Satellites
Satellites orbit the earth doing our bidding in ways that enrich the lives of
almost all of us. Through electronic eyes from hundreds of miles overhead, they
lead prospectors to mineral deposits invisble on earth's surface. Relaying
communications at the speed of light, they shrink the planet until its most
distant people are only a split second apart. They beam world weather to our
living room TV and guide ships through storms. Swooping low over areas of
possible hostility, spies in the sky maintain a surveillance that helps keep
peace in a volatile world.
How many objects, exaclty, are orbiting out there? Today's count is 4,914.
The satellites begin with a launch, which in the U.S. takes place at Cape
Canaveral in Florida, NASA's Wallops Flight Center in Virginia, or, for polar
orbiters, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. One satellite in 20 is
crippled by the jolt of lift-off, or dies in the inferno of a defective rocket
blast, or is thrust into improper......
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