Word: orbitals
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...taking supersharp pictures of space, the go-to telescope is the Hubble, in orbit above the earth. But astronomers can't just use the space telescope whenever they feel like it; they have to bid for time on the badly oversubscribed instrument. After about 2010, when the aging Hubble starts to fail, astronomers won't be able...
...similar treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, and to a third German summit with Walter Ulbricht's East German regime. Western Europe, which has leaned so heavily in America's direction for 25 years, will begin to right itself and gradually pull away from America's orbit. Because of the expected expansion of the Common Market, the dream that Charles de Gaulle so cherished of a Europe standing apart from the two superpowers may become a reality. It will not be a Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals, but it might be a Europe from the Atlantic...
NASA is sweating out another chip in the heat-resistant tiles of a space shuttle, the kind of damage that doomed Columbia. This time it's Endeavour, which was hit by debris on its way to orbit. The wound is near a wheel well, a bad spot because it can provide access to the ship's innards. Shuttles have withstood worse, but no one will relax until the fiery ordeal of re-entry is done. [This article contains a diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine.] Shuttle Endeavor...
There is no easy way to fix the gouge in the Shuttle Endeavour. In-orbit repair options are limited and, since any fix would have to be made by robotic arms and astronauts in awkward space suits, the process would be fraught with the potential to make the problem worse. Still, Mission team chairman John Shannon said that, according to his team's analysis, the damage should pose no risk to the astronaut crew on the return home. There is, however, potential for more damage to the shuttle itself on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere when temperatures...
...deep divot in the ship's insulating tiles. It was foam damage that killed the shuttle Columbia in February 2003, when superheated gases generated during reentry entered the ship through a breach in the insulation. Ever since then, astronauts have given their spacecraft a close visual inspection upon reaching orbit to look for any troublesome chips. On Sunday, a 3D laser imager attached to Endeavour's robotic arm revealed what could be a nasty...