Word: orbiter
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...planet, called HD 189733b, revolves around a bright star 64 light years from Earth. Scientists refer to the planet as a "hot Jupiter" (it's similar to but slightly larger than Jupiter - and keeps a much tighter orbit around its sun, ensuring a scorching climate). And they have examined it for water before. But earlier tests of the planet's atmosphere yielded uncertain results, so this time, astrophysicists tried something slightly different. When HD 189733b was passing in front of its sun, they observed the way electromagnetic radiation was absorbed by the planet's atmosphere. The authors of the current...
...going, the more propellant you need, but every pound of it you add means more mass the engine must propel, which requires more fuel still, and on and on. A spacecraft like Dawn, which is designed not just to fly by its two targets but also to settle into orbit around them, would require a massive load of onboard...
Like a fraternal twin on a planet with a slightly slower orbit, the fifth Harry Potter film arrives in theaters July 11, 10 days before J.K. Rowling's seventh and final Potter novel hits the bookstores. Readers will soon discover their young hero's destiny, but for now, in movies, Harry is still trying to figure out the scheme the evil Lord Voldemort has hatched and wondering if a teenage boy is up to thwarting...
...satellite Sputnik. Thanks to the frantic efforts of U.S. officials to match that feat, aerospace engineer and longtime Caltech professor Homer Stewart was hired to help develop a similarly impressive craft. With guidance from Stewart-- who later worked on early planning for the Apollo mission--the U.S. sent into orbit its first successful satellite, Explorer I, in January 1958. Stewart...
...system. Through a series of NASA-funded telescopes located in southern California that monitor 10,000 stars at a time, Charbonneau and his researchers scour the data, measuring the brightness of the stars. If a star is dark, it could be due to an eclipse from a planet in orbit around...