Word: orbitals
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Satellite navigation owes a debt to Sputnik, the pioneering Soviet satellite launched in 1957. U.S. scientists learned they could track the satellite's orbit by listening to changes in its radio frequency, relying on the same principle that explains why the pitch of a car's horn seem to change as the car speeds by. The Navy's TRANSIT navigation system was developed in the 1960s, relying on six satellites and designed originally for use by submarines. More than 10 satellites were eventually launched, though ground units had to wait up to several hours to pick up a signal. Meanwhile...
...Florida A Final, Perilous Tune-Up The space shuttle Atlantis is on a last maintenance mission to the aging Hubble Space Telescope before its replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope, takes to the skies in 2014. It's a risky assignment: the Hubble's 350-mile-high orbit is clotted with fast-moving "space junk" that could damage the craft. With the International Space Station out of reach, a second shuttle, Endeavour, is ready to fetch the crew in case of an emergency...
...This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.] HUBBLE WEBB ORBIT 353 miles from Earth 1 million miles from Earth PRIMARY-MIRROR SIZE 7.9 ft. in diameter 21.3 ft. in diameter LENGTH 44 ft. 72 ft. WEIGHT...
...controls of the space shuttle Discovery when it deployed the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 now appears poised to steer NASA into its post-shuttle orbit. Former astronaut and retired Marine general Charles Bolden Jr. is President Obama's likely nominee to head the space agency; the two are expected to meet at the White House May 19 for a formal interview. Years before his famous Discovery flight, Bolden traveled to space with a payload specialist named Bill Nelson - now a powerful Florida Senator and one of Bolden's strongest backers. While Bolden, 62, is widely respected within the space...
...station in real time via video link. Most of the museum, however, is made up of the usual look-but-don't-touch exhibits. A full-size model of the iconic Sputnik satellite is suspended from the ceiling, while the tiny capsule that Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin used to orbit the Earth rests on a pedestal. In two glass cases at the entrance, the stuffed bodies of Belka and Strelka, the first dogs to return to Earth alive after a space flight, sit with their heads cocked inquisitively. Some of the halls are lined with kitschy "space art" (one piece...