04/19/11

     We met with Mr. Scott Miller, who gave us a presentation of the space environment. He discussed the dangers of the space environment, such as reactions of elements in space, such as the oxygen reacting with the metal on the space craft, potentially making the outer layer useless. Mr. Miller also went over the process of sputtering, which is when you take material from one object, and move it to another. The example he showed us was of vaporizing gold, and replacing the gold vapor on another piece of metal.
     Other potential dangers include orbital debris colliding with space craft, ultraviolet rays, ion energy deposits ruining electronics, solar particle events, material degradation, and electronic or mechanical malfunctions. Another human risk factor is radiation dose, which is the length of time a person is exposed to radiation in outer space.

03/25/11

     Today we discussed inflows, and outflows. An inflow is when you have one incoming value, such as the amount of employees hired, coming in at a greater rate then an outgoing value, such as employees fired. Out flow is when the opposite is true, and the goal is usually to obtain some sort of balance.
     We also learned about feedback and it's importance. Feedback is a reaction, or response that is given about an applied idea. For example, if you were to push against a spring, it's feedback would be the force with which it pushes back. Feedback in the systems engineering world could be the money you receive for your product, criticism, or the productivity of your workers.