Word: blastoff
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Although he was not named outstanding swimmer of the meet, Berkoff was clearly the center of the cable coverage, with most of the focus on his "Berkoff Blastoff" backstroke start and the way he has changed the mechanics of that stroke...
While underwater after the start, Berkoff flipped on to his back and launched into his famous "Berkoff Blastoff," with which he propelled himself to the first wall. At that point, he turned back over, made his turn and finished the race on his stomach...
...needed the triumph. To the dismay of space officials, the maiden launch of Discovery had been postponed three times. The original takeoff date of June 25 was put off when a back-up computer refused to answer a command. The next day a fuel valve faltered 4 sec. before blastoff, again delaying the mission. Then, on Aug. 28, the day before the third scheduled launch, a NASA engineer discovered that the computer charged with the last-minute double-checking of equipment might miss some critical signals. Blast-off was deferred for 24 hrs., as computer programmers scrambled to write...
Discovery's engine No. 3 had already helped power three shuttle missions, and its age was showing. About 6 sec. before blastoff, a heated mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen was supposed to be pumped forcefully through the engine's main fuel line into a central combustion chamber, where it would ignite. But the 10 ¼ in. long, 74-lb. fuel valve faltered a fraction of a second in opening, prompting the central computer system to abort the entire mission. Of the three main engines, only No. 2 had been fully ignited. During its 1.7 sec. ignition...
...lined with firebrick; at Vandenberg, they are made from approximately 130,000 cu. yds. of solid concrete. A special vacuuming process was applied to the concrete while it was setting. This sucked out air and moisture quickly, resulting in a nonporous surface that will better resist cracking during blastoff...