Word: moons
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...President John F. Kennedy, the U.S. reach for the moon was nothing less than "the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked." Last week, with the tragedy at Cape Kennedy's Pad 34, the nation realized for the first time, in astronautic and human terms, just how hazardous the lunar adventure can be. Old arguments that questioned the whole concept of the Apollo mission seemed to take on new pertinence. Critics were once again asking: Is it worth the cost-in lives, in resources, in money...
Still, the questions persist. There are those who deride the reach for the moon as a mere race with the Russians for national prestige. But the competition has shifted in emphasis in the 51 years since the Apollo program began. At the start, speed was all-important. The Russians were already boasting to wavering nations that their space firsts demonstrated the superiority of the Communist way of life. And there was little doubt of the impact of their argument. Everywhere, everyone capable of understanding the significance of the Russian achievement recognized the impressive technological, industrial and scientific skills that...
...catch-up effort soon became competition on more or less even terms. Diplomats from neutral nations claim that it will not matter much to them which country gets there first, since the other will probably be close behind. But of course it will matter-though not militarily. The moon, once thought of as invincible "high ground" from which to launch an attack on an earthly enemy, now seems beyond consideration as a rocket base. Any lunar-launched missile would take far longer (16 hours) to reach its target than its earth-based counterpart. It would be harder to guide, easier...
Soon afterward, the moon's orbit began gradually spiraling outward to its present 239,000 miles. The tidal phenomena, though substantially reduced by distance, are still at work. The moon is still receding from the earth by about one inch every year. And the tidal braking effects are still at work increasing the length of the earth's day by .0018 seconds every century...
Further confirmation of the lunar capture theory may have to await the arrival of men on the moon, Singer believes. When samples of the lunar surface can be returned to earth and analyzed, it will be possible to determine when substantial heating and volcanic activity first occurred. If it turns out to be four billion years ago-the same time that the earth is known to have been subjected to intense heating -Singer will have powerful evidence that a single event was responsible: the capture of the moon by the earth...