Word: spacecrafts
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...most striking new feature of the long-planned Galileo mission, first scheduled for 1982, is a looping itinerary that will provide momentum for the spacecraft by utilizing the gravitational fields of Venus and the earth. This "slingshot" routing became necessary when NASA officials decided that the rocket originally scheduled to boost the craft from a shuttle cargo bay could pose a hazard; it was replaced with a safer solid-fuel booster. Another change in plans involved putting extra gold sheeting on the Galileo spacecraft because of the scheduled pass close to the superhot atmosphere of Venus...
...long voyage toward Jupiter, the spacecraft is scheduled to pass within 620 miles of the asteroids Gaspra and Ida, the first such close encounter in the annals of interplanetary travel. Then, five months before reaching Jupiter near the end of 1995, Galileo is to release a 730-lb. probe that will become the first man-made object to penetrate the gaseous atmosphere of the planet. Its instruments are expected to transmit data on the Jovian atmosphere for about 75 minutes before being silenced by the planet's intense atmospheric pressure. Galileo is next scheduled to settle into a two-year...
...reported the publication of two books--"Missing Time" and "Intruders"--that document the experiences of men and women abducted by aliens from outer space. Geist reported the phenomenal success of UFO grouptherapy programs catering to people who find it difficult to return to society after harrowing experiences aboard alien spacecraft...
Sagdeyev has even higher expectations for the Mars Sample Return mission, now being planned for the late 1990s. The idea is for the spacecraft to make a soft landing on the planet and send a rover to gather soil samples on a yearlong trek over the surface. Then about 2 lbs. of material would be returned to earth for detailed analysis. In Sagdeyev's plan, the U.S. would supply the rover, plus advanced electronics to guide it from an orbiting mother ship...
...time, say U.S. intelligence analysts, the U.S.S.R. is operating some 150 satellites, and perhaps as many as 120 are believed to be performing military missions. For hours each day, say intelligence analysts, Soviet Cosmos military satellites drift over the U.S., photographing missile silos and naval deployments. Other Soviet spacecraft lurk with sensitive electronic ears that can pick up telephone conversations in Washington, while Meteor weather satellites monitor conditions over key U.S. targets. Soviet infrared satellites watch for the telltale heat signaling a launch of U.S. ICBMs. At the military launch site in Plesetsk, 500 miles northeast of Moscow, crews stand...