Word: orbit
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...Soviets already have their own antisatellite weapon, but it is primitive compared with the U.S. model. The Soviet ASAT is a 150-ft., 2-ton rocket designed to climb into orbit and chase down satellites around the earth. After closing with its target, the Soviet missile explodes, destroying the satellite in a hail of shrapnel. But while an F-15 can reach launching position within an hour of takeoff, the Soviets must wait for a target satellite to pass over their fixed missile launch pads, which could take up to twelve hours. The U.S. missile can reach its target within...
...test was designed to see how well a laser beam can remain fixed on an object in a low orbit around the earth, despite the distorting effect of the atmosphere. Such a capability is important because Star Wars planners want to station high-powered lasers on the ground, where they could be as big as necessary and easily maintained. These lasers would shoot beams up to orbiting mirrors, which would then direct the destructive light at incoming missiles...
...mirror earthward, Discovery had to fly with its nose forward and pitched downward. When it passed over the Maui facility on its 37th orbit Wednesday, the shuttle was instead flying backward with its nose pitched slightly upward. A NASA spokesman sheepishly called the mistake a "ground- based accounting error...
...shuttle's seven-member crew also successfully launched three communications satellites for various clients before this week's scheduled landing. Ironically, while Shi'ite terrorists held 40 American hostages from a hijacked airliner, one of the satellites the U.S. boosted into orbit (for a $19.2 million fee) is owned by a consortium of 21 Arab nations -- including Lebanon and Syria -- and the Palestine Liberation Organization...
When an oscillator aboard the $50 million NOAA-8 weather satellite turned balky last June, the craft began tumbling out of control in its polar orbit. Without power, its systems shut down. All seemed lost, but a determined band of controllers from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), NASA and RCA refused to give up. Over the next ten months and on hundreds of occasions, they beamed radio signals at the errant craft, trying to revive...