Word: orbiter
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Since it takes less energy to reach an orbit than to escape from the earth, astronauts believe that a moderate-sized three-stage rocket, or even a two-stage one, could make the trip with a good payload. It would park its load (e.g., fuel) in the orbit, where it would circle as safely as if it were back at the filling station...
After enough fuel had been accumulated on the little, man-made satellite, a rocket could fill its tanks and blast itself off into space. Since it would already be moving in its earth-circling orbit at a good clip (16,000 m.p.h.), it would need only a moderate additional push to give it escape velocity. Then it could cruise freely in space, like a ship that has risen out of a whirlpool and reached the smooth surface of a lake...
Approach with Caution. Astronauts who plot long journeys in space assume that such dull, preliminary steps have already been taken. Later steps are more fun. To reach the moon from an artificial orbit is elementary stuff; voyages to a planet take more figuring. One plan for a trip to Venus, for instance, uses space ships from an orbit around the earth to establish a base on the moon (see diagram). A special ship then takes off from the moon at a moment when Venus is considerably behind both earth and moon on its shorter and faster orbit around...
...practical rocket men fear that their gradual march toward space may disappoint the oversold public. All the necessary, cautious first steps (a small missile shot into an orbit, a hit on the moon with a small payload. etc.) are a long way from manned space ships. But Dr. von Braun (of the V-2s), who would hurry the cautious missile men along, says that manned space flight "is as sure as the rising of the sun." He tells just how the U.S. military can establish a "satellite space station" in an orbit around the earth, and he insists that such...
...raise the satellite station into its orbit 1,075 miles above the earth, Von Braun proposes to build a fleet of three-stage rockets, each standing 265 feet high and weighing 7,000 tons when fueled. The 51 motors in the first stage will have a thrust of 14,000 tons. The second stage will be smaller, and the third, containing the crew, control apparatus and final payload, will be a winged vehicle rather like an airplane...