Word: orbital
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...abrasive brand of independence was launched by the late Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (TIME, March 26), and both East and West have been closely watching the words of his successor, Rumanian Party Boss Nicolae Ceausescu, to see whether he would try to slip his errant satellite back into more orthodox orbit. Ceausescu (pronounced Chow-shess-coo) delivered a ringing answer last week as delegates from 56 Communist parties around the world gathered in Bucharest for the Ninth Rumanian...
...astronaut for a loop. Newton's third law of motion is an inexorable reminder that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Thus, in a state of weightlessness, without gravity to anchor the man, an astronaut attempting to put together a space station while in orbit could not hope to use anything as simple as the big wrench with which a car driver changes tires. Every time he tried to exert pressure on nut or bolt, he would turn in the opposite direction. Martin's new tool, which will be tested on later Gemini flights...
Trident is a product of Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Co., which is well into its own orbit in the new world of pharmaceuticals. Three months ago the company brought out an appetite-suppressing prescription drug, Pre-Sate, which has already taken a substantial bite of that $60 million-a-year market. This month it won five U.S. patents on a "Robot Chemist," a Rube-Goldberg-like device that automatically analyzes up to 120 samples per hour of anything from blood to industrial oil by mixing them with laboratory reagents, measuring the resulting chemical change, and recording the results on adding-machine...
...cocoon-like covering, unfolded the four solar panels that powered its instruments by converting the sun's energy into electricity. With those panels deployed, it measured 22 ft. 7½ in. across and 9½ ft. to the top of its antenna. Curving into a wide-swinging, elliptical orbit that was precisely plotted in advance, the ship set out to intersect the orbit of Mars at a predetermined time...
Such a maneuver is based on the solution of complex mathematical equations involving all the intricacies of space mechanics. Computers at JPL took into account Mariner's speed and trajectory, its location in relation to the point in Mars's orbit where the encounter should take place, and the influence of the sun, the Earth and Mars itself. Then they calculated the thrust needed to get the ship where it had to be at the proper time. Without correction, Mariner would have strayed 150,000 miles away from target. After the mid-course maneuver, it was aimed well...