The Comanche Helicopter Program Essay -- The Armed Forces

In 1983 the United States began a program to upgrade the aging fleet of U.S. Army helicopters. What was initially known as the Light Helicopter Experimental (LHX), in April 1991 the LHX program would become the Reconnaissance Attack Helicopter (RAH-66). The program was initially designed to replace all light helicopters in the Army fleet, however, this was reduced to a more attainable goal of replacing the AH-1, OH-58, and OH-6 helicopters. This program greatly enhanced the capabilities of the commander on the battlefield of the future.1 The helicopter of the future would far outclass any helicopter on the planet; boasting capabilities like fly by wire controls, stealth, greater maneuverability, greater speed, and far reaching technological capabilities making it the â€Å"quarterback of the digital battlefield†-. What the Comanche program quickly turned into was an over budget, behind schedule, government project that was being built to combat an enemy that no longer existed. Technological advances found through the 6.9 billion dollars spent on the Comanche have yielded some improvements to the current fleet of Army helicopters (block III Apache), however, it could be argued that the Comanche project simply drained the military and held back the advancement of the current fleet. 2 Twenty years after the birth of the LHX, the United States had invested 6.9 Billion dollars and had two RAH-66 helicopters to show for it. In 2003, with the war on terrorism kicking off, President George W. Bush cancelled the Co manche program to better equip the U.S. Military for the fight that was ongoing. History U.S. strategy in 1983 toward the Cold War with the U.S.S.R. was to simply out spend the Soviet Union in the military sector. The... ...ng†, Defense Media Network, December 16, 2010, www.defensemedianetwork.com 3. NATO’s Nations and Partners for Peace, Comanche Terminated, Air Power, 2004 4. Pelletier, A.J. â€Å"Bell Model 406/OH-58D Kiowa Warrior†, Avia Star, www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/bell_warrior.php, 1992 5. U.S. Department of Defense News Transcript. Briefing on the Restructure and Revitalization of Army Aviation, February 23, 2004 6. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General. Financial Management of the RAH 66 Comanche Helicopter Program, August 6, 1998 7. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, Acquisition Management of the RAH-66 Comanche, May 12, 2003 8. Wayne, Leslie. Pentagon Says it Plans to Kill Copter Program, The New York Times, February 24, 2004 9. Werthman, Robert W, Col.. The Comanche Helicopter Program: A Strategic Policy Failure, March 30, 2007

The Life and Accomplishment of Madam Curie: Her Contribution to Science

Marie â€Å"Madame† Sklodowska, also known as Madam Curie, was a French chemist, born November 7, 1987 in Poland. Her early years were know to be sorrowful, losing her mother and a sister, Marie was an early pioneer in the field of radiology, as well as winning two Nobel prizes and founding the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw, she was noted for her diligent work ethic, she turned down food and sleep in order to study. (www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. htm) As a child Marie learned to read at four years old, people were amazed with her memory at such a young age. Her father, was a scientist who kept his instruments in a glass case, these instruments intrigued young Marie. Marie, at an early age wanted to become a scientist, but her dream would be difficult to accomplish due to her family being poor. At the age of eighteen, in order for her surviving sister study in Paris, Marie became a governess to help with the financials. In return for helping her elder sister, Bronya financially, Bronya agreed to repay Marie by contributing to the cost of her studies after obtaining her own degree. (inventors. about. om/library/inventors/blMarieCurie. htm) At the age of twenty-four, and with the urging of her sister, Marie moved to Paris to study chemistry and physics at the Sorbonne. With her impressive work in physics Marie managed to win a scholarship, also because of her work she was paid by the Society of Encouragement of National Industry to investigate the magnetic properties of different steels. It was this that led Marie Sklodowska to Pierre Curi e, for her work with metals she needed a lab and Pierre agreed to let Marie use his lab for her work. Pierre had made important discoveries on magnetism and crystals, and with the encouragement of Marie he wrote up his findings and got a Running Head: Life and Accomplishments of Madam Curie doctorate degree which promoted him to a professor. (http://www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. htm) In July of 1895 Marie and Pierre married, Marie completed her research on the magnetic properties of steels two years later. In September of 1897 shortly before giving birth to her daughter Marie submitted her final results on her study. It was after the birth of her daughter Irene; Marie began looking for research that would earn her a doctorate degree, something no other women in the world had completed. It was then that Pierre and Marie together studied radioactive materials, mostly uranium ore pitchblende. This ore strangely was more radioactive than uranium that was extracted from it; by 1898 the two had deduced a logical explanation. This explanation was that the pitchblende contained traces of some unknown component that was radioactive. It was on December 26th 1898 that Marie announced the existence of the new substance; she stated â€Å"I then made the hypothesis that the ores uranium and thorium contain in small quantity a substance much more strongly radioactive than either uranium or thorium. This substance could not be one of the known elements because these had already been examined: it must therefore, be a new element. † (Marie Curie, from Pierre Curie pp. 96-98) (www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. tm) Several years passed and Marie and Pierre never stopped their labor, they refined several tons of pitchblende, concentrating the radioactive components, initially isolating the chloride salts and two new elements. They named one of the new elements after Poland, Marie’s native land and the other was named uranium after its radioactivity. With their breakthrough discovery, other scientists did not believe them due to the amount of polonium and radium was so little that it could not see seen or weighed, only their radioactivity made them known. It was then the Running Head: Life and Accomplishments of Madam Curie Curie’s knew they had t separate their elements from their substances they were mixed with, For this they had to continue there work in an abandoned shed near the school. (www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. htm) Soon after their move to the shed Industrial Industries helped the Curies by providing additional lab space, raw materials and support staff, thus grew a thriving industry. Radium was used by other scientists for experiments on atoms. This confirmed what Marie had suspected, that the powerful energy showed in radioactivity was a fundamental property of every atom. In 1903 Marie, Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel were all awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, â€Å"in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel† (www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. htm) After working in the lab one morning in 1906 Pierre Curie was walking to a library when he slipped and fell into the path of an oncoming heavy horse-drawn wagon. The wagon ran over his head, instantly killing him. After his death Marie was offered his position as professor, no woman before had help such position, and she accepted. In Pierre’s memory Marie decided to establish a scientific institution worthy of such honor, it was with the help of her staff that they persuaded the French government to and privet Pasture Foundation to fund Radium Institute. (www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. htm) In 1911 Marie was awarded her second Nobel prize in Chemistry. †in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium m and polonium by the isolation of radiation and the study of the nature and compounds of the Running Head: Life and Accomplishments of Madam Curie emarkable element† Not only was Marie the first female professor of Sorbonne she was also the first woman to receive two Nobel prizes. Some scientists disagreed with Marie winning the prize again, stating that the discovery of the elements were part of the first prize in 1903. Thus saying she had won two prizes for the same discovery, and it was more out of sympathy than anything. This was ignored; most chemists considered that the discovery and isolation of radium was the greatest event in chemistry since the discovery of oxygen. (nobelprize. rg/nobel_prizes/physics/articles/curie/) During the first a World War, most of Marie’s staff had enlisted, so scientific research was forced to halt, so Marie looked for ways she could help with science. She then publishes new uses for mobile radiography units; they would be used for the treatment of wounded soldiers. These mobile units were powered using tubes of radium emanation. This colorless radioactive gas would later be identified as radon. Marie personally milked the radium and filled the tubes. (www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. htm) Marie trained women in simple x-ray technology, and was a driver for one of the vans that located metal splinters. And sometimes found herself giving lessons to doctors in geometry. After the war most of her time was spent raising money for the Radium Institute. (nobelprize. org/nobel_prizes/physics/articles/curie/) Marie Curie died July 4th 1934 from aplastic pernicious anemia, which is a disorder in which the bone marrow greatly decreases or stops production of blood cells. It’s believed it is almost certainly due to her massive exposure to radiation throughout her work. Her daughter. Running Head: Life and Accomplishments of Madam Curie Irene won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, a year after her mother’s death. Marie’s younger daughter, Eve wrote her biography after her death. (www. spaceandmotion. com/physics-marie-curie-biography. htm) Marie â€Å"Madame† Curie was essential to the discovery of radium and polonium. If it was not for her and her husband Pierre Curie, radiology would not be what it is today. Without her studies who knows how long it would have taken for another scientist to discover the two elements. It is thanks to Marie Curie that we are as far advanced in radiology that we are. References nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/articles/curie/ www.spaceandmotion.com/physics-marie-curie-biography.htm inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blMarieCurie.htm

In Cold Blood Authorial Intents - 1703 Words

In Cold Blood: Two Intents, One Novel On November 15, 1959, the whole nation was shocked by a ghastly murder involving four family members in the discrete farm town of Holcomb, Kansas. It was most shocking because a crime of this magnitude with no motive was rare. This was so discomforting a well known author, by the name of Truman Capote, moved to Holcomb to record the townspeople’s reaction to the tragedy. The idea of how they responded to the crime gave Capote the idea to write a book. In Cold Blood was originally written to show how a small town is affected by a murder. But while Mr. Capote was writing the book they police caught the killers. This paved way to a second authorial intent. In Cold Blood start to shift to explain the†¦show more content†¦Not everything is back to normal though. Many people moved away from the desolate town to more populated areas. Alvin Dewey never built his dream farm house. Instead, â€Å"[he] built a new house in town† (341) . He did this because his wife was scared. This proves that no matter how much closure one can receive there will always be some fear left. Throughout In Cold Blood, Truman Capote presents the idea of how one’s upbringing can shape what kind of person he becomes. This idea ultimately ends up showing what makes a killer a killer, which is Capote’s second authorial intent. As a child, Perry Smith was neglected by his parents, which ultimately leads to his psychological problems and him killer the four family members. All of his siblings went to school, but he was never allowed, and Perry never forgave his dad that they had the opportunity to get an education but he did not. He always despises all well educated people because they got an opportunity that he did not. For example, while Perry was on death row, he did not get along with one of his fellow inmates named Lowell Lee Andrews. He would always correct Perry’s speech and this made him mad. Perry felt that he should keep his â€Å"mouth shut [rather] than to risk one of the college kid’s snotty lines† (318). While Perry was a child he was also abandoned at an orphanage that was run by nuns. While he was there, [t]here was this one nurse... she [would] fill a tub