Word: orbiter
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...wondering what exactly Stanley Kubrick was trying to say, but it was definitely an intriguing film and helped define the science fiction genre. It must be remembered that when the film opened in 1968, man had yet to walk in space, put laboratories and reusable space vehicles into orbit or even land on some of our neighboring planets. New cinema to graphic techniques and plot design helped to make that film a true classic...
...flights and raise them for space-shuttle missions. Insurers have good reason for valuing reliability. The industry paid Indonesia and the Western Union Co., original owners of the two errant satellites recovered last week by Discovery, a total of $180 million in claims after the devices were placed in orbit incorrectly on an earlier space-shuttle flight...
Prices aside, Ariane has an edge over the space shuttle in doing certain kinds of work. A conventional three-stage rocket, Ariane can put its satellites into what scientists call geosynchronous orbit, 22,300 miles above the earth. The shuttle, by contrast, is designed to take payloads to near earth orbit, between 150 and 700 miles. Ariane's launch site on the equator means that a gentler trajectory, and consequently less fuel, is required to boost a payload into stationary orbit. In addition, satellites positioned farther from earth, where there are fewer molecules to cause friction, tend to last...
...Ariane, simplicity is an Important virtue. The European rocket releases a satellite directly into orbit, dumping the payload at the correct height. The shuttle is launched by conventional rocket and then depends on rocket boosters to maneuver the satellite to its destination. That two-step process, critics say, is so complicated that the possibility of mishap is increased. Shuttle loyalists, however, insist that Ariane lacks the flexibility of the U.S. craft, and they point to last week's retrieval as an example of its wide range of capabilities. "That's the kind of thing...
...handle a payload of 4.2 tons. NASA's plans call for a more modest increase in capacity, to between 1.75 and 2 tons by 1986. In addition, Arianespace officials expect that by the mid-1990s they will be able to place heavy loads with great precision into low orbit, which would be a direct challenge to one of the space shuttle's strengths. Says Roger Vignelles, launch director for the French National Space Agency, a part owner of Arianespace: "I think that we can give the Americans an interesting run for their money...