Word: spacecraft
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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NASA selected the Harvard Center to assist in designing the spacecraft primarily because of its experience in similar projects, namely designing and operating the Einstein observatory, Newton said...
...outer layers erupt in a blaze of turbulent magnetic storms, characterized by an increase in sunspots and fiery explosions known as solar flares. In February 1980, on the eve of one such outburst, NASA launched an instrument-packed scientific satellite called the Solar Maximum Mission. Nicknamed Solar Max, the spacecraft was to photograph and monitor the sun's activity, which even at a distance of 93 million miles can disrupt global communications and power transmissions, influence weather and endanger space voyagers...
...first time, the delta-winged spacecraft will climb directly into orbit with only one intermediate firing by its orbital maneuvering engines. A steeper ascent, made possible by improvements in engine thrust, will save fuel, which may be needed for the rendezvous maneuvers with Solar Max. Once it is 245 miles high, the shuttle will use its remote-controlled mechanical arm for another first: the deployment of a 30-ft.-long cylindrical package, called the long-duration exposure facility (LDEF), which contains 57 separate scientific experiments contributed by nearly 200 scientists in nine countries. LDEF will be left in orbit...
Your article on the flight of the spacecraft Challenger [Feb. 13] gives me hope. We live on a medium-size planet attached to an ordinary star at the edge of a run-of-the-mill galaxy. Space technology is our key to a greater universe. Earth, as is amply demonstrated by the tragic events that are occurring in the world today, does not have room enough. Only space can unite and save mankind...
That expensive steel-and-sheet-metal postscript, the assembly building, shelters the newly assembled spacecraft until it is ready for loading. The job begins in a hulking concrete structure called the Payload Preparation Center, a stationary, 147-ft-high building. There, in a relatively particle-free chamber, the spy satellites and other exotic space gear to be carried aloft will be given final checks in sealed chambers. Explains Engineer O'Gorman: "If we do the job right you should be able to take a transistor radio in there and not pick up a single outside signal." This feature...