Word: perihelion
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...national medal, with no monetary reward-how quaint. The nationals have always had pride of place, the only event in the sport to be regularly televised and, for an American skater, the imprimatur of success. Yes, there is a world championship, and every four years the perihelion of the Olympics. But to be national champ has meant being at the top of the game...
...warhead-tipped rocket to intercept it and explode, nudging it into a new orbit that would carry it safely past Earth. For a small asteroid detected years and many orbits before its destined collision, the solution would be straightforward. "You apply some modest impulse to it at its perihelion, or closest point to the sun, using conventional explosives," explains Gregory Canavan, a senior scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "The slight deflection that results will amplify during each orbit, ensuring that the asteroid misses Earth by a wide margin...