The DRACO Door: Design, Test, and Integration of the Mechanism on the DART Spacecraft

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is NASA's first planetary defense mission to demonstrate the viability of kinetically impacting an asteroid and deflecting its trajectory. The DART spacecraft successfully launched on November 24, 2021 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base and successfully made impact on Dimorphos, the smaller asteroid in the Didymos system, on September 26, 2022. The DART spacecraft has one instrument called Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO). DRACO is an imaging telescope that, in conjunction with the SMART Navigation algorithm, autonomously guided the DART spacecraft to the asteroid. Because DRACO is a mission critical and light sensitive instrument, the DRACO Door mechanism was designed as the protective cover. The door functions to shield DRACO from stray light during launch, to deploy in space once when commanded, and to stay 180 degrees open for the duration of the mission. The DRACO Door went through several iterations during the design phase with decisions on various components such as Frangibolts ®, torsion springs, hardstops, and latches. After fabrication and assembly, the door went through a rigorous environmental testing plan, which included deployment testing, vibration testing, and thermal vacuum testing. After successful qualification of the mechanism, the door was installed and integrated into the DART spacecraft. It should be noted that during the fabrication of the mechanism piece-parts, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the effects of the pandemic were seen in the challenges faced during the DRACO door assembly and testing. Under the constraints of the pandemic, the DART spacecraft was successfully built, tested, and launched, and the DRACO door was successfully deployed on December 7, 2021. The door has continued to function as intended. This paper will discuss the design choices behind the door components, the environmental qualification test program, and the installation of the door onto the DART spacecraft. In addition, this paper will discuss the lessons learned and the challenges of fabricating and testing the flight hardware. © 2023 IEEE.

The Verification & Validation of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Surface Mission Operations System

Leading up to its landing on Mars on February 18, 2021, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover Surface Mission Operations System (MOS) underwent a verification and validation (V&V) campaign consisting of a series of Super Thread Tests and Operational Readiness Tests. This V&V campaign emphasized incremental testing, mission scenario and capability coverage, and the Test-As-You-Fly approach wherever possible. Although the elements that comprise the Surface System underwent their own internal V&V campaigns, the system-level tests were vital in uncovering findings observable only through the integrated and flight-like nature of these Surface Mission Operations System V & V tests. The COVID-19 pandemic posed additional challenges, including limited facility access, constrained in-person activities, changes to operations paradigms, and evolving safety protocols in the midst of the testing campaign and preparation for surface operations. This paper describes the Verification and Validation campaign of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Surface Mission Operations System that led to the readiness for rover operations on Mars. © 2023 IEEE.

Principles for Water Governance in a Post-COVID World: Water Sector Needs to Be Embedded in Environmental Justice

This paper argues that the crisis in humanity's relationship with water reflected in rapidly escalating demand and dangerously depleting freshwater and groundwater reserves, can be understood as the outcome of the anthropocentric assumptions underlying our current development models. These assumptions have given rise to both the challenge of severe water scarcity as well as to the kind of policies used to address it. Drawing on principles from an environmental justice framework, it calls for a drastic restructuring of the water sector on more equitable, sustainable and democratic lines. Some of the guiding principles for water governance that are suggested include ensuring that interventions in nature or river systems are along the contours of nature, focusing on managing the demand for water as against the present emphasis on supply augmentation, recognition of structural and historical inequities which determine access to water, adoption of an approach to water management that is adaptive to rapidly changing circumstances and promotion of the participation of all stakeholders in governance and knowledge production. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Helping Language Teachers in Lithuania take their First Action Research Steps During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Online Strategy

This paper reports on the experiences of the authors teaching action research workshops as professional development for language teachers in Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic. It describes work carried out for Action Research Communities for Language Teachers, which is funded under the Training and Consultancies programme of the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe as part of its aim to promote quality language education in Europe. The paper focuses on the necessary pivot from face-to-face to online action research workshops and project development in a difficult global context for a group of teachers in Lithuania. It outlines the challenges experienced by the authors and teacher participants, the lessons learned in online teaching of action research, and the positive outcomes for language teachers in setting out on their action research journeys. The paper contributes to the literature on action research in language education and professional development during Covid-19.

Taking Stock: The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on University-Community Engagement

This article examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university-community engagement (UCE) as an academic mission. The aim of the work is to outline the ways in which UCE has been functioning since the turbulent onset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. The study undertakes a systematic review of the UCE literature to identify major trends, raising important questions regarding ongoing scholarly discussions and managerial/policy debates on the subject. The results show seven distinct types of engagement responses by higher education institutions (HEIs) across the globe. In addition, the review identified that HEIs faced difficulties in either adapting existing engagement practices or while establishing new ones, especially regarding the efficient use of digital technologies. In terms of implications, the findings suggest that the pandemic has resulted in new debates about the societal role of HEIs, with medium- and long-term implications for policy and management.

Crisis Leadership: Voices from the Field

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach and the Marianist characteristics as a conceptual framework to understand the experiences of six lay Marianist educational leaders during COVID-19. Findings indicate that, during the pandemic, leaders were faced with specific challenges: receiving an excess of information, facing inequity in technology, serving students with various learning needs, and attending to the socioemotional health of students and teachers. Despite these di f iculties, the leaders were able to uphold the Marianist characteristics of educating for adapta tion and change, in family spirit, and for formation in faith. This study is significant because it provi des unique perspectives on how leaders of a Marianist urban high school were able to advance their mission during a global health pandemic. The study also adds to the crisis and Marianist leadership bodies of literature. © 2023, Loyola Marymount University. All rights reserved.

Building capacities for oriented innovation: Argentina's response to COVID-19 from a gender perspective.

The pandemic tested the resilience of public systems, as governments faced the challenge of rapidly adapting their policies and practices. In this context, Argentina was recognized as one of the few countries that managed to mainstream a gender perspective to reach the most vulnerable populations, showing adaptive capacities and strategic orientation. This article seeks to document, systematize, and rethink the strategies deployed by the Argentine government in terms of mission-oriented innovation policies. The objective is to understand which capabilities are key to address complex social issues in the Global South and how they can be nurtured. Through a theoretical framework that articulates the literature on "dynamic public sector capacities” and "state capacities” in Latin America and the application of a qualitative methodology (case study), we find that state capacities were strengthened by reconfiguring pre-existing resources based on a government project, collective leadership, and a series of institutional and political innovations in the context of the rise of regional feminisms. This experience, which has earned Argentina global recognition, offers important lessons for addressing social challenges through innovation policies, the institutionalization of popular movement demands, and collaborations for resilient systems. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] La pandemia puso a prueba la resiliencia de los sistemas públicos, pues los Gobiernos enfrentaron el desafío de adaptar rápidamente sus políticas y prácticas. En ese contexto, Argentina fue reconocida como uno de los pocos países que logró transversalizar la perspectiva de género para alcanzar a las poblaciones más vulnerables, mostrando capacidades de adaptación y orientación estratégica. En este artículo se busca captar, sistematizar y repensar –en el contexto de las políticas de innovación orientadas por misiones– las estrategias desplegadas por el Gobierno argentino. El objetivo es comprender qué capacidades resultan claves para el abordaje de problemáticas sociales complejas en el Sur Global y cómo estas pueden nutrirse. A través de un marco teórico que articula la literatura sobre "capacidades dinámicas del sector público” y "capacidades estatales” en América Latina, y la aplicación de una metodología cualitativa (estudio de caso), encontramos que las capacidades estatales se fortalecieron reconfigurando recursos preexistentes a partir de un proyecto de gobierno, liderazgos colectivos, y una serie de innovaciones institucionales y políticas en el contexto del auge de los feminismos regionales. Esta experiencia, que le ha valido a Argentina el reconocimiento mundial, ofrece importantes lecciones para abordar los retos sociales mediante políticas de innovación, la institucionalización de las demandas de los movimientos populares y las colaboraciones para lograr sistemas resilientes. (Spanish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of FLACSO Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The 100 Days Mission—2022 Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit

Summit participants also noted that regulators must come to a consensus regarding requirements for clinical trial data, become more familiar with technology platforms through review of data across various pathogens over time, and provide guidance on the feasibility of alternative pathways to emergency use approval, especially in the context of the 100 Days Mission (10). Speakers shared reports of progress being made on several fronts: the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are setting up mRNA vaccine technology transfer hubs in South America (12) and South Africa (13);Moderna (https://www.modernatx.com) plans to set up an mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya (14);SK bioscience (https://www.skbioscience.com) plans to produce routine vaccines in preparation for Disease X that can quickly transfer to large-scale manufacturing if a new pandemic occurs;and WHO has designated South Korea as a biomanufacturing training hub (15). More tools and innovations that enable rapid R&D and manufacturing responses will, in turn, be needed, including standardized animal models and assays, accelerated trial designs, improved rapid diagnostics, laboratory and clinical trial networks that enable data sharing, and distributed manufacturing across regions. March 8, 2022 [cited 2022 Jun 7]. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/moderna-build-mrna-vaccine-manufacturing-facility-kenya-2022-03-07/ World Health Organization.

Towards an SDN/NFV based Network Infrastructure for Hospital Information Systems and Healthcare Services

Today's hospitals have become extremely dependent on technology to providing valuable patient services. From collecting as well as administering data of patients to delivering advanced therapies. The network infrastructure of the hospital is charged to provide various solution that are mission critical to address the increasing demands of healthcare services. Software Defined Networking and Network Functions Virtualization will improve infrastructure agility, making it easier to design, deliver and use networking services in a dynamic and scalable environment. Combining SDN and NFV provides significant benefits throughout the infrastructure network. Additionally, external parties are able to use infrastructure services in order to establish new service offerings. The infrastructure services are opened for many parties like developers of applications and service vendors. In this article, we first highlight some of the issues in the hospital information system (HIS) and healthcare services which network infrastructure will eventually confront. Then, concepts of SDN as well as NFV are presented. In addition, description of the benefits that SDN and NFV have for HIS and healthcare services. Finally, a new multi-layer architecture based on SDN and NFV is proposed and how this architecture can deal with the existing challenges of HIS and healthcare services. © 2022 IEEE.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): making of India's Digital Health Story

Technology is being leveraged worldwide to deliver services to citizens in all domains, including healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed everyone to embrace digital transformation and reconsider current healthcare trends. In response to the emerging need for digitization of healthcare in India, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission was launched in September 2021. It creates and uses Digital Public Goods in increasing the availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability of health care through different building blocks. The purpose of this mission is to establish a national digital health ecosystem that is integrated, effective and inclusive. The interoperable frameworks, open protocols and consent artefact enable citizens, public and private healthcare providers, digital innovations and other stakeholders to come together and drive equitable digitization of healthcare across the country.

Bridging the Gap Between Academia and Business

The tertiary education sector in all countries has been affected by the social impact of the COVID-19 era. The provision of ‘on-line' or ‘hybrid' teaching has enabled some education to continue but other aspects of campus life, such as postgraduate and other laboratory-based research activities, have been curtailed. The public hygiene strategy of cutting back some businesses through the COVID ‘lockdown' has also interrupted some of the links between industry and universities, although some universities have expanded collaboration with local government and other agencies to work for recovery. Despite the effect of COVID, the demand for premium knowledge by individuals on which to build their careers has not diminished. In many countries both government and society have intensified their interest in universities with the view to them taking an increasingly active role in economic and social development. This expanded activity is now commonly described as a ‘third mission' (TM). The development of TM has been growing across the whole of the international tertiary education spectrum for more than fifty years. Individual universities have developed deeper working relationships with industry, business, and the public sector. One of the consequences of COVID on universities has been to accelerate the need to put in place TM related activities, thus bridging the gap between academia and business. This chapter explores the issues and reflects on some aspects of the third leg mission for universities in an international context and particularly in the Arab World. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Mission as ‘being with' in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

This research investigated the impact measures (such as lockdowns) used to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) have on the church's mission. When people face travel and assembly restrictions, the church as a community of witnesses testifying and participating in Christ's work risks is being neutralised, and its presence weakened. What then does mission as ‘ being with ' look like in these situations? Is faithful presence something one can turn on and off at will depending on the situation? If faithful presence was no more, what then was the impact of such absence on the church's mission? These questions underscore the relevance of this research which sought to ascertain the impact the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown had on the church's mission. The crucial area this research sought to explore are the lessons from the COVID-19 lockdown that will help the church prepare for future pandemics which scientists say are inevitable. The research made use of a qualitative interview method to discover the meaning of ‘ being with' in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown. The results revealed six attributes of a missional church. Based on these attributes, the research recommends a seven-step process to prepare the church for possible future pandemics. Contribution: This research has provided the church with an opportunity to shift from being ‘inward-looking' to a church that is community focused, a church that prepares, trains and equips its adherents for the work of ministry in their own communities such that the work of ministry continues with or without gatherings.

‘Sinawe' [we are with you]: Local churches as change agents in the lives of traumatised youth

The church has a key role to play in addressing the chronic levels of grief and trauma experienced by the youth in South Africa. It has a biblical mandate to bring hope and healing and has a unique station within South African society that positions it to bring about real transformation. ‘ Sinawe' (Zulu for [we are with you]) is a programme developed by Scripture Union South Africa to equip local churches as change agents through a relational youth ministry model that engages trauma, grief and holistic needs, both physically and spiritually. This is an important first step for churches wanting to reach and minister to young people. The South African church has an important and legitimate role to play in the lives of young people. Research indicates that although the church is considered by local residents as an important community resource, it remains ineffectual in intentional community-based youth ministry that leverages significant opportunity. This research identifies the church as an important community change agent and encourages church leaders to step into the open gap to reach local young people while providing the methodology with which to do so. This research paper examines the current South African social context, outlines a theological mandate for church involvement and presents a methodology for a supportive and effective approach to community engagement in the lives of young people led by local churches. Interdisciplinary: The article is relevant to the following disciplines within theology;missiology, family and youth ministry and pastoral care. It also has interfaces with education and sociology.

Library partnerships in an age of openness

Librarians are strong collaborators. As we move toward the "next normal,” partnerships and collaboration will play an even larger role. In our post-pandemic world, what does "open” mean in terms of access to libraries, their staff, and their services? National libraries, for example, are still, to some extent, fixed in space in physical terms, despite having grown their digital offer before and considerably during the COVID-19 period. Through partnerships with public and academic libraries, the British Library has begun to improve access to its content and events. The library community now has an opportunity to build on experience and to think differently and collaboratively about what openness means in terms of spaces, content, and staff support for our communities in a hybrid digital and physical world—ensuring the enduring "why” and the transforming "how” of libraries in the 21st century. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social Enterprises Response to COVID-19 – The Case of Romania

SEs, which are found in various forms, are business models that have both social and financial purposes, in the way in which they operate on the market offering products and/or services. The added value of this paper is given by the presentation of the way in which the SEs in Romania reacted to the situation given by the COVID-19 pandemic, the method used to be multiple case study. The aim of the research is to identify how the SEs in Romania have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, their reactions to the new situation and the organizational resilience strategies adopted. The research is a qualitative one, using the multiple case study, and analyses the activity of five SEs in Romania. The case studies are carried out following desk research, which includes the literature review, various reports, public documents, annual activity reports, websites, other published papers, and so on. A conclusion of this research is that at the level of the studied SEs, the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic can fall into two main directions, one that assumes an immediate response, focused on the new needs arising on the market and the other one, which consists of continuing the activity, the target being to fulfill the assumed social mission, as well as the financial one. Another conclusion is that at the level of the organizational resilience strategies, two out of the five studied SEs were oriented towards the adoption of new products (to respond to new market needs) targeted to address the new market segments. The analysis carried out leads us to the conclusion that the five SEs studied can be seen as a good example of organizational resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and that they managed to return to their plans (defined before March 2020) and to do important steps towards new directions. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Through the Eyes of Retired Clergy: The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Future for the Church of England

Data from the Coronavirus, Church & You Survey indicated that retired clergy were feeling less comfortable with the Church's responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and more disaffected from the institutional Church. The subsequent project, Through the eyes of retired clergy, listened in greater depth to how retired clergy felt about the ways in which the Church had responded to the pandemic and to how they saw the future for the Church. In terms of the Church's response to the pandemic, retired clergy were not only realistic and affirming, but also engaged and critical. In terms of the future for the church, retired clergy were realistic and pessimistic. The general view was that the pandemic had accelerated the effect of trends evident before the pandemic. Some would argue that, while the pandemic could have reinforced the visibility of the Church in the local community, such opportunities were largely missed. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

African Indigenous knowledge versus Western science in the Mbeere Mission of Kenya

This article sets out to explore the way in which Western science and technology was received in the Mbeere Mission of central Kenya since August 1912 when a medical missionary, Dr T.W.W. Crawford, visited the area. In his dalliance with ecclesiastical matters, Crawford, a highly trained Canadian medical doctor, was sent by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) at Kigari-Embu, in 1910, to pioneer the Anglican mission in the vast area that included Mbeereland, where Mbeere Mission is situated. Contending with the African indigenous knowledge in medicine, environmental conservation, agriculture and other forms of indigenous science, the introduction of Western science and technology, 1912 to 1952, the article argues, did not erase the former;rather, it complimented it. Pockets of general resistance were evident, though Mbeereland, unlike its neighbouring Mutira Mission of 1912, did not offer elaborate opposition to the Western science and technology, partly because the locals could have learnt about it from their neighbours who had experienced it much earlier. Through a historico-narrative design, the research article endeavours to primarily review the coming of Western medicine in Mbeereland: Did it conflict with the African medicine? Methodologically, the data have been collected via archival sources, oral interviews and by reviewing applicable literature. Contribution: The input of this research article to the HTS Journal's vision and scope is seen by appreciating its focus on the interface between African indigenous knowledge and the European science and technology. Although the main focus is African versus western medicine, and how it was historically received in Mbeere Mission of Central Kenya, it largely speaks for the tropical Africa. The article is within the multidisciplinary areas in missiology and historiography.

What Kind of Teaching in the Post-Digital Era? The Challenges of Schools and Universities after the Pandemic: An Explorative Survey at University of Bari Aldo Moro

All around the world, schools and universities should re-think and update teaching to adjust to technological changes and exploit their potentialities by means of hybrid teaching (Limone, 2013). Considering teaching in presence as absolutely good and online teaching as bad and necessary only during the pandemic is ideological, reductive and wrong (Ferri, Moriggi, 2018). If properly used in an ad-hoc pedagogical approach, technology represents an opportunity for students (Bonaiuti, Dipace, 2021), who can participate in training and updating processes and better adapt to changes. The long and complex post-pandemic period should allow the experimentation of a better integration between teaching in the classroom and technologically 'augmented' teaching. The process of digitalisation and methodological innovation should become permanent, as suggested in Mission number 4 -- Education and Research of the NPRR. This was the starting point for an explorative survey (Lucisano, Salerni, 2002) conducted with 400 students of the University of Bari in order to research their challenges and levels of satisfaction with the online courses attended in the a.a. 2020/2021. The survey shows the difficulties with distance teaching and presents an overview on possible future blended approaches.

Plan S and purpose: The future direction for UK learned societies

A group of UK-based learned societies were anonymously interviewed to understand how trends are affecting their missions, strategies, and operations. The societies' missions focus on supporting academics and disseminating knowledge, with publishing being a means to achieve those goals rather than an end in itself. The responses were concerned about addressing open access (OA) but, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era, this was not necessarily their highest priority. The societies expressed reliance on larger corporate publishers on them to navigate the transition to OA publishing. The societies' focus is on evolving their missions to meet the changing needs of their academic communities, with issues around premises as a result of COVID-19 being more pressing than publishing industry changes. The societies face challenges in adapting to the shift to online and digital operations, particularly in regards to maintaining engagement with their members. © 2023 The Authors. Learned Publishing © 2023 ALPSP.