Word: compasses
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Arching Lines. Project Argus began with a suggestion from Nicholas Constantine Christofilos, 42, a remarkable engineer-scientist of limited academic training but highly original ideas. For centuries, scientists have known that the earth behaves as if it had a great bar magnet inside it; lines of magnetic force make compass needles point to the magnetic north and south poles. As magnetic theory developed, scientists realized that the lines of force must arch high above the atmosphere. More than 50 years ago they began to speculate on how charged particles such as electrons would behave in the vacuum of space near...
...come awake. In its guidance section, a gyroscopically stabilized platform was accurately aligned with the intended course. When the rocket rose into the sky, the platform would keep steady in space, allowing the rocket's computer brain to steer by it as if it were both a compass and a horizon...
Bearing & Distance. VOR/DMET and Decca are radically different. VOR/DMET* gives the distance and direction from each of many individual stations. The navigator can tune to the frequency of a VOR/DMET station and see his compass bearing from that station appear in degrees on a dial. Then he sends a signal to the station, which replies by telling him his distance from it in nautical miles. By plotting the bearing and measuring off this distance on his chart, he can pinpoint his airplane's position and set his course accordingly...
Into the blood-stinging wind he flew. He called his "mayday!" SOS and got an instant response, first from an Air Force base at Altus, Okla., 200 miles away, then from another airborne B-47. Altus gave Obie a compass heading to come in on. His panel lights grew dimmer, his eyes burned like hot lead. He could see the compass needle but not the numbers. He turned his plane to bring the needle toward the heading he wanted: his own field, the Strategic Air Command's Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene, 150 miles away...
...Compass Points. The fix the U.S. is in was primarily caused by the catastrophic drop in auto sales and the extreme cuts by many industries in inventories and production (see chart). Another characteristic of the 1958 recession is that it is spotty and regional...