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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