by having had so many girls. I am just thankful for a brood of healthy, happy kids. If we have another girl, things will be relatively easy. We're good at girls - the problems they might have, the way they tend to behave, and so on. Boys are uncharted territory, Oh, sure, we call SWWNO our little boy because she's so busy and violent and tough, but she's still a little girl inside.

The other downside to having a boy is that we have no boy stuff at all. If little h turns out to be of the male persuasion, he'll spend the first three years of his life wearing pink diapers with ruffle butts and purple dresses with lacy tutus. Though this may become his preference as he gets older, I'm not interested in dressing him like a little fairy princess ballerina cowgirl until kindergarten.

The upside to having a boy is that I get to teach him all the things that will get him into trouble, all under the auspices of raising him right. For example, he needs to know how to spit, how to fight, how to wrassle, and how to annoy his big sisters. This is what parents of boys call "fun". Also, boy stuff is apparently cheaper than girl stuff.

Whatever the baby is, all I care about is healthy. Ten fingers, ten toes, good neck size, strong heart. We'll worry about the rest of it as it comes.

That's all I have time for today. No clue what I'll write about tomorrow.

(UPDATE: we just got back from the doctor, and Henry is a perfect little in-utero baby boy!)

Cheers,

-- Zach

Selecting an Internship

Wherein our intrepid scholar will plan out the next three years of his life.

Nowadays, employers expect that you will have participated in two to three internships over the course of your college career. This is in addition to having performed research pertinent to your field, received good grades, and done some extracurricular (perhaps volunteer) work. What this means for me is that I'm already behind the curve. I've done the CAS, but that's it.

Now, however, the resume and cover letter assignment for my technical writing class has given me both the opportunity and the impetus to fix that. I'll write a resume and cover letter for a program that begins this summer, but I won't be able to participate because of the arrival of baby h. I also have o keep in mind that I really want to take the next physics class in my sequence from UTD, and I need to take it in the fall of 2011. Given my off-kilter class history (beginning in the spring, three developmental classes, opting to take the time to get an associated degree), I fully expect to not be through with my BS program until the end of fall 2012.

This has a few advantages. I can do two summer internships and one full spring internship between now and grad school. This allows me the ability to make the necessary contacts for employment out of school, and it will help me to both choose and get accepted to a graduate program.

Spring 2011 - finish this semester, get the two roadblocks that I have out of the way (Calc II and Mechanics)

Summer 2011 - Enjoy a new baby :-)

Fall 2011 - Load up. Two math and two physics, at least. Maybe a winter class as well.

Spring 2012 - Keep a heavy load. Plan an exit trajectory toward grad school.

Summer 2012 - Summer internship with NASA.

Fall 2012 - Complete BS and matriculate :-)

Spring 2013 - Spring Co-Op with NASA.

Summer 2013 - Summer internship with NASA.

Fall 2013 - Begin grad school!

With this plan in mind, I've chosen three programs to apply tofor the NASA programs listed above.

First is the Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars program (LARSS). This program has spring, summer, and fall sessions. I'd choose the spring session, to be completed during the spring of 2013. This is a research-intensive internship and should help me finalize the research I want to do pre-grad school.

Second is the NASA Academy. This is actually the first program I'd do in summer of 2012. It is an intensive summer research and leadership program, perfect for the roles that I continue to find myself in. There's a large carrot at the end of the stick - induction into the NASA Academy Alumni Association (NAAA). This would really help my networking base and is therefore a very high priority.

Finally, the NASA Aeronautics Scholarship program serves two purposes. The first is to get scholarship money into the hands of aeronautics students. The second is to provide summer internship opportunities for those students. This is my aim for the 2012-2013 year, with the summer internship occurring just before the start of grad school.

I think that I'll do the assignment for the LARSS program. It seems to be the most business-centric of the three programs, and the feedback I receive from the professor will help me zero in on what I need to better win this internship.

In the meantime, I think I'll reconnect with my CAS contact and see if she can help me put this plan into motion. Now, I'm off to start this assignment. My wife and I will be out of town for the weekend (anniversary trip!), but she requested that I bring the laptop. Maybe I'll get some more schoolwork done.

I doubt it ;-)

Cheers,

-- Zach

Sometimes, life hands you lemons.

Sometimes, life just hands you lemon aid.

One of the assignments that we have in my technical writing class is to prepare a resume and a cover letter for application to a fictional internship position. The professor provided two postings, one for an electrical engineering position and the other for a software engineering position. He also gave us a third option - find an internship position on our own and tailor our resume and cover letter for that. I would guess that a solid third of the class will choose this option.

Longtime readers know that I am very interested in both NASA and aeronautics. I participated in the College Aerospace Scholars (CAS) program this past May, and I attempted to secure a place for my team with the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program (RGSFOP). My main focus with respect to research is fluid dynamics, specifically the dynamics of trans sonic flow as it relates to propellers. One of the things I've been telling myself to do is to get off my duff and plan out an internship path to help me secure a reasonable grad school.

See how the two coincide? Neat, huh?

So I've narrowed the field down to six possible programs. I'll detail them briefly in a minute, but first I want to point out that I will not be applying for anything this summer. The newest addition to our family is due at the end of June. A summer internship or Co-Op program would heavily interfere with that, and I don't think SWMBO would appreciate me being a thousand miles away for the delivery. Neither would I, come to think of it. That means that I'll go ahead and make a resume and cover letter for the internship but not actually apply.

There is a possibility that a Co-Op could happen during the school year. This might be feasible, especially if it's in conjunction with a school program that I'm interested in. The potential also exists that I could take two or three of the kids with me for that semester, leaving Mom with baby h. Time will tell.

So, in no particular order, here are the programs that I'm interested in.

The Lewis Education and Research Collaborative Internship Project (LERCIP), at NASA Glenn. This is a ten week internship program where participants work with NASA researchers to gain real-wold experience is research and problem solving. There are three sessions and the last one begins as baby h is due to arrive. There is a stipend paid biweekly for lodging and expenses.

The Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars (LARSS) program at NASA Langley. Fall, spring, and summer internships are available for this research internship. Like the LERCIP, the LARSS program is research-focused. This program might actually be a good fit, since there is some flexibility to the dates.

The Summer Aerospace Workforce Development Research Internship Program (SAWDRIP), at NASA Glenn. This program is a collaboration between NASA and industry leaders. Participants are put to work solving real-world problems with real life companies utilizing assistance from NASA. This does not appear to be a paid internship. Summer dates are not given. I'd love to do this in the summer of 2012.

The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program. This is a scholarship program combined with a standard NASA summer internship, along with a $10,000 stipend for expenses. This is a research-based program. I really want this.

The NASA Academy. This is a leadership program, where participants learn leadership and team-building skills while performing research at a NASA center. It's a ten week summer program as well. My cursory look doesn't reveal any kind of stipend. I would enjoy this, mainly because it would be a bright feather in my cap. The majority of the projects that I've participated in tent to require me to display effective leadership skills.

The Undergraduate Student Research Project (USRP). This is the "standard" internship program for NASA. Participants stay at one of the ten NASA centers and perform research in their fields of interest. Internships occur fall, spring, and summer. I'll probably apply to this as a fallback position.

I have to get to class now. I'll work on he resume and cover letter over the weekend. More on this topic perhaps tomorrow.

By the way, the roast last night was fantastic. I have no idea what I'm going to cook tonight, but I'll have to cook because SWMBO is feeling under the weather.

Happy Thursday!

Cheers,

-- Zach

Feature: Tasty Food

Today I'd like to talk a little about a subject neat to everyone's heart - food. Having three children with another on the way means that we spend a large part of our time devoted to the simple acts of preparing food, shoving it in our faces, and then cleaning up afterward. This is the first in a long-running and semi-irregular series on cooking in our house. One of my goals for this year has two parts. First, I want to do more of the cooking. I like to cook, even though I'm not any good at it. That will improve over the course of the year, but I have to actually cook more first. Second, I want to try one new recipe a week. I'll post those here, along with some feedback as to how the cooking went and if the food was tasty.

Coincidentally, my wife went grocery shopping last night. She returned with twelve paper bags full of primarily breakfast and lunch foods, along with a smattering of fruits and veggies. Oh, and five pounds of ground beef and a ROAST! Woo-hoo! We love roast.

Okay, on to the cooking stuff. We have now two crock pots. I'd like to think that we'll use them maybe twice a week for roasts or chicken stuff or what have you. There are six one-pound bags of different types of beans in the larder. I'm dying to try out a slow cooker bean recipe. One problem - the baby and I are the only two people in the house that eat beans. What I really need is a way to cook beans so that they don't have the texture of beans.

We usually keep a couple of pounds of frozen veggies. There's almost always frozen chicken breasts too. I wonder if you could stir-fry frozen chicken and veggies at the same time and have it come out right. There's an avenue of research.

We love fruit and vegetables. Often, a bowl of fruit becomes a meal. Another recipe that I'm dying to try out involves a steamed veggie plate. I could be bad and add cheese to it, to make sure that the kids eat it. Or, I could just wait until they're really hungry ;-) Fruit salad should be a weekly thing in our house, but I don't know if it's substantial enough. What would one pair with a fruit salad? Would you put salad in your fruit salad? Inquiring minds want to know.

I think that we maybe eat too much red meat. Rather than have it four or five times a week, I want to cut that down to once or twice a week. That should help with our health and with our budget. If I could figure out how to get everyone else to eat beans, I'd be home free. Beans are a prime red meat replacement. Maybe I'll just have to wait and make the bean-things for my lunches.

There's another topic for discussion - lunch. The Pickle gets her lunch for free from school, but she usually doesn't like it. I want to send her lunch with her, but it needs to be inexpensive. Sandwiches are only palatable for so many consecutive days. Maybe she'll start taking leftovers once or trice a week. Pizza, chicken, and roast are all good cold, and she loves them all.

Okay, I'll admit that this isn't my best post ever, but it will get better. Tonight, the missus wants to make a roast. Tomorrow, I'll try making something. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Until then, bon appetite.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Why we're doing the right thing with NASA

I think that the re-purposing of NASA and the cancellation of the Constellation program is the best thing to happen to both the agency and to our country since Apollo. The fruits of these decisions will be seen for decades to come. Letting private corporations handle the delivery truck duties in space is a stoke of luck for the industry as a whole. Why would someone who grew up dreaming of working for NASA say something like that? Other folks have argued the same thing. Here are some of their arguments along with my thoughts on the situation.

First, there are those who claim that NASA doesn't need to be a delivery service. While I agree, I think that they painted themselves into that corner with the Shuttle. It was supposed to have been a cheap, safe, reusable platform for supplying a space station, delivering payloads to LEO, and returning payloads for repair or decommissioning. This is how NASA sold the shuttle, and it might have worked in another universe. Obviously, Shuttle is not the fast, cheap, and easy solution that it was presented as.

A second-order effect of the Shuttle program is the mis-perception of NASA's mission. Everyone from my generation associated the Shuttle with NASA, so everybody sees NASA through what the Shuttle does - deliver things. Lots of folks draw the conclusion that NASA is a glorified space taxi service, and why do they need so much money thank-you-veddy-much? The agency has a pressing need to shed this image. Casting off Constellation will go a long way toward accomplishing that - provided that Mr. Bolden manages to take NASA to an asteroid or Mars or something equally far out.

This brings us neatly to the next point to be made. NASA is in the business of science. Everyone knows about Tang and Velcro, but not everyone knows that their phones are a direct result of NASA research. Much of the technology that we take for granted nowadays (minus the internet - thanks Al Gore!) had its start in the real-world labs of NASA (or even the NACA). By dropping projects that are evolutionary in nature in favor of more revolutionary projects, NASA will manage to get back to its core purpose.

One of the more common arguments against Constellation was that it was essentially forty-year old, over-priced, recycled technology. Now, this argument is in danger of throwing out the baby with the bath water. I'm something of a pragmatist. Whatever needs to happen to get the job done, within reason, is fine. By reusing the Apollo-era CM\SM\LEM configuration, NASA was going with a winner. We have experience with this kind of setup, and we know how it's supposed to behave. I have no problem with this.

I do, however, take issue with the cost. Orion and Constellation were over their budgets and behind schedule. If we're going to recycle technology for the purpose of getting there faster and cheaper, shouldn't it be, you know, faster and cheaper? Dropping the deadweight is the right move, and the only one sustainable given NASA's business model.

For many, especially those who work directly and indirectly for NASA, the cancellation of Constellation sounds like the death knell of the once proud organization. I think that this is utter rubbish. This is not an end, but a beginning. Let's hop in the wayback machine and look at another time not so different from the one we see now.

It was the late 1950s. The Soviet Union was becoming an ever more menacing threat. With the launch of Sputnik, they seemed to be in the lead in space. This held dire consequences both for our national security and our national prestige. We needed an answer, and we needed a good one.

President Kennedy provided that answer for us. By committing to a moon landing, he gave the newly formed NASA a purpose and a goal. We were to succeed in that endeavor, end the Soviet moon program, and eventually cause the USSR to go bankrupt.

Now, I realize that NASA doesn't currently have the same kind of lofty goal as it did in 1961, but bear with me. NASA's goal is perhaps less important than the effect of Kennedy's speech.

In focusing NASA on the moon, JFK relieved it of the task of air-based work. Generally speaking, the majority of the interesting problems associated with airplanes had been solved, or were well on their way. Stable supersonic flight, variable control surface configuration (swing-wings), jets, rockets, zero-zero ejection seats - all of these had been tamed by 1960. In hindsight, it was only natural for NASA to essentially release these tasks and this research to the industry - Boeing, McDonnell, Grumman, and the like. Freed of the burden of supporting research not directly applicable to Apollo, NASA went on to accomplish great things. The aircraft industry did too.

I think we are again at such a point. NASA doesn't yet have the grand mission that so many (myself included) wish fo it. However, it is time for the aerospace industry to step up and take over the mantle of putting things in LEO. Costs will eventually come down, spin off technologies will come to market, and safety will hopefully remain a priority.

There are dangers to this setup to be sure. Safety is obviously the bugaboo. Corporations will try to cut corners in the name of profit. People will die. But people died from airplane crashes, especially with the advent of new technology (reference the Comet disasters). One wonders if space will remain as tightly regulated as it is now. Deregulation usually only helps shareholders and boards of directors.

In any event, I feel that now is the time for private enterprise to step up to the plate and deliver space to the rest of us. Those that have been laid off due to Constellation should be able to jump right into what companies like Orbital or SpaceX are doing. Hopefully, we'll end up being as successful as we were in 1969.

Thanks for reading. I'll talk to y'all tomorrow, maybe about food.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Feature: Mindless Link Propogation

One of the things about being subscribed to several different industry digests is that I receive a ton of email updates. These updates are usually about trivial things or things that don't interest me. Often, however, they are interesting - sometimes very interesting. I'll usually find three to five unique things every day that tickle the proverbial fancy. This leads me to a problem.

See, I only type about sixty words a minute. The bulk of my blogging happens in the morning, between shower and breakfast. Trying to write about all of the nifty things I see in the course of a day is incredibly difficult, especially if I want the entries to be more than, "Hey, I found a link." One solution to the problem is to try to work all of these thing into one big post every week. Another solution is to simply ignore the problem and hope it goes away.

If I did that, I'd be shirking my responsibility to me readers and to myself. We don't like shirking.

I think I'll do a big link propagation post every ten days or so. This lest me keep space open to write about the other seven-hundred thirteen things I want to write about without letting the mindless links take over the site (like zombies).

Here we go, then, in no particular order.

There's a story on TechNewsDaily about how researchers have come up with a way to hide an object from sonar. The object is placed in the center of this disk-thing. The disk has several concentric rings which have different indicies of refraction. The sound pulse from the sonar is bent neatly around the center of the disk, reforming on the other side and continuing on as though nothing had happened.

I'm instantly reminded of my first Physics class, and so thankful that I understood what my professor was saying. This is a brilliantly simple idea with scads of potential applications, from medicine to building to cars and aircraft to the mentioned sonar-evading submarines.

Also from TechNewsDaily, this is a countdown of seven technologies in cars that got their start in aerospace. I love articles like these, for obvious reasons. I feel like the work that I'm doing now and will be doing in the future will really pay off. Worst-case scenario, I can work just about anywhere and do just about anything with a degree in physics and aeronautics.

December 14 of 2011 is the scheduled launch date for Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus X1 craft. The purpose is to test the Commercial Orbital Transportation System, a system designed to dock with the ISS. The payload is a token cargo load. Obviously, the primary function of the launch is to test the technology being used by a commercial vendor. Orbital has achieved 17 of the 21 milestones set for it by NASA to ensure a successful launch and rendezvous with Station.

I'm super excited about this. I fully believe that this is the way to go with respect to getting cargo into space and performing crew ferry functions. Let NASA do the really interesting stuff, and let the private sector do the mundane chores. The parallels between now and the early part of the Space Race are strong. The NACA was transiting into space, leaving private companies to handle further refinements in aeronautics. Everyone won then, everyone will win now. Go Orbital!

MIT has a blog called Technology Review. One story that they published last week was that Russian physicists had figured out how to work around the radio blackouts associated with re-entering spacecraft. The concept is simple - since the plasma sheath blocks radio waves, why not turn the sheath itself into a transmitter. The work is still very preliminary, but it has the potential to be a very useful tool.

Apparently, the moon has a core similar to the Earth's. Sifting through Apollo-era data, NASA researchers have concluded that the moon has a solid inner core ans a fluid outer core. The biggest difference is that the boundary layer between the crust and the core is much larger, as a percentage, than the Moho in our planet.

The primary mechanism for this discovery is advanced signals processing capabilities developed over the last forty years. Previously, there had been too much noise in the seismic signals to accurately divine what was in the moon. Now, new signals processing techniques have allowed researchers to cancel out the noise, leaving a clean signal for analysis.

China has unveiled a new fifth-generation stealth fighter. Actually, it looks more like a fighter/bomber, owing to its gargantuan size. Similar in shape to the F-22 but sized more like a Tupolev Tu-28, the J-20 is designed for air superiority and first-strike duties. Given the high ground clearance and apparent large internal space (for fuel or weapons), it would seem that the J-20 is primarily designed for long range strike duties. It's most likely not for aircraft carrier use - the thing's just too big.

The real question is who is the intended target of the J-20? Russia and China have never been the best of friends, and China seems interested in pushing the US out of the Pacific. Whether this aircraft can perform at the level of Russian or American fifth gen fighters remains to be seen.

That's enough for one day. Tune in tomorrow for a musing on the space race and how it's applicable today.




Also, before I forget, today is my fourth anniversary!. Woo! Go us! Love you hunnee :-)

Cheers,

-- Zach

Team UTD Next Steps

Moving forward is not always an easy task. There's the ever constant effort to try to "build up steam", as it were, so that any progress can be built on prior gains. It becomes especially difficult to gain momentum when one hits a setback. It takes discipline and courage to get back on the horse. One must realize that a stumbling block is a signpost on the road to success.

I've not always been the best at displaying tenacity in the face of adversity. I'll readily admit that it's super easy to throw in the towel and call it a day. On the face of it, my lack of success in getting our team a spot for the 2011 RGSFOP looks like a pretty big hiccup on the road to academic success. However, I realize that this is just the sort of jumping off point that I need in order to get where I want to go.

First thing's first: our proposal wasn't bad. The concept wad solid. What we lacked was the fleshing out of the project. Figures, sensors, a better plan, more cohesive writing. These are the major takeaways that I gleaned from our feedback. The primary plan, then, is to tighten up our RGSFOP proposal and resubmit it this fall. One of the team members has offered to fly a reduced-size project on a Cessna in order to establish a baseline for the big test. This will serve as the primary focus for Team UTD this year.

There are other projects out there, too.

Some of the things that Team UTD is looking into, both as a full-sized group and as smaller "tiger team" units, include the following:

- Rocketry. There's the ever-popular Team America Rocket Challenge. High-powered rocketry can be an avenue of research in it's own right. I've wondered at non-traditional methods for rocket stabilization, and model rockets would allow us to do the research for a fraction of the cost of a full-sized model. Other programs include CanSat and NanoSat, whose goals revolve around payload. There are now programs coming online that would provide an orbital insertion vehicle for a student payload. We could fling a little satellite into orbit! Finally, a large percentage of the research NASA does in the upper atmosphere and at lower G involves the use of sounding rockets.

- Atmospheric transit problems. Both re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and entry into an alien atmosphere present significant design and engineering challenges. I think that Team UTD could provide industry with a cost-effective or novel method for atmospheric insertion. We could piggy-back the testing for this on the high-power rocketry component.

- Scientific balloons. The mishap in Australia notwithstanding, high-altitude balloons are a very viable and current method to solve the problems related to high-altitude science. The simplicity of such a setup is astonishing. One father-son team used their iPhone and a big toy balloon, and recorded data at altitudes in excess of 26 miles. I think they spent about three-hundred dollars on the balloon.

- Current NASA challenges. NASA always has something cooking. Team UTD will apply for everything that is reasonable, splitting into smaller teams as needed in order to meet project requirements.

- Attitude control. Team UTD has access to the tools needed for extensive research in this area. I personally don't know enough about it to talk about it, so I'll wait until I've had a chance to dig into this area before I discuss pros and cons.

- In-flight control surface configuration modification. If you've ever watched Robotech, you know what this is. UT Dallas is at the forefront in the materials research needed to produce the kind of meta-morphing craft needed to go from a runway to orbit and back again. The possibilities are incredible, and the research is scant. I admit to not knowing as much about this as I should.

There are other avenues that we can pursue, both individually and as a team. I'll delve into them as they become more relevant. For now, this is essentially our working list. If anyone has a pet project they want researched, let me know and I'll see if it fits into our long-term goals. If so, you might help us do science!

Cheers,

-- Zach

NASA's Environmentally Responsible Airliner results...

The Seattle pi recently ran an article on the finalists for the NASA Environmentally Responsible Airliner Concept competition. Included are artist's renderings and the companies that produced the designs. I remember having seen a RFP for this last year. At the time, I didn't have the spare mental capacity to take on such a challenge. I really wish that I could have  participated in this.

The designs shown on the website are all blended lifting bodies with rear-mounted engines. I like the rear engine layout for airliners, because it reduces noise and vibration levels in the passenger cabin. One drawback to this configuration is the potential for a deep stall. The designs appear to be slippery enough to allow clean air into the intakes, hopefully reducing or eliminating that problem.

While blended lifting bodies offer exceptional payload and relatively short takeoff and landing rolls, I'm really not crazy about them. My first love is the Lockheed Constellation, an achingly beautiful aircraft. Blended lifting bodies look like pregnant guppy-whale-things. They aren't especially pretty, and that may be their undoing in the air passenger industry.

I would posit that airlines acquire aircraft that fit their need, as the budget allows. Generally, airliners are a temperamental bunch, displaying faults and quirks like any human. Air crews develop personal relationships with individual aircraft, and passengers will travel the globe, change flights, and pay extra to fly a specific airframe (witness the popularity of Airliners.net.) It is therefore in the best interest of the industry to push the design and development of pretty aircraft.

These designs aren't pretty.

Beauty issues aside, I have to wonder if current airports will require modification for these new designs. They appear to have very long wingspans. Could the wings fold like those of a carrier-based aircraft? If they fold up, could they also fold down to take even greater advantage of the massive lift generated by their shapes? Is there any potential for trans- or supersonic performance?

Anyway, I leave the article to you, dear reader. Tomorrow, I'll talk about what kinds of wacky projects I might be doing with Team UTD.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Here's a boring post...

So today begins my first official "I don't know what to write about" post for the new year. I'm working diligently on creating a cache of posts, ranging from aerospace to scholastics to home renovation. There's the series on cooking that I want to start, and the one on the history of the Space Race and how it parallels current events. I'd like to start doing some research for my graduate program (wherever that's going to be). I have two books' worth of short story ideas floating around in my head, along with the new further adventures of Glenn Everett (this name will probably change). I need a separate day every week just to write. I like to call it "Writeday", and it goes between Monday and whenever.

I'm sitting here on the bus typing this, and it occurs to me that I really need to keep a lint brush in my bag. My good jacket is black worsted Old Navy something-or-other, and it is a cat hair magnet. I'm only slightly embarrassed.

One of the things that always astonishes me is the way that my body falls in line with just the slightest bit of exercise. I ran Sunday, yesterday, and today. I've started in on the 5BX program which is slaughtering me. Not that I mind, though. I have truly come to believe that my performance, whether at school or at home, is directly related to how much and how effectively I exercise. Anyway, I realize that with just three days of running and calisthenics I can feel my body begin to tighten up. I'm hungry, I sleep better (already), my mood is more mellow, and I just generally feel better. I can't believe how quickly my body springs back into shape.

We still haven't gone grocery shopping. This is bad fo three reasons. First, we keep eating out for dinner. I don't think I have to tell you what a major pain in the neck that is, not to mention the added calories and reduced funds. Second, I keep not taking my lunch to school. Now, I love me some Chick-fil-Eh and Subway too, but man is it hard on my schedule. Finally, we're out of chips. This is not to be borne. The situation is dire and must be rectified immediately.

The DART Bush Turnpike train station needs a restroom. Really. Really. Badly.

Do you ever notice how it is that so many things are set up like a Mafia racket? Take shaving, for example. You buy the most expensive razor blades you can in order to get the closest shave. Getting the closest shave means that you strip the oils off of your face. This effect will put a damper on your social life. In order to combat the ravages of razored-face, you have to buy the aftershave. This stuff, of course, clogs your pores and causes your face to break out. Then you have to buy some special cleanser to fix your face.

Wouldn't it be easier to just grow a beard?

Well, it's class time. More interesting writing is in store for tomorrow.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Physical Education

I'd guess that, for a majority of folks, Physical Education classes are something distasteful. Maybe you needed an easy class to make a certain number of credit hours, or maybe you needed a fluffy class to round out a difficult semester. Most of you probably found sweating at inconvenient times to be distasteful. Unless you're a jock, it's likely that phys ed served you little purpose.

Sometimes, though, this class is not an end, but a beginning. Occasionally, it begins a habit that becomes a life-long pursuit instead of a semester-long chore. This is the case with my experience with college Phys Ed. I took it as a spare class over a summer semester. The workload was trivial, the assignments were all online. I managed to convince the coach that being the primary caregiver for multiple children counted as strength training (he had three boys, so he understood my logic).

The only thing about that class that presented any sort of challenge at all was the aerobics component. Naturally, I would have chosen to ride my bike to fulfill that requirement, but it was in dire need of service that I had neither the time nor the inclination for. I did have time to make a quick trip to Academy and grab a pair of running shoes. They were also quite a bit cheaper than the bike parts I needed.

The class requirement was something like thirty minutes of aerobics a day. Running fit the bill perfectly. Of course, my form was horrible, I didn't really stretch, and I had no idea what I was doing. But none of that really mattered, because I was moving. That's the great thing I received from that class - the knowledge that I could make thirty minutes or an hour every morning to go run. This tool has made all the difference for me. Phys Ed became a semicolon instead of a period.

The first half) year that I ran, I really didn't take it too seriously. I would run when it was convenient, usually not go very far, and take however long I wanted to. No big. Last year, I started to get serious. I got a subscription to Runner's World, bought new shoes, and started "training". Mostly, I still ran when I wanted to, whatever distance I felt like (normally four miles), and in whatever time didn't make me puke. Near the end of the year, I decided that I wanted to do a half-marathon, and nearly signed up for the DRC Half in November. Boy, am I glad I didn't.

I almost immediately over-trained. My shinsplints, never really controlled during my short runs, came out with a vengeance after several eight-milers. Two weeks of recklessly upping my mileage quickly ended any running season I may have aspired to. I was ashamed with myself - my pride had done me in.

This year (as they say) will be different. I'm planning on doing three half marathons; the Dallas Rock 'n' Roll half on March 27 (I will probably walk a lot), the White Rock Half on May 7, and the DRC Half in November. I plan on running a 5-k or two and a 10-k or two between halves (halfs?) to check my fitness. I pledge to not over-train, under-eat, or worry too much about my negative splits. Having fun and setting up a benchmark of fitness will be the order of the day.

All of this motivation, and all because I didn't have time to fix my bike one day. Funny ol' world, isin't it?

Cheers,

-- Zach

New Drones for the Military

I am completely unprepared to write about air or space today. I'll do the best I can.

The LA Times has an article about the next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles slated for use in the military. Three vehicles are discussed, briefly; the Global Observer, the the X-47B, and the Phantom Ray.

The Global Observer is a massive aircraft with four almost comical-looking propeller engines, each having two blades. It looks like a single-winged Dornier creation out of the early Twenties. Powered by liquid hydrogen (just like the Shuttle) and boasting a wingspan comparable to that of an early model Boeing 747, the Global Observer is designed to loiter at 65,000 feet for periods of up to a week. On-board cameras can take a single image that's larger than Afghanistan (though there's no information of the resolution of this image). This functionality will allow military commanders and political leaders to essentially see what's going on in the world's hot spots at a given time, in real time (or near-real time), on one big image.

The X-47B looks like something Batman would fly. Stealthy, angular at the leading edge, with an air intake where you would expect the cockpit, and able to carry two JDAM weapons for use against transient targets of opportunity. The X-47B's claim to fame is that it can conduct operations from an aircraft carrier, giving it a very quick strike capability and essentially unlimited in-theater endurance. This is what the failed A-12 Flying Dorito would have done for the Navy.

Finally, we come to the Boeing Phantom Ray, which is an outgrowth of the X-45 Program (itself the child of the Bird of Prey stealth demonstrator). Though not designed for any one role, the Phantom Ray could conceivably be adapted to nearly any function short of air superiority. The Ray is about the same size as the X-47B, but carries more payload (up to 8 JDAM weapons) and cruises faster (0.8 Mach vs 0.45 Mach, about the same speed as an airliner). This would seem to make the Phantom Ray the better aircraft from an all-around perspective.

One marked advantage of the latter to aircraft mentioned is the fact that they are turbofan powered instead of propeller-driven. This means that the X-47B and the Phantom Ray can go faster and climb higher than the Predator and Reaper drones in use today. I think it will be interesting to see how quickly these aircraft are brought into the fold and deployed. They *could* save many US lives.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Spring Class Breakdown

(Sorry for the missed post yesterday. I either got sidetracked when trying to post, or somehow thought that I had already posted.)

I figured I'd give a quick rundown of my classes this semester. My schedure is relatively sane, though I expect that not to last.

First up is MATH 2419, Calculus II. Held MWF in the Founders Building. I recognize many of the same faces from last semester. It's nice, because I don't feel quite so lonely in this one :-) There's a problem session that's two hours long, just like last time. It's also Wednesday afternoon, just like last semester. Let's hope that it is a more effective use of my time, unlike last semester.

New for this year is the test section. It's on Fridays, it only happens three times over the course of the semester, but it's a required time block, meaning that I couldn't schedule anything else at that time. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I like not taking extra class time to take an exam, but having a two hour block prevent me from taking anything else at that time (even a fifteen minute overlap - or a zero-minute overlap) is a bit constricting.

My Physics class is like that too, sort of. PHYS 2421, Honors Mechanics, is TTh, with a three hour lab on Wednesday and this strange extra lab/problem session on Friday. The professor is trying to move the Friday component, which concerns me - because the rest of my schedule is so tight. There are I think three people from my other two physics classes last semester. The whole class is perhaps fifteen people. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Lots of work, too, but I expected that.

My last class is ECS 3390, Technical and Professional Writing, Tuesday and Thursday right before physics. It's grant, proposal, report, and manual writing for scientists and engineers. I have the sneaking suspicion that I know the professor from somewhere. I can't put my finger in it... This is a relatively small class as well. The book list is refreshingly light (and inexpensive), and the workload seems to be very reasonable. I hope it isn't too cream puff-y.

That's it. Light load this semester, and I need it. After these two core classes, I'll be able to take everything else concurrently. It's about time! I can't wait to get out of undergrad-land and into serious research-ville. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

-- Zach

Baby It's Cold Outside...

So I've been wanting to work on some projects separate from the standard undergraduate school projects. Not that there's anything wrong with a standard-type project, mind. I just never do what it is that I'm supposed to do.

Those of you who were following my other blog (But Will It Fly) know that my team was not selected for the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program. Now I know why - the reviewer comments are in. Once I have a minute to collect my thoughts, I'll post something on that blog and probably cross post to here.

There are two projects that I'm looking at right now, in addition to a second attempt at the RGSFOP. The first is, as I've mentioned before, what to do about the massive amount of wake turbulence thrown off by massive jetliners like the new Boeing 747-800 and the Airbus A-380. My question is whether or not all of the energy in the air, combined with whatever water vapor may be available, could be made to essentially form water. In other words, could the turbulence be forced to turn into rain.

Imagine the times that you see a speedboat in the water, or an aircraft carrier or something. Now, imagine the wake of these vessels, instead of stretching out for miles behind them, were to turn into ice cubes (or something else equally improbable). This would leave the surface of the water very smooth. That's the gist of what I want to do.

The second project will form the basis of my graduate research (I hope). There have been attempts to shape, move, distort, fold, mutilate, and spindle shockwaves that are generated when aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound. These attempts have born fruit, notably with the NASA Quiet Spike F-15. It is my intent to apply this research to high speed propellers. I want to figure out how to allow a prop to spin at a rotational speed faster than sound without making everyone within a ten mile radius nauseous. I also want to see if a propeller driven aircraft can go faster than sound without coming apart, by way of moving or hiding the shockwaves that would come off the propeller.

That's it (isn't that enough?). I'll be posting updates on these three items throughout the year. I have no idea if I can even get the materiel that I need to do the research. That's half the fun though, trying to do the impossible/very difficult/incredibly obscure.

Никогда не сдавайся.



Cheers,

-- Zach

I really need a room...

with nothing in it except for a wall to wall bed. Then, we could get rid of all the other beds in the house, since they aren't ever used anyway. We'll call it the "Bedroom".

Our children co-sleep. Well, except for the ten year old (thankfully). This means that at some point over the course of the evening, the little people will leave whatever beds they happen to be in and migrate, asleep, like some zombie wildebeest, into our bed. I'm sure you can imagine how inconvenient this is.

We stayed the night at my parents house this past Saturday. My grandparents and aunt & uncle drove in too. This meant that we finally had the chance to complete Christmas, over a fortnight later that we had planned. Since my whole family was sick with SARS or Ebola or something, we figured it best to stay away from my grandparents. I'm glad we did, because they looked fabulous.

Yes, before you ask, the little children ended up in bed with us at my folks house too. In a double bed. An antique, incredibly noisy, double bed.

Digression: as I type this, it snows here in big D. I think I just heard someone go by in a dog sled. True story.

My Spring semester at the wonderful UTD begins today. Just Calculus II on Mondays. I figure that this will be my study heavy day. Today's tasks include making it to campus without the train going off the track and finding where all my classes will be. Tomorrow I have my technical writing c;ass and Physics II. I'm really looking forward to it.

That's about it. I'm a bit short on time, so I'll wrap it up here. Tomorrow, I think I'll have something on the projects that I'm working on or wish to do. Until then, enjoy the snow.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Gusev

The explorer stepped gingerly over the rock across his path. The crest of this hill was only a few meters away, but the intense heat and the driving wind conspired to turn ten meters into ten thousand. Cautiously now, he drug his right leg over the rock, placing it on the ground the same way one would lay a sleeping child in her crib. He sat down on the rock.

How far had he come? It was difficult to say. Looking back down the ridge, over the plain that stretched to the far off horizon, he could see the tracks he had left. The ship that had delivered him to this place was too far away to see anymore, and besides, there was no going back now. Not that he planned to. What had he planned?

Sometimes, the best laid schemes of mice and men go not awry, but succeed beyond anyone's wildest reckoning. That had been the case when, seven years ago, the explorer had been deposited here. There had been another explorer too; she had gone north while he went south. Tasked with a three month expidition, he had remained much longer. The supplies held out, the winters were manageable, and he could just almost live off the land. Six years of hardscrabble existance had been rewarded with sights and sounds that noone could have dreamed possible. The amount of knowledge that he had collected would fill the Library of Congress many times over; it would take years to simply catalogue it all.

And then one day, he twisted his ankle. It was bad. Not painful, per se, but impossible to use. The thought of having to stop now, after having come so far and seen so much, made him sick. There was no way that a little frailty would get in the way of his pride. So, after wrapping the ankle as best as he could, he went on about his mission. Over little nameless hills, across long dry gullies, day and night, summer and winter, he trudged on.

Now he sat looking at the last ridge he would ever crest. Winter was coming, and the explorer felt in his heart that he wouldn't make it through this time. Through many perils he had come now to the end of his journey. One more push, one last sunset, one final time to be awed by what he saw.

With a Herculean effort, he pushed himself to his feet. Night was coming quickly, he had to reach the top soon or risk never seeing the other side. Step draaaag, step draaaag, around that rock, step draaaag, step draaaag. His lungs were on fire, his vision was blurred from the incessant wind. He knew his leg was behind him though he could no longer feel it. One more step, and he could see over the ridge. One more step to clear it, but no. His leg was too heavy, his strength finally failed, his life energy all but spent; he finally fell.

The sun was setting to his right. Before him lay a grand crater, larger than any yet seen on Earth. The colors were sublime, the wind cold and lifeless. No other soul stirred the dust of his final resting place. As darkness sped to him he thought he could just sense something shiny, like ice, in the shadowy gloom of the crater. Ice, the one thing that made it all worthwhile, more valuable than gold. He could only hope that those who came after him would be able to use the information that he had collected. As life fled his frame, there was the fleeting sensation of warmth, of green and sweet pastures, of quiet and slumber. That didn't seem so bad.

Fiction allows us to romanticize anything, even little robots millions of kilometers away from home on another planet. The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been quiet since March of 2010. There are those who still have hope that the plucky little rover will wake up as spring approaches, eight years after landing. It seems unlikely, but these intrepid explorers, lasting far beyond their expected lifetimes, have taught us that anything's possible on the red planet.

Perhaps Spirit will wake up and resume its exploratory work. That would be a nice coda to the story.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Science and Technology Schooling

Education is a topic that is close to my heart. My wife and I have three kids already, and the fourth is due in June. Our oldest is in public school. We feel that it's sufficient for now, but she'll probably end up going to a magnet or private school sometime in the future. The (currently) middle child is already beginning to display a knack for language and logic. If we had the money to put her in a Montessori, we would. The (current) baby is the quiet reserved one, best known for taking her time in figuring things out. School is going to need to move at her pace, I'm afraid.

When I was in school, I remember how often the games we played were math or science inspired. Whether tasked with counting and manipulating, or given a question and asked to observe to find an answer, science and math was woven into everything we did. Yearly science fairs accelerated the gifted and were a source of wonder and awe for the younger kids.

Then, we moved to south Dallas.

I remember wondering why it was that some of the sixth grade kids could drive their own cars to school. The concept of being held back was utterly foreign to me. I didn't realize that other kids might not want to succeed, and this new understanding troubled me deeply. Why weren't the teachers interested in the kids, and why did the kids seem to hate the teachers? The whole scene made no sense to me.

Over time, I began to understand the dynamics of poor neighborhoods, why kids with so much potential acted so fatalistic toward their education and their lives. Not everyone was the stereotypical ghetto kid, of course. My first-ever crush went to Space Camp and dreamed of being an astronaut. On the whole, however, education was far less of a focus than was survival. Math, science, humanities, art, all cast by the wayside on the journey to big chains and bigger rims.

My schools were typical of those found all over the country. The decline in test scores from US kids is a direct result of something or other. There are too many problems with the schools to point a finger at any one thing (save perhaps parent involvement - the one key indicator to a child's success in school). The decline of the American student is not going unnoticed or unchallenged. A middle school in Minneapolis is offering a complete curricula in STEM learning.

The Richard Allen Math & Science Academy (RAMSA) has only been open for a  year and a half, but it's already showing dramatic results. The curriculum includes math and science foci, as you might expect. Students go on field trips twice a month to reinforce their learning. Daily engineering classes help answer the age-old question, "When will I ever use this in the real world?" And finally. they've built a trebuchet. Who could ask for anything more?

I'm not sure what kind of schools my children will attend. I hope that they are as cool as RAMSA.

Cheers,

-- Zach

New Year's Goals

Pragmatism, perseverance, and patience are three essential qualities required for anyone wishing to achieve their goals. Pragmatism is one that I'm good at. I can assess a situation, determine what's going on and what needs to happen, and then choose the most effective next step based on what's possible and desirable. Pretty easy, really. Most folks are good at this one.

Perseverance is the quality of continuing toward something of worth even when it seems too difficult to do so. Seven times knocked down, eight times got up. Getting up to run when it's thirty degrees outside, studying a language instead of turning on the teevee, losing the job or the contest or the girl and still showing up the next day, ready to go.

Patience. It's nearly a lost art in this day and age. The world moves so fast that it seems possible to get anything one wants, right now, with little thought given to how the mechanism works or who might be affected in the process. In this arena, waiting for something goes against the grain. It's even more difficult when you're plugged in 24\7 and constantly in gogogogo mode. I've always had a fondness for trade and vocational schools. Could I start one that teaches patience as well as plumbing?

Here, in no real order, are some of my goals for 2011. This is not a complete list, and things will be modified as time goes along, but it's a reasonable start.

Fitness
Goal: To run a sub two hour half marathon.
Fitness goals are the easiest. I can say, "I'll run a half in this time, and to get there I'll do this and that." A simple progression of steps leads to the prize. What are my steps here? Well, I'll run three halves (Rock 'n' Roll Dallas, White Rock, Dallas Running Club) interspersed with selected 5- and 10k runs. I'll lift a training program out of Runner's World magazine, do all the cross training I can stand, and work to get lots of rest. In the meantime, my general fitness will improve, which is the real effect I want.

Home
Goal: To finish all of the paintwork before the newest arrival arrives in June.
This is also an easy goal to set, the steps are clear and well-defined, the outcomes known in advance. The biggest challenge here is finding the time to complete all of the little tasks that have remained undone since SWWNO was born. Finishing the doors, cutting in the ceilings, repairing the hardware, sealing up the windows, replacing the cabinets, and killing off the persistent clutter are all things that can either be done one at a time in a one task per day manner, or they can be done in a ten minutes here, ten minutes there way. Since I really don't ever have two free hours to string together, I'll have to do it a few minutes at a time.

School
Goal: To get my GPA back above 3.80 by the end of the calender year.
I am not sure I can do this one. Time management is the bugaboo, but the real monkey wrench is school-life balance. Studying with partners is far more effective than studying alone, yet my family requirements dictate that I spend the majority of my time at home. There's nobody here I can study with. Except maybe the cat :-) Perhaps technology can help out here. Skype or some other videochat program might do the trick.

Self
Goal: Lots of little ones - become fluent in Russian, pick up the guitar again, reconnect with my interest in drawing, find a church.
Sometimes goals are little more than a laundry list of to do action items. They have to get done before you can move on to the next things, though. The goals in this category will probably change and evolve over the course of the year.

Career
Goal: Publish two articles in a peer-reviewed forum (Journal, Magazine, et cetera).
Research is at the center of a good science-based career. The desire to know more, translated into action via the application of physical laws, is the essence of engineering. Getting into the field requires some fee, some toll to satisfy the troll on the bridge. Publishing research is a great way to get a foot in the door. I'd like to do something with dissipation of wake turbulence and also with high speed propeller research. Oh, I also need to start looking into grad school.

That's it for now. I don't seem to have time for much more. There are more goals - something about a garden and writing short stories. These goals aren't yet really flashed out, so they'll have to wait for another post.

Happy goal-setting!

Cheers,

-- Zach

Share your knowledge -

it's a way to achieve immortality.
-- The Dali Lama

Greetings from the heart of Dallas. I hope your 2011 has begun with a bang - mine has. Goals are being set, habits are being reviewed, and I'm telling myself that this, this will be the year that things really take off for me.

Then I turn on the Resolve to Watch NCIS marathon on USA. It's going to be a long year.

My life is full of lots of things - big things, little things, tiny things. It's like some kind of mad three-dimensional Tetris, with pieces ranging in size from a brick to a whole house. The whole thing gets faster and faster, there's no pause function, and I don't get to see the next piece. And, naturally, the pieces only fit together one way.

It's not a bad life, really. It's just incredibly difficult to manage it well. The small things (like trying to convince my ten year old daughter to pick up her clothes) get in the way of the big things (my wife's disability) and almost make me lose sight of the gigantic things (school, career, hobbies). I think, however, that they're manageable given good planning and execution.

Toward that end, I'm making my goals and progress public (for the one person who actually reads this blog (thanks Sofie!)). I'm working on posting daily, both about aeronautics and science, but also about family and school. Today is just a starting block. I haven't written in a minute, and it would be nice to get back in the habit.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about some of my goals for the year. They're not resolutions; I only have one resolution, and that's to increase my GPA via more quality study time stemming from better time management. My goals are things like straight As, a functioning garden, being published for the first time, and running a sub two hour half marathon.

Today is just for loosening up a bit. I'll see you tomorrow.

Cheers,

-- Zach