Word: spacecrafts
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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With the microprocessor, a single chip could be programmed to do any number of tasks, from running a watch to steering a spacecraft. It could also serve as the soul of a new machine: the personal computer. By 1975 the first of the new breed of computers had appeared, a hobbyist machine called the Altair 8800 (cost: $395 in kit form, $621 assembled). The Altair soon vanished from the marketplace. But already there were other young and imaginative tinkerers out in Silicon Valley getting ready to produce personal computers, including one bearing an odd symbol: an apple with a bite...
Columbia's own flight last Thursday morning began just as flawlessly, lifting off about half a second early. Carrying a four-man crew, double the number on previous missions, the spacecraft remained visible for more than 3 min. as it rose on its pillars of fire into a cloudless sky over Cape Canaveral, undeterred by 90-m.p.h. winds. On the last mission, in July, Columbia's big strap-on solid-fuel booster rockets sank into the sea. This time, after separating from their mother ship, they drifted gently to earth under their large parachutes and stayed afloat...
...Eventually the system will consist of four satellites ringing the earth at roughly equal distances from one another. TDRSS will relay signals not only between ground and orbit but also between satellites, thereby eliminating the need for a globe-girdling network of ground stations to keep in touch with spacecraft like the shuttle...
Columbia's flight five was the first operational mission of the world's first reusable spacecraft. With more than 10 million milestone its flight lot the ship will undergo a 10 month overhaul...
Making it look easy, the spacecraft commander steered Columbia over California's Mojave Desert and glided to a smooth stop with more than 5000 feet of concrete left...