Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Mission'

Cruise missile mission planning is a key activity of cruise missile operations. Ground planning activities aim at low observable missions that have high probability of success. These activities include end game planning, route planning and launch planning. While end game planning tries to optimize end game parameters for maximum effectiveness, route planning tries to maximize survivability and enable navigational supports by determining the waypoints to from launch zone to target through a defended area. And lastly, planner tries to find the appropriate launch parameters that will prohibit platform to contact enemy agents. Mission rehearsal is the execution of the planned mission in a virtual environment that will be constructed with the data that drives the planning process. Mission rehearsal will support planners by providing possible results of the planned mission. Stochastic processes of the execution of the planned mission will be incorporated in the simulation of the combat. Along with platform, cruise missile and target, other players like SAM Sites or Search Radars (Early Warning Radars) will be incorporated in the rehearsal process.

The topic of my study is: Becoming a missional church- the case of Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa (ELCSA). The lack of missional astuteness and intelligence emanating from Christendom mind-sets and agendas is detrimental to the growth of the church and is creating missional chaos and paralysis; this is what I am struggling with in my study. The challenge I am grappling with is that the ELCSA as a church has been exposed to a variety and multiplicity of missional cultures and mission settings through a diversity of missionaries operating from different missional landscape and backgrounds. The various and differing missional histories has created inconsistencies in the theological foundations that underpin and add force to her missional outlook and maturity. As the church considers becoming a missional church, there is an imperative need to radically revisit her traditional ecclesiologies in order to develop a clearer understanding of her missional vocation. The missional direction of the church is in quandary, partly because of the leadership failure to manage the contradictory and inconsistent missional attempts and missional immaturity within the ELCSA. Leadership development and formation within the Lutheran training institutes in Southern Africa, which are crucial in church life seems inadequate from a curriculum perspective. Failure to understand and appreciate the current missional language will inadvertently confuse the church’s understanding of God’s mission in the world (missio Dei). The challenge facing the ELCSA will therefore be an imperative and absolute need to move from a church with mission to a missional church. The study seeks to further explore and investigate insights from the ELCSA’s mission history with a view of determining the missional health and checking whether the church has a comprehension and understanding of the concept and language of a missional church and missional leadership. In this study I will also attempt to answer two possible sub-problems of the study viz. How does the ELCSA create a missional leadership aptitude environment and how does the ELCSA implement the missional conversation(s) to the operating landscape of the church? This study will also contrast the attractional and incarnational mindsets I reflect in the conclusion the significance and importance of a missional church and highlight the characteristics or indicators of such a church by applying it to the ELCSA. Recommendations are indicated for consideration by the ELCSA and are not presented as an answer or solution to the challenge that the church is facing.
Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Science of Religion and Missiology
unrestricted

This thesis is about Evangelical mission movements that have emerged in the Global South, particularly in Brazil, Ghana and India from the 1970s onwards. An important development among Evangelical churches since the Second World War has been the growth of Evangelicalism in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Former `mission fields' have turned into `mission forces' and changed the scenario of global missionary enterprise. The ability of the Christian faith to be translated into any cultural context, the so-called `translatability principle' of Christianity proposed by Andrew Walls, has been the starting point for analysing and evaluating the level of mission awareness and the models of mission involvement evident in Evangelical churches in the studied countries. However, the translatability principle is not sufficient to explain the emergence of mission initiatives and the models of mission engagement used by newer sending countries in the Global South. There are other issues that influence the way mission movements emerge and the research has identified specific key factors contributing to the formation of mission structures through analysis of the reasons why they have started and how they have developed over the last forty years. These have been divided into internal, external and international factors in relation to the history, tradition and growth of Evangelical churches in each country. The analysis demonstrates that the combination of these factors creates a propitious ambience for mission initiatives. Comparison has also been made with historical processes in older sending countries and similar developments in other newer sending countries. The information for this study derives primarily from interviews with mission leaders in Brazil, Ghana and India and from printed materials provided by mission organisations in these countries. The thesis contains an important contribution to the Area of Mission Studies and particularly to the study of newer mission movements, providing a methodology for the analysis and evaluation of the viability and sustainability of mission oranisations in the Global South.

Missions concerning small-body celestial objects are of growing interest due to the resources and information they can provide. Such missions require detailed information about the surface of the body for interactions, such as landing on the surface, as well as predicting the gravity field of the object. This work provides a means of optimizing the mission elements of trajectory and imaging target schedules so that the level of knowledge of the surface can be increased. The information required to increase one's knowledge of the surface is described as a set of conditions placed on the collection of images taken of each facet of the surface; these requirements constitute the concept of "coverage" and were provided by NASA. Currently, no comparable optimization capability exists. The trajectory optimization task is done using an adapted form of the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-2 (NSGA-2) in which the genetic mutation and recombination operators are replaced with operators inspired by a different Evolutionary Algorithm, Differential Evolution. Since small-body objects have irregular distributions of mass, this optimization accounts for this by using a higher fidelity gravity model; the expense of the calculation causing a significant increase in fitness evaluation time. The trajectory optimization uses the maximization of possible coverage (the coverage achieved is every surface element were targeted for imaging at every opportunity) and minimization of a time quantity that typifies covering less but doing so quickly as the primary optimization objectives with an additional ancillary objective which rewards the fulfillment of the individual aspects of coverage so as to better condition improvement in the first objective. The optimization of imaging schedules is handled using a less adapted version of NSGA-2 in which the base operations were only tailored slightly. This differs from the previous task in that limitation are placed on the imaging process; namely that the camera may only target a single surface element at each opportunity and is thus only able to observe the faces caught within the narrow field-of-view. This optimization trades the minimization of time objective and the ancillary objective for the minimization of the required rotational effort of the imaging spacecraft. Both works result in sets of solutions to their respective problems that capture the trade-space between the considered objectives. The last work detailed here examines the consequences of how velocity domains are phrased in space trajectory optimization problems. Multiple means of framing the optimization domain are examined and the results detail the complications encountered by the more common formulations for a set of test problems.

This thesis presents a way to maximise the photographic coverage of Phobos, one of the two Martian moons, as part of the space mission Mars Moon eXplorer. This coverage is performed by the French hyperspectral imager MacrOmega, and two criteria are selected: the area covered and the resolution of the pictures. The approach considered is a greedy algorithm, and elements of basic theory are provided. This greedy approach is compared to a chronological algorithm, whose results were already approved for the mission.
Detta examensarbete presenterar ett sätt att maximera den fotografisk täckningen av Phobos, som är en av Mars två månar, som en del av rymduppdraget Mars Moon eXplorer. Den fotografiska täckningen ska utföras av den franska hyperspektralavbildaren MacrOmega, och två kriterier har valts ut: (i) området som omfattas samt (ii) bildens upplösning. Metoden som testas är en girig algoritm och baselementen i algoritmen presenteras. Den giriga algoritmens resultat jämförs med resultat från en kronologisk algoritm, vars resultat redan godkänts för uppdraget.

CHDS State/Local
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
The dual missions of the United States Secret Service, investigations and protection, appear to be without relationship or value to the other, and as a result, support and attention for the investigative mission has waned. This lack of attention to investigations is dangerous for the Secret Service and for the country it serves. To make this argument, this thesis attempts to determine whether the investigative mission is actually important to the successful performance of its protective mission. Through the use of a hybrid research methodology, with quantitative and qualitative aspects, this thesis argues that the types of investigations performed by the Secret Service are not as important as the experiential learning, respite from the hyper-vigilance of protection, and surge capacity provided by the investigative mission. Since the investigative mission supports the protective mission in these three important ways, the Secret Service requires a robust, well-funded and substantial investigative mission to continue to properly provide protection to this nation's leaders.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão.
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Este estudo é uma amostra de investigação de gênero como prática social. Teoricamente, baseia-se na análise tridimensional de um evento discursivo: o texto, a prática discursiva e a prática social (Fairclough, 1994). O objetivo deste estudo é discutir como as Missões são usadas pelas organizações ou instituições para estabelecer suas metas e planos estratégicos. A articulação destas metas e planos orienta as experiências dos participantes e estabelece papéis sociais. Desta forma, as Missões agem como portadoras de ideologias articuladas através de práticas discursivas nas quais conceitos e valores são compartilhados entre os participantes, refletindo e moldando as diferentes identidades sociais contemporâneas. Através de uma análise lingüística e crítica das Missões de Escolas de Línguas, pretendo enfocar questões sócio-políticas relacionadas às filosofias do Ensino de Línguas Estrangeiras como, por exemplo, a hipótese de que muitos discursos vinculados à globalização têm facilitado a expansão da língua inglesa e, esta expansão por sua vêz, tem facilitado a proliferação desses discursos (Pennycook, 1994). Portanto, além de mostrar evidências de que as Missões são um 'site' de ação social e ideológica, este estudo também pretende intensificar a reflexão e conscientização dos professores de línguas estrangeiras do modo como aspectos ideológicos ligados a valores sócio-econômicos são naturalmente articulados através da linguagem, particularmente através de gêneros textuais, dentro de contextos específicos.

Applied research project (D. Min.)--School of Theology and Missions, Oral Roberts University, 2006.
Includes abstract and vita. Translated from Korean. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-197).

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Operations Research Center, 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-154).
In this thesis, we create a comprehensive model and efficient solution technique for generating air operations plans. Previous air operations models have fallen short in at least one of the following areas: routing. real-time re-planning of aircraft. problem size capability, plan generation speed. and optimal packaging of aircraft. The purpose of the Composite Mission Variable Decomposition (CMVD) approach is to plan and re-plan air operations for a real conflict as it unfolds. Previous model shortcomings were the result of two main reasons: the models were developed for other purposes (typically weapons studies). or developers could not create techniques that can efficiently generate plans while including the listed areas. The application of conventional optimization modeling to an operations problem that includes aspects such as routing and real-time re-planning forms a model that has millions of constraints and a weak linear programming relaxation. The Composite Mission Variable MNodeils the first step in overcoming the above shortcomings because it greatly decreases the number of constraints in the optimization model. and the linear programming relaxation provides tight bounds. The Composite Mission Variable Model combines multiple air operations planning decisions into a composite mission variable. Many complex constraints that are explicitly included in a conventional model are implicitly enforced in the composite mission variables. We apply price coordinated decomposition to generate the composite mission variables. Price coordination reduces the number of variables in the Composite Mission Variable Model and allows for parallel processing of composite mission variable generation. CMVD creates air operations plans in minutes for scenarios with thousands of targets. while including important capabilities such as routing and re-planning of aircraft in air. CMVD is tested in simulated conflicts and its performance validated by comparisons with a heuristic approach for generating plans.
by Christopher D. Barth.
S.M.

Thesis (M.S. in Management) Naval Postgraduate School, March 2000.
Thesis advisor(s): Fremgen, James; Matthews, David. "March 2000." Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-71). Also available online.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2001
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study and dissertation examines the mission methodologies of the Protestant church in Africa -- focusing on the country of Malawi as a case study. A historical study of early mission methods and an empirical study of current practices point to the need for a new approach to mission, a new approach that can best be described as a reformation of mission. This reformation requires the reversal of the five conventional trends that mission work in Africa has traced. At the crux of this reformation is the need to take the methodological phase of leadership development, a phase traditionally withheld until last, and make it paramount. In the process of making this assessment of mission in Africa it was necessary to first carry out historical research relevant to early mission work in Malawi. Historical research focused on the first five missions to initiate work in the country, all of which eventually established a permanent presence in Malawi. Three of these early churches were reformed or Presbyterian -- the Established Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, and the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. The other two missions were the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (Anglican) and the Zambezi Industrial Mission (independent/Baptist). These original missions to Malawi were directed and influenced by a vanguard of some of Africa's greatest pioneer mission workers -- David Livingstone, Robert Laws, A.c. Murray, William Murray, and David Scott. Details from this historical research assisted in determining what mission methodologies were being utilized at various points in time. The second segment of research pertinent to this dissertation is an empirical study of current mission and church work in Malawi. Over 100 denominations, missions, and parachurch organizations were studied. The findings from 83 of these organizations are analyzed in this paper. An exposition of data from this research is outlined in Chapter 4, but the most troubling discovery resulting from these findings was the absence of adequately trained Christian leadership and localized facilities to equip such leaders. This problem is compounded by a lack of vision for leadership development and a reluctance to commit the necessary resources. By combining this empirical research with the historical data cited above it was determined that mission in Malawi has proceeded through four paradigms of methodology: 1) pioneer mission work, 2) vocational (elementary education and vocational training), 3) church planting, and 4) pastor training. At present the church in Africa is entering a fifth dimension of mission methodology -- leadership development. Leadership training not in the traditional sense of preparing clergymen for the ministry, but a wholistic education that equips dedicated Christians for leadership in any spectrum -- religious, public or private. In order for this dissertation to present a comprehensive and effective model for mission it was also necessary to conduct a third investigation -- an analysis of what defines mission. Three important conclusions relevant to this paper can be drawn: 1) Every dimension of mission is equally valid. Whether it is ecclesiastical in its nature, proclamational, contextual, theological or liberational -- every aspect of mission is as vital as the next. 2) Mission is not mission if its central and ultimate purpose is not to reveal the grace of God made available through Christ. 3) The purpose of the church is mission -- not vise versa. These three elements of research -- historical, empirical and missiological -- form the foundation of the model for mission in Africa outlined in the final chapter of this dissertation. This model necessitates a reformation of mission that reverses the historic pattern of mission work and makes leadership development a priority. The significance of such a reformation is two-fold: 1) It will substantially increase the ability of national Christian leaders to effectively propagate the church and manage the affairs of mission in Africa. 2) It will enable expatriate mission personnel to be utilized at a point of contact where they can be most effective -- at the leadership development level. The church in Africa today is at a critical juncture. As mission enters the 21st century a reexamination of its methodology is imperative. Expatriate assistance is in decline, paralleled by swelling anti-Western sentiment that makes it progressively difficult for the foreign mission worker to maintain traditional footholds. As a result it is becoming increasingly pertinent that mission in Africa, and the church in the West, adopt a new model for mission that adequately equips the African for this inevitable transition. This new approach to mission offers a new hope to the continent. Africa's problems, as many believe, are not a result of poverty, civil unrest, or power-hungry potentates. At the root of Africa's problem is an absence of dedicated, wholistically equipped Christian leaders. Leaders with Christian morals, ethics and values -- equipped to serve the church and lead their country.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie en verhandeling ondersoek die sendingmetodologiee van die Protestantse Kerk in Afrika - en fokus op die land van Malawi, as 'n gevallestudie. 'n Historiese studie van vroee sendingmetodes en 'n empiriese studie van huidige praktyke dui op die behoefte aan 'n nuwe benadering tot sending, 'n nuwe benadering wat ten beste beskryf kan word as 'n hervorming van sending. Hierdie hervorming benodig die ommekeer van die vyf konvensionele tendense wat sendingwerk in Afrika gevolg het. Die kern van hierdie hervorming is die behoefte om die metodologiese fase van leierskapontwikkeling as van opperste belang te ago Hierdie fase is vroeer tradisioneel tot die laaste uitgestel en as van minder belang beskou. In die evanlueringsproses van sending in Afrika, moes daar eers 'n historiese ondersoek ten opsigte van vroee sending werk in Malawi gedoen word. Hierdie navorsing fokus op die eerste vyf sending ins tansies wat sendingwerk in Malawi gedoen word. Hierdie navorsing Fokus op die eerste vyf sending ins tansies wat sendingwerk in die land begin het. Hulle is al vyf uiteindelik permanent in Malawi gevestig. Drie van hierdie vroee Kerke was Gereformeerd of Presbiteriaans - die Church of Scotland, die Free Church of Scotland, en die Universities' Mission to Central Africa (Anglikaans) en die Zambezi Industrial Mission (onafhanklik Baptiste). Hierdie oorspronklike sendinge na Malawi is gerig en beinvloed deur voorlopers bestaande uit sommige van Afrika se grootste pionier sendingwerkers - David Livingstone, Robert Laws, AC Murray, William Murray en David Scott. Inligting ten opsigte van hierdie historiese navorsing het gehelp om vas te stel watter sendingmetodologieEr toegepas is tydens verskillende tydperke. Die tweede dee! van die navorsing van belang vir hierdie stud ie, is 'n empiriese studie van huidige sending - en kerklike werk in Malawi. Meer as 100 denominasies, sendinge, en para-kerklike organisasies is ondersoek. Die bevindinge van 83 van hiedie organisasies is ontleed in hierdie dokument. Hoofstuk bied 'n uiteensetting van data oor hierdie navorsing, maar die mees ontstellende bevinding wat hieruit gespruit het, was die afwesigheid van voldoende-opgeleide Christen leierskap asook plaaslike fasiliteite om sulke leiers toe te rus. Hierdie probleem is vererger deur 'n gebrek aan visie vir leierskapontwikkeling en 'n onwilligheid om die nodige bronne aan te wend. Deur hierdie empiriese navorsing to kombineer met bogenoemde historiese data, is daar vasgestel dat sending in Malawi deur vier paradigmas van metodologie beweeg het: 1) pioniersendingwerk, 2) beroepsopleiding (elementere sowel as beroepsopleiding, 3) kerkplanting, en 4) opleiding van leraars. Tans betree die kerk in Afrika 'n vyfde dimensie van sendingmetodologie, naarnlik leierskapontwikkeling -- nie in die tradisionele begrip van voorbereiding van predikante vir die bediening nie, maar 'n holistiese opleiding wat toegewyde Christene toerus vir leierskap in enige sfeer -- hetsy die godsdienstige, openbare of private sektor. Sodat hierdie verhandeling 'n algehele en effektiewe model vir sending kon bied, was dit ook nodig om 'n derde ondersoek te looks - 'n ontleding van wat sending beteken. Drie belangrike gevolgtrekkings tel' sake tot hierdie dokument, kan gemaak work: 1) Alle dimensies van sending is ewe geldig. Of dit kerklik, verkondigend, teologies kontekstueel of bevrydend van aard is -- alle aspekte van sending is ewe belangrik. 2) Sending is nie sending as sy sentrale en uiteindelike doe! nie is om God se genade, soos in Christus aangebied, te openbaar nie. 3) Die doel van die kerk is sending - nie omgekeerd nie. Hierdie drie elemente van navorsing - histories, empiries en missiologies - vorm die grondslag van die model vir sending in Afrika, S005 in die laaste hoofstuk van hierdie tesis geskets. Hierdie model benodig n hervorming van sending wat die historiese patroon van sendingwerk omkeer, en maak leierskapsontwikkeling n prioriteit. Die belangrikheid van so n hervorning is tweeledig: 1) Dit sal die verrnoe van nasionale Christen leiers subsansieel verhoog om die kerk te ontwikkel en sending sake in Afrika te bestuur. 2) Dit sal buitelandse sendingpersoneel in staat stel om benut te word by die mees effektiewe kontakpunt - die vlak van leierskapsontwikkeling. Die kerk in Afrika verkeer vandag in n kritieke tydsgewrig. Terwyl sending die 21 ste eeu be tree, is n herondersoek van sy metodologie gebiedend noodsaaklik. Buitelandse hulp neem af, terwyl groeiende anti-Westerse sentiment dit al moeiliker maak vir die buitelandse werker om tradisionele posisies te behou. Gevolglik word dit al meer belangrik dat sending in Afrika, en die kerk in die weste, n nuwe model aanvaar vir sending wat die Afrikaan voldoende sal toerus vir hierdie onafwendbare oorgang. Hierdie nuwe benadering tot sending bied nuwe hoop vir die vasteland. Daar word algemeen geglo dat Afrika so probleme nie die gevolg is van arrnoede, burgerlike onrus, of maghonger heersers nie. Baie glo dat die wortel van Afrika se probleem setel in n afwesigheid van toegewyde, holisties-toegeruste Christen leiers. Leiers met Christelike sedes en waardes - toegerus om die kerk te dien en hulland te lei.

In 1905 Albert Einstein developed the theory of Special Relativity. This theory describes the relation between space and time and revolutionized the understanding of the universe. While the concept is generally accepted new experimental setups are constantly being developed to challenge the theory, but so far no contradictions have been found. One of the postulates Einsteins theory of Relativity is based on states that the speed of light in vacuum is the highest possible velocity. Furthermore, it is demanded that the speed of light is independent of any chosen frame of reference. If an experiment would find a contradiction of these demands, the theory as such would have to be revised. To challenge the constancy of the speed of light the socalled Kennedy Thorndike experiment has been developed. A possible setup to conduct a Kennedy Thorndike experiment consists of comparing two independent clocks. Likewise experiments have been executed in laboratory environments. Within the scope of this work, the orbital requirements for the first space-based Kennedy Thorndike experiment called BOOST will be investigated.BOOST consists of an iodine clock, which serves as a time reference, and an optical cavity, which serves as a length reference. The mechanisms of the two clocks are different and can therefore be employed to investigate possible deviations in the speed of light. While similar experiments have been performed on Earth, space offers many advantages for the setup. First, one orbit takes roughly 90 min for a satellite based experiment. In comparison with the 24 h duration on Earth it is obvious that a space-based experiment offers higher statistics. Additionally the optical clock stability has to be kept for shorter periods, increasing the sensitivity. Third, the velocity of the experimental setup is larger. This results in an increased experiment accuracy since any deviation in the speed of light would increase with increasing orbital velocity. A satellite planted in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) travels with a velocity of roughly 7 km/s. Establishing an Earth-bound experiment that travels with a constant velocity of that order is impossible. Finally, space offers a very quiet environment where no disturbances, such as vibrations, act upon the experiment, which is practically unavoidable in a laboratory environment. This thesis includes two main chapters. The chapter titled "Mission Level" exploits orbital candidates. Here, possible orbits are explained in detail and the associated advantages and problems are investigated. It also contains a discussion about ground visibility and downlink feasibility for each option. Finally, a nominal mission scenario is sketched. The other chapter is called "Sub-Systems". Within this chapter the subsystems of the spacecraft are examined. To examine the possible orbits it is necessary to define criteria according to which the quality of the orbits can be determined. The first criterion reflects upon the scientific outcome of the mission. This is mainly governed by the achievable velocity and the orbital geometry. The second criterion discriminates according to the mission costs. These include the launch, orbital injection, de-orbiting, satellite development, and orbital maintenance. The final criteria defines the requirements in terms of mission feasibility and risks, e.g. radiation. The criteria definition is followed by explaining the mission objectives and requirements. Each requirement is then discussed in terms of feasibility. The most important parameters, such as altitude, inclination, and the right ascension of the ascending node (RAAN), are discussed for each orbital option and an optimal range is picked. The optimal altitude depends on several factors, such as the decay rate, radiation concerns, experimental contributions, and eclipse duration. For the presented mission an altitude of 600 km seems to be the best fit. Alongside the optimal altitude possible de-orbiting scenarios are investigated. It is concluded that de-orbiting of the satellite is possible without any further external influence. Thus, no additional thrusters are required to de-orbit the satellite. The de-orbiting scenario has been simulated with systems tool kit (STK). From the simulation it can be concluded, that the satellite can be deorbited within 25 years. This estimation meets the requirements set for the mission. Another very important parameter is the accumulative eclipse duration per year for a given orbit. For this calculation it is necessary to know the relative positions and motion of the Earth and the Sun. From this the eclipse duration per orbit for different altitudes is gained. Ground visibilities for orbital options are examined for two possible ground stations. The theory is based on the geometrical relation between the satellite and the ground stations. The results are in an agreement with the related STK simulations. Finally, both ground stations are found adequate to maintain the necessary contact between the satellite and the ground station. In the trade-off section, orbit candidates are examined in more detail. Results from the previous sections with some additional issues such as the experiment sensitivities, radiation concern and thermal stability are discussed to conclude which candidate is the best for the mission. As a result of the trade-off, two scenarios are explained in the "Nominal Mission Scenario" section which covers a baseline scenario and a secondary scenario. After selecting a baseline orbit, two sub-systems of the satellite are examined. In the section of "Attitude Control System (ACS)" where the question of "Which attitude control method is more suitable for the mission?" is tried to be answered. A trade-off among two common control methods those are 3-axis stabilization and spin stabilization is made. For making the trade-off possible external disturbances in space are estimated for two imaginary satellite bodies. Then, it is concluded that by a spin stabilization method maintaining the attitude is not feasible. Thus, the ACS should be built on the method of 3-axis stabilization. As the second sub-system the possible power system of the satellite is examined. The total size and the weight of the solar arrays are estimated for two different power loads. Then, the battery capacity which will be sufficient for the power system budget is estimated together with the total mass of the batteries. In the last section, a conclusion of the thesis work is made and the possible future works for the BOOST mission are stated.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2007.
Thesis Advisor(s): Carlyle, W. Matthew. "September 2007." Description based on title screen as viewed on 10/23/2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 31). Also available in print.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
The United States Navy continually deals with the challenges involved with the assignment of limited resources to address numerous and dispersed critical missions. The Navy's continued pursuit of decision aids to answer this problem and the ongoing critical maritime operations in the western pacific and Arabian seas demonstrate the importance of this issue. How do navy staffs assign surface and subsurface combatants to areas and missions? The available ships may be inbound or outbound to the maritime theater, they may already be assigned to other missions in different regions, or may require transit and off station time before they can cover a particular mission. In planning major operations there are usually more missions than can be covered by available Navy combatants; therefore, it is likely that no ship will be assigned to low-priority missions, and deciding which higherpriority missions to cover at any time involves complicated tradeoffs. This planning problem is compounded by the fact that multiple alternatives are required by flee commanders and Joint Force Maritime Component Commanders (JFMCCs) who want to maximize the effectiveness of their maritime forces while avoiding excessive risk and identifying gaps in mission coverage. This thesis develops a decision support tool, the Navy Mission Planner (NMP), which rapidly selects employment schedules for Navy combatants to meet the requirements above. We illustrate how NMP identifies optimal coverage of maritime missions in a theater with a notional, unclassified Korean peninsula scenario with 11 ships, 65 missions and 24 user defined maritime regions, on a desktop PC. NMP gives decision makers the ability to adjust courses of action by manipulating the time horizon, optimality criterion, mission values, mission dependencies, and ships available, and provides valuable insight into which missions will and, more importantly, will not be covered for any set of mission priorities.

Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover terrestrial planets, especially those in the habitable zone of their stars where liquid water might exist on the surface of the planet. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched on March 7, 2009, into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit.

Christianity and Islam are both missionary in nature, but they are founded on different beliefs, values and practices, especially with regard to mission. The former believe in Jesus Christ and recognise His divine role as the saviour of the world, while the latter regard Him as a prophet who, after all, was rejected by His people, the Jews, as a result of which God sent Mohammed as His last messenger to the world. These varying and often conflicting beliefs have made it increasingly difficult for the Christian evangelical churches, including those at Eldoret, Kenya, to advance mission to the people of other faiths, the Muslims in particular. The differing views can offend the very essence of mission, namely God‘s mandate that is founded on the entire Bible. A proper understanding of mission as a concept is essential for effective mission to people of other faiths. Theologians refer to the Christian understanding of mission as the missio Dei. There is hardly any dispute among missiologists that God in His triune nature is the initiator, implementer and sustainer of mission, but the concept of the missio Dei is yet to attain an acceptable definition. Its nature and content remain problematic to theologians, missiologists, churches and other stakeholders in mission. This study critically examines mission to Muslims by five selected evangelical churches in Eldoret, Kenya, in light of the missio Dei. These are the Reformed Church of East Africa, the African Inland Fellowship Church, the Faith Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and the Anglican Church of Kenya. The research investigates how and the extent to which these churches have sought to implement the mandate. Mainly using data collected from oral interviews, the study finds that mission engagement to Muslims is slow and disjointed. The churches face challenges that include the lack of a concrete understanding of God‘s mandate i.e. mission, internal wrangling, financial constraints and neglect of the women and the youth. The study concludes that there is a need for the selected churches to reassess and reconsider their missionary approaches with a view to enhancing their ways of engaging with Muslims. In the final instance the study formulates a viable model for that purpose.
PhD (Missiology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The thesis investigates how contemporary United Methodist short-term mission (hereafter STM) participants express their motivations for taking part in their service activities. It argues that a robust theology of STM is absent. Indeed, this absence is usurped by cultural and economic influences. The disclosed motivations are more reflective of pilgrimage rather than theologies of mission as expressed in the missio Dei and Wesleyan missional theology. The thesis first uses academic literature to codify a United Methodist theology of mission through investigation of the historical influences and current mission practices. Emphasis is placed upon the development and expression of a theology of the missio Dei within the context of a discussion of Fresh Expressions, the Emergent Church, and Third-Wave Mission movements. The unique role of United Methodist mission is illustrated through its historical roots in the Wesleyan movement and contemporary expression in the ubiquitous STM movement in the United States. Next, it utilizes original field research data: semi-structured focus group interviews and online anonymous surveys to gather the implicit and explicit theologies of lay and clergy participants in these international service journeys for intense, but brief, periods of time. The literature and field research are synthesized in an effort to further develop a theology of STM. It is clear that a substantial number of STM participants and leaders placed primary importance upon framing their service trips as a self-benefiting experience. The influences of the Economy of Experience, as illustrated in Joseph Pine and James Gilmore's work, is significant in the field data as participants describe their time, money, sacrifice, and service, applied in the name of mission, as a way to purchase an experience akin to personal growth commonly sought by pilgrims. The resulting tensions this creates for evangelism and mission are explored. There is a call for robust theological work to move this ubiquitous practice away from consuming mission for personal edification.

Missional ethics is a relatively new and unexplored theme emerging within missiology. Thus far the meaning of the term, 'missional ethics,' has been assumed rather than explicitly defined. This thesis provides an exegetical definition of missional ethics arrived at by exploring key biblical texts relevant to the theme—Deuteronomy, the Major Prophets and Luke-Acts. A canonical, narratival, missional, and performative hermeneutic was employed in the exploration of the nature, content, purpose, and development of missional ethics within the biblical texts. The exegesis demonstrated that missional ethics is an inherently community based project with emphases in justice, charity, and worship. Within the wider missiological discussion, this definition provides challenges and proposals to contemporary theory and praxis. The most significant contribution of this thesis is the proposal of a definition of missional ethics as follows: Missional ethics refers to the ways in which the believing community's behaviour—in particular their love for God, and love for neighbour, expressed in the exercise of justice, charity, and worship—bears witness, in the imitatio Dei, to the nature and character of God before a watching world.

Såväl utgångspunkter som förutsättningar för arbetet med teologisk utbildning inom luthersk kyrkotradition i Tanzania har förändrats avsevärt de senaste hundra åren. Missionsinsatserna under förra seklets början inom utbildningsområdet understödde kyrkornas territoriella expansion. Att bedriva undervisning betraktades som en självklar del av missionsuppdraget och var ett sätt för kyrkan att etableras i det omkringliggande samhället. Det var genom ökad kunskap som Afrika skulle civiliseras och tanzaniern gå från ett obildat till ett bildat tillstånd. Denna utbildningsdiskurs, i vars kölvatten dagens teologiska utbildningssystem ännu befinner sig, innebar i flera stycken en ideologisk, ekonomisk, kulturell och teologisk import av västvärldens ideal. 1960-talets konstitutionella omdaningsprocess i både samhälle och kyrka bidrog till att frågor om kritiskt reflekterande forskningsmiljöer samt ändamålsenliga och kontextuella utbildningar kom i fokus på ett nytt sätt. Arbetet med teologisk utbildning, som i stor utsträckning handlade om en strukturellt etablerad prästutbildning i hela sin bredd, ledde fram till en reflektion kring formerna för och innebörden av ett relevant kyrkligt ledarskap. Ekonomiskt och personellt stöd till verksamheter inom fältet teologisk utbildning har historiskt sett kännetecknats av en enkelriktad insats från kyrkorna på norra halvklotet till kyrkorna i syd. Även om 1900-talet uppvisar en påtaglig förskjutning från ett ensidigt ekonomiskt och personellt stöd till tydligare satsningar på regionala kapacitetsstärkande insatser och på ömsesidiga utbyten genom olika nätverk är maktasymmetrin allt fort uppenbar. Dessa ojämlika maktrelationer blir tydliga när det t.ex. handlar om utbildningsinstitutionernas finansiering, akademiska paradigm och personella kompetens. Under de senaste decennierna är det dock tydligt att allt starkare och mer självständiga institutioner vuxit fram på den afrikanska kontinenten som ett resultat av ett strategiskt och långsiktigt arbete. Jag har i min uppsats visat hur ovan nämnda utvecklingslinjer haft direkt bäring på såväl verksamheten vid Makumira som på Svenska kyrkans stöd till samma institution fram till uppsatsperiodens slut 1982. Min historiska exposé från de nordvästra delarna av landet visar hur motiven till och det praktiska arbetet med den teologiska utbildningen - om än i liten skala - redan från början varit central för arbetet i sin helhet. Vidare har jag visat hur arbetet med teologisk utbildning vid Makumira tagit intryck av såväl lokala, regionala som internationella impulser. Flera av de frågor som var föremål för diskussion bearbetades parallellt på samtliga nivåer inom kyrkan. Det visar hur verksamheten vid Makumira varit insatt i ett komplext samspel med många aktörer som tillsammans, och ibland omedvetna om varandras intressen och existens, ville bedriva teologisk utbildning. Makumira hade till uppgift att försöka gestalta den ”enhet i mångfald” som sedan 1963 varit en stor utmaning för ELCT i stort. Drömmen om en unierad kyrka för hela den östafrikanska regionen förverkligades aldrig. Däremot fördjupades i samma region samarbetet inom och mellan kyrkor och institutioner av skilda slag. Den utbildning som växte fram på Makumira var rotad i den lutherska traditionen och samtidigt ekumeniskt öppen med ett ökat antal studenter från olika kyrkor och länder på den afrikanska kontinenten. Rapporter och brev från de svenska lärarna vid Makumira och de externa examinatorerna från Uppsala Universitet visar inte bara hur delar av utbildningen de facto förändrades över tid utan också hur och på vilka sätt man försökte förhålla sig till det av västvärlden importerade och i praktiken dominerande vetenskapsparadigm som präglade undervisningen. 1970-talets expansiva period då institutionen strävade efter ökad ekonomisk och teologisk självständighet aktualiserade många frågor som fram till idag inte besvarats i tillräcklig omfattning. Det handlar bl.a. om ramar och förutsättningar för arbetet med kontextuell teologi, hälsofrågor kopplade till pastoralteologi samt gender och jämställdhet.  Visionen om en dynamisk och relevant utbildning – både till dess innehåll, studiemiljö och struktur – lever allt fort men måste samtidigt omformuleras på nytt i varje ny tid.

This work looks at three contemporary issues in personnel sharing in mission using a case study methodology. The issues are: the value of short-term and long-term missionary appointments and an examination of the relative strengths and weaknesses of both kinds of appointment; the method of preparing people for missionary service, with particular examination of the CWM Training In Mission (TIM) programme; and the issue of what should happen when a missionary appointment must be terminated before the contracted period. For each is·sue background material and a case study are presented followed by a series of questions which form the basis of a group discussion on the case. Each case was used with a group and the ensuing discussion is reported so that the reader can gauge if the study has been successful. The case study method is discussed in some detail since the methodology is crucial to the presentation of this work. The issues that arise from the whole process are also treated in a separate chapter, although the purpose of the method is to raise the issues, more than to give definitive results. Some knowledge about CWM is assumed, although there are sections which help the reader understand the uniqueness of the organisation. An underlying assumption throughout the work is that there is still a place for missionaries in the work of the church today.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 88).
Facilitating low level human supervisory control of mission management is highly challenging because of concerns regarding system stability and performance. Previous implementations of mission managers based on C. S. Draper Laboratory?s All-Domain Execution and Planning Technology (ADEPT) are based on an architecture that can be verified to act deterministically with scripted human interaction opportunities. This thesis describes the Human Interactive Mission Manager (HIMM), a general software architecture to facilitate human supervisory control level of interaction based on ADEPT. The HIMM provides operator insight and mission designer interaction mechanisms. These features provide interaction in a controlled but asynchronous way as a baseline service of the HIMM system. The design separates the information used by the operator from the data used by the mission manager so that the addition of asynchronous human interaction will not adversely affect normal execution. To explore the interaction mechanisms and exercise the system, the software was applied to a space domain application. This prototype system facilitates asynchronous input from a human operator to the mission manager.
by Jason M. Furtado.
M.Eng.

This report will design a mission and spacecraft to redirect the first Near-Earth Object (NEO) to a stable orbit in the Earth-Moon system. The mission profile includes a soon-as-possible launch, spiral-out escape from the Earth-Moon system, rendezvous, ion beam redirection method, and decommissioning phases, each with accompanying orbital dynamics code written in Matlab. The spacecraft design will include power and mass budgets for each of the subsystems including power, thermal, communications, GNC, fuel, and thrusters. The orbital dynamics code is detailed in the final section of the report.