Word: kevlar
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...strike Giotto with such great velocity that a speck weighing a tenth of a gram would penetrate an aluminum plate about 3 in. thick. To prevent damage, the side of the craft facing the comet is covered with a double shield, one made of aluminum and the other of Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests. Even then, Giotto is not expected to survive the encounter unharmed. A collision with a large dust particle or small meteoroid could ruin the entire operation. "The biggest danger we face," says Bonnet, "is that the craft's antenna will be knocked...
...overflow crowd of 8,000 gaped at competitors wearing aerodynamic early-Darth Vader helmets and rubberized skinsuits that were banned in international cycling until 1981. The special U.S. bikes, developed at a cost of $1 million, feature relatively small front wheels and spokeless, solid rear ones made of Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests, which reduces air turbulence. The result: a 1-to 3-sec. saving per km. Said Chester Kyle, a professor of mechanical engineering who headed the bike-design team: "Cycling is the most technically sophisticated sport at the Games...
Steve Hegg, 20, a world-class skier and relative newcomer to cycling, hopped on his Kevlar-cycle for the 4,000-meter individual pursuit race. In this two-man event, a competitor chases an opponent who starts on the opposite side of the banked track. If he catches him, it's over; otherwise, the fastest time wins. Hegg took Rolf Golz, an experienced racer from West Germany by 4 sec. for the gold. After squeaking through quarterfinals in the team pursuit, where four-man squads shift leads to rest in the slipstream, the U.S. cyclists confronted the highly favored...
With their towering masts, vast expanses of Mylar-Kevlar sails, monstrous winches and computerized navigational aids, 12-meter yachts are the nimble-footed heavyweights of their sport. Add the tactical elements of chess: when to defend against an opponent's move, when to ignore it, when to sail off in a different direction. The unmatched combination of required resources has made modern Ahabs of the obsessed competitors...
Made largely of tough lightweight plastics -Kevlar fiber struts, Mylar sheathing, a Lucite windscreen, all from the project's sponsor, Du Pont-Challenger weighs only 217 lbs., excluding Ptacek, who had managed to diet down...