Word: orbitings
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...project of Space-Flight Prophet Wernher von Braun and his disciples is the creation of an artificial satellite revolving in an orbit 1,000 miles above the earth. Such a satellite would circle the globe every two hours, peeking behind all frontiers. If the nation that operated the satellite felt a need for military action, Von Braun's followers say, it could pulverize any other nation with atom-armed guided missiles shot down from space...
...such a satellite station was presented at a Manhattan meeting of the American Rocket Society. Said London-born Physics Professor L. H. (for Llewellyn Hilleth) Thomas of Columbia: to destroy a satellite would be comparatively easy, and it would cost much less than to place one in its orbit...
...Thomas does not propose to shoot a missile directly at the satellite. A hit would be unlikely. Instead, he thinks, the attacking power should shoot a smallish rocket into the satellite's orbit, but in the opposite direction. The rocket (estimated cost: $1,000,000) would be launched when the satellite was on the far side of the earth. When still a quarter revolution (7,792 miles) away from the approaching satellite, its warhead would burst...
...rewarding project for space men, said Oberth, is to set a gigantic mirror revolving on an orbit thousands of miles from the earth. It should be about 100 miles in diameter.* Made of shiny metal foil reinforced with wire, it would spin slowly around a space residence at its hub. Since nothing in a space orbit has any weight, a slight amount of centrifugal force would keep the mirror expanded...
...inside it, a dangerous, man-made genie throbs and thrashes. Out of an electric arc springs a swarm of protons (hydrogen nuclei). Powerful forces grab them and speed them down a channel toward the great machine. They sail into the chamber, and the magnet steers them in a circular orbit...