Word: probing
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...foot-long, 13-pound nose cone was tracked to a height of 66,654 miles before the force of the earth's gravity whisked it back from its probe of outer space...
...Papadimitriou put together all his information from ancient sources and began to probe the ground at Vravron, now called Vraona, and inhabited by Albanian-speaking villagers, who grow tomatoes and cucumbers. Soon he found fragments of carved marble, which led him step by step toward the buried ruins of Diana's shrine. First to be found was the ceremonial "tomb" of Diana. Last June the overturned but well-preserved columns of the temple itself came to light. This month the diggers unearthed a magnificent stoa (portico) which can easily be restored. Many of the carved stones were in remarkably...
...moon-probe Pioneer, which burned out over the South Pacific after staying in space for 43 hours, rose 79,000 miles-or only one-third of the distance to the moon. But it made a much nearer miss than the figures seem to show. The earth's gravitational field drops off with the square of the distance. With only 2% more thrust or only about 580 more m.p.h. peak velocity. Pioneer could have passed the moon* and escaped from the earth forever...
...Pioneer faltered and began to fall back, scientists at tracking stations tried to fire the Stage Four rocket in the hope it would send the probe into an orbit around the earth. The rocket did not fire. The official theory is that the interior temperature of the Pioneer fell so low (35°F.) that its battery lost power and could not work the firing system. Some experts have suggested a simpler cause: a broken electrical connection...
...make the trajectory 3.5° steeper than it should have been. This steepness reduced the advantage that was obtained from the slingshot effect of the earth's eastward rotation. Air Force experts say that a loss of speed less than 600 m.p.h. was enough to make the probe fall far short of the moon's orbit...