Word: orbiteer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
This conclusion was reached by Washington after tracking eleven Soviet launchings since Sept. 17, 1966, in which attempts were made to return pay loads to the ground within less than one complete orbit. The success of the Russian experiments has been such, McNamara indicated, that an orbital bombing system capable of dropping nuclear warheads on America may well be operational some time next year...
Vital Difference. Basically, FOBS can pack the punch of some ICBMs-with a vital difference. Shot into a low orbit of 100 miles, the FOBS rocket slows and ejects its nuclear bomb before completing its route around the globe. This combination would prevent anti-ballistic missile radar (BMEWS), presently the U.S.'s main screen against surprise attack, from ascertaining the point of impact until the rocket "deboosts"-about three minutes and 500 miles from target. By contrast, the U.S. now has a 15-minute warning against ICBMs. Experts say that the Soviet FOBS could carry the maximum payload equivalent...
Probably launched from the Tyuratam Cosmodrome in central Kazakhstan, the first of the satellites, Cosmos 186, lifted off on Oct. 27. Western scientists immediately noted that it was traveling in an orbit remarkably similar to that of Soyuz 1, which crashed on landing last April, killing Soviet Cosmonaut Vladimir M. Komarov. Three days later, a cylindrical object called Cosmos 188 was rocketed aloft into the same orbital track, a scant 14.9 miles from Cosmos 186. The accuracy was remarkable, but it had to be. Western space experts have learned that Russian spacecraft radar lacks power for long-range precision...
...launching, Russian scientists say, computers aboard Cosmos 186, reportedly large enough to carry a crew of five, began the sophisticated automatic process of finding and linking up with Cosmos 188, the passive, beaconlike partner in the space pas de deux. Then, while 188 was still in its first orbit, the two spacecraft oriented their docking mechanisms toward one another. Painstakingly, 186 moved closer. Then, high over the Ascension Island area in the South Atlantic, 186 slipped its pronged nose into a docking collar mounted on 188, linking the electrical circuits of the two vehicles. For 31 hours, the two spacecraft...
Atmosphere Profile. America's 540-Ib. Mariner 5 took a less direct approach, swinging to within 2,480 miles of the Venusian surface and then briefly disappearing behind the planet before heading toward a permanent orbit around the sun. As Mariner drew close, its instruments searched for a Venusian magnetic field and an accompanying radiation belt, and peered down into the upper atmosphere to determine its height and temperature profile. As the spacecraft swung behind Venvis, its radio signals passed through the Venusian atmosphere on their way to earth. By measuring the effect the intervening gases...