Word: sphere
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...halves; the released balloon began to inflate, its folded segments billowing outward as 52 lbs. of powdered benzoic acid in its interior turned to gas. At first the balloon formed an irregular watermelon shape, sunlight glittering on its irregular surfaces. Then the skin tightened into a polished sphere...
...pioneering scientific week that saw the first invasion of the fringes of space by thermonuclear power, the imagination of the civilized world was captured by an even more dramatic U.S. achievement: the lofting into the heavens of a bejeweled sphere crammed with man-made magic wands that turn blips and beeps into sights and sounds. With the launching of Telstar (mispronounced by most as Telestar), the U.S. raised the curtain on intercontinental television and opened a whole new epoch in the art of communications. Even more, by its immediate and remarkable success, Telstar...
...wide variety of jobs requires a wide variety of electronics. The surface of the 170-lb. sphere glitters with electricity-generating solar cells. Suspended by nylon cords inside, a 20-in. aluminum canister is crammed with gadgetry. Pink plastic foam nestles around batteries, switches, sensing instruments, 1,064 transistors and 1,464 diodes. But for all the jobs that it can do, Telstar's most spectacular achievement is its radio and TV relay system. A receiver inside the canister amplifies signals received from earth 10 billion times, changes them in frequency from 6,390 to 4,170 megacycles...
...make such low power practical, Telstar's puny little transmitter has a hefty ally on the ground. In the mountain-ringed village of Andover, Me., inside a 210-ft. sphere of inflated silvery fabric, stands a great, hornlike antenna. This mammoth electronic ear rotates, twists at odd angles, and can point toward any part of the sky. However it turns, two fair-size houses filled with electronics turn with it, and the thin, frail voice of Telstar is plucked from the sky. Fed into a maser cooled with liquid helium and sent through other intricate equipment, that voice...
...turned on its relay apparatus and was ready for business. All eyes in the room watched as a vague light flickered on a TV screen. Then, with remarkable clarity, they saw the American flag waving briskly in front of a view of the big ear's fabric sphere. This picture, which also went to viewers across the U.S., had originated in a TV camera just outside the control room. It had jumped to Telstar, then it had come back to earth, amplified 10 billion times...