Word: drags
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Smithsonian scientists calculated the density of the upper atmosphere by studying the gradually shrinking orbit of Sputnik I. Under the old theory, Sputnik I should stay up for about 27 months before aerodynamic drag and gravity pull it down into air dense enough to destroy it by the heat of friction. But now the Smithsonian scientists think that the moon will set for good after only 3½ months, flare into destruction sometime around the middle of January...
...heating problem caused by the re-entry of a ballistic missile into the earth's atmosphere might be solved by a blunt-nose cone, highly resistant to the air, many of his colleagues were skeptical. The prevailing theory backed a needle-shaped cone that would offer minimum aerodynamic drag. Allen's blunt shape built up temperatures in the tens of thousands of degrees, but it saved the cone from melting away by creating a wide-angle shock wave that carried away much of the heat. Allen's design has since been adopted by missilemen throughout the industry...
...will therefore have to launch its satellite about 30 miles higher than originally planned to confront the same atmospheric drag, according to Whipple. The data about the air was obtained through a combination of radio and optical observations...
Radios on both Sputnik I and II are now dead, and the Russians are concentrating on optical observation. The life of Sputnik I, say the Russians, should be about three months; thus the satellite should stay aloft until the new year. Its carrier rocket, which has more air drag, will spiral down and burn out sooner. Sputnik II has not been aloft long enough to permit accurate predictions, but since it is heavy and not very big, it has low drag in proportion to its weight. Also it orbits higher in thinner air. So the Russians think it will circle...
...high time for the U.S. to realign its thinking about the $275 billion ceiling since fiscal 1959 may bring even more serious debt management problems with heavier defense outlays in prospect (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS). The main value of the $275 billion figure has been to act as a psychological drag on Government spending. Originally set in 1946, when the debt was $269 billion, the ceiling was low enough to remind the U.S. of the need for economy, but high enough to give the Treasury leeway in its operations. But the Korean war pushed the debt right to the ceiling. Ever...