Word: orbiter
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Also at Canaveral, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration tried to fling into orbit a10-lb. plastic and aluminum inflatable sphere that would circle the earth like an oversized beach ball (diameter: 12 ft.), measuring friction in the outer reaches of the atmosphere. The three-stage Juno II rocket itself (a modification of the Army's operational workhorse Jupiter) blasted off without a hitch, but the beach ball never achieved orbit, probably through a failure in the attitude control system...
...California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Air Force launched Discoverer V, putting a ton of hardware into orbit, including the 1,700-lb. second-stage rocket and a 300-lb. instrument package-a new record for U.S. satellite payloads (but still far behind Russia's 2,134-lb. Sputnik III). After 17 trips through its polar orbit, retrorockets were to plunge Discoverer V back into the atmosphere, and C-119 transport planes-trailing trapezelike devices to snare the descending parachute-were waiting 700 miles southwest of Hawaii. But Discoverer V was never heard from again...
...20th century's major political miracles that Poland today is "a one-time satellite whirling half out of its orbit," in daily danger of suppression but also in daily defiance of Moscow. The origin of the miracle is familiar. Ever since Hungary rebelled and Poland came close to open rebellion in 1956, Moscow has known that it could restore total domination over Poland only at the price of bloodshed. At the same time, the Poles have known that, if they sought total freedom, Moscow would not hesitate to pay the price. This potentially lethal balance is the basis...
...accomplish these tasks, Explorer VI's 1/161n. aluminum skin shrouds the most intricate and talented collection of scientific instruments yet sent into space -all in a 29-in. by 26-in. ball that moves through its complete orbit once every twelve hours. One hoped-for result is the first relatively detailed map of the Van Allen belts, which present a formidable barrier to interplanetary flight. Previous earth satellites have not gone high enough to examine the enormous breadth of the Van Allen radiation. Pioneer IV obtained valuable information, but made only one trip through the belts before falling into...
Kick in Reserve. Explorer VI is expected to hold its hip-swinging orbit for at least a year. During that time it may illuminate problems of the universe from Einstein's theory on the curvature of space to the question whether man can really get past the Van Allen radiation belts by entering space above the earth's poles. At week's end a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported: "The paddle wheel is doing well. It is converting solar energy into electrical energy. The signals are coming in loud and clear...