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Word: stiction (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1964-1964
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Usage:

...phenomenal accuracy required miracles of designed precision. The huge aluminum antenna floats, for instance, on a film of oil not much thicker than a human hair, moves on a 30-ton bearing with the ease of a ship's gyro. The oil bearing eliminates what engineers call "stiction," for static friction, enables the antenna to rotate through more than three degrees of arc in less than one second, make a complete 180-degree about-face in less than one minute. With such agility, Haystack can track anything that can be tossed into space, right down to a fast...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Space: Finding a Needle with a Haystack | 10/16/1964 | See Source »

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