Word: orbiter
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...three days of each month-and within that period, only during 18 fleeting minutes of each day-were the earth and moon in such relationship to each other that Pioneer, precisely fired and guided, would pass ahead of the moon, sweep slowly into her field and take up an orbit (see below...
Drawing a bead on the moon is something like shooting a duck from a spinning merry-go-round, using a bullet that takes two days to creep near its target. The moon has its own motion; it speeds around the earth on a somewhat elliptical orbit at 2,300 m.p.h.*Even more disturbing to the moon-marksmen is the rotation of the earth. In every minute, the earth rotates enough to make a 1,000-mile difference in the rocket's position when and if it reaches the moon's orbit...
...accelerator, electrons whirl around on a constant orbit of 236-foot diameter between a series of 48 strong-focusing magnets. The circular tunnel which encloses it will have a powerhouse in the middle to supply the energy for the magnets. The accelerator tunnel and the powerhouse will be connected by four radial tunnels...
...difference between the cyclotron and the Electron Accelerator, according to Preston, aside from the obvious fact that the former works with protons and the latter with electrons, is one of method. In the cyclotron the protons are subjected to a constant magnetic field and spiral out in ever-increasing orbits; in the election accelerator, on the other hand, the orbit is constant and the magnetic field is increased in order to keep the electrons in a stable path. The cyclotron, Preston says, unlike the C.E.A., can properly be called an "accelerator," for the velocity at the end of the experiment...
...abortive effort to place a 20-in. weather satellite into orbit, the Navy's hard-luck Vanguard rocket belched flames and steam, rose three-quarters of an inch off its Cape Canaveral launching pad, then settled gently back into place. Because of a "random failure," the first-stage rocket engine had shut off automatically just in time to prevent Vanguard from toppling over and exploding, saving it to fly again another day. Vanguard's sorry record to date: seven tries, six failures...