Word: wente
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...figure in a sober grey suit, was climbing the steps of the limestone building that houses the physics department of the State University of Iowa in Iowa City. The janitor waved casually, called "Hi, Van." The U.S.'s foremost space scientist waved back and went on to his office and its clutter of models-rockets, satellites, nose cones and other esoteric objects. "I'm here now; you can start paying me," he grinned at his secretary, Agnes Costello, and disappeared into his inner office to prepare for his regular 10:30 lecture...
Dirty Looks. Back at Silver Spring he was driving to work one morning when he stopped at a traffic light behind a young woman driver. The light turned green; her car went unexpectedly into reverse. Bumpers met with a small crash. Jim, a noncombative man, pulled around the flustered girl and gave her a slightly disdainful look. A few minutes later, walking into the laboratory, he met the same girl...
...aboard the Navy icebreaker Glacier and headed for Antarctica to measure cosmic rays near the South Magnetic Pole. On Oct. 4, when the Glacier was wallowing southward across the Pacific, a report that the Russians had launched a satellite came over the ship's radio. Van Allen went to work on the Glacier's 20-mc. receiver, and within half an hour it yielded vigorous beeping sounds. That was Sputnik I. The Russians had won the first heat in the race into space...
Explorer IV went into a 51° orbit on July 26. It carried sophisticated instruments that Van Allen's laboratory had provided to distinguish between "hard" and "soft" radiation, and shielded Geiger counters designed to count radiation intensity at extremely high levels without blacking out. On Aug. 27 the first Argus shot sent man-made electrons zigzagging round the earth. The satellite cut through them back and forth, making about 250 passes before its batteries were exhausted on Sept...
...Construction contracts in March soared 23% above a year ago to reach a new record for the month. Biggest gain: single-family houses, which went up 49% above a year ago. Apartment units also registered a sharp gain...