Word: orbiteer
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...model of the atom" did not work, but in 1913, when Bohr was 28, he applied to it the strange new concepts of the quantum theory, which bewildered most physicists then as they bewilder most laymen now. The atomic electrons, said unclassical Physicist Bohr, cannot revolve in any old orbit. They must stick to certain particular orbits, and when they jump from one to another, they emit light. In 1913 this theory seemed "against common sense," but it won against all critics and started physics on the road to understanding the atom...
...orbit is now fairly well known, both to Russian and non-Russian scientists. According to the Smithsonian's Astrophysical Observatory at Cambridge, Mass., the satellite follows a slightly elliptical track that carries it up 480 miles above the earth. Then it swoops down to about 140 miles, a decline of three miles since launching. Air resistance is slowly reducing Sputnik's energy and making it follow a lower and therefore faster orbit. When it was first tracked, it completed its circuit of the earth in 96.20 minutes. After 326 trips (nearly 9,000,000 miles), it now does...
...conspicuous rocket carrier, now seen by millions, started behind Sputnik. Having more air resistance and therefore dropping sooner to a lower, faster orbit, it quickly passed the satellite. Now it is leading by 63 minutes and is revolving around the earth in 94.68 minutes. Dr. Fred Whipple of the Smithsonian Observatory expects the rocket to have a good many more days in space, perhaps 30 or 40. Then it will make its fiery death-plunge into denser...
Whipple, basing his calculations on figures released by Radio Moscow, computed the lowest point in the rocket's orbit as 104 miles. Although this height is some 81 miles lower than the height of Sputnik I's rocket, the apogee--or highest point--of Sputnik II is 1,056 miles, compared to 560 miles for the first satellite...
...speed, too, is different. "II" moves at 17,840 m.p.h. compared to 18,000 m.p.h. for the original. Muttnik, which has a longer orbit, consequently takes 103.7 minutes to circle the globe, compared to 96.2 minutes for its predecessor. The most impressive difference, though, is in weight: 184 pounds...