Word: oxygenate
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...even greater source of concern is the destruction of the bay's submerged aquatic grasses. This vegetation produces the oxygen essential for the survival of marine life, stabilizes the shoreline against erosion and provides food for species ranging from ducks to fish to crab larvae. In 1971 this subaquatic plant life could be found in 30% of the Chesapeake and its tributaries. Now, says the EPA study, it can be found in only 4.5% of that area...
...sediment, which blocks the light that plants need in order to carry on photosynthesis. Another problem is the bay's excess of nitrogen and phosphorus. These nutrients "fertilize" the bay and promote the proliferation of algae. When algae decompose, they rob the water of its life-giving oxygen, killing the grasses and the creatures that depend on them. There are areas of the bay-submarine deserts-where nothing at all can live...
Discovery's engine No. 3 had already helped power three shuttle missions, and its age was showing. About 6 sec. before blastoff, a heated mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen was supposed to be pumped forcefully through the engine's main fuel line into a central combustion chamber, where it would ignite. But the 10 ¼ in. long, 74-lb. fuel valve faltered a fraction of a second in opening, prompting the central computer system to abort the entire mission. Of the three main engines, only No. 2 had been fully ignited. During its 1.7 sec. ignition...
...North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is responsible for providing early warning against aerial attacks, estimates that some 3,800 pieces of junk are currently circling the earth.* Total weight of this space-age garbage: six tons. Two-thirds of the nuts, bolts, oxygen cylinders, broken solar panels, dead satellites, spent rocket boosters and other litter is in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles from the earth's surface, where it will remain indefinitely. One-third of the circling scrap is in low earth orbit, only 120 to 300 miles overhead...
Most of the space garbage consists of nonfunctioning satellites and space probes launched from earth. There is also fragmentary junk, resulting from mid-space collisions between spacecraft and meteorites. Astronauts have dumped sewage, food containers and spent oxygen cylinders overboard. On rare occasions, space walkers have accidentally dropped objects in space. Astronaut Ed White lost a shiny white glove during the Gemini 4 flight in 1965. George ("Pinky") Nelson fumbled away two tiny screws while repairing the Solar Maximum Mission satellite during the shuttle flight last month...