Word: cometted
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Because Kohoutek was spotted much earlier than most new comets, astronomers have had an exceptionally long lead time to prepare for a thorough examination. They are taking full advantage of the opportunity. In addition to the conventional telescopes of every size and variety that will be following the comet, NASA'S big radio telescope in the Mojave Desert will be aimed at Kohoutek in an attempt to bounce radar signals off the comet's nucleus (those echoes may tell scientists more about the size and character of the nucleus). M.I.T.'s Haystack Radio Observatory will...
...under the aegis of NASA'S Operation Kohoutek, directed by Astronomer Stephen P. Maran. Involving hundreds of scientists and millions of dollars in hardware, the observations will be largely made from above the atmosphere, which blocks out the ultraviolet and infrared frequencies useful in gathering data about the comet's composition and structure. At least five sounding rockets and two balloons will be launched to view Kohoutek. The comet will also be chased by two highflying, instrument-crammed jets. Other information will be gathered by Copernicus, NASA'S orbiting astronomical observatory, and OSO7 (for Orbiting Solar Observatory...
Still another solar-system explorer, Pioneer 10, last week briefly eclipsed even the growing excitement over Comet Kohoutek. Completing a 21-month voyage across the bleak, cold reaches of more than half a billion miles of space, the 570-lb. robot gave man his first close-up look at the giant planet Jupiter. After penetrating intense radiation belts that pack radiation dosages at least 1,000 times the level regarded as lethal for humans, Pioneer passed just 81,000 miles above the multicolored Jovian cloud tops, took color pictures, gathered oth er data and then was hurled by the enormous...
...back to Kohoutek. "She's still coming at us," reported Skylab Commander Gerald Carr, noting that the fuzzy blob was getting bigger all the time. In the weeks ahead, the Skylab crew will keep Kohoutek under virtually constant watch in order to spot any structural changes in the comet as quickly as possible. The astronauts will also lug some of their cameras outside to get the best possible pictures during three space walks-on Christmas Day just before the comet ducks behind the sun, on Dec. 29 after it reappears, and again just before the end of the mission...
...Luck. Skylab's presence in orbit during the comet's passage is an incredible bit of luck. If the comet had arrived a month or so later, or Skylab had been launched only slightly earlier, the space station would not have been available for the important observations. Says Astronaut-Scientist Karl Henize: "All through the space program, we've been looking for a Rosetta stone-what is the primordial material out of which the solar system is made? We looked for it on the moon and we didn't find it; we found other things instead...