Word: geminis
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...three days to scan a single pair. It was exhausting, eye-cracking work-in his own words, "brutal tediousness." And it went on for months. Star by star, he examined 20 million images. Then on Feb. 18, 1930, as he was blinking a pair of photographs in the constellation Gemini, "I suddenly came upon the image of Pluto!" It was the most dramatic astronomic discovery in nearly 100 years, and it was made possible by the patience of an American...
...dark news shadowed a day that had actually seen a considerable technical triumph. The most important part of the flight was the docking maneuver, and Armstrong and Scott were still in their first orbit when they began the complicated exercise in space navigation. By 4:21 p.m. E.S.T., during Gemini 8's third revolution over the Pacific, Armstrong reported: "Object in sight." There was the Agena, 76 miles ahead, its beacon flashing against the dark sky. After gradually closing the gap, Gemini 8 eased up and in front of the Agena, while swinging around so that it was flying...
...Assured that all was in order, they nudged to within five feet of the Agena's nose, close enough for them to read a small, lighted instrument panel over the target craft's docking cone. Using his maneuvering stick, Armstrong fired a brief burst from two of Gemini's 100-lb. thrusters. The gap between Agena and the spacecraft closed at about six inches per second, until the craft gently bumped its nose into the docking cone...
Mooring latches clicked into place, hooking themselves into Gemini's nose. An electric motor aboard Agena spun into action, retracting the docking cone, pulling Gemini's nose about two feet into the Agena and connecting the electrical systems of the two craft. On Agena's exterior instrument panel, a green "rigid" sign flashed on, indicating that Gemini and Agena were now physically and electronically linked in a steely embrace. It was 6:15 p.m. For the first time, man had joined two craft in space...
...Then Gemini returned to docile perfection. Advised by Houston that they were to bring the spacecraft back to earth in an area 500 miles southeast of Okina wa, Armstrong and Scott fired their four 2,500-lb. retrorockets over Central Africa at 9:45 p.m. E.S.T. and skillfully guided Gemini 8 toward its splashdown...