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Ansari X Prize

Ansari X Prize

The Ansari X Prize (formerly the X Prize) was a US$10,000,000 prize, offered by the X PRIZE Foundation, for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. It was modelled after early 20th-century aviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight. The prize was won on October 4 2004, exactly 47 years after the launch of Sputnik 1, by the Tier One project using the experimental spaceplane SpaceShipOne.

Contest rules

The contest winner was to be the first team to launch a piloted spacecraft, carrying at least three crewmembers (or one human pilot and payload equivalent to two more), to an altitude of at least 100 kilometers (328,100 ft or 62.14 mi), and then repeat the feat using the same spacecraft within two weeks. Reaching orbit was not a goal, and so all the competitors aimed to make suborbital flights only. The spacecraft were permitted to land at the same site that they launched from. The 100 km target is the boundary of space as defined by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. The two competitive flights were required to be made by the same vehicle. With the exception of propellant, no more than 10% of the vehicle could be replaced between flights; the rest of the vehicle must be reused. Even NASA's Space Shuttle falls short of this performance requirement, since it takes much more than two weeks to ready a given shuttle between flights. The vehicle must be intact and theoretically reusable after the second flight, and the crew must return unharmed. Altitudes achieved were measured by three separate systems. There was a flight recorder, referred to as the "gold box", carried on each competitive flight, and two separate radar systems were used. Official altitudes were determined by a compromise between the three systems. Teams were forbidden to accept government funding for their efforts. Private sponsors were acceptable, however.

Motivation

radar The X Prize was designed to help encourage the space industry in the private sector, which is why the entries were not allowed to have any government funding. It aimed to demonstrate that spaceflight can be affordable and accessible to corporations and civilians, opening the door to commercial spaceflight and space tourism. It is also hoped that competition will breed innovation, introducing new low-cost methods of reaching Earth orbit. If everything goes as planned, the X Prize winners could become pioneers of low-cost space travel and unfettered human expansion into the solar system. The X Prize was modeled after many prizes from the early 20th century that helped prod the development of air flight, including notably the $25,000 Orteig Prize that spurred Charles Lindbergh to make his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. NASA is developing similar prize programs called Centennial Challenges to generate innovative solutions to space technology problems.

Contestants

Twenty-six teams from around the world participated, ranging from volunteer hobbyists to large corporate-backed operations:
- Acceleration Engineering
- [http://www.ghg.net/jimakkerman/ Advent Launch Services]
- [http://www.arcaspace.ro/ Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Assoc. (ARCA)]
- Armadillo Aerospace
- [http://www.aeraspace.com/ American Astronautics Corporation (Now AERA)]
- [http://www.bristolspaceplanes.com/ Bristol Spaceplanes, Ltd]
- Canadian Arrow
- The da Vinci Project
- [http://www.pablodeleon.com Pablo de Leon & Associates]
- Discraft Corporation
- Flight Exploration
- Fundamental Technology Systems
- [http://www.harcspace.com/ HARC]
- [http://www.ilat.net/ IL Aerospace Technologies]
- [http://www.interorbital.com/ Interorbital Systems]
- [http://www.kellyspace.com/ Kelly Space and Technology]
- [http://www.lonestarspace.com/ Lone Star Space Access Corporation]
- [http://www.micro-space.com/ Micro-Space, Inc.]
- [http://www.tour2space.com/ PanAero, Inc.]
- [http://www.rocketplane.com/ Pioneer Rocketplane, Inc.]
- Scaled Composites' Tier One project (this team ultimately won the prize)
- Space Transport Corporation
- Starchaser Industries
- Suborbital Corporation
- [http://www.tgv-rockets.com/ TGV Rockets]
- Vanguard Spacecraft This contestant list notably did not include traditional space access companies like Boeing and Lockheed, which many in the industry believe to be incapable of replacing their present space transportation vehicles with low-cost alternatives. These critics claim as evidence the companies' several failed attempts to do so, such as the X-33 project, on contract from NASA and other U.S. government agencies. However, the X Prize Foundation itself did not ban these companies from applying, so long as they could prove their efforts on this project would be free of government funding.

Competition status

U.S.. The X Prize trophy is on the left.]] The Tier One project made two successful competitive flights, X1 on September 29 2004 and X2 on October 4 2004. They thus won the prize, which was awarded on November 6 2004. (Note: the winning team is referred to by several names at various times: Tier One, Scaled Composites, and Mojave Aerospace Ventures.) The trophy is currently on display in the lobby of the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, Washington.

Flight attempts by teams that did not win

Although only the Tier One team actually launched a spacecraft into suborbital space, several other teams have conducted low-altitude tests or announced future plans to launch into space:
- The da Vinci Project originally announced that their first flight would be on October 2 2004, but this was postponed indefinitely on September 23 2004, as they were unable to obtain a few necessary components in time. They have not announced a revised timetable.
- The Canadian Arrow team conducted a successful full-power engine test in 2005 and announced on June 2, 2005, that it had received permission from the Canadian government to use Cape Rich as a future launch site.
- On August 8 2004, Space Transport Corporation's Rubicon 1 and Armadillo Aerospace's test vehicle, in two separate unmanned test launches, both crashed and were destroyed.
- On February 15 2005, AERA (Formerly American Astronautics) announced its plans to send seven paying passengers into space as early as 2006, a full year before the first Virgin Galactic flight.

Organization

Created in May 1996 and initially called just "X Prize", it was renamed "Ansari X Prize" on May 6, 2004 following a multimillion dollar donation from Iranian-born entrepreneurs Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari. The X PRIZE Foundation, (based at the St. Louis Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri), maintains a list of organizations registered to compete for the prize. Some companies developed their craft in secret, not publicly announcing their plans until they were ready to request air/space permission from their local government. Such was the case with the winning team Scaled Composites, whose founder Burt Rutan announced in 1996 that the company would compete for the X Prize but worked entirely in secret for seven years, finally revealing the completed vehicle in April 2003.

List of major donors by order of donation

- Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari
- First USA (J.P. Morgan Chase), $1,000,000 USD
- New Spirit of St. Louis Organization
- Danforth Foundation, $500,000 USD
- Tom Clancy, $100K–$500K
- J.S. McDonnell (McDonnell Douglas)
- Andrew Taylor (Enterprise Rent-A-Car)
- Andrew Beal (Beal Bank)
- St. Louis Science Center

External links

- [http://www.xprize.com/ Ansari X Prize official site]
- [http://www.xprizenews.org/ Ansari X Prize Space Race News]
- [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040727/sc_nm/space_prize_dc Yahoo! News - SpaceShipOne Readies Run at $10 Mln Prize]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3549552.stm (Rubicon 1 un-manned test) X-prize contender rocket explodes]
- [http://scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm Tier One (SpaceShipOne) Homepage]
- [http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/spacetourism_future_040930.html Going Private: The Promise and Danger of Space Travel] -- a study of the future of spaceflight and its possible risks
- [http://www.fai.org:81/sporting_code/sc08.pdf FAI Rules for Astronautic Record Attempts]
- [http://www.xprize.org/press_room/press_releases/press.php?articleID=130 press release: SpaceShipOne reaches over 360,000 feet to win the $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE]
- [http://www.spaceenterprise.net Space Enterprise Network]

United States dollar

:USD redirects here. For other uses, see USD (disambiguation). The United States dollar, or American dollar, is the official currency of the United States. It is also widely used as a reserve currency outside the United States. Currently, the issuance of currency is controlled by the Federal Reserve Banking system. The most commonly used symbol for the U.S. dollar is the dollar sign ($). The ISO 4217 code for the United States Dollar is USD; the U.S. dollar is also referenced as US$ by the International Monetary Fund. In 1995, over $380 billion (380 G$) in U.S. currency was in circulation, two-thirds of it overseas. As of April 2004 nearly $700 billion [http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040426/default.htm] was in circulation, with an estimated half to two-thirds of it still being held overseas [http://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/coin/default.htm]. The United States is one of many countries that use a currency known as a dollar. Several countries use the U.S. dollar as their official currency, and many others allow it to be used in a de facto legal capacity. See dollar. The colloquialism buck is often used to refer to a U.S. dollar. This term, dating to the 18th century, may have originated with the colonial fur trade. Grand, sometimes shortened to simply G, is a common term for the amount of $1,000. Banknotes' nicknames are usually the same as their values (such as five, twenty, etc.); however, the $1 bill is often called a single, and the $100 bill has gotten the nickname benjamin (after the portrait of Benjamin Franklin that it bears).

Overview

The U.S. dollar uses the decimal system, consisting of 100 cents (symbol ¢). In another division, there are 1,000 mills or ten dimes to a dollar; additionally, the term eagle was used in naming gold coins. However, only cents are in everyday use as divisions of the dollar; "dime" is used solely as the name of the coin with the value of 10¢, while "eagle" and "mill" are largely unknown to the general public, though mills are sometimes used in matters of tax levies and gasoline prices. When currently issued in circulating form, denominations equal to or less than a dollar are emitted as U.S. coins while denominations equal to or greater than a dollar are emitted as Federal Reserve notes. (Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the note form is significantly more common.) In the past, paper money was occasionally issued in denominations less than a dollar (Fractional Currency) and gold coins were issued for circulation up to the value of twenty dollars. U.S. coins are produced by the United States Mint. U.S. dollar banknotes have been printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the Federal Reserve since 1914. They began as large-sized notes. In 1928, they switched to small-sized notes, for reasons that have yet to be explained. A logical explanation would be to reduce costs in producing bills, by allowing more bills to be printed on the same amount of paper. small-sized note Notes above the $100 denomination ceased being printed in 1946 and were officially withdrawn from circulation in 1969. These notes were used primarily either in inter-bank transactions or by organized crime; it was the latter usage that prompted President Richard Nixon to issue an executive order in 1969 halting their use. With the advent of electronic banking, they became unnecessary. Notes in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $100,000 were all produced at one time; see large denomination bills in U.S. currency for details. See History of the American dollar for more info about the currency's history.

United States coins

Main article: United States coinage In normal circulation, there are coins in the denominations 1¢ (penny), 5¢ (nickel), 10¢ (dime), 25¢ (quarter), 50¢ (half dollar; uncommon), and $1 (uncommon). Dollar coins have not been very popular in the United States. Silver dollars were created from 1794 through 1935 with many gaps; then a copper-nickel dollar of the same large size was minted from 1971 through 1978. The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was introduced in 1979; these proved to be unpopular because they were often mistaken for quarters, thanks to their nearly-equal size, their milled edge, and their similar color. Minting of these dollars for circulation ended in 1980 (collectors' pieces were struck in 1981), but, as with all past U.S. coins, they remain legal tender. As the number of Anthony dollars held by the Federal Reserve and dispensed primarily to make change in postal and transit vending machines had been virtually exhausted, additional Anthony dollars were struck in 1999. In 2000, a new $1 coin featuring Sacagawea was introduced, which corrected some of the mistakes of the Anthony dollar by having a smooth edge and a gold color, without requiring changes to vending machines which accept the Anthony dollar. However, this new coin has failed to achieve the popularity of the still-existing $1 bill and is rarely used in daily transactions. The failure to simultaneously withdraw the dollar bill (the Save the Greenback Act of 1995 banned its phasing out) and weak publicity efforts have been cited by coin proponents as primary reasons for the failure of the dollar coin to gain popular support. Some cynics also point out that the Federal Reserve makes more profit from dollar bills than dollar coins because they wear out in a few years, whereas coins are more permanent. As most vending machines are incapable of making change in banknotes, they commonly only accept $1 bills, though a few will give change in dollar coins. Also, some banks, such as Bank of America only distribute dollar coins through the same mechanisms as one would purchase foreign currency. Reaching into the past, the United States has minted other coin denominations since 1793: half-cent, two-cent, three-cent, twenty-cent, $2.50, $3.00, $4.00, $5.00, $10.00, and $20.00. Technically, all these coins are still legal tender at face value, though they are far more valuable today for their numismatic value, and for gold and silver coins, their precious metal value. The United States Mint also produces gold and platinum bullion coins, called "American Eagles", all of which are legal tender though their use in everyday transactions is virtually non-existent. The reason for this is that they are not intended for use in transactions and thus the face value of the coins are much lower than the worth of the precious metals in them. The American Silver Eagle bullion coin is only issued in the $1 (1 troy oz) denomination. The American Gold Eagle bulllion coin denominations (with gold content) are: $5 (1/10 troy oz), $10 (1/4 troy oz), $25 (1/2 troy oz), and $50 (1 troy oz). The American Platinum Eagle bullion coin denominations (with platinum content) are: $10 (1/10 troy oz), $25 (1/4 troy oz), $50 (1/2 troy oz), and $100 (1 troy oz). The silver coin is 99.9% silver, the gold coins are 91.67% gold (22 karat), and the platinum coins are 99.95% platinum. These coins are not available from the Mint for individuals, but must be purchased from authorized dealers. The Mint also produces high quality "proof" coins, intended for collectors, in the same denominations and bullion content, which are available for individuals. The largest denomation of currency currently printed or minted by the United States is the $100 bill and the $100 troy ounce Platinum Eagle.

International use

karat A few nations besides the United States use the U.S. dollar (USD) as their official currency. Ecuador, El Salvador, and East Timor all adopted the currency independently. The former members of the US-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, including Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands and the Marshall Islands, chose not to issue their own currency after becoming independent. Additionally, the local currencies of Bermuda, the Bahamas, Panama, and a few other states can be freely exchanged at a 1:1 ratio for USD. The currency of Barbados is similarly convertible at a 2:1 ratio. Argentina used a fixed 1:1 exchange rate between the Argentine peso and the U.S. dollar from 1991 until 2002. In Lebanon, one dollar is equal to 1500 Lebanese pound, and is used interchangeably with local currency as a de facto legal tender. The exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar and the United States dollar has also been linked since 1983 at HK$7.8/USD, and Pataca of Macau, pegged to Hong Kong dollar at MOP1.03/HKD, indirectly linked to the US dollar roughly at MOP8/USD. Several oil-producing Gulf Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, also peg their currencies to the dollar, since the dollar is the currency used in the international oil trade. The renminbi used by the People's Republic of China had been informally and controversially pegged to the dollar since the mid-1990s at Y8.28/USD until July 21, 2005. Likewise, Malaysia had pegged its ringgit at RM3.8/USD since 1997. However, on July 21, 2005, both countries removed their respective pegs and adopted managed floats against a basket of currencies. The dollar is also used as the standard unit of currency in international markets for commodities such as gold and oil. Even foreign companies with little direct presence in the United States, such as the European company Airbus, list and sell their products in dollars, although some argue this is attributed to the aerospace market being dominated by US companies. At the present time, the U.S. dollar remains the world's foremost reserve currency, primarily held in $100 denominations. The majority of U.S. notes are actually held outside the United States. According to economist Paul Samuelson, the overseas demand for dollars allows the United States to maintain persistent trade deficits without causing the value of the currency to depreciate and the flow of trade to readjust. Not long after the introduction of the euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) as a cash currency in 2002, the dollar began to steadily depreciate in value on the international scene. After the euro started to rise in value in March 2002, the U.S. trade and budget deficits continued to increase. By Christmas 2004 the dollar had fallen to new lows against all major currencies, especially its rival the euro. The euro rose above $1.36 /€ (under 0.74 €/$) for the first time in late December 2004, in sharp contrast to its lows in early 2003 (rate of $0.87/€). Beginning in late May into early June though the Dollar rose sharply against the Euro as European states reported stagnation in the overall EU economy and doubts were raised over the EU Constitution which was voted down in two member states: France and The Netherlands. As unemployment rates rise in the Euro zone and economic growth slows the EU may see a drop in the value of the Euro against the Dollar for at least part of 2005 although the Euro is expected to maintain its strength, if in a slightly diminished manner.

Origin of the name dollar

The United States dollar derives from the Spanish 8 reales coin which was composed of just under one ounce of silver. This coin was popular among American colonists, who called it the Spanish dollar, the name having derived from a German coin of similar size and composition known as the thaler. The first dollar coins issued by the United States mint were of the same size and composition as the Spanish dollar and even after the American Revolutionary War the Spanish and U.S. silver dollars circulated side by side in the United States. Although private banks issued currency backed by Spanish and U.S. silver dollars, the federal government did not do so until the American Civil War. For further history of the name, see Dollar.

The dollar symbol

Main Article: Dollar sign There are various stories on origin of the "$" sign to represent "dollar." Because the dollar was originally the Spanish 8 reales coin, it is suggested that the 'S' derives from the number '8' which appeared on the coin. The most widely accepted explanation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is that "$" is a corruption of the letters "PS" (for 'peso' or 'piastre' - especially the former, as each letter could represent each syllable of "Pe-So") written over each other in Spanish. Eventually, the 'P' was reduced to a vertical line - | - since the hump disappeared into the upper curve of the 'S' anyway. Examination of old manuscripts yields support for this theory. The "$" symbol was widely in use before formal adoption of the Spanish dollar as U.S. currency in 1785. The dollar sign is sometimes written with two vertical strokes. This is probably just a carry-over of the old habit of using three strokes to write the original sign: One stroke for the 'S' (it is physically easier to write the 'S' first, then the 'P'), a second stroke for the vertical line '|,' and then a third stroke for the hump of the 'P.' People in a hurry or who simply do not care about making a perfectly formed 'P' (especially as the 'hump' will disappear into the 'S' anyway), probably just made the third stroke a second vertical line. There are, however, a number of fanciful explanations for the second vertical line - ranging from superimposition of the letters 'U' and 'S' (the bottom of the 'U' disappearing into the bottom curve of the 'S,' effectively leaving two vertical lines that eventually merge into one as the sign '$'), to the very amusing but original idea that the dollar sign with two vertical lines represents the two pillars of the original Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem. Neither of these stories holds up, however, first because this version of the symbol pre-dates the founding of the United States (whence came the notion of 'U' superimposed over 'S'); and, second, because there is simply no evidence for the theory in the history of the Spanish coin. Rather, this theory seems to trace to the traditions of Freemasonry; and, indeed, some Masonic symbols do appear on U.S. currency - but they did not in 1785. A few people write the sign with one vertical stroke for small sums of money and two vertical strokes for large sums of money. ($5 with one stroke and $1,000,000 with two strokes) However, this is only a matter of style, and it certainly has little to do with the original variation. For further information about the symbol, see Dollar. See also Pieces of Eight.

Current USD exchange rates

[http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=AUD&to=USD&submit=Convert AUD] | [http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=CAD&to=USD&submit=Convert CAD] | [http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=EUR&to=USD&submit=Convert EUR] | [http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=GBP&to=USD&submit=Convert GBP] | [http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=INR&to=USD&submit=Convert INR] | [http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=NZD&to=USD&submit=Convert NZD] | [http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=BRL&to=USD&submit=Convert BRL] | [http://www.exchangerate.com Lots of exchange rates]

External links

- [http://www.moneyfactory.com/ US Bureau of Engraving and Printing]
- [http://www.treas.gov/topics/currency/index.html The U.S. Treasury's Coins & Currency portal]
- [http://www.frbsf.org/currency/ American Currency Exhibit at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank]
- [http://www.moneyfactory.com/section.cfm/4 U.S. Treasury page with images of all current banknotes]
- [http://www.friesian.com/notes.htm U.S. paper money]
- [http://misyte3.tripod.com/clipart/id47.html Presidential currency]
- [http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ The Inflation Calculator]
- [http://www.mabico.com Financial News] Analitics, Trading Info, and Forum
- [http://www.openforex.com Open Forex] Forecasts Dollars
- [http://www.forex.dj Forex] First dollar guide
- [http://www.currencyworld.biz/acecalc/ Ace Currency Calculator]
- [http://www.wheresgeorge.com/ The Where's George? Currency Tracking Project]
- [http://www.coolnumbers.com Cool Numbers] analyzes patterns of dollar-bill serial numbers and other types of numbers. Dollar, US ja:アメリカ合衆国ドル simple:United States dollar th:ดอลลาร์สหรัฐ

Prize

A prize is an award given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them. Some prizes are also associated with extravagant awarding ceremonies, such as the Oscars. Prizes are given for a number of reasons: to highlight noteworthy or exemplary behaviour, and to provide incentives in competitions, etc. In general, prizes are regarded in a positive light, and their winners are admired. However, many prizes, especially the more famous ones, have often caused controversy and jealousy. Specific types of prizes include:
- First prize, second prize, third prize etc.
- Consolation prize: an award given to those who do not win an event but are deserving of recognition.
- Booby prize: typically awarded as a joke or insult to whomever finished last. ---- Prize is also a term used in admiralty law to refer to equipment, vehicles, and vessels captured as a result of armed conflict. The most common use of prize in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and its cargo. In the past it was common that the capturing force would be alloted a share of the worth of the captured prize. Nations often granted letters of marque which would entitle private parties to capture enemy property, usually ships. Once the ship was secured on friendly territory, it would be made the subject of a prize case, an in rem proceeding in which the court determined the status of the condemned property and the manner in which it was to be disposed of. Due to changes in the law of war and the nature of warfare in general, prize litigation is very rare or nonexistent today. There have been several abortive attempt to form an International Prize Court to hear appeals regarding captures of prizes.

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is not part of a government and was not founded by states. NGOs are therefore typically independent of governments. Although the definition can technically include for-profit corporations, the term is generally restricted to social, cultural, legal, and environmental advocacy groups having goals that are primarily noncommercial. NGOs are usually non-profit organizations that gain at least a portion of their funding from private sources. Current usage of the term is generally associated with the United Nations and authentic NGOs are those that are so designated by the UN. non-profit organizations against Esso/Exxon Mobil in March 2003.]] Because the label "NGO" is considered too broad by some, as it might cover anything that is non-governmental, many NGOs now prefer the term private voluntary organization (PVO). A 1995 UN report on global governance estimated that there are nearly 29,000 international NGOs. National numbers are even higher: The United States has an estimated 2 million NGOs, most of them formed in the past 30 years. Russia has 65,000 NGOs. Dozens are created daily. In Kenya alone, some 240 NGOs come into existence every year.

History

Kenya NGO's.]] Though voluntary associations of citizens have existed throughout history, NGOs along the lines seen today, especially on the international level, have developed in the past two centuries. One of the first such organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, was founded in 1863. The phrase non-governmental organization came into use with the establishment of the United Nations in 1945 with provisions in Article 71 of Chapter 10 of the United Nations Charter ^{[http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/chapt10.htm]} for a consultative role for organizations that neither are governments nor member states – see Consultative Status. The definition of international NGO (INGO) is first given in resolution 288 (X) of ECOSOC on February 27, 1950: it is defined as 'any international organisation that is not founded by an international treaty'. The vital role of NGOs and other "major groups" in sustainable development was recognized in Chapter 27^{[http://habitat.igc.org/agenda21/a21-27.htm]} of Agenda 21, leading to revised arrangements for consultative relationship between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.^{[http://www.un.org/documents/ecosoc/res/1996/eres1996-31.htm]} Globalization during the 20th century gave rise to the importance of NGOs. Many problems could not be solved within a nation. International treaties and international organizations such as the World Trade Organization were perceived as being too centered on the interests of capitalist enterprises. In an attempt to counterbalance this trend, NGOs have developed to emphasize humanitarian issues, developmental aid and sustainable development. A prominent example of this is the World Social Forum which is a rival convention to the World Economic Forum held annually in January in Davos, Switzerland. The fifth World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January 2005 was attended by representatives from more than 1,000 NGOs. ^{[http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/role/conf.htm]}

Types of NGOs

There are numerous possibilities to classify NGOs. The following is the typology the World Bank uses :

Operational NGOs

Their primary purpose is the design and implementation of development-related projects. One categorization that is frequently used is the division into relief-oriented or development-oriented organizations; they can also be classified according to whether they stress service delivery or participation; or whether they are religious and secular; and whether they are more public or private-oriented. Operational NGOs can be community-based, national or international.

Advocacy NGOs

Their primary purpose is to defend or promote a specific cause. As opposed to operational project management, these organizations typically try to raise awareness, acceptance and knowledge by lobbying, press work and activist events.

Acronyms

Nongovernmental organizations are an heterogenous group. A long list of acronyms has developed around the term 'NGO'. These include:
- [http://www.massfoundation.org/ Movement and Action for Social Services (MASS)]
- INGO stands for international NGO, such as CARE;
- BINGO is short for business-oriented international NGO;
- RINGO is an abbreviation of religious international NGO such as Catholic Relief Services;
- ENGO, short for environmental NGO, such as Global 2000;
- GONGOs are government-operated NGOs, which may have been set up by governments to look like NGOs in order to qualify for outside aid;
- QUANGOs are quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations, such as the W3C and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is actually not purely an NGO, since its membership is by nation, and each nation is represented by what the ISO Council determines to be the "most broadly representative" standardization body of a nation. Now, such a body might in fact be a nongovernmental organization--for example, the United States is represented in ISO by the American National Standards Institute, which is independent of the federal government. However, other countries can be represented by national governmental agencies--this is the trend in Europe.

Evolutionary stages of development NGOs

Three stages or generations of NGO evolution have been identified by Korten’s (1990) Three Generations of Voluntary Development Action. First, the typical development NGO focuses on relief and welfare, and delivers relief services directly to beneficiaries. Examples are the distribution of food, shelter or health services. The NGO notices immediate needs and responds to them. NGOs in the second generation are oriented towards small-scale, self-reliant local development. At this evolutionary stage, NGOs build the capacities of local communities to meet their needs through 'self reliant local action'. Korten calls the third generation 'sustainable systems development'. At this stage, NGOs try to advance changes in policies and institutions at a local, national and international level; they move away from their operational service providing role towards a catalytic role. The NGO is starting to develop from a relief NGO to a development NGO. ¹

Purposes

NGOs exist for a variety of purposes, usually to further the political or social goals of their members. Examples include improving the state of the natural environment, encouraging the observance of human rights, improving the welfare of the disadvantaged, or representing a corporate agenda. However, there are a huge number of such organizations and their goals cover a broad range of political and philosophical positions. This can also easily be applied to private schools and athletic organizations.

Methods

NGOs vary in their methods. Some act primarily as lobbyists, while others conduct programs and activities primarily. For instance, such an NGO as Oxfam, concerned with poverty alleviation, might provide needy people with the equipment and skills they need to find food and clean drinking water.

Networking

The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), founded in 1992, is a global network of more than 60 non-governmental organizations that promote and defend the right to freedom of expression.

Public Relations

Consulting

Many international NGOs have a consultative status with United Nations agencies relevant to their area of work. As an example, the Third World Network has a consultative status with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In 1946, only 41 NGOs had consultative status with the ECOSOC, but this number had risen to 2,350 in 2003.

Activist events

ECOSOC) in December 2004.]]

Project management

There is an increasing awareness that management techniques are crucial to project success in non-governmental organizations.

Management of non-governmental organizations

Two management trends are particularly relevant to NGOs: diversity management and participatory management. Diversity management deals with different cultures in an organization. Intercultural problems are prevalent in Northern NGOs that are engaged in developmental activities in the South. Personnel coming from a rich country are faced with a completely different approach of doing things in the target country. A participatory management style is said to be typical of NGOs. It is intricately tied to the concept of a learning organization: all people within the organization are perceived as sources for knowledge and skills. To develop the organization, individuals have to be able to contribute in the decision making process and they need to learn.

Relations

The relationship among businesses, governments, and NGOs can be quite complex and sometimes antagonistic. Some advocacy NGOs view opposition to the interests of Western governments and large corporations as central to their purpose. But NGOs, governments, and companies sometimes form cooperative, conciliatory partnerships as well.

Staffing

Not all people working for non-governmental organizations are volunteers. Paid staff members typically receive lower pay than in the commercial private sector. Employees are highly committed to the aims and principles of the organization. The reasons why people volunteer are usually not purely altruistic, but self-serving: They expect to gain skills, experience and contacts. There is some dispute as to whether expatriates should be sent to developing countries. Frequently this type of personnel is employed to satisfy a donor, who wants to see the supported project managed by someone from an industrialized country. However, the expertise these employees or volunteers may have can be counterbalanced by a number of factors: the cost of foreigners is typically higher, they have no grassroot connections in the country they are sent to and local expertise is often undervalued. The NGO-sector is an important employer in terms of numbers. For example, by the end of 1995, CONCERN worldwide, an international Northern NGO working against poverty, employed 174 expatriates and just over 5,000 national staff working in ten developing countries in Africa and Asia, and in Haiti.

Funding

Large NGOs may have annual budgets in the millions of dollars. For instance, the budget of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was over $540 million dollars in 1999.[http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/12687/edition_id/245/format/html/displaystory.html] Human Rights Watch spent and received US$21,7 million in 2003. Funding such large budgets demands significant fundraising efforts on the part of most NGOs. Major sources of NGO funding include membership dues, the sale of goods and services, grants from international institutions or national governments, and private donations. Several EU-grants provide funds accessible to NGOs. Even though the term 'non-governmental organization' implies independence of governments, some NGOs depend heavily on governments for their funding. A quarter of the US$162 million income in 1998 of the famine-relief organization Oxfam was donated by the British government and the EU. The Christian relief and development organization World Vision US collected US$55 million worth of goods in 1998 from the American government. Nobel Prize winner Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (known in English as Doctors Without Borders) gets 46 percent of its income from government sources.

Legal status

NGOs are not legal entities under international law, like states are. An exception is the International Committee of the Red Cross which is considered a legal entity under international law, because it is based on the Geneva Convention.

Notes

¹ Korten, D. Getting to the 21st century: voluntary action and the global agenda. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1990, p. 118.
[http://docs.lib.duke.edu/igo/guides/ngo/define.htm World Bank Criteria defining NGO]
[http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/pdf/int-work-paper4.pdf Mukasa, Sarah. Are expatriate staff necessary in international development NGOs? A case study of an international NGO in Uganda. Publication of the Centre for Civil Society at London School of Economics. 2002, p. 11-13.]
Campbell, P. Management Development and Development Management for Voluntary Organisations, Occasional Paper No. 3, International Council of Voluntary Agencies, Geneva, 1987.
[http://www.intractableconflict.org/m/role_ngo.jsp Intractable Conflict Knowledge Base Project of the Conflict Research Consortium at the University of Colorado]
[http://www.civilsoc.org/resource/sins.htm Sins of the secular missionaries. in: The Economist. January 29, 2000.]

References

[http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/publications/iwp/Default.htm London School of Economics International Working Paper Series on NGOs]
[http://docs.lib.duke.edu/igo/guides/ngo/define.htm World Bank Criteria defining NGO]

External links

- [http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/p.willetts/CS-NTWKS/NGO-ART.HTM What is a Non-Governmental Organization? City University, London]
- [http://www.class.uidaho.edu/martin_archives/conflict_journal/ngo.htm NGOs' role in peace-building] Category:Lists of organizations Category:Organizations Category:Political science terms ja:NGO simple:NGO th:องค์การสาธารณประโยชน์ zh-cn:非政府组织

Manned spaceflight

Human spaceflight is space exploration with a human crew and possibly passengers, which is in contrast to robotic space probes or remotely-controlled unmanned space missions. On occasion, passengers of other species have ridden aboard spacecraft, although not all survived the return to earth. Dogs, not humans, were the first large mammals launched from Earth. The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961; Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit around the earth. Perhaps the highest of Earth orbits was Gemini 11 in 1966, which reached a height of 1374 km. The Space Shuttle on the missions to launch and service the Hubble Space Telescope has also reached high earth orbit at an altitude of around 600 km. The destination of human spaceflight missions beyond Earth orbit has only been the Moon. On the first such mission, Apollo 8, the crew orbited the Moon. Apollo 10 was the next mission, and it tested the lunar landing craft in lunar orbit without actually landing. The six missions that landed were Apollo 11-17, excluding Apollo 13. On each mission, two of the three astronauts involved landed on the moon; thus, in the late 1960s and early 1970s NASA's Apollo program landed twelve men on the Moon--returning them all to Earth. As of 2005 piloted space missions have been carried out by Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the United States. Missions carried out by the United States are both governmental (NASA) and civilian (Scaled Composites, a California-based company). Canada, Europe, India, and Japan also have active space programs. The Indian Parliament recently sanctioned funds to the Indian Space Research Organization for a human spaceflight by 2008 (although the programme has now been scaled down to start with an unmanned orbiting satellite for surveying--see Chandrayan). Japan has announced a program to place a person on the moon by 2025. Currently the following spacecrafts and spaceports are used:
- International Space Station (includes Soyuz TMA as an emergency lander; normal crew transport with the following two spacecraft)
- Soyuz TMA with Soyuz launch vehicle - Baikonur Cosmodrome
- Space Shuttle - John F. Kennedy Space Center
- Shenzhou spacecraft with Long March rocket - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
- Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne with Scaled Composites White Knight (the latter does not enter space itself) - Mojave Spaceport In an attempt to win the $10 million X-Prize, numerous private companies attempted to build their own manned spacecraft capable of repeated sub-orbital flights. The first private spaceflight took place on June 21 2004, when SpaceShipOne conducted a sub-orbital flight. With its second flight within one week, SpaceShipOne captured the prize on October 4, 2004. NASA uses the term "human spaceflight" to refer to its programme of launching people into space. Traditionally, these endeavours have been referred to as "manned space missions". The term "manned" is accurate in terms of gender when speaking of all U.S. spaceflight programs before the Space Shuttle program and Soviet spaceflights before Vostok 6. Although it only denotes gender in one of several definitions of the word, the term "manned" is considered sexist by some, and they may prefer to use the term "crewed"' or "piloted space missions."

External links

- [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/ NASA Human Space Flight]
- [http://www.thespacereview.com/article/352/1 The top three reasons for humans in space]
- [http://www.chrisvalentines.com/sts107/videoessay.html 20 Minute Video Essay on Human Space Exploration] Category:Human spaceflight

Outer space

Outer space (also called just space) as a name for a region, refers to the relatively empty parts of the Universe, outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. The term outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace and terrestrial locations. Although outer space is certainly spacious, it is now known to be far from empty, and filled with a tenuous plasma. As the Earth's atmosphere has no abrupt cut-off, but rather thins gradually with increasing altitude, there is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and space. The Federation Aeronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) as the working definition for the boundary between atmosphere and space. In the United States, persons who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 kilometers) are designated as astronauts. 400,000 feet (75 miles or 120 kilometers) marks the boundary where atmospheric effects become noticeable during re-entry.

Milestones on the way to space

- Sea level - 1 bar of atmospheric pressure
- 4.6 km (15,000 ft) - FAA requires supplemental oxygen for aircraft pilots and passengers
- 5.0 km (16,000 ft) - 0.5 bar of atmospheric pressure
- 5.3 km (17,400 ft) - Half of the Earth's atmosphere is below this altitude
- 8.8 km (29,035 ft) - Summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth
- 16 km (52,500 ft) - Pressurized cabin or pressure suit required
- 18 km (59,000 ft) - Boundary between troposphere and stratosphere
- 20 km (65,600 ft) - Water at room temperature boils without a pressurized container (the popular notion that bodily fluids would start to boil at this point is false because the confines of the body generate enough pressure to prevent actual boiling)
- 24 km (78,700 ft) - Regular aircraft pressurization systems no longer function
- 24.7 km - Altitude record for manned balloon flight
- 32 km (105,000 ft) - Turbojets no longer function
- 45 km (148,000 ft) - Ramjets no longer function
- 50 km (164,000 ft) - Boundary between stratosphere and mesosphere
- 80 km (262,000 ft) - Boundary between mesosphere and thermosphere
- 100 km (328,084 ft) - Kármán line, defining the limit of outer space according to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Aerodynamic surfaces no longer function due to lack of atmospheric pressure
- 120 km (400,000 ft) - First noticeable atmospheric effects during reentry from orbit
- 200 km - Lowest possible orbit with short-term stability (stable for a few days)
- 350 km - Lowest possible orbit with long-term stability (stable for many years)
- 690 km - Boundary between thermosphere and exosphere

Types of space

- Cislunar space
- Interplanetary space
- Interstellar space
- Intergalactic space

Space does not equal orbit

A common misunderstanding about the boundary to space is that orbit occurs by reaching this altitude. There is a major difference between sub-orbital and orbital spaceflights, however. Achieving orbit requires orbital speed, and this can theoretically occur at any altitude. Atmospheric drag precludes an orbit that is too low. Minimal altitudes for a stable orbit around the Earth begin at around 350 km (220 miles) above mean sea level, so to actually perform an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft would need to go higher and (more importantly) faster than what would be required for a sub-orbital spaceflight. Reaching orbit requires tremendous speed. A craft has not reached orbit until it is circling Earth so quickly that the upward centrifugal "force" cancels the downward gravitational force on the craft. Having climbed up out of the atmosphere, a craft entering orbit must then turn sideways and continue firing its rockets to reach the necessary speed; for low Earth orbit, the speed is about 7.9 km/s (18,000 mph). Thus, achieving the necessary altitude is only the first step in reaching orbit. The energy required to reach velocity for low earth orbit (32 MJ/kg) is about twenty times the energy to reach the corresponding altitude (10 kJ/km/kg).

20th century

The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. Common usage sometimes regards it as lasting from 1900 to 1999, but this is incorrect since counting of calendar years begins with the year 1. The 20th century is also sometimes known as the nineteen hundreds (1900s). Decades are almost always considered as starting with the "0" year and named accordingly ("1960s", etc.). However, a number of arguments have been used to justify the common usage. One was advanced, erroneously, by Stephen Jay Gould. He claimed that the first decade had only nine years, thus contradicting the definition of decade equaled 10 years. Another argument is that the astronomical year numbering system for years does have a year zero, the year normally known as 1 BC. In 2000 the International Organization for Standardization clarified ISO 8601 to use the astronomical year numbering system, which could be interpreted as retrospectively endorsing all the people who had celebrated the new century a few months earlier. The term is also used to describe various periods that overlap with the calendar definition, most notably the Short twentieth century, which claims that the 20th Century spanned from 1914 to 1989, rendering the pre-WWI 1900s into the 19th Century and putting the 1990s at the beginning of the 21st Century. Indeed, the part of the 20th Century before World War I is quite identical to the late 1800s culturally and technologically and the 1990s decade pointed in many ways (such as the rise of the Internet) to the 21st Century and is seen by some as not being truly a part of the 20th Century.

Overview

The twentieth century saw a remarkable shift in the way that vast numbers of people lived, as a result of technological, medical, social, ideological, and political innovations. Terms like ideology, world war, genocide, and nuclear war entered common usage and became an influence on the lives of everyday people. War reached an unprecedented scale and level of sophistication; in the Second World War (1939-1945) alone, approximately 57 million people died, mainly due to massive improvements in weaponry. The trends of mechanization of goods and services and networks of global communication, which were begun in the 19th century, continued at an ever-increasing pace in the 20th. In spite of the terror and chaos, the 20th century saw many attempts at world peace. As the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy said: :What kind of peace do we seek? I am talking about a genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living. Not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time. Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's future, and we are all mortal. Virtually every aspect of life in virtually every human society changed in some fundamental way or another during the twentieth century and for the first time, any individual could influence the course of history no matter their background. Arguably, the 20th century re-shaped the face of the planet in more ways than any previous century.
- Death rates
- Infant mortality
- Infectious disease
- Life expectancy
- Maternal death rates
- Battles Scientific discoveries such as relativity and quantum physics radically changed the worldview of scientists, causing them to realize that the universe was much more complex than they had previously believed, and dashing the hopes at the end of the preceding century that the last few details of knowledge were about to be filled in. For a more coherent overview of the historical events of the century, see The 20th century in review. The 20th century has sometimes been called, both within and outside the United States, the American Century, though this is a controversial term.

Important developments, events and achievements

Science and technology

- The assembly line and mass production of motor vehicles and other goods allowed manufacturers to produce more and cheaper products. This allowed the automobile to become the most important means of transportation.
- The invention of heavier-than-air flying machines and the jet engine allowed for the world to become "smaller". Space flight increased knowledge of the rest of the universe and allowed for global real-time communications via geosynchronous satellites.
- Mass media technologies such as film, radio, and television allow the communication of political messages and entertainment with unprecedented impact
- Mass availability of the telephone and later, the computer, especially through the Internet, provides people with new opportunities for near-instantaneous communication
- Applied electronics, notably in its miniaturized form as integrated circuits, made possible the above mentioned rise of mass media, telecommunications, ubiquitous computing, and all kinds of "intelligent" appliances; as well as many advances in natural sciences such as physics, by the use of exponentially growing calculation power (see supercomputer).
- The development of Nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides resulted in significantly higher agricultural yield.
- Advances in fundamental physics through the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics led to the development of nuclear weapons (known informally as "the Bomb" and dropped on the industrial town of Hiroshima and the historic one of Nagasaki), the nuclear reactor, and the laser. Fusion power was studied extensively but remained an experimental technology at the end of the century.
- Inventions such as the washing machine and air conditioning led to an increase in both the quantity and quality of leisure time for the middle class in Western societies.
- Most influential inventions in the 20th century: antibiotics, oral contraceptives, new plastics, transistors, Internet
- More...

Wars and politics

- Democratic nations began to extend voting privileges to all adults.
- Rising nationalism and increasing national awareness were among the causes of World War I, the first of two wars to involve all the major world powers including Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the British Commonwealth. World War I led to the creation of many new countries, especially in Eastern Europe. Ironically, it was said by many to be the 'War to end all Wars'.
- The economic and political aftermath of World War I led to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, and shortly to World War II. This war also involved Asia and the Pacific, in the form of Japanese aggression against China and the United States. While the First World War mainly cost lives among soldiers, civilians suffered greatly in the Second -- from the bombing of cities on both sides, and in the unprecedented German genocide of the Jews and others, known as the Holocaust.
- During World War I, in Russia the Bolshevik putsch led to the Russian Revolution of 1917. After the Soviet Union's involvement in World War II, Communism became a major force in global politics, spreading all over the world: notably, to Eastern Europe, China, Indochina and Cuba. This led to the Cold War and proxy wars with the western world, including wars in Korea (1950-53) and Vietnam (1957 - 75).
- The "fall of Communism" in the late 1980s freed Eastern and Central Europe from Soviet supremacy. It also led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia into successor states, many rife with ethnic nationalism, and left the United States as the world's superpower.
- Through the League of Nations and, after World War II, the United Nations, international cooperation increased. Other efforts included the formation of the European Union, leading to a common currency in much of Western Europe, the euro around the turn of the millennium.
- The end of colonialism led to the independence of many African and Asian countries. During the Cold War, many of these aligned with the USA, the USSR, or China for defense.
- The creation of Israel, a Jewish state in a mostly Arab region of the world, fueled many conflicts in the region, which were also influenced by the vast oil fields in many of the Arab countries.
- The term Southeast Asia coined.

Culture and entertainment

- Movies, music and the media had a major influence on fashion and trends in all aspects of life. As many movies and music originate from the United States, American culture spread rapidly over the world.
- After gaining political rights in the United States and much of Europe in the first part of the century, and with the advent of new birth control techniques women became more independent throughout the century.
- Rock and Roll and Jazz styles of music are developed in the United States, and quickly become the dominant forms of popular music in America, and later, the world. The Beatles, a 1960s British Rock and Roll band, becomes one of the most successful acts of all time, and is credited, in their experimental later albums, with permanently changing what was thought possible in popular music.
- Modern art developed new styles such as expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.
- The automobile provided vastly increased transportation capabilities for the average member of Western societies in the early to mid-century, spreading even further later on. City design throughout most of the West became focused on transport via car. The car became a leading symbol of modern society, with styles of car suited to and symbolic of particular lifestyles.
- Sports became an important part of society, becoming an activity not only for the privileged. Watching sports, later also on television, became a popular activity.

Disease and medicine

- Although the availability and quality of medicine continued to improve, epidemic diseases continued to spread, aided by modern transportation. An influenza pandemic, the Spanish Flu, killed 25 million between 1918 and 1919, while AIDS is yet uncured and treatments remain too expensive for wide use in developing countries.
- Advances in medicine, such as the invention of antibiotics, decreased the number of people dying from diseases. Contraceptive drugs and organ transplantation were developed. The discovery of DNA molecules and the advent of molecular biology allowed for cloning and genetic engineering.

Natural resources and the environment

- The widespread use of petroleum in industry -- both as a chemical precursor to plastics and as a fuel for the automobile and airplane -- led to the vital geopolitical importance of petroleum resources. The Middle East, home to many of the world's oil deposits, became a center of geopolitical and military tension throughout the latter half of the century. (For example, oil was a factor in Japan's decision to go to war against the United States in 1941, and the oil cartel, OPEC, used an oil embargo of sorts in the wake of the Yom Kippur War in the 1970s).
- A vast increase in fossil fuel consumption leads to depletion of natural resources, while air pollution has led to the develoment of an ozone hole and, many believe, global warming and both local and global climate change. The problem is increased by world-wide deforestation, also causing a loss of biodiversity. The problem of a depletion of natural resources is decreased by advances in drilling technology which led to a net increase in the amount of fossil fuel that is readily obtainable at the end of the century, as compared with the amount considered obtainable at the beginning of the century.

Significant people

Ansari X Prize

Contest rules

Motivation

Contestants

Competition status

Flight attempts by teams that did not win

Organization

List of major donors by order of donation

See also

External links

Further reading

United States dollar

Overview

United States coins

International use

Origin of the name dollar

The dollar symbol

Current USD exchange rates

External links

Prize

See also

Non-governmental organization

History

Types of NGOs

Operational NGOs

Advocacy NGOs

Acronyms

Evolutionary stages of development NGOs

Purposes

Methods

Networking

Public Relations

Consulting

Activist events

Project management

Management of non-governmental organizations

Relations

Staffing

Funding

Legal status

Notes

References

External links

Manned spaceflight

See also

External links

Outer space

Milestones on the way to space

Types of space

Space does not equal orbit

See also

20th century

Overview

Important developments, events and achievements

Science and technology

Wars and politics

Culture and entertainment

Disease and medicine

Natural resources and the environment

Significant people

World leaders

Scientists

Humanities