Word: probe
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...wrongdoing by members of its old- boy network. At the same time, IRS managers appear to be so concerned with the agency's public image that they would rather suppress whistleblowers than root out unethical and illegal activity. Last week's hearings explored the results of a year-long probe by the subcommittee, which found evidence of misconduct and cover-ups involving more than 25 top IRS officials in ten cities. Among the allegations...
After a marathon journey of twelve years and more than 4 billion miles, the remarkable Voyager 2 space probe is finally approaching its last port of call. Having made historic flybys of Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981 and Uranus in 1986, it is poised for an Aug. 24 rendezvous with Neptune, the most distant of the giant planets. (It will not encounter Pluto, whose bizarre orbit now places it closer to the sun than Neptune is.) Voyager's aging cameras and electronic sensors are somewhat impaired, and the probe is so distant that its signals take four hours...
...Neptune's gravity. Such an intrusion should have disrupted the paths of any existing moons. This would explain tiny Nereid's highly elongated and tilted orbit. But 1989-N1 is just "sitting there," says Voyager project scientist Torrence Johnson, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Johnson expects that the probe will discover more moons, shedding light on Triton's origins. "All of the outer planets have lots of junk around them," he notes. Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus have at least 15 moons apiece. "It would be amazing if we got to Neptune and didn't find a bunch of these things...
Like Jupiter and Saturn, but unlike its near-twin next-door neighbor, Uranus, Neptune appears to have distinct weather patterns. The probe's cameras have glimpsed a streak of white that may be an atmospheric jet stream, longitudinal bands that could mark prevailing winds, and a dark blotch, perhaps similar to Jupiter's ancient high-pressure system known as the Great Red Spot. Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn all generate more heat than they receive from the sun, while Uranus does not; the excess heat may be the source of the turbulence...
Another focal point of scientific interest is Neptune's rings. Indirect evidence suggests that they exist, but as arcs rather than true rings. Voyager's photographs may help explain how they formed. The space probe will also examine reddish Triton, whose methane atmosphere is believed to overlie a surface puddled with liquid nitrogen...