Background Project Orion was a study of a spacecraft intended to be directly propelled by a series of explosions of atomic bombs behind the craft (nuclear pulse propulsion). Early versions of this vehicle were proposed to take off from the ground with significant associated nuclear fallout; later versions were presented for use only in space. The Orion concept offered high thrust and high specific impulse, or propellant efficiency, at the same time. The unprecedented extreme power requirements for doing so would be met by nuclear explosions, of such power relative to the vehicle’s mass as to be survived only by…
Author: John Greenewald
Background Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery. Programmes of this sort were initially discussed at least as early as the 1920s and were implemented in many countries, but only became widespread in the USA after the threat of nuclear weapons was realised. Since the end of the Cold War, the focus of civil defense has largely shifted from military attack to emergencies and disasters in general. The new concept is…
Background The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) can be a powerful tool. And with the recent controversy about Hillary Clinton, and her use of a private e-mail server (thus negating the reach of the FOIA), I thought it might be fun to start filing requests, for high ranking government officials, and see what they are talking about behind the scenes. In this particular case? What IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was saying, about Donald Trump. I filed multiple requests at different time frames for responsive documents. You will find both cases below. December 2016 Release On June 27, 2016, I filed…
Background The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines as well as licensing hydropower projects. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave FERC additional responsibilities as outlined and updated Strategic Plan. As part of that responsibility, FERC: Regulates the transmission and wholesale sales of electricity in interstate commerce; Reviews certain mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions by electricity companies; Regulates the transmission and sale of natural gas for resale in…
Background According to Schnabel Engineering: In 2005, settlement and lateral movement of the North Plaza and the Ashlar Seawall prompted the National Park Service (NPS) to close a portion of the Jefferson Memorial due to public safety concerns. Schnabel was commissioned by NPS to analyze the problem and develop a repair strategy. [They] conducted an extended settlement study to determine the cause of the seawall and North Plaza movements and the rate of settlement. The problem was in large part due to the foundation timber piles of the seawall not extending to bedrock. Schnabel conducted a value analysis with NPS…