Word: solarized
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...astronomical excitement, all the ambitious experiments, all the arguments over theory seem more and more a modern version of the confusion that boiled in the wake of Galileo Galilei's telescopic report on the realities of the solar system. The 17th century Italian startled scientists and theologians alike; the 20th century Dutchman has had an equally jarring effect on his own contemporaries as his discoveries have pushed man's scientific horizons out to the farthest reaches of the observable universe...
...something unusual happening? Not likely. While most scientists found no reason to doubt Kotelnikov's figures, they did not share his surprise. Records of solar and lunar eclipses from as far back as 500 B.C. prove that days have been lengthening by an average of 1.8 milliseconds every century as tidal drag on the earth caused by both the moon and sun gradually slows terrestrial rotation. The same records confirm that sudden changes in the rate of slowdown have occurred before, probably because of varying interaction between the earth's mantle and its molten core, or shifts...
Meteor Bombardment. The Russians confirmed that Luna 9 had found no dust on the moon. Instead, it hit a surface that consisted of hard, porous, volcanic soil formed from lava that had crumbled during billions of years of drastic temperature changes and bombardment by meteors and solar particles. Inhospitable as it is, such a surface could probably bear the weight of both heavy space vehicles and men. The major obstacle remaining before man can fly to the moon, concluded Soviet Academy of Sciences President Mstislav Keldysh, "is the problem of returning a cosmonaut to earth. I think it is easier...
Western experts had speculated that the landing-site time had been picked so that Luna could begin operating near the start of a two-week period of lunar daylight. They figured it would have about 14 days of continuous sunshine to keep its solar batteries charged. Instead, the Russians explained, their intention was merely to land and operate Luna 9 during the early lunar morning-before surface temperatures could rise to their maximum of about 250° F. and damage delicate equipment. Thus their ship was equipped only with standard, unrechargeable batteries...
Because Luna 9 landed in an area that would bask in sunshine for 14 consecutive earth days before lunar nightfall descended, British scientists were hopeful that the spacecraft's solar-powered batteries might last long enough for it to transmit pictures of the same scenes at regular intervals for several days. Then, as the sun gradually moved through its zenith toward the lunar horizon, ridges and rocks would cast changing shadows that would reveal more information about their size and shape. But at week's end the Russians announced that they had completed Luna 9's program...