Word: orbit
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Unlike other SAC crews that are continuously making training flights and simulated bombing attacks, the airborne alert crew flies a casual course-"high-speed loitering"-that keeps it within striking distance of its targets. On the 24-hour orbit that will range across 11,000 miles or so, the pilot maintains a 400-knot "endurance speed," avoiding sharp turns and other nonessential maneuvers to conserve fuel. SAC's planners calculate that he is within reach of his target for 21 hours-known as "effectiveness time." In the remaining three hours, he is low on fuel and making a scheduled...
...first photo of "Venusnik.'' Biggest news: the satellite will probe deeply into the gravitational field of Venus-will pass within 62,000 miles of the cloud-shrouded planet on May 19 or May 20-then flash back data to earth and continue onward in an elliptical orbit around...
Pravda also shed some light on how Venusnik was separated from the booster that lifted it piggyback into space. At a predetermined point on orbit around the earth, when the satellite reached a great speed, the booster was separated-whether automatically or by radio signal from earth, the Soviets did not say. The booster stayed on orbit, while Venusnik hurtled on alone. As it broke away from the earth's gravitation, it moved into a solar orbit at 61,000 m.p.h...
Soon after the Venus probe left its parking orbit, Russia announced that it was on the correct course and would keep its date with Venus in late May. The U.S.S.R. probably planned to have the station reach its goal on May 15, when the orbits of Venus and the earth are in the same plane. This would have simplified the aiming problem. But two days later, Moscow announced that the station was moving somewhat slower than expected-so that Venus, doing its solar rounds, would catch up with it in late April, or a month earlier than planned...
...Venus station presumably left its earth-orbit while over Soviet territory, where Russian tracking and guidance stations are concentrated. No non-Soviet scientist saw it depart, and none so far has picked up its radio transmissions. The Russians told their frequency (922.8 megacycles), but did not tell Western radio telescopes where to point. Since the transmitter operates only when triggered from the earth, would-be trackers not in the know have little chance of receiving its signals by blind scanning...