Word: rocketeers
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Soviet Union's Sary-Shagan test range in the wilds of Kazakhstan, near the Mongolian border, a Galosh-type surface-to-air missile rose slowly from its launch pad. After climbing skyward, the rocket spread a dark, mile-wide cloud far above the lower atmosphere. It was a cloud that cast a shadow as far away as Washington. Last week U.S. intelligence sources reported that the test, conducted in September, involved a remarkable new anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system that could represent a major breakthrough...
Crucial Maneuver. It was indeed. In 1966, the Russians had made the initial soft landing on the moon, but their equipment at the time was relatively primitive-a simple sphere covered with balsa wood that was ejected just before its carrier rocket smashed into the lunar surface. After bouncing and rolling to a stop, the sphere unfolded its panels like petals of a flower, righted itself and exposed its TV camera and transmitter. Luna 16 was a far more sophisticated instrument. Although the Soviets revealed few details, Western space experts believe that the spacecraft that descended to the lunar surface...
...core sample, which was packed into a container, hermetically sealed-possibly with a small explosive charge-and then stowed safely away in the upper half of the spacecraft. The next maneuver was particularly critical. When the earth and moon were in proper alignment, Luna 16's upper-stage rocket was ignited, hurtling the 900-to-1,000-lb. package into an arcing trajectory back toward earth. The lower stage, a four-legged vehicle vaguely resembling the LM's descent stage, remained behind and continued to take temperature and radiation readings. What made the blast-off procedure so important...
...contrast to the canal, sporadic fighting continued on other Israel-Arab fronts, where there was still no ceasefire in effect. Israeli farm settlements in the Jordan valley were under almost nightly Katyusha rocket attack, and fedayeen commandos killed two soldiers in an army outpost on the Lebanese border. Israel sent bombers against fedayeen positions on the foothills of Mount Hermon and in Jordan. It also dispatched troops on a short foray into southern Lebanon, where the raiders blew up three houses suspected of serving as fedayeen bases...
Lift-Off. Nicknamed "Maglev" (for magnetic levitation) by the Stanford engineers, the train could use any number of propulsion systems: propellers, jet engines or even rocket motors. But both Japanese and American designers favor linear induction motors. These are similar to conventional electric motors, but they have, in effect, been flattened out. Part of the undercarriage of the train acts as the motor's fixed coils, while a vertical guide rail in the center of the pathway takes the place of its spinning rotor. When enough electrical power is fed into the system, the train begins to move forward...