Word: vanguarde
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Washington's Naval Research Laboratory, control center of the U.S.'s satellite Project Vanguard, men worked through the night in the white glare of searchlights to adjust rooftop radio aerials to pick up the pulse beat. Coolheaded scientists at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass, got on the long distance phone to alert amateur astronomers across the U.S., pulled the switch on Operation Moonwatch, the skygazing network the U.S. had set up to track its own unborn earth satellite. Other Smithsonian scientists sorted and fed into an electronic brain the fragmentary reports from moonwatchers, observatories and radio...
...height of the tail fin on the new car and to be more prepared to shed blood, sweat and tears." It was true, as some scientists said, that the U.S., with an all-out effort, probably could have fired its own satellite by now. (Last week Project Vanguard put its 72-ft. TV2 launching rocket-see cut-through the third in a series of seven tests.) Contrariwise it was true that the U.S. had lost its lead because, in spreading its resources too thin, the nation had skimped too much on military research and development. Russia's victory...
Biggest surprise was the sputnik's weight: 184.3 lbs. The U.S. Project Vanguard has hoped to send 21½ lbs. into space, less than one-eighth of the sputnik. Some critics cited the weight of the Russian satellite as proof that it is crude; but in satellite launching, the weight placed on the orbit is a measure of success...
...sputnik's orbit is also much higher than Project Vanguard hoped to achieve. The U.S. satellite was expected to revolve at a minimum of 300 miles above the earth. This altitude would have touched the fringe of the atmosphere, probably limiting the satellite's life to a few days. The sputnik revolves some 559 miles up, an altitude at which it could keep circling around for years...
...reason for the U.S. defeat in the race toward space is fairly obvious: instead of having the use of big military rockets, U.S. Project Vanguard was forced to depend on the Navy's Viking research rocket, whose thrust is only 27,000 lbs. Even if working perfectly, a Viking is barely strong enough to place a 21½-lb. satellite on its orbit. There is no margin for less-than-perfect performance. The Russians, according to General Blagonravov, used their most powerful rocket to launch the sputnik. Their launching vehicle must have taken off with at least...