Realistic Goals-The First Step to Success

^{The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them.}

^{Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams.}

^{We’ve all been told that we should set goals, and we assume that we can – but most of us have never been taught how to set goals effectively so they are realistic and achievable.}

^{One of the most sobering goal setting statistics was that 25% of resolutions were broken in the first week.  And the odds didn’t get much better for the first couple months – among gym goers, 80% drop out within eight weeks.}

^{I think a large part of this is due to not having realistic goals – without something to shoot towards, it’s easy to get discouraged and give up.  It’s hard enough to make changes in our life and accomplish what we desire – if your goal is unrealistic, or not well defined, then you’re starting out with an immediate handicap.}

^{So, what can you do to keep your goals on track? Here are seven keys for setting realistic goals.}

^{Key #1 – Write Your Goals Down}

^{Studies and surveys have shown that you are far more likely to achieve your goals if you write it down.  I personally like to write my goals down and refer to them daily to keep them at the front of my mind.}

^{Writing down our goals also helps make them real to us.  If we just think about a goal, it’s not physically real – and it’s easy for us to change our minds.  When we write it down however, the very act of writing helps us commit to the goals – and also gives us something we can visually see and reflect on.}

^{Key #2 – Set Short Term Milestones}

^{Goals that are far out of reach are easy to procrastinate on and put off. It’s fine to have long term dreams – but in the short run, you should have regular mile stones as well.}

^{For example, if your goal is to write a novel, rather than just saying you’ll write a novel this year and leave it at that, instead commit to a certain number of pages or words a month – these short term milestones will help you stay on track, and will make your long term goal much more manageable.}

^{Key #3 – Be Specific}

^{If your goal is to “lose weight” – how will you know when you’re done?  Going along with the above of setting short term mile stones, even if your long term goal is “get in better shape” – you can still be specific such as “be in good enough shape to play football for two hours twice a week.”}

^{The more specific you are, the better motivated you’ll be as you get closer to achieving your goal. With vague goals, it’s very easy to get discouraged, because you may not feel like you’re getting closer to due to having no clear end in sight.}

^{Use specific, tangible words in your goals such as measurements and (if applicable) a date by which they will be accomplished.}

^{Key #4 – Measure Actions as Well As Progress}

^{Sticking with the theme of setting fitness goals, many people I know get frustrated when they set a specific goal such as “lose 20 pounds by summer” – and then fall short of their goal. While it’s good to have aggressive goals, in some situations it may be better to measure your actions instead of your progress.}

^{So for example, instead of setting fitness goals based on pounds lost, you could set goals for the amount of cardio you do every week and whether you keep your calories below a certain threshold.}

^{This is also good for vague goals that may be difficult to measure, such as achieving proficiency playing a sport or playing an instrument. Setting goals based on perhaps 1 or 2 hours of practice a day may be more helpful than simply saying “get better before school starts.”}

^{Key #5 – Start With Just One Goal}

^{A classic mistake that I see over and over, and that I’ve made many times myself, is to be overzealous and try to change too many things at one time.  You may decide you want to turn your life around and set out to accomplish a laundry list of goals at once.}

^{Unfortunately, trying to accomplish too many things at once is frequently a recipe for failure.  For most people, changing too many aspects of their lives requires an overwhelming amount of willpower, and ends up being unrealistic.}

^{I prefer the approach-To set one goal at a time, and then as you get that goal under control, slowly add more goals into the mix.}

^{Key #6 – Schedule In Time For Your Goals}

^{If you don’t make time for your goals, you’ll never accomplish them – it’s as simple as that.  Along those same lines, generally speaking, the more time you allocate per day to your goal, the faster you’ll achieve it.}

^{Rather than leave it to chance, I recommend scheduling a specific time every day for your goal. I think this is part of the reason why organized sports and personal trainers are so effective for people looking to improve their fitness – the activity has a set block of time on their schedule, and so people attend regularly.}

^{Key #7 – Set Goals You Actually Want To Achieve}

^{Be realistic towards your Goal Setting and decide what you want to achieve.  Unless you know your goals you will not be able to plan your actions towards achieving the goal. Setting Realistic Goals is the most important step for achieving any dream.} 

^{Author : Sujata Das}

How did ISRO manage to send a satellite mission to Mars at such a low cost?

The original question asked "How did ISRO send an orbiter to Mars by spending just $75 million while NASA spent more than $700 million?"

There is a large cost difference between the two missions mainly because of the different objectives, payloads, and expected operating lifespan. While Mangalyaan MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) is a huge step for the Indian space program, its cost effectiveness is not really comparable to NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere & Volatile Evolution Mission) at all.


Objectives:

MAVEN: MAVEN is the first spacecraft that will focus primarily on the state of the upper atmosphere of Mars, the processes that control it, and the overall atmospheric loss that is currently occurring. Specifically, MAVEN will explore the processes through which the top of the Martian atmosphere can be lost to space.

Mangalyaan:

• Design and realization of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth bound maneuvers, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase around Mars.
• Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
• Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.

From the objectives, it is clear that MAVEN is out to perform specialized research that involves studying the atmosphere of Mars while MOM is a technology demonstrator, more focused on taking the first step towards a successful space program -- putting an orbiter successfully into Martian orbit and perform maneuvers. More than studying Mars, it was/is important for Mangalyaan to perform space maneuvers which would help in providing information for planning future missions, especially the next nearest Mars mission aimed for 2017-2020.

MAVEN is being used for sophisticated, specialized research, while MOM is being used a prototype study for future Indian space missions.

Weight, Path, and Fuel

MAVEN: MAVEN weighed 2,500 kg when it left the Earth on Nov 18, 2013, out of which 1800kg was fuel. It was stacked atop a Centaur upper stage, both of which were ferried up on an Atlas 5. After precisely twenty seven minutes, MAVEN was ready to be on its way to Mars. The Centaur fired again and propelled it into its Martian trajectory, after which it was detached. Solar panels were then exposed, and apart from the occasional boost, MAVEN simply cruised all the way to Mars, like a free fall from its initial impetus.

Mangalyaan: Mangalyaan weighed 1350kg when it left the Earth's surface on Nov 5, 2013, out of which 850kg was fuel. MOM did not use an upper stage launcher. Instead, it used ISRO's trusty PSLV and performed a series of gradual maneuvers to raise itself to the Earth's higher orbit by going around the Earth six times and propelling itself higher with each revolution.

MOM remained within the Earth's gravitational field for a month before it was ready to depart for Mars. Once MOM started on its interplanetary journey, it also cruised towards Mars in a manner similar to that of MAVEN. 

MAVEN used more than twice the amount of fuel that MOM did.
MAVEN started its journey to Mars within 28 mins of liftoff from Earth, whereas MOM took one month after liftoff.
MAVEN left two weeks after MOM did, and reached 24 hours before MOM did.

Specs

MAVEN: The orbiter has a cubical shape of about 2.3 meters × 2.3 meters × 2 meters high, with two solar arrays that hold the magnetometers on both ends. The total length is 11.4 meters. [4]

Mangalyaan: The spacecraft is cuboid in shape, approximately 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) across. [5 verbatim]

MAVEN is more than four times the size of MOM.


Payloads

MAVEN: MAVEN carries eight scientific instruments devoted to understanding Mars’ upper atmosphere. They are all of cutting edge technology, and very specialized in nature. MAVEN does not carry a camera, but uses a Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instead. This is the most powerful spectrograph to be sent to another planet.

Mangalyaan: MOM carries five instruments, generic in nature, that cover a broad range of observations. MOM carries a tri-color camera with the ability to capture and observe the weather and dynamic events on the surface of Mars.

MAVEN carries more number of cutting edge scientific instruments than MOM.


Final apsides (orbital heights)

MAVEN: At its highest, MAVEN will be at 6,200 km above Mars's surface and barely 150km above the surface at its lowest.

Mangalyaan: At its highest, MOM will be 80,000km above the surface, and 365km above the surface at its lowest height.

MAVEN will descend to much lower altitudes in its orbit to study the Martian atmosphere and has a stronger force of gravity and greater exposure to dust to combat than MOM will.


Lifespan

MAVEN: The main mission is expected to last one Earth year. MAVEN carries enough fuel to extend that by another 29 months, making it 2.5 years. It can then position itself in a higher orbit to conserve fuel for another six years.

Mangalyaan: MOM's expected lifespan is six months, and 300 days at the maximum.

MAVEN is expected to function for 8.5 years while MOM is expected to function for ten months.


Economies of US and India: A large vegetarian pizza from Pizza Hut costs Rs. 475 in India and $21 (Rs. 1280 as of  24th Sep, 2014) in the US.
PS: While India is the first nation to insert an orbiter into the Martian orbit successfully in the first attempt, ISRO is not the first agency to have done so. European Space Agency's (ESA) maiden orbiter mission, Mars Express, had a successful insert in 2003.

Recycled equipment:
This was the 25th flight of the launch vehicle PSLV (which has 95% success rate, one of the highest in world)

Minimum Fuel Usage:

The actual distance between earth and mars is 55 million kms when they are closest. The MOM will travel 690 million kms in an elliptical manner because a straight-line travel would not have been as energy efficient as this one.
The MOM will circle earth several times and its orbit and speed will be raised in six stages until it reached the maximum point of 1.92 lakh km from Earth.

Swadesi Technology:
Almost all the parts of MOM and the people used to develop them are entirely Indian. ISRO has always adhered its core principles of adapting existing technology as much as possible, minimize all sorts of physical models, make testing effort optimal and work round the clock. Adaptation is an old method that has now been perfected to an art in ISRO since its establishment.

Some quick facts about MOM's inexpensiveness:

- MOM cheaper than Boeing's cheapest aircraft
- Costs just a fraction of what India will spend on Statue of Unity (Rs 2600 Cr vs   Rs 450 Cr)
- NASA's MAVEN six time expensive as India's MOM
- Constitutes 2.1% of $3.5bn aid contributions done by India to other nations.
- Costs less than 2% of the estimated £2.5bn in salaries paid to UK employees by Indian companies
- Is equivalent to 0.3 % of India's $24bn IMF bailout contribution to the Eurozone crisis
- India's budget for FY 2013-14: Rs 16,65,297 crores;
  Budget per head: Rs 14,500 per person.
  With MOM costing Rs 450 Cr, it comes to Rs 4 per head which won't fetch you   more than one or two onions.


                                                                                          Author : InnoSewa

Beam Clamp vs. Traditional Methods - Easyflex

Beam Clamp is an alternative method to the traditional methods of steel connection which are welding or drilling. The following charts and tables are designed to show the differences in all the methods and to highlight the reasons why Beam Clamp is becoming the preffered option for safety, cost and practicality.

Welding

Welding steel is a traditional method for joining steel and is an economical way of doing so when this can be done off site in a shop before the steel arrives on site. This is generally the preferred method for most primary steel structures which are fabricated with pre-drilled holes that are then bolted together on site. The main issue with welding is when additional steel

work is required to be connected to the main structure. Welding requires expensive equipment, it requires expensive skilled labour and the quality of the weld is down to the skill of the welder. The connection is also permanent once it is made and does not allow for on site adjustment or for temporary works. If the existing steel has a protective coating such as hot dip galvanising or paint this will need to be removed before the connection can be made, this will then need re-coating afterwards. Welding also creates heat and sparks that can be dangerous in any hazardous environments also meaning that hot work permits need to be applied for and provisions for fire watches post the completion of the work until it cools down.

Drilling and Bolting

Drilling and bolting like welding is a very common and traditional method of joining steel together. This is also economical and easy to do when the steel has been pre-drilled off site and then assembled on site. This is a perfect solution for most primary steel structures where the design allows for off site fabrication. When an unplanned or later addition to the main steel frame is required this becomes more problematic. To drill steel on site this requires heavy duty drilling equipment and power along with skilled labour. When drilling the existing steel it may have a protective coating that needs to be broken and also by inserting holes in to the steel it will mean the integrity of the steel has changed from its original design. Once the holes are made it is also difficult to make fine adjustments on site to the position of the steel without making new holes. Drilling through thick steel sections can become costly and time consuming as standard drilling speeds need to be adhered to and the drill bits themselves wear out quickly and are costly to replace.


BeamClamp vs. Drilling and Welding – Connection Checklist

 

for more information

http://easyflex.in/girder-clamps/

Author : Easyflex