Word: orbital
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...lowest pass. The definitive figure should have come from the LM's radar, which must accurately gauge the spacecraft's distance from the moon. Digging further, Lee and Neff found that the lunar module had indeed seen things differently, and reported correctly that the spacecraft entered an orbit with a pericynthion of 8.9 miles...
...Aldrin and Collins will follow closely the space route taken by Apollo 10 in May. Until the lunar module swoops to within 50,000 ft. of the moon, the Apollo 11 crew will face familiar challenges and risks. A minor malfunction could turn the flight into a simple earth-orbital mission or a quick loop around the moon. A more calamitous equipment failure could cause Apollo 11 to crash into the moon or leave the craft stranded in lunar orbit. But from the moment that Houston radios, "We are go for PDI [powered descent initiation]," Armstrong and Aldrin will...
...Armstrong and Aldrin will fire the LM's ascent engine, using the four-legged descent stage as a launch pad. If all goes well, they will rendezvous with Collins and transfer to the command module, taking their precious rocks with them in sealed boxes and leaving the LM in orbit around the moon. From that point on, they will again follow the path of Apollo 10. After firing themselves into an earth-bound trajectory, they will splash down in the Pacific Ocean some 1,160 miles southwest of Hawaii just before 1 p.m. (E.D.T.) on Thursday, July 24, their places...
...originate? Was it torn Eve-like from the side of the earth, or did it form separately out of the same primordial dust cloud? Was it a planetary interloper captured by the earth's gravity when it wandered too close, or did it coalesce from small asteroids in orbit around the ancient earth? Did it ever have an atmosphere? water? life...
Professor Patrick Hurley of M.I.T., who will be working with radioactive isotopes in determining the age of the samples, explained that the dating process was important to the controversy surrounding the origin of the moon. The results could clarify whether the moon was a meteorite pulled into orbit by the earth's gravity or whether it was once part of the earth...