Word: vanguarde
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...When Vanguard I, the U.S.'s second satellite, popped into orbit early in 1958, Nikita Khrushchev derided it as a "grapefruit." It was indeed small (6.4 in. in diameter, 3.25 Ibs.). But last week, as it completed its second year in orbit, Vanguard had proved to have two virtues that the massive Soviet satellites lack. First, it soared into so high an orbit (apogee 2,500 miles above the earth, perigee 400 miles) that the outermost fringes of the atmosphere exert almost no slowing effect on its motion. It has kept going while heavier competitors sagged into the atmosphere...
...Vanguard's second virtue is the solar battery that has kept its small radio beeping steadily, long after bigger satellites lost their voices. Tracked by its radio signals, the "grapefruit's" motions in its orbit have given invaluable information about the earth's slightly bumpy gravitational field, and about the shape of the earth itself. Last week another bit of information came down from the little satellite. There was a slight, unexplained wandering in its long-studied orbit. After much calculation, Dr. Peter Munsen and other orbit experts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reached their...
...Portsmouth, H.M.S. Vanguard, last of Her Majesty's battleships, fired a salute. Cannon roared at Windsor and Cardiff castles, and as far away as Gibraltar and Accra. Over Buckingham Palace the Queen's huge ceremonial standard was unfurled, and to all ships and shore stations the Admiralty sent a signal: "Birth of a son to H.M. Queen Elizabeth announced. Splice the main brace." As messages poured in from governments all over the world, 81-year-old Poet Laureate John Masefield worked over a bit of verse that began: "O child descended from a line of kings...
...figures are monks and sailors qui come along weeth Columbus." Modestly he adds that the monk completely hidden in his cowl is actually a self-portrait. The giant sea urchin in the foreground represents "le real shape of le earth as discovered by le American Satellite Explorer Two" (actually, Vanguard Beta). In his dream, Dali's young Columbus meets not Indians but symbols of past and future. He is greeted by a transparent Saint Narcissus, whose body is formed partly of flies. Why? Easy, says Dali: "Le French cavalry que attacked Gerona in 1808 was defeated by many, many...
...called King Kong (based on a true story of a prizefighter who killed his mistress). In 1958 restless Singer Makeba applied for a passport, and after a year's wait she was on her way to London. From there she moved on to Manhattan's downtown Village Vanguard, then uptown to the Angel. The little girl from Prospect Township is making $750 a week, which could be eight years' rent for a native family in Johannesburg. RCA Victor is planning to record her songs. But Miriam wants to go home...