Word: orbitings
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Streaking through space, out of the gravitational pull of man's world, past the moon, toward an orbit around the sun last week went the most breathtaking new object of the century. It was the first man-made planet-a Russian rocket. "On January 2, 1959," Moscow radio proclaimed, "a cosmic rocket was launched toward the moon. The launching again demonstrates to the world the outstanding achievements of Soviet science and technology." The rocket, Moscow added, was a multi-stage rig that weighed 3,245 lbs., with a 796.5-lb. payload of instruments (see SCIENCE) and pennants bearing...
...Soviet Union on Friday. When the Russians made their first announcement, they could already say with confidence that the final stage had attained escape velocity. On Saturday they could announce that at 9:59 p.m. E.S.T. Lunik had passed the moon and plunged on into outer space on an orbit around the sun. At week's end it was 318,000 miles from the earth and still going strong...
Ever since the Russians launched their Sputnik III on May 15, 1958, rocket experts have known that they had the potential ability to toss a good-sized bird out of the earth's gravitational field. To put a satellite on a nearby orbit around the earth takes only about 25% less speed than the escape velocity (25,000 m.p.h.) that will free it from the earth. All the Russians needed to do was to increase slightly the power of Sputnik Ill's launching rockets or to reduce its final weight. U.S. failure to reach the moon was mainly...
...mute or not, they expected it to streak into a solar orbit Wednesday or Thursday on a pear-shaped course that possibly--barely possible--might one day swing it back to earth...
...Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has not been tracking the rocket, since it is "much too faint to be seen with the telescope," according to J. Allen Hynek, associate director of the Observatory. However, Hynek added that the rocket "will definitely orbit at a calculable distance...