Word: orbited
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...second and smaller portion of the satellite, sent into space last Aug. 30 to monitor movements of U.S. and other ships, remains in orbit and is expected to fall in mid-February...
Because of the highly inclined plane of the satellite's orbit (about 65° to the equator), Cosmos 1402 could crash almost anywhere, from as far north as Greenland to the southernmost tip of South America. That orbital path precluded any rescue attempt by the new U.S. space shuttle Challenger; even if it could be launched in time, it would be unable to achieve so tilted an orbit. As to just when Cosmos 1402 might strike, one U.S. intelligence officer said: "We'll be able to make some hard calculations about the time and place of landing when...
...Astronautics, points out, it is that they are doing it "so damned stupidly"-operating the nuclear-powered satellites at such low altitudes that they easily become vulnerable to premature return. (If an object is launched high enough to avoid the upper atmosphere's braking effects, it can orbit indefinitely, like the moon.) At times, in order to do closeup snooping, the Soviets let their satellites descend to as low as 100 miles, then boost them up with onboard rockets to prevent any further orbital "decay...
...late last month it became clear to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, whose cameras, radars and computers keep track of the more than 5,000 objects now in orbit, that Cosmos 1402 was not following this scenario. When it broke into three pieces on Dec. 28, all languished in the same orbit, perhaps because of a booster failure. With each swing around the earth, the nuclear reactor's orbit shrank a little more. Some U.S. officials speculate that the Soviets might be able to destroy the reactor with a remaining explosive charge, or even a burst from...
...regulates the electrical pulses to the fan's motor. Although the investigators still have not found out why water should have penetrated the device's epoxy covering, they have made clear that its porosity should have been uncovered long before the $2.3 million suits ever went into orbit. There was, however, no doubt what went wrong with Lenoir's suit. Despite all efforts during the flight, the suit would not reach the required pressure, 4.3 Ibs. per sq. in. (Although this is only a third of the earth's normal atmospheric pressure, it is adequate because...