Word: launchful
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...launch of Loral's Intelsat 708 communications satellite in Sichuan province in February 1996 was a fiery disaster. The Chinese-made Long March rocket that was supposed to propel the American satellite into space crashed into a hillside 22 sec. after lift-off and exploded, raining flaming rocket fuel and red-hot shards of the 3-ton satellite on a nearby village. China initially said six villagers choked or burned to death, and later upped the number to 56, but U.S. estimates put the fatalities closer...
Loral's ill-fated launch may also have caused collateral damage of a different kind. In the wake of the crash, a committee of Western aerospace experts, headed by a top Loral official, was tapped to investigate. It drew up a preliminary report on specific reasons the Long March may have failed--and faxed it over to the Chinese. This technical feedback, a federal investigation concluded, may have helped China improve the accuracy of its rocket and missile programs. The Defense Department found that Loral and Hughes, another satellite company on the committee, had engaged in a "serious export-control...
Another reason officers give for grounding the Apaches is what might happen to the 400,000 Kosovars crowded into Albania if the choppers fly. "If we launch attacks from Albania, the Serbs aren't going to see it as a neutral country," a Joint Staff planner says. "And a lot of those refugees are in crowded camps within range of Serbian artillery." Already smarting over charges that the allied bombing accelerated Milosevic's ethnic cleansing, the Pentagon doesn't want to be blamed for triggering more civilian carnage...
Earlier this week, members of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) research team announced a new estimate for the universe's age, in one of the team's greatest achievements since the telescope's launch nine years...
...Agriculture is turning up the heat on meat plants to make those holiday hot dogs safer for consumers. The Department asked manufacturers to develop plans in the next month to test for the deadly listeria bacteria in frankfurters and other pre-cooked meats; the Department also said it would launch an education campaign urging consumers, especially expectant mothers and the elderly, to thoroughly heat such foods before eating them...