Word: rocketings
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...smaller rocket motor enabled scientists to cram a dozen instruments into Pioneer's drum-shaped "bus," 2.5 meters (8.2 ft.) in diameter. In addition to carrying devices that will map the Venusian atmosphere and cloud formations, analyze the composition of the clouds and measure the interaction between the "solar wind" and the atmosphere, Pioneer 1 will use radar to penetrate the clouds and produce a rough topographic map of much of the Venusian surface. Previous radar scans, made by the giant radio telescope in Arecibo, P.R., have already detected some craters, a large chasm, possible volcanoes, mountainous areas...
Outside the mines the Shaba economy is stagnant. The only development in the area is the investment by OTRAG, a huge West German company, in a rocket-testing site near Lubumbashi. Mobutu gave the site, covering hundreds of kilometers, to OTRAG in much the same way colonies were assigned to European monopolies in the 19th century. OTRAG may remove the inhabitants and establish its own laws; its personnel are not subject to Zaire laws. The site borders on Zambia and Tanzania, and is only a few hundred kilometers from Angola--a fact that has made these independent countries understandably nervous...
Inside the kibbutz, I notice several soldiers carrying walkie-talkies. A kibbutznik tells me the walkie-talkies are used to warn Hanita and other border towns of rocket attacks detected on the Israeli radar screen. The Israelis use a secret code in case their messages are intercepted. We are supposed to head for the nearest of several bomb shelters if anyone shouts the Hebrew warning Hafligah...
Late in the night I am wakened by a tremendous explosion from a Palestinian rocket landing nearby. It shakes the windows of most of the buildings in the kibbutz. I have never been so terrified in my life. For the first time, some of the Israelis are getting scared...
...tension inside the bomb shelter seems almost as charged as the rocket fire outside. The volunteers pass around a few communal cigarettes, wishing aloud they were smoking something stronger. I try to count the number of Palestinian rockets that are being fired at us, but after a while I lose track and give...