Word: orbiter
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DEEP IN INTERPLANETARY SPACE, AN irregularly shaped chunk of rock about twice as long as the island of Manhattan is silently speeding along the orbit it has traced for billions of years. It is an asteroid known as 433 Eros, and it is just one of thousands that have been discovered since the first was spotted in 1801. Astronomers believe these mysterious objects are rubble left over from the formation of the solar system and that they've occasionally smashed into Earth; it may well have been a wayward asteroid, for example, that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years...
That should soon change. Two weeks ago, a space probe called NEAR was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a trajectory that will carry it to within 20 miles of Eros, where it will remain in orbit for a year of intensive study. The mission should give astronomers important clues to the formation of the planets and the origin of asteroids. Just as significant, however, it should demonstrate that NASA has started to change its bloated, bureaucratic ways. Although this is one of the trickiest space missions ever, it's also one of the cheapest. The Galileo probe...
...there is someone like Ann Eppard: the fierce gatekeeper deciding who sees the Congressman and who doesn't, the lieutenant whose years of iron loyalty have been rewarded with his deepest trust, the steward of his fund raising. Rarely are these staff members known outside the lawmaker's narrow orbit. But when Eppard left Capitol Hill the day after the 1994 election to start her own lobbying firm, many of the nation's richest interests were clamoring to sign her up, showering her with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees...
...SPACE STATION, (HEO) HIGH EARTH ORBIT: The Mir orbital complex passed its tenth year in orbit today, focusing attention on the venerable Russian space station and the ailing Russian space program itself. Since the Russians are, along with the U.S., major players in the Alpha international space station project, the health of Russia's space program immediately affects NASA's budget and operations. Last month the Russian Space Agency tried to back out of a contract with NASA asking for another $200 million, and offering Mir instead of Alpha components, citing lack of funds. The Mir itself is ailing...
...these planets, astronomers must now revise their theories to fit the new facts. To begin with, theorists have to scramble to explain how the 51 Pegasi planet could have formed and survived intact so close to its parent star. The planet around 70 Virginis is also problematic: its orbit is egg-shaped rather than circular, which suggests to some astronomers that it formed more like a star than like a planet. Indeed, many experts think it is technically a brown dwarf--a star that never got big enough to ignite--rather than a planet. Only the third object matches what...