From Academia to Social Media

Jason Howie, "Social Media Apps" via flickr, 3/23/13. CC0 Attribution.

Social media is the last stop on our research into the academic journal discussed in the previous two blog posts. Taking an author, Jeroen Van den Eynde, and searching his media presence allows me to find out what type of interactions professionals have across social media, especially ones outside of my area of influence.

Sites

Looking through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, the only social media site I could find Mr. Van den Eynde, was on LinkedIn, which matches up with his scholarly report on aerodynamic transitions within the AIAA journal.

Results

Because LinkedIn is more of a professional site designed to show off professional skills and projects, there is not much of a different between his writing in the journal, which is to a very formal level, and the type of writing he created on LinkedIn, where he is basically trying to sell his skills as a valuable team member. LinkedIn includes his skill set, past experience, such as being part of the ESA, and his writing experience, such as his article with the AIAA. The journal however, has a very small section on the authors experience, but the content of the article tells of the education and research level of the authors, such as Mr. Van den Eynde.

Conclusion

While one site is designed to impress, and has less formal language but also many more topics and subheading, the impression it give the public is the same, Mr. Van den Eynde is an educated and experienced man who is worthy of writing research papers or taking part of any aerospace engineering team.

Academic Discourse and Genre

Pirates010, "Academic Plaza" via wikimedia, 5/23/07. Public Domain.

Looking deeper into my previous posts insight on an academic in my journal for my major Aerospace Engineering, I can gather information about the type of writing that professionals in my field participate within. Instead of indentifying parts about the situation the writing is found in though, I spent 15 minutes familiarizing myself with the journal, and discovered a shocking realization.

Different but the Same

Even reading every single article within the journal, I could not find a completely different traditional genre, every article follows the format of a formal research paper. Looking into the content of the articles though, there a few nuanced differences.

Theory Research Paper

The "Theory" research paper is a formal research paper that has all of the correct marking of an experiment, an introduction, abstract theory, equations, results and data. What makes this slightly different "Theory" paper is that the design team for the experiment is trying to compare tested result against a formulated idea that they have conceived to generalize a variable or the change of a system. Therefore, testing this theory is key to the naming of this variation of research paper that is commonly found within this journal. A few key differences to set it apart from other research papers is that it focused on the abstract theory and the conclusions sections, wrapping up and comparing or contrasting their theory against evidence they found to be true. This type of paper is designed to be focused towards professors and other researchers in the field, in order to create a new ideas or new train of thought towards solving or understanding a variety of problems.

An example of this type of article can be found here. Reading the first section of the paper which focuses on the history and development of piston theory highlights the extensive coverage of abstract theory that is common to this genre.

Effect Research Paper

Following along the ideas of the last research paper, this type of formal research paper will have all of the similar quality of research, abstract ideas, introduction, data, experimental procedures, tables of results, conclusions, but this type of paper focuses more on finding data and results that might later be used as evidence to support a conclusion or as the starting point for further research. Quite often these papers have many calculations of statistics and will have lots of data but not as much in depth analysis of what is happening with the research, compared to a normal research paper with fairly even amount of both, or even a bit more analysis than data. This type of paper is intended towards both researchers and businesses, as research can use this to create models and new predictions, while businesses may use this in research on efficiency or as a basis for the development of new projects.

An example of this type of article is found here. It can be seen clearly that this type of paper has more graphs and examples compared to other papers with paragraphs of explanation and analysis.

Effectiveness Research Paper

As the other two papers, this paper also has the basics of a research paper, with data and results, procedures of experiment, and the like, but it focused on the efficiency or effectiveness of a certain type of design, procedure, or theory, trying to analyze and compare the experiment to other experiments of the same type. Often these papers have a large amount of statistics but also a strong conclusion to construct a comparison of various ideas, but combining this with the backing of experimental facts. This means articles like this one, on the performance of NASA's common model, often included sections such as a results and discussion portion that will not only present the results of the experiment, but come up with an idea about what happened and why that happened. These types of experiments are meant more for businesses or professionals in the field to test design and prepare the best or most efficient products with little error. 

Rhetorical Analysis of Academic Journal

Alexander McCarthy, "Journal" via Blogger, 2/29/16. Public Domain.

Looking for outside resources for my research on the types on genres worked with in my field, it is important to look at collections of academic work, often known as journals within each respective field. In my search for a physical copy, I came up stumped, even through the University of Arizona Library, the Pima County Library System, even Barnes and Noble. Finally I picked up a lesser known magazine dedicated to airplanes called Air International, seen here, where I searched through the magazine and found mostly current events on types of aircraft and their mission. While this is part of the project, it is not very representative of the aerospace engineering academia, therefore, for my discussion on an academic journal, I will use the AIAA (The American Institue of Aeronautics and Astronautics), one of the most popular journals in the field, which is only found only, pictured below.

Alexander McCarthy, "Journal2" via blogger, 2/29/16. Public Domain.

Answering specific questions regarding their rhetorical situation will allow to analyze the major portions of the genres developed within my major. Questions such as the following:  

Who are the authors/speakers published in this specific issue of the academic journal you've selected? How many different authors are published here? What do you know - or can you find out - about these people? How are the authors/speakers portrayed in the journal issue? Cite specific details from the journal issue in your answers. 

The type of author that is involved in this journal are highly developed professionals, such as graduate students, Phd students, professional workers or professors that engaged in the field. There are roughly eighty two authors in this first issue of the journal, from which there are sections dedicated to specific projects, designs, or ideas. There is little to find about many of the first few authors I found besides the information provided at the beginning of the journal, telling about their primary position, such as Jeroen P. J. P. Van den Eynde, who can be found on google, working for the University of Southampton, after some experience with the European Space Agency. This is typical of the various authors of this journal, a background or some experience in the aerospace field, along with an upper level degree and work on research projects. The author are only ever acknowledged in the start of the article, and are not mentioned throughout.

Who is the intended audience for this particular journal issue? How can you tell? Are there any secondary audiences included here? Cite specific details from the journal issue in your answers.  

The intended audience for this particular journal issue is other professionals in the field who can use the articles within this journal as a resource for citation, such as the citation as the bottom of the article titled Numerical Simulations of Translations Due to Isolated Roughness Elements at Mach 6. At the end of this article, there are many citations of other projects, and also citation from other articles using the one within the journal. This, and the type of genre used, of a formal research paper make it easy to distinguish the intended purpose of the article. The secondary audience is businesses that might be able to use these types of developments to create new products or enter new markets, such as supersonic flight when referencing the Mach 6 article. 

What is the context surrounding this particular journal issue? How does this affect the content of the journal? (See the bulleted questions on Student's Guide page 180 for specific questions about context). Cite specific details from the journal issue in your answers.  

Reflecting on the fact that this journal is very modern and condenses many of the recent scientific findings of aerospace engineers around the world, in the form of a long collection of formal papers, this journal it can be seen that our modern world is advancing towards efficiency, and pushing boundaries. While I do not see many new products or designs being proposes, I see many articles pursuing the transition between boundaries such as near mach speeds, the aerodynamic effects at high speeds, and specific situations designed to study the efficiency of different wing types, such as NASA's Common Wing design. This is indicative of the greener world we live in, where fossil fuels have increased in cost, increasing the airline industries expected increase in fuel efficiency, much of which lies in perfecting existing designs. Also, studying the effects of new boundaries such as high speeds will create new markets for companies and help research for scientists who are looking for faster and more agile vehicles. Projects such as these show how our world is reacting to climate change, and is also trying to perfect and improve our last frontier, into space and supersonic flight. 

What is the overall message of the journal issue? How did you decide this? Cite specific details from the journal issue in your answers.  

 The overall message of this journal is that we are advancing toward pushing efficiency levels and closing in on perfecting greater than mach speeds, such that hyper sonic airliners may be in the future, working on projects such as a laboratory size replicate of a super sonic jet. But with all of this research still ongoing, it proves that we still have much more testing to go through, and that this is a very active and alive field.

What purpose is the journal issue trying to achieve? Cite specific details from the journal issue in your answers. 

The journal issue is trying to spread research publications to a wider audience of professionals and companies that may follow this journal. With almost every article being a study, experiment, or analysis of various effects or situations, this journal is solely dedicated to bringing together research papers, with the intended plan to spread these ideas and allow citations from a much larger reader base than man be available from the local reader to the articles respective authors. 

My Major

NASA. "Apollo 13 Mailbox at Mission Control" via wikimedia, 4/15/70. CC0 Public Domain.

After working through much of the interview work for my upcoming project, it is important to focus on the goal of the project. To learn a bit more about my major, the field of Aerospace Engineering, and its genres. Therefore, in this post, I'll present a few facts and popular work on the Aerospace field.

Students

Students in the aerospace field learn to develop, analyze, and test aircraft and spacecraft, often specializing in either aerospace or astronautics, to focus on one certain type of aerospace.

Careers

People with aerospace engineering degrees often get into engineering firms with large or small companies, frequently doing design work, analysis, and especially, testing of existing or prototype designs to create newer and more efficient flying crafts.

Passion

I am drawn to this field because my father was an electrical engineer, and from a young age, I have had a passion for planes due to their precision, power, and near magical ability to fly and take people around the world or to places never seen before by humans.

Famous People

Some of the most famous people involved in the aerospace field are Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX and celebrity entrepreneur, Scott Kelly, current commander aboard aboard the ISS, who has taken many photos and shared stories of how space life is like and educating people on the tasks of a an astronaut, and Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin franchise, which includes two airlines, and also the creater of Virgin Galactic, a spacecraft company designed to ferry tourists to space.

Important Journals

 Three Important Journals within the Aerospace field are:

1. The American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics - Published online on their website, sponsored by their own Institute.

2. Progress in Aerospace Sciences - Published online on ScienceDirect.

3. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems- Published at IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. 

4. Air International - Published in print and online on Air International.

My Interviewees on Social Media

EriktheGreat, "Social Media Icons", via pixabay, 12/28/16. CC0 Public Domain.

Any reasonable person in this digital age will have active account within social media, even if only on a few sites, in order to share and connect with various people over the internet. Searching for my interviewees on social media will allow me to see their personalities outside of work. 

Ishan Arora

I was able to find Ishan Arora on Facebook and LinkedIn, but no other social media sources. I would say his presence is small, but he does have a well flushed out LinkedIn profiles that effectively shows his skills and experiences and certainly reveals how hard he is looking for a job or internship. I also learned from his social media that he is from India and is involved in many University of Arizona groups for scholarships, jobs, trading, and is also interested in cricket.

Differences
 
The main difference between Mr. Arora's social media presence is that the academic journal found in blog 6.2 is meant to show a design on the professional level to other professionals meant to understand the project, while his social media presence was more about his necessities in finding work and his interests outside of his career, such a cricket, versus his designs and analysis within his thesis project or work on fuel cells, which require calculations and explanation.

Lindsey Conklin

I was also only able to find Lindsey Conklin on Facebook and LinkedIn, as these may be the two most popular sites to be a part of for graduate students, or the easiest to find. Her presence on social media then, is also small, but she does have a thorough LinkedIn profile, but also a more developed Facebook profile to match, showing her slightly higher commitment to social media. I learned from her profile on LinkedIn that she got to be a part of a NASA internship and also tutored for a women's engineering foundation and also for K-12 children, showing her commitment to education and rising success as a student. Another fact I learned from Facebook is that she is about to get married, and has strong feelings on issues, such as drunk driving, and animal ownership.

Differences

 Comparing Ms. Conklin's social media pressence to her work within her honors thesis on post 6.2, shows that she is a lot more strong willed than a formal essay will lead on, and also that she is very active in the education field, compared to her just being a recorder within a project who is willing to help out. Her presence on social media shows a lot more of her personality, and while only brief, hints of her success in her field.

My Interviewees as Professional Writers

Network Ten, "The Project Logo", via wikimedia, 11/12/12. CC0 Public Domain.

As the focus of our project is on the writing work within each of our major, in my project this is, aerospace engineering, our interviews should also focus on writing. By doing background research on each of the interviewees, I can discover a bit more about their own public work.

Ishan Arora has a short history of creating designs for solar systems and fuel cells for his research in University of Arizona laboratories, and also, two different publications of thesis papers for his bachelors degree, one focusing on creating a movable rack system for a warehouse, and the other focused on creating an automatic water leveling device within a mocked up tank.

Publications
 
One project that we did discuss during our interview was the movable rack system for a warehouse, which I saw was included on his LinkedIn website, but is not mentioned elsewhere online. This professional genre is considered a thesis for a college level project, which means it includes many of the conventions of a formal research paper.

The other project we discussed was his work on fuel cell design for his fuel cells course, also mentioned on his LinkedIn. This project was more of a design research paper, which means it included many of the same conventions of a thesis, but is typically of shorter length, needs less citations, and also requires more theoretical processing and simulation, rather than hardware building and hands on design.

Context
 
There are quite a few differences between these two projects considering there context. While difficult to cite properly due to a lack of a resource to pull from, my interview with Ishan helped shed some light on the context. One project, for a senior thesis, with multiple team members and meant to create a success project with design, testing, and a full thesis write up, involves much more work and cooperation than a standalone project for a specific course meant to test proton exchanges. While the thesis project is meant to be successful project that will prove to a variety of professors that you're a successful engineer, the design and analysis project for the fuel cells will involve much more calculation and determination of success. With a design and analysis project, there is much more room for failure, theoretical calculation, and testing, while the thesis design will create a functioning design and describe the steps to follow through the construction of the design.

These differences in context between the pieces means there message is quite a bit different. While the thesis is meant to show the successful work of an engineering team and its members, the design and analysis of the fuel cells is meant to test and optimize designs for a work in progress, with less solid results and more theoretical calculation, sending the message that cleaner energy is becoming more of a necessity and there needs to be further research.

Lindsey Conklin has more extensive experience hands on, but has less of a publication history than Mr. Arora. Her only open publication is here work on an Advanced Farrier System, designed to test hoof pressure on horses, working for her Honors thesis at the University of Arizona. '

Publications

The one project I am able to draw from is the Advanced Farrier System. This professional genre of the college thesis is a very formal and long research paper, with well thought out introductions, explanations of equations, pictures, photos, and explained designs, and results of a hands on and fully constructed prototype of the design. This type of project requires, "thorough but relevant," records of your project, and a large amount of writing.

Context

"A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College" is designed to be presented to professors that will critique the project, and assign a grade that will help determine your graduation from that college. The stakes on a project of this sort requires a large amount of research, from multiple team members, which will allow for differing ideas and design, create a well thought out and peer reviewed process of the creation and construction of a design.

This type of project gives me the message that it is possible to create a completely new idea and design from even college level student, without extensive experience. While the purpose of this type of publication is to create a successful design, which can be inferred from the requirements stated in the project, creating a completely new, working, and tested design is much more impressive and inspires me to be more creative, such as by creating a project that, "increase(s) the performance and benefits," of the service they are trying to provide.

My Interview Subjects

Tumisu, "Job Interview" via pixabay, 12/28/16. CC0 Public Domain.

Preparing for an interview requires a bit of research, and knowing your interviewee is key to answering appropriate questions and getting the most out of the interview. Below is a few key facts about my two interviews for my project.

Ishan Arora

University of Arizona, "Ishan Arora" via ame.arizona.edu. Public Domain

These are a few facts about Ishan Arora's education, experience, interview specifics and questions.

Teaching Assistant – University of Arizona (Jan. 2016 – Current)

Graduate Research Assistant – University of Arizona (May 2015 – Current)

Graduate Student (2015 – Current) University of Arizona

Bachelor of Technology, Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering – University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Ishan Arora has worked professionally for approximately ten months.

I will interview him at 7:00 P.M. on Friday the 26th of 2016, at the Scented Leaf tea shop on University.

Click here for a link to his LinkedIn.

Questions for Ishan: 

 How has your college education helped you prepare for the types of professional writing you must do as a graduate student, and how well does this work in mechanical engineering?

What are some of the most common genres of media that you must write within for your studies? Are there many presentations, powerpoints, research papers, proposals, etc, within mechanical engineering? Have you started your thesis yet?

Does social media ever play an important role within your studies, and has the rising use of the internet changed, or will it change in the future, the writing for your field of study? Does social media help bring you ideas, sources, and research, for your work?

Is there any way I could see any of this work or is there a place I might be able to find some of your work on the web? 

As a graduate student, you often have to write for the University of Arizona, often for professors and teachers. Does your work change depending upon who you are writing for, such as certain professors? Do certain audience make you feel proud when you submit your work, and does this reflect in your writing?

Do tools and software such as MATLAB, Solidworks, Auto CAD, or other tools for engineering get used within writing projects at your level of study? Do you believe they will be a major part of potential jobs in the future?

How has procrastination affected your ability to write? Do you often procrastinate? If not, how do you manage your time, and what techniques might help you in your writing process?

How extensive is your research before you go into a typical writing project as a graduate student? Does it depend on the genre you’ll be working with? 

What type of editing process do you typically go through before publishing or turning in a work? Does it often include peer editing, multiple rough drafts, further research? 

Is there any advice you can give me about communicating professionally within the engineering discipline as an upper year engineering student?

Would it be okay if I contacted you further with any follow up questions, such as over email?
 

Lindsey Conklin

University of Arizona, "Lindsey Conklin" via ame.arizona.edu. Public Domain.

These are a few facts about Lindsey Conklin's education, experience, interview specifics and questions. 

Laboratory Technician – University of Arizona (August 2014 – August 2015)

Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Intern – NASA (June 2014 – August 2014)

Graduate Student (2015 – Current) – University of Arizona

Bachelor of Science, Biomedical Engineering – University of Arizona

Lindsey Conklin has worked professionally for a year and four months.

I was going to interview her for Tuesday the 23rd of February, 2016, but we are pending rescheduling due to another meeting that came up.




Click here for a link to his LinkedIn.

Questions for Linsey: 

 How has your college education helped you prepare for the types of professional writing you must do as a graduate student, and how well does this work in mechanical engineering?

What are some of the most common genres of media that you must write within for your studies? Are there many presentations, powerpoints, research papers, proposals, etc, within mechanical engineering? Have you started your thesis yet, or did you have to do presentations for your intern position at NASA?

Does social media ever play an important role within your studies, and has the rising use of the internet changed, or will it change in the future, the writing for your field of study? Does social media help bring you ideas, sources, and research, for your work? Does social media help keep in contact with coworkers? 

Is there any way I could see any of this work or is there a place I might be able to find some of your work on the web? 

As a graduate student, you often have to write for the University of Arizona, often for professors and teachers. Does your work change depending upon who you are writing for, such as certain professors? Do certain audience make you feel proud when you submit your work, and does this reflect in your writing?

Do tools and software such as MATLAB, Solidworks, Auto CAD, or other tools for engineering get used within writing projects at your level of study? Do you believe they will be a major part of potential jobs in the future, or did you use them in your intern position and research?

How has procrastination affected your ability to write? Do you often procrastinate? If not, how do you manage your time, and what techniques might help you in your writing process? Maybe you picked up some of these techniques from your tutoring program to help students? 

How extensive is your research before you go into a typical writing project as a graduate student? Does it depend on the genre you’ll be working with? 

What type of editing process do you typically go through before publishing or turning in a work? Does it often include peer editing, multiple rough drafts, further research? 

Is there any advice you can give me about communicating professionally within the engineering discipline as an upper year engineering student?

Would it be okay if I contacted you further with any follow up questions, such as over email? 

 

Local Revision: Tense Usage

Xvlun, "Columns in the court of Bel Temple" via wikimedia, 9/27/15. CC Attribution Share-Alike

There is a time during the revision process where you must address the uniform or semi-uniform nature of the tense throughout your piece. Some writing lends itself to a certain tense, while other require multiple tenses. Splitting my verbs into their respective tenses below allows me to answer a few key questions about my draft at the bottom of the page. 

Past
created
fixed
heard
supplied
was
arose
weighed
took
called
4 x designed
2 x claimed
2 x stated
went
restored
saw
advised
occurred
was
closed
was
feared
worried
saw
reacted
interested
wrote
shared
excited
brought
2 x founded
required
was
proved

Present:
Sitting
is
counting
pausing
is
2 x hits
starts
pour
is
disappears
2 x supply
give
is
2 x resupplying
exist
welcomes
throwing
are
coming
2 x compete
is
known
3 x explore
advance
Establishing
is
carries
reduce
accessing
increasing
relying
suggesting
be
sell
achieving
take
predicting
lose
disagrees
sees
combine
using
states
has
has
allow
allows
pursue
reflecting
reaffirms
utilize
make
free
continue
advancing
mentions
fighting
2 x support
 pushes
meet
develop
 shows
launching
writing
sees
shares
landing
feeling
bring
landing
mean
are
attempting
discusses
highlight
being
show
is
make
revolutionizing
be
comments
states
reduce
follows
are
Walking
following
show
fitting
rely
divert
has
proves
are
is

Future:

1. Which tense is the most prevalent in your draft?
    Present tense is the most prevalent form of verb in my draft, with past tense coming in second, but not by a huge amount, and no future tense at all. 

2. What effect or tone/quality does the current usage of tense have on the reader/viewer/listener?
    The current usage of tense leads to more storytelling type of essay, rather than referring to the past multiple times. Which my past tense is still very large, the present tense is larger and shows that I talk more about the thought process and ideas that are developed in the moment, rather than the discussion that occurred before, and this leads the reader to follow the ideas more closely as they are interesting, but learning less facts than a normal essay.

3. If you're using more than one tense in the draft (which is not a bad thing at all), do the shifts between different tenses in the piece make sense? How do they flow? Are there any jarring or dischordant shifts in tense?
   There are no dischordant shifts in text in this draft, as I do flow between the tenses, switching from past articles and statements to present tense analysis, storytelling, and discussion. Therefore, the shifts do make sense and actually enhance the flow of my story. 


4. If you have not employed any present tense verbs in your piece - why not? Are there any moments of crescendo or dramatic action in the story you're telling that could benefit from being described or told in the present tense? Remember, present tense has an immediacy to it. It puts the audience right into the story as it is unfolding. It's a powerful technique. Could your piece benefit from that technique? How and why?
   My piece does use present tense and it helps out by adding that immediacy to the story, allowing for vivid imagery, enveloping the reader and making the essay a bit easier to read through. 

My Verbs

moucherio, "Gerund" via pixabay, 11/21/16. CCO 3.0 Public Domain

Any form of language must have actions words, or verbs. Starting the dissection on my rough draft, I sorted out a list of all of my verbs, and the repeated words at the bottom. 

Sitting
is
created
hits
counting
pausing
is
fixed
starts
pour
is
heard
hits
disappears
supply
give
supplied
was
arose
is
resupplying
weighed
exist
welcomes
throwing
founded
has
are
coming
took
compete
is
known
designed
explore
advance
Establishing
is
carries
support
called
designed
reduce
resupplying
accessing
increasing
claimed
stated
went
restored
saw
relying
advised
suggesting
be
occurred
was
closed
was
to supply
sell
feared
achieving
take
predicting
worried
lose
disagrees
sees
combine
using
states
has
allow
allows
pursue
saw
reacted
interested
wrote
reflecting
reaffirms
utilize
make
free
continue
advancing
mentions
designed
explore
 fighting
support
 pushes
meet
develop
 shows
launching
writing
sees
is shared
shares
landing
feeling
explore,
excited
bring
landing
mean
are
attempting
discusses
highlight
being
show
brought
founded
is
designed
make
revolutionizing
be
comments
states
required
reduce
stated
follows
compete
claimed
are
Walking
following
show
fitting
rely
divert
was
is
proved
has
proves
are

Repeated Verbs:
4 x designed
3 x explore
2 x hits
2 x supply
2 x resupplying
2 x founded
2 x compete
2 x support
2 x claimed
2 x stated

Local Revision: Wordiness

Za. "Metre pliant" via wikimedia, 10/05/01. CCO Attribution Share Alike.

Revising a fully developed rough draft should involve cutting out plenty of extra words, useless paragraphs, and misplaced sentences. Wordiness is one thing that teachers encourage within a rough draft, but it is meant to be cut out through the revision process. For this blog, I chose the wordiest paragraph within my own rough draft, and cut out many extra clauses, words, or extra sentences.

    The rewritten section is obviously quite a bit shorter, but is also easier to read through with a quick glance. You get the point of the paragraph much quicker than my original draft, and it still has all of the sources included.
   One of the issues with this shortened style is that it skips over much of the emphasis I include in the original paragraph, and therefore you don't get the sense of magnitude for some of the points I make, such as how important reusable rockets are, compared to the original paragraph.
   Also the revised paragraphs seem to miss some of the easy to flow through transitions that make sentences work together. Other than that both of the paragraphs deliver the same message and could work.

My original excerpt: "Meg Urry, an American astrophysicist and President of the American Astronomical Society, in her article on CNN shows the optimism that many interested or invested public workers see with the opportunity of private space companies launching rockets into space along with the support of NASA. Urry, writing before the first successes of SpaceX in 2012, sees the program as a new lease on life for exploration within NASA. This same optimism is shared by Calla Cofield, a writer for Space.com, when she shares the success of Blue Origin’s reusable rocket landing the day before on November 23rd, 2015. Rather than feeling hopeful for NASA’s freedom to explore, Cofield is excited for the new innovation private companies competition will bring to space travel, as this feat of landing a launched rocket back on the ground could mean a large reduction in refurbishment costs for rockets. Other companies like SpaceX, are also attempting to create landing rockets, although with less success so far, after four failed attempts. Scott Simon, in an NPR interview with John Glenn Brenner, a writer of a book on SpaceShipOne, an attempt at a space plane by Virgin Galactic, another entrepreneurial investing in space travel, discusses the dangers of space travel after the breakup of SpaceShipOne during a flight test just the day before the interview. Discussions like this one, often highlight the cautious side of the public, rather than simple optimism, and view the dangers of space as being very present and real, and show concern with the cost reduction measures and rapid time table that private companies have brought products to space."

After revision: "American astrophysicist Meg Urry’s CNN article shows the optimism that interested public workers see with the opportunity of private space companies launching rockets with the support of NASA. Urry, President of the American Astronomical Society, saw the program as a new lease on life for exploration within NASA, even before SpaceX’s launch successes in 2012. Calla Cofield, a writer for Space.com, shares this optimism by writing just after the success of Blue Origin’s reusable rocket landing on November 23rd, 2015. Cofield is excited for the new innovation competitive private companies will bring to space travel, as reusable rockets could mean a large reduction in refurbishment costs for rockets. Other companies like SpaceX, have also unsuccessfully attempting to create landing rockets, failing four times so far. Scott Simon’s NPR interview with John Gleen Brenner, a writer on a book on SpaceShipOne, discusses the danger of space travel, as SpaceShipOne, a space plane from private company Virgin Galactic, broke up during a flight test just before the interview. Discussions like this one highlight the present danger of space travel, which could be further enhanced by cost and time reduction measures by private companies."

 

Peer Review 2: Where Can I Improve?

AJC ajcann.wordpress.com. "Peer Review" via flickr, 5/23/08. CC0 Attribution Share-Alike.

Looking at sources outside of your class, even other classes, can allow you to improve yourself and find new ways or new focuses and lenses to look at your own skills, especially writing. Following is my thoughts on two peer reviews, one for Fernando Coronado's Killer Robots, reviewed here, and a second for Cynthia Morton's draft, reviewed here. The three questions below help me learn from the review I did for the two other writers, and will allow me to improve my own draft. What comments do you have for my draft. See my draft in a previous post.

1. What did you learn about your own project (or the project in general) by comparing drafts of the same project in different genres?

 I learned from Fernando Coronado's quick reference guide, that my writing style, and especially my use of the college essay, makes me write a lot more than I need to in order to present the information. While all of the extra writing makes it sound fluid, some of it is unnecessary, and should be cut out in editing. I also learned, that paragraphs do make blocks of text that are harder for the audience to read compared to a guide with leading titles and informative paragraphs. I learned this project may lend itself more to the quick reference guide genre, but that I can still make the college essay work, just with more word usage and conventions.

2. I want you to plan on doing revision between now and our next class meeting on Tuesday. Tell me the top three issues or problems with your draft in its current form and what you plan on doing over the weekend to address those issues.

 The first main issue I have seen with my draft is that I haven't adequately explained the discussion's place in public, as in how the stakeholders presented their arguments and how the public sees these sides. This means over the weekend I will do more research on how my stakeholder's presented their arguments and I will include a paragraph dedicated to this issue or add on sentences to my current paragraphs explaining the public arguments.
The second issue I ran into was how lengthy my paragraphs were, and how this distracted the audience from reading the real content. Over the weekend I will reread my entire essay and break down the structure of the essay into smaller, more workable paragraphs that still encompass the issues.
The third issue I saw was that I didn't present my topic in a concise manner, coming from Gabby's comment on her blog review. Some of my sentences are too long and this distracts from the effect on the reader, reinforced by Gabby's comments on my draft. This issue will also have me rereading my essay, but instead, breaking up sentences, and creating better organization for my ideas within the paragraphs, that would allow me to communicate better and fix a small issue I have with relating my knowledge to the audience.

3. Tell me the top three strengths of your draft. How/why are these things strengths? How will you build on them to make the rest of the draft as strong?


One of the top strengths of my draft, according to my commenters, is that is does catch your attentions, especially with the vivid introduction that allows the reader to envelope themselves in the history of NASA and the awe that one might have seen its accomplishments. I can build on this by also creating a catchy conclusion that will wrap up the essay and give the reader a strong idea of the discussion I am trying to present to them.
Due to the fact that I have a strong introduction, I also tried to work on the flow of the essay, which to me is a strong point. While some of the paragraphs and sentences are long, their are adequate transitions between ideas and relationships between my points that are developed onward in the essay. This helps my reader connect all of the information being presented to them, and can only be helped further with my future attention to the structure of the paragraphs and sentence length that will improve the flow of the essay.
My third strength is the decent amount of information I can present to the audience in this essay. There are many opinions on this topic and a few different groups with high stakes in the controversy, that make it easy to fill the essay with information. Once I have hammered down presenting all of the information in a clear and consistent manner it will allow me to translate all of this information into a well done working essay that will summarize my controversy, and present all of the points needed.

Peer Review 1

Evans, Steve. "Tower of London Chopping Block", via wikimedia, 2/7/12. CC0 Attribution 2.0

The first draft of every form of content creation should always be looked over and brought back to the chopping block for a second look. The scientific method, literary writing process, even writing my own grocery list, all require second looks or looks from outside view to make sure they are done correctly. Read below for my own review of a peers content.

I did a peer review for Joshua Smith's video essay regarding water on Earth. From watching the video essay I had a few takeaways, regarding his essay and my own. Seeing how well he introduced and clarified the context of the controversy told me that my own context was weak and needed improvement and more history. I also found that Joshua's essay was lacking, just like mine, in describing exactly how each source and stakeholder presented their information to the public, an area where we need improvement. Another issue I identified was that Joshua focused mainly on the three main stakeholders for his situation, with no mention of any others, while my essay did mention other, but in no real detail. The last thing I noticed was that his draft included a section dedicated towards where the issue was moving in the future, which I did include to an extent, but I feel could be a great way to conclude both of our essays.

 From these comparisons, I can deduce that I do need to work on developing my descriptions of how the arguments were presented to the public, and improve my existing sections dedicated to lower level stakeholders, the context surrounding my controversy, and a well thought out conclusion. Another area I noticed before this review where I needed work include providing better incorporation of the sources into my controversy. I do feel like I provided strong positions for each major stakeholder and had a good analysis on what those opinions mean to the controversy as a whole. Overall, both of our essays need work, and the time for editing has started.

Draft of Project 1

NASA. "NASA Logo" via wikimedia, 7/30/13. Public Domain.

NASA and it's decision to include private companies in its planes to resupply the ISS and in mission to enter the upper atmosphere has caused some controversy between NASA, private space companies like SpaceX and Orbital ATK, and former astronauts or other interested space advocates in the general public. Read my essay here for the full summary of the issue.

The readers of my first draft of project one should know that while I did spend a lot of time writing this essay, any first draft of a major project will have its issues. I have recognized a few of them, like my lack of a filled out work cited section or a fully developed argument from the private companies, but I also welcome the readers to give me any and all critiques or feedback that might help me later on with the final draft. More specifically, I know I have trouble sometimes carrying on sentences too long, or have poor sounding language within certain paragraphs, while my overall flow and content seems fine. If you have any suggestions for more content or you would like me to focus on one topic area more than another, those kinds of suggestions would also be welcome, or any comments on the balance of each stakeholders view of the controversy. I would also like comments on whether the introduction and conclusion of my essay were successful in their purposes.

The Time Period

Dontbesogullible. "Brownsville Herald Newspaper" via wikimedia, 4/25/2012. CC0 Attribution Share Alike.

What kind of world does space flight face now? When you think back to the days of Apollo, there were completely different cultural ideas and values compared to now. How does space flight fair in the culture of today?

The time period of the controversy over space flight privatization was filled with optimization in America, especially locally, as local papers in Washington D.C., where NASA's headquarters is located, is looking at the next private company to join in contract with NASA, and the new astronauts of our generation. National papers are a little more cautious, still worrying about the risks and costs of space travels, and private business role in it, along with pointing out previous failed launches. Global papers tend to notice the extremes of both ends of the spectrum, noticing the extent of the failures, with back to back failed private launches from two companies, while also seeing success with the landing of a reusable rocket.  

Local:

•  Sierra Nevada Corp. Joins SpaceX and Orbital ATK in Winning NASA Supply Contract
• NASA picks 4 astronauts to fly 1st Commercial Space Missions 

National:

• In Traveling to the Stars, Risk and Cost 
• Liftoff: 1st US Shipment in months flying to Space Station

Global: 

• New Shepard: Bezos Claims Success on Second Spaceship Flight
• Can private space survive two explosions in four days? 

The Setting

FAEF Wiki. "FAEF Boardroom" via wikimedia. 4/28/2014. Public Domain.

Where do arguments about space contracts and average rockets launch prices take place? NASA's headquarters in Washington D.C. is the answer. Take a read below to get a feel for the setting of a higher end administrator in NASA. Did you feel like you were walking in the headquarters? Let me know below.

NASA's headquarters is a bustle of activity constantly. People in and out, new interns, old leaders, stuffy holdouts and new fresh innovators. There are older rooms, the leftovers of Apollo's era, and brand new board rooms designed for the ground up for new technology. That's where the important meetings take place. With the smell of coffee in the air, and everywhere for that matter, you start to learn of the work environment you just entered, almost completely formal, yet filled with ingenuity and problem solving. Engineers run the place, but their are still leaders, media consultants, and new faces running around. Outside the window you see the rest of Washington D.C. on the horizon, along with NASA TV in the other building, along with James Webb Auditorium. Phones are heard every once in a while, since it is an administrative building, but any important phone calls take place in the office around the building. You might run into the coffee boy, or the leader of a branch of NASA itself, depending on which part of the building you are in. Most likely if you are in here, you are showing an important presentation, an executive official, or a higher up in NASA itself, not just a run of the mill engineer in one of the offices around the country, or at the launch pads. The NASA logo seems to be a sign of pride in this place, and it should be, you are in the headquarters of the leading space agency in the world, and one who spends billions of dollars a year on advancing the aerospace industry and exploring space.

Stakeholder #3

Allison, Roy. "United Launch Alliance Atlas V" via wikimedia, 2/11/2013. Public Domain.

There are many key stakeholders in the argument over privatized space flight. Varying from NASA to the companies themselves, to the workers who build and design the components, all of them have different views and claims. Read more about one of them below.

The United Launch Alliance is a 50/50 alliance between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, to create cost effective rocket launches to space. They are known as being the older, more established company that will have the money, expertise, and reputation, to carry out reliable space flight. They're probably known to the public as just a name behind big named rockets, such as the Atlas or Delta series rockets, that have served and launched payloads for years. They also have a reputation for being very reliable and very rarely having failures to launch. Overall though, they are not one of the more well known companies, but rather the mainstay of launches that are ordinary and reliable. Their headquarters is an angled office building, looking like it was built in the 90s, with dark black windows contrasting with the brown tiles that line the floors of the building. Walking inside you would noticed the green grass outside, the smell of the grass and humid air wafting over as you hear the sprinklers spring on. This is the headquarters of a very formal, efficient, and mainstay company of the aerospace engineering business, and caters to almost every corner of the business. Rather than innovating and creating the next technology, this company perfects every step of current technology to make it the best it can be.

United Launch Alliance:

• "We are always working with our customers to reduce costs while still achieving 100 percent mission success. The recent block buy is a prime example of a best-practice acquisition strategy that has resulted in a $4.4 billion savings over the next five years." - This claim is bold and trying to show objectively the cost saving that their company is making by buying in bulk for rockets for launches over the next five years. Not playing on the emotions, but rather playing to the facts that it has created with the numbers for its estimates. However credible this may be, as it does come from a company that is known for its reliability, I am not sure if it would report higher costs, but they do have knowledge over their exact budget, and they can't outright lie, so their facts could just be misconstrued. This might be pointed out by outside private companies, and other players such as NASA, but engineers and workers might not have the knowledge or be able to do the research in order to find if this claim is true.
•  "The average price of a mission, accounting for all current firm contracts for Atlas and Delta launch services, is $225 million, not $460 million as has been claimed. This includes all missions, Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, commercial, Atlas V 401 through Delta IV Heavy." - The average price is a good indicator of how much the costs of the rockets are going to cost in the future. This is a credible metric, coming from the company itself, but it only includes current firm contracts, and it does not say specifically who said the average cost was $460 million, therefore the comparison does not have such high standing, and is only relevant when you know how much other companies cost on average too. Therefore this is a credible fact, but doesn't include relevant information. Other companies, depending on where there average costs lie, may point this out, and NASA might as well, as they both know the exact costs for the budget on space flights, but once again, workers may not have full access to budgetary records on the flights.
• "No. ULA has met all contracts on schedule and on – or under – budget.  We have never experienced a cost overrun on any contract. Inside the block buy, ULA is contractually committed to year-over-year cost reductions." - ULA is known for being reliable and filling out contracts on time, but they do have a high price for their success. While this claim that they have never experienced a cost overrun for their contact may be true, they have a reputation also for being a very expensive company to launch rockets from, and now that they don't have a monopoly on the market, other private companies would be quick to point this out, and NASA may not pick them for new launches, while workers will see this as an exaggerated statement. 

Stakeholder #2

NASA "SpaceX Dragon C2+ just prior to Canadarm2 release" via wikimedia. Public Domain.

There are many key stakeholders in the argument over privatized space flight. Varying from NASA to the companies themselves, to the workers who build and design the components, all of them have different views and claims. Read more about one of them below. 

SpaceX is an up and coming entrepreneurial space company created by Elon Musk, an avid entrepreneur. They are the one of the most well known private space companies, known for their hard attitude for success, new innovations, and ideas.  On the internet, SpaceX often shows up on news sites or magazine as the company that is defining innovation, and is very popular due to its maker Elon Musk. Musk is known for speaking out for the need for SpaceX, stating that humans will need to move away the Earth in order to stay in existence as a species. Physically, the company has named their spacecraft after the mythical dragon and stands out as a new company that will make a difference, in a field of older established companies and the lackluster NASA.Their headquarters, an intimidating wall of metal and concrete, that stands out as modern and sleek, with a simple and sharp logo that shows their brand name. The sweet and nearly perfect weather of Hawthorne, California, highlight this nearly new building, with a bright sun, clear air, and smell of the hedges lining the front of the building, the occasional car rushing by, that epitomizes the essence of SpaceX.

SpaceX:

• “If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred.  A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space.” - Elon Musk - This type of claim is objectively very important to the idea that private space flight will lead to new innovation. The fact that they are trying to create a new innovation is a good step in the right direction, but he also is exaggerating slightly by saying there has never been a fully reusable vehicle before. There have been reusable vehicle to enter space, such as the X-15, and after this article came out, the Blue Origin rocket which relanded itself on the launch pad, and the Space Shuttle to an extent. And these breakthroughs are more of an evolution on the reusable craft, rather than a new revolution in space, so the claim is valid and important, but not completely accurate. This would be pointed out by engineers and other private companies, to show that the technology isn't all its made out to be.
• "The Space Shuttle was technically reusable, but its giant fuel tank was discarded after each launch, and its side boosters parachuted into corrosive salt water every flight, beginning a long and involved process of retrieval and reprocessing. So, what if we could mitigate those factors by landing rockets gently and precisely on land? Refurbishment time and cost would be dramatically reduced." - This claim is based more in the factual word, seeing that both of the statements regarding Space Shuttle are correct, and the shuttle was regarded as costing too much time to refurbish and too much money to be fully reusable. Therefore, the cost and time would be reduced dramatically, and this advancement would prove to be a great step in space technology. This would also be confirmed by private companies and engineers, but may be toned down by NASA as it is their creation, and they wouldn't want to lose face.
• Musk called the latest development "evolutionary, not revolutionary," adding "If we can recover the booster stage, the chance is there for revolutionary." - This is one of the most factual statements, stating that the evolution of space technology will allow for more revolutionary technologies in the future, and this is where the private companies come, they are allowing NASA to do what it does best, in exploration, and allow companies to push the envelope of efficiency and cost effectiveness. All of the space companies would agree with this, along with NASA staying optimistic for its program. Workers and interested people would be conflicted about this statement, and might disagree with how revolutionary this new advancement could be.  

Stakeholder #1

NASA. "STS-36 Rollout" via wikimedia, 4/8/09. Public Domain.

There are many key stakeholders in the argument over privatized space flight. Varying from NASA to the companies themselves, to the workers who build and design the components, all of them have different views and claims. Read more about one of them below.


NASA is the definitive source of space exploration for the entire world. Ever since the landing of man on the Moon on July 20th, 1969, NASA has been the figurehead for space advancement. With recent budget issues and the destruction of Challenger and Columbia, two shuttles that exploded, NASA has lost its grasp on the world as noteworthy news. Often, this institution is on the news or on the internet for a new advancement, technology, program, or to just post update by astronauts on the ISS, the International Space Station. Their most recognizable building is Kennedy Space Center, a large white building with the NASA logo on the side in the middle of Florida lowland, leading to their launch center, where almost every notable rocket has launched off from. The thick, humid air, is signature next to the bright sunny days that most of the launches occur on. The roar of a rocket launch is always memorable, along with the long, wispy, smoke trail that follows the launches and blows away when the rocket is not within sight. This along with some of the most quotable lines in history, such as, "The Eagle has landed," ring through my mind when I think of NASA, the most famous space agency in the world, that has lost its luster in recent years. 

NASA's Claims:

• "Facilitate U.S. private industry demonstration of cargo and crew space transportation capabilities with the goal of achieving safe, reliable, cost effective access to low-Earth orbit." This claim is not meant to play on our emotions, but designed to take an optimistic look at the future of its new program, to allow commercial companies to make space flights to the ISS.  While NASA itself is a very credible actor in the debates, they are a famous public entity who usually makes safe decisions with the budget they have, but at the time, didn't have to facts to show that this new partnership would be safe and reliable, or cost efficient. This institution has a similar mindset to the majority of the private companies and workers out there, as they are optimistic about the future of private flight, and not willing to see how hard and dangerous it is to go into space.
•  "These new partnerships are intended to help companies accelerate their development efforts while enabling the nation to reap economic benefits from previous NASA work." This claim is meant to show that the new partnership will bring about positive benefits to previous NASA work, which is not explained very clearly. It is meant to be vague, but I believe refers to the ne access to the ISS, and more innovation. There is not much of an emotional appeal but rather a credible claim by NASA that this new partnership is in their best interest, and will make use of previous NASA work, better than they alone could, which follows along the line both private companies and engineers or workers involved in the companies.
•  "The COTS program was a great success -- not only for NASA and the commercial space industry, but also the American taxpayer." This claim is meant to show that their previous claims were successful, and that it pay off, not only to the industry, but to the taxpayer. This claim is based upon roughly a year of successful launches by private entities, which is followed in more recent times, by consecutive failures of rocket to the ISS. This claim is premature I believe, and also does not state how much money American taxpayers saved, which is an appeal to the pocketbooks of the audience members, who are assumed to be Americans. This claim would be supported by private companies, but may be disputed by workers who still see the risks that are coming with more space flight and don't exactly see the financial benefits yet.

The Big Event

NASA. "STS 106 Launch" via wikimedia 7/18/2010. Public Domain.

What caused this whole change in the system of NASA. Why does our government need to use commercial programs? Here is the event that sparked the debate below. Did you feel like you were at this event? Let me know below.


The 135th and final Space Shuttle launch, NASA only hope to blow its way into space, STS 135 was the last kick of the overblown program that met success with mediocrity, and blew up twice along the way with Challenger and Columbia. While launch day was filled with fears of bad weather, the really fear was that this was the last launch of the Space Shuttle, and commercial companies had not yet picked up the slack of sending cargo to the vulnerable ISS, floating miles above in orbit. A 30% chance of launch changed to 60% as launch approached. At T-31, the countdown stopped, shocking the crew, as well as watchers, who heard no count but saw the shuttle, waiting in the humid air, rain showers happening miles away. A simple camera correction and confirmation allowed the clock to continue, an error that never occurred before in shuttle history. As the clock hit zero, the crowd of nearly one million cheered, filled with body odor in the Florida summer in mid-July, watching the blinding smoking billow up from the engines, hearing the thunderous roar of the engines, feeling the rumble in the air, as two and a half minutes later, the main boosters separated off the shuttle, and moments later, the shuttle was out of site completely. From now on, Russia and its Soyuz craft would be the only supplier of the ISS, at least until commercial companies, such as SpaceX or the United Launch Alliance caught up and were certified to dock with the ISS, and lifted the worries of NASA and its engineers.

My Sources

NASA. "Satellites For Sale" via wikimedia, 4/9/09. Public Domain.

 Everyone has done research on one thing or another throughout their life. Whether it's your next meal or that big report you have coming up for work. Research needs sources to support data and facts that you present. Following are my sources for the issue of commercial space flight and NASA's use of it. What people would you like to hear from as a source?

• Meg Urry at CNN: Private space travel: A new era begins? - The source comes from CNN, which is a reputable source of news, as in they are a major new media source. The author, Meg Urry, an American astrophysicist, is the president of the American Astronomical Society, and worker on the Hubble space telescope, is a reliable and knowledgeable source of information. This article did come out on May 22nd, 2012, therefore it is somewhat dated to the past successes of commercial space flight, as it was just before SpaceX was to make a key launch to the ISS the coming Saturday after the article was released. This sources represents the engineers and workers in the industry that this affects, but it also offers how people felt before the launch of commercial flight, and how optimistic people are about the program, and information on how this will allow NASA to continue its own goals.
• Brad Chacos at Digital Trends: Nasa VS. The Free Market: Which is Better for American Space Domiance? - Digital Trends is a lesser known online source that may not have the reputation or resources like large sites to confirm all of their facts. Brad Chacos, also, only has credential of being involved and active in the space journalism and PC journalism department, but no further education in the subject. This source also came out August 31st, 2012, just after the passing of Neil Armstrong, which reminded the author about Armstrong's feelings about commercial flight, which saw weakness in relying on the commercial industry, giving me the view of both a former astronaut and person interested in the story. This source also gave me an argument against commercial flight and the author's retort to that point.
• Jason Davis and Casey Dreier at Planetary: NASA Kicks off a Private Space Race Between Boeing and SpaceX - The Plantary Society is a nonprofit organization designed to promote education of space advancements and that field. Casey Dreier, the Director of Space Policy at the organization, and Jason Davis, a journalist who specializes in space and digital trends, also won a space grant from NASA for a documentary. These all point to resources that don't have quite the money to do in depth research, but knowledgeable people working in that field, that try to tell facts. Coming out the 17th of September 2014, it is fairly recent, and covers the contracts between Boeing, SpaceX, and NASA, that occured in that time period. This articles gives me good facts on the contracts between the companies, the time tables for the launches, and the cost of the missions.
• Scott Simon at NPR: Virgin Galactic Crash Raises Questions About Private Space Ventures -Coming from NPR, interviewing a book writer, Joel Glenn Brenner, focusing on the SpaceShipOne program from Virgin Galactic, it seems like the interviewee would have a good background knowledge and the host, Scott Simon would make sure to only report accurate facts. This comes out just after the Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two crash, which resulted in the pilots death, bringing world attention to private companies in space, and their failures. This sources brings light to the truly hard nature it is to launch into space, and the dangers of letting companies make their own attempts to get there, giving an argument to the advocates against private flight.
• Calla Cofield at Space.com: Blue Origin Makes Historic Reusable Rocket Landing in Epic Test Flight - Cofield is a new writer that has a bachelors degree in Physics and Space Policy, meaning she knows more than the average person about space, writing for Space.com, which is a good start for information, but sometimes might not get all of the facts right. This article, reporting on November 24th, 2015, the recent Blue Origin reusable rocket launch and landing, which is the next step in private companies traveling to space, and proves their technological advancement and how competition will lead to further reduction in cost for flight.
• SpaceX: The Why and How of Landing Rockets - Coming from SpaceX's own website, this is a reliable source on their own companies news, as they are describing why their advancements to land a rocket back after a launch are important, provides the prospective of the companies and why they believe they belong in private space flight, even after three attempts to land and failure before this article.
• George Sowers at United Launch Alliance: A Business Case for Space - This presentation, coming from the United Launch Alliance's website, is reliable in presenting the private companies goals for going into space, and how they can make money by making launches.
• NASA: NASA Hails Success of Commercial Space Program - Coming directly from NASA website, this is reliable in presenting NASA, another stakeholder's view on the recent successes in the commercial space program, coming out Nov. 13th, 2013, after several successful trips from the companies to resupply the ISS.
• Buzz Aldrin at Time.com: Buzz Aldrin: SpaceX Failure Shows We Need More Commercial Space Travel - Not Less - Buzz Aldrin, another famous former astronaut who is knowledgable and reliable, on Time magazine, a popular and reliable magazine, shows a different view from workers on the program, that the commercial program actually needs more support, rather than less like Neil Armstrong was saying. This comes after the recent failure of SpaceX, when one of it's rockets blew up and left the ISS without resupply.
• TCCTV: Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan Call for Bold New NASA Space Program - Coming from TCCTV on Youtube, this video presents Gene Cernan and Neil Armstrong's actual testimony in a congressional committee for NASA funding, both giving their opinions as former astronauts, that NASA need's to keep the Space Shuttle program going to give private companies time to tackle the challenges of space, as they will take much longer and require more money than estimated. This lends credibility to a previous article, giving context to parts of the opposing argument to private flight, and shows the starting event for the need for private companies, when the Space Shuttle was shut down in 2011, just before this testimony occurred.

Analysis of my Rhetorical Situation

NASA HQ PHOTO. "Expedition 44 Press Conference (201507210027HQ)" via Flickr, 7/21/15. Attribution NonCommercial No Derivs.

Who are you and why are you here? Keep reading my analysis of the rhetorical situation: context, audience, purpose, and author, to figure out why you are the science loving person I think you are.

  Audience: Who are you? Typically, my reader for my essay on NASA's decision to utilize private flight for space missions, will be engineers or people interested in that area of human exploration. The engineers for this type of project are typically white, straight males, with a middle class upbringing, but there are an ever increasing amount of racial diversity and evening out of gender classes in this field. These handy and problem solving people are the type to read Wired, PC Magazine, and Popular Science, surfing Reddit when they are off work, or glancing at an article on the Onion. Going home they watch big movies, and are very into technology, so they work on their car or computer, sometimes both. Their value on advancement, technology, and finishing problems in the easiest way contrasts their lack of interest in aesthetics, fashion, or social issues, because when their is more to explore, fix, or figure out, what else matters. 

Purpose:  Why do I do this you ask? Because interested and sometimes invested people that follow these topics deserve to be informed of both sides of the issue without a bias conclusion. After reading this essay, any reader should come out with more knowledge than they came in, and they should be able to argue both sides of the issue, no matter where there heart lies. There are key nuances that are easy to miss, such as the specifics as to how much money these private companies will be making off of the space flights, or what the current budget of NASA is, and how is that projected to affect all of the program it has in store right now. With this new digital age, exploration in space has been brought to every screen across the world. Now, as companies are getting involved, this controversy will have a global impact and will set a precedent for the rest of this century. 

Author: Why me?  My experience starts with my passion for technology. I work with computer five days a week at SWS computers and have volunteered every Sunday for the past two years at the Pima Air and Space Museum, meaning I have more knowledge than the average person when it comes to space. I am efficient and practical when it comes to my decisions, tinkering with computer, fixing up my car, or working around the house, and I recognize that the choice to bring the private industry into space is one of those decisions that must be made for the advancement of space flight in the future. My passion to find out the history of an issue, and my interests in space and flight in general, as I study to become an Aerospace Engineer, will aid me along the way to create a complete look at this controversy in my essay.