Word: spacecrafts
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Intimate Orbiter. Mariner IV, which will pass near Mars on July 14, may send back fascinating pictures of the planet's large-scale topography. But later spacecraft will be far more useful after they kick themselves into orbits close to the red planet. They will be able to study Mars for long periods at close range, sending back several kinds of maplike pictures, including intimate views of Mars made by infra-red light and by radar. A single orbiter will be able to chronicle an entire cycle of the Martian seasons, watching the growth of vegetation (if it really...
...clear pictures televised from Ranger spacecraft have brought man closer and closer to the surface of the moon. But for an advanced step in lunar explorations-a first comparison between the moon's crust and its invisible interior-scientists have now abandoned telescope and camera and turned to the computer...
Even the Russians, who startled the world by letting a space traveler take a "stroll" outside his orbiting capsule only a few days before (TIME cover, March 26), have yet to claim that their cosmonauts have varied the earth-girdling curve of a spacecraft in flight.* But before men can make a lunar excursion or perform other active missions outside the earth's atmosphere, they must learn to make those orbit alterations with exquisite precision. Spaceships must be maneuvered so surely that they can meet and mate aloft; their pilots must act as accurate and reliable links...
...Flying" his ship with brief bursts of energy from the appropriate rockets, Capsule Commander Grissom brought it absolutely level. Then he fired two forward-pointing rockets for precisely 73 seconds. Molly slowed down; the apogee of her orbit dropped by 34 miles. The spacecraft was now on an almost circular course...
...computer is, in fact, the largely unsung hero of the thrust into space. Computers carefully checked out all Gemini's systems before the launch, kept precise track of the spacecraft's position in the heavens at every moment, plotted trajectories and issued precise commands to the astronauts. On their detailed instructions, the astronauts made the first change of orbit ever achieved in flight; computers not only designed the new orbit, but also told the command pilot at what time and for how long he should fire his thrusters to achieve...