Word: orbiter
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...trip ends in the stillness of faux orbit where the payload bays open to reveal a state-of-the-art graphic of Earth in a stunning view very few people have ever seen firsthand. Air sickness bags are conspicuously absent. Unlike an astronaut-training simulator or other virtual reality systems which allow multiple degrees of stomach-turning motion - forward and backward, up and down, side to side, pitch, roll and yaw - this simulator only allows for pitch. But in clever combination with a powerful Buttkicker audio system, which lets riders feel sound, strong vibrations, timed seat compressions and video cues...
...traveler still has options. Opening Memorial Day weekend is NASA's own space shuttle simulator at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Designed for the Holiday Inn crowd, the space tourist can get a decent sense of lift off and flight to low-earth orbit for $38 ($28 for children), less than the price of a typical theme park admission...
...technical rehearsals this week, the Shuttle Launch Experience begins with riders climbing an authentic looking gantry into a white "clean room" to board a model of a crew pod in the shuttle's payload bay. A real 8.5 min. vertical launch into orbit reaching a speed of 17,500 mph is compressed into a 5 min. jowl-rattling experience, including the key launch milestones of solid rocket-booster separation, main engine cut off and the external tank separation...
...nations are about to get new leaders who may be closer in outlook and personality than any French President and British Prime Minister in living memory. While nobody dreams of reviving the Mollet plan, the two men have an opportunity to put Britain and France back into the same orbit - with potentially significant consequences for the rest of Europe and the U.S., which for the first time in years is being cheered rather than jeered by a French leader. Meanwhile, there's a lot the new boys can learn from one another as they pursue their most pressing policy goals...
...nations are soon to get new leaders who are closer in outlook and personality than any French President and British Prime Minister in living memory. While nobody dreams of reviving the Mollet plan, the two men have an opportunity to put Britain and France back into the same orbit--with potentially significant consequences for the U.S., which for the first time in years is being cheered rather than jeered by a French leader...