Word: orbiter
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...author concludes that "the au-tomatons-in-orbit, adolescent as their performance was at that stage, had kept the two giant thermonuclear powers from bombing into World War III at least once, perhaps twice." Another round of reconnaissance dueling came last year over the Middle East, when U.S. satellite pictures confirmed that the Soviets and Egyptians had moved missiles into the cease-fire zone, in violation of the cease-fire agreement...
...next two days, the reunited crew continued circling the moon-performing more experiments, photographing parts of the lunar surface never before seen by man, and in the case of Scott and Irwin, catching up on some badly needed sleep. On the last day in orbit, activities perked up. The astronauts were awakened by the theme from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and later launched a 78.5-lb. scientific sub-satellite into orbit around the moon. Almost immediately, earthbound controllers detected radio signals from the $1.7 million instrument package. The satellite's sensors will provide new information about...
Good Burn. Just before Endeavour disappeared behind the moon on its 74th revolution, ground controllers gave it a "go" for one more important maneuver: firing the command ship's big 20,500-lb.-thrust engine to kick it out of lunar orbit. "Set your sails for home," said Mission Control. "We're predicting good weather, a strong tailwind, and we'll be waiting on the docks." Thirty-five minutes later, as Endeavour re-emerged and regained radio contact, Scott gave the happy word. The 2 min. 21 sec. burn had been flawless. Said Scott: "Endeavour...
...light of the sun. They determined that the moon had mountains and valleys and that it always kept the same face turned toward earth. By the 3rd century B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristarchus and others had used geometry to make surprisingly accurate estimates of the moon's size, its orbit, its distance from earth. They even guessed that it was the cause of tides...
...Apollo 15 clears up only a few of the moon's puzzles, the perilous mission will be worth the enormous risks. On their homeward journey, the astronauts were scheduled to continue their scientific investigations. Shortly before Endeavour, carrying all three crewmen again, fires itself out of lunar orbit, the ship is to leave behind another memento of Apollo 15's visit. With the press of a button, the small, instrument-packed subsatellite will be automatically injected into an orbit around the moon. The tiny package should swing around the moon for more than a year, radioing vital data about...