Word: solarized
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...nuclear- fusion reaction, the same kind that takes place inside stars and hydrogen bombs. More than 3 million watts of energy began pouring from the superheated gas inside the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, and for the four seconds or so that the experiment lasted, the hottest spot in the solar system by a sizable margin was in Plainsboro, New Jersey...
Ground controllers at nasa began two months of long-distance testing to determine whether the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope will now work as advertised. In five space walks, astronauts from the shuttle Endeavour replaced solar panels and gyroscopes, upgraded computer components and installed a set of corrective lenses designed to help the nearsighted telescope peer to the edge of the universe...
...them, not only breezed through every job on their work order and a few more on the "just in case" list, but they also made it look like fun. "Piece of cake!" shouted Kathryn Thornton, perched atop the shuttle's 50-ft. robot arm as she sent a mangled solar-energy panel off into space like a falconer letting her bird take wing. "Dum dum dum dum," hummed a relaxed Tom Akers, as he and Thornton eased corrective lenses, ensconced in their 700-lb., refrigerator-size case, into position a millimeter at a time...
...lowered it into the shuttle's cargo bay, where some repairs will be done. "Houston, Endeavour has a firm handshake with Mr. Hubble's telescope," Covey told Mission Control. "It's quite a sight." The crew also found that one of the telescope's two 40-ft.- long solar panels was in even worse condition than expected, with severe kinks and twists; astronauts planned to replace both panels in space walks early this week...
...without this $629 million repair mission, the telescope would probably break down soon anyway. Its blurred vision, caused by an improperly ground primary mirror that NASA failed to test thoroughly before launch, is the least of the Hubble trouble. The telescope's solar panels wobble badly when they're heated by the sun; if they snapped off, the craft would be virtually powerless. It is one gyroscope away from being rudderless. And its electronics have been acting up more than they should...