Word: nasa
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Sticky Glue. Some NASA astronomers speculated that the sun's heat might have baked the comet's exterior into a kind of "sticky glue" that prevented some of the cometary dust and gas from boiling off. University of Arizona Astronomer Elizabeth Roemer, for one, found this theory improbable. Comets, she explained, are too gaseous and fragile to develop such a crust. Other astronomers suggested that Kohoutek, a "virgin" comet making its first approach to the inner part of the solar system and never before exposed to the warmth of the sun, had flared up briefly when its more...
...will be used by the Russians in their proposed 1975 linkup with a U.S. Apollo spaceship. (U.S. astronauts who will participate in that flight recently completed a two-week stint at Star City, the Soviet cosmonaut training center outside Moscow, where they demonstrated their skills on Soyuz simulators.) Thus NASA wants every possible assurance that Soviet engineers have eliminated all Soyuz design bugs. Indeed, Western observers, noting that the Soviets had said that the main purpose of the latest flight was to test Soyuz systems, speculated that they were trying to assure the U.S. as much as themselves about...
Because Kohoutek was spotted much earlier than most new comets, astronomers have had an exceptionally long lead time to prepare for a thorough examination. They are taking full advantage of the opportunity. In addition to the conventional telescopes of every size and variety that will be following the comet, NASA'S big radio telescope in the Mojave Desert will be aimed at Kohoutek in an attempt to bounce radar signals off the comet's nucleus (those echoes may tell scientists more about the size and character of the nucleus). M.I.T.'s Haystack Radio Observatory will...
Much work will be conducted under the aegis of NASA'S Operation Kohoutek, directed by Astronomer Stephen P. Maran. Involving hundreds of scientists and millions of dollars in hardware, the observations will be largely made from above the atmosphere, which blocks out the ultraviolet and infrared frequencies useful in gathering data about the comet's composition and structure. At least five sounding rockets and two balloons will be launched to view Kohoutek. The comet will also be chased by two highflying, instrument-crammed jets. Other information will be gathered by Copernicus, NASA'S orbiting astronomical observatory...
Hula-Hoop. "An engineer's dream come true," exulted NASA Boss James Fletcher. He had every reason to be proud. Pioneer had not only survived its encounter with electron intensities 1,000,000 times greater than those in the earth's own radiation belts but continued to radio back data after the historic encounter. Indeed, if Pioneer's tiny nu clear power packs and instruments keep functioning, the spacecraft's signals may well be received on earth until it reaches the orbit of the planet Uranus about 14 years from now. What is more, Pioneer...