Word: orbit
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...aerospace. Airbus, the aircraft consortium backed by the governments of France, Britain, West Germany and Spain, has emerged as a major competitor to America's Boeing in the passenger-jet market. Last month Europe confirmed its successful lift-off in the space market by hoisting two communications satellites into orbit atop an Ariane rocket. While the U.S. space shuttle remains grounded, Arianespace, the commercial arm of the 13-nation European Space Agency, has in eight years put a total of 19 satellites in space and signed an additional 44 launch contracts worth $2.38 billion...
Dominating one wall of the control room was an enormous display screen showing a map of the world. Superimposed on the map, a line traced the orbit of the Mir space station, with rings along it representing ground stations. Mir's position was marked by a blue-green light, which was moving slowly across the circle centered on Moscow. The flyby would take only eight minutes, after which the window of communication would close. The audio feed came through with startling clarity, as if Cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko were standing in the next room. "The work here is very interesting...
...which the U.S. developed for the Apollo program and then scrapped in favor of the shuttle. With Energia, the Soviets can loft 100-ton payloads, vs. a maximum for the U.S. shuttle of 30 tons. That is enough to carry their shuttle, which is under development, or to orbit parts for a space station far larger than Mir, which could be a platform for a manned mission to Mars. Says Dale Myers, deputy administrator at NASA: "Energia is a pretty impressive machine. I would sure like to have...
...Venus' hellish surface. Imagers on the next two probes failed, but Nos. 13 and 14 sent back color photos plus a wealth of information on atmospheric, surface and subsurface chemistry. Then in 1983 came a pair of missions that stunned Western space scientists. Venera 15 and 16, in Venus' orbit, transmitted high-resolution radar maps of the planet's surface. The maps, says former NASA Administrator Beggs, "indicated a level of radar technology that we had not given the Soviets credit for." Says Masursky: "They did first-class work...
...directed his considerable intellect, political capital and diplomatic charm to another high-risk international mission. If all goes according to plan, the Phobos probes will take off next summer for Mars. When they reach the Red Planet some 200 days and 118 million miles later, they will orbit for a time, taking data on solar physics. The first Phobos will match orbits with the moon for which it is named, a chunk of rock about 14 miles across believed by many astronomers to be an asteroid captured by Mars' gravity. The other will be a backup...