Word: lunik
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Lunik III rounded the moon and this week started its slow turn back toward the earth, just as the Russians said it would...
...beyond and returning again. It might make many different swings, perturbed by the influence of the moon. One thing was certain: it would not go into a permanent orbit around both earth and moon. The moon is relatively fast on its own orbit around the earth; by the time Lunik III swung back, the moon would have moved...
...Lunik III carried "scientific and radio equipment powered by solar batteries and chemical sources of electricity." The Russians explained that radio signals carrying data from the instruments would be sent to earth intermittently for a total of two to four hours a day. "The operation of the equipment will be controlled from a coordinating and computing center on the earth." Since Soviet receiving stations do not girdle the turning earth, Lunik III was presumably programed to transmit its signals only when they would reach Soviet territory...
...Lunik III soared on, Soviet scientists waxed confident, began to loosen up about its objectives. Leningrad Physicist Lev Ponayeton said that data from the unseen side of the moon will help determine its shape and distribution of mass, which will be of tremendous help to manned space flights. Semi-official science reporters went farther, predicted that Lunik III would transmit actual photographs of the other side of the moon. Official scientists did not mention photographs, but it was significant that they launched their rocket at a time when most of the far side of the moon was in sunlight. Presumably...
...judge by their achievements, Russian space vehicles must be packed with gadgetry that is just as good, perhaps better. The Russians' guidance systems perform well, their radios work fine. So do their instruments, which have made important scientific discoveries deep in space, such as proof by Lunik II that the moon has no magnetic field. If Lunik III should round the moon and bring back pictures, or even nonpictorial data, about the mysterious far side, the U.S. would have to admit that the Russians are far ahead, not only in power or in sophistication of instruments...