Word: ton
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Hence the ambitious expedition, sometime in the 22nd century, of the Eurydice, a mile-long, billion-ton spaceship that is trying to touch base with the inhabitants of Quinta, the "fifth planet of the sixth sun" in the constellation Harpy. The earthly powers cooperate in funding and launching this enterprise because all other attempts to detect intelligent life elsewhere in the universe have failed. The old-fangled, late 20th century notion of scanning the skies for meaningful radio signals yielded nothing but static and was folly besides. The new theory favors the "window of contact," the relatively brief span during...
...hours before the assault on the Stark, a Soviet tanker, accompanied by a U.S.S.R. navy frigate, struck a mine some 35 miles from the Kuwaiti coast. There were no casualties, but the tanker was effectively crippled. On May 6, an Iranian gunboat opened fire on a 6,459- ton Soviet freighter; it marked the first time that Iran had struck a vessel traveling under the flag of a superpower. The Iranian government reportedly assured the Soviets that the assault was unauthorized and had been waged by a rogue band of Revolutionary Guards. The Soviets accepted the explanation...
...failure was nothing compared with the magnitude of the feat. For the first time, the Soviets successfully tested the brand-new Energia, a 220- ft. rocket capable of thrusting more than 100-ton payloads into orbit, at least four times that of the U.S. space shuttle's orbiter. A Soviet TV commentator declared in a post-launch videotape that the new rocket could lift into space "the blocks from which cities will be built." Even U.S. observers were impressed. "It's the most powerful rocket in the world -- ever," said James Oberg, a Houston-based expert on Soviet space ventures...
...generator via ship-bottom electrodes. A superconducting magnet, also on board, creates a strong magnetic field. As the electromagnetic field produced by the electric current pushes against the field of the magnet, the ship moves forward. Saji has already moved up his timetable and hopes to complete a 100-ton "magship" within four years. "Thanks to the new materials," he says, "magnets will be lighter and easier to handle. Once we can replace liquid helium with liquid nitrogen, the whole process of outfitting the ship will be simplified. It's a fantastic development...
...happens because a federal regulatory device called an emission- reduction credit allows holders to spew a specified tonnage of toxicants into the air. Result: a $50 million market in ERCs among polluters trying to expand. Such firms buy ERCs, at $3,000 to $10,000 per allowable ton of waste, from companies that have already reduced pollution. The feds say the practice improves the air, because every ERC trade reduces the subsequent waste quota...