Space: Measuring Meteoroids

Slim and tall, the graceful gantries of Cape Kennedy's Missile Row loomed over a week of intense activity. First rocket off the pad was a giant Saturn, its eight-engined booster still the most powerful the U.S. has ever aimed at space. With deceptive ease it ignited, accelerated and climbed out of sight. A few minutes later, the second stage blasted into orbit. Sizable pieces, which are dummy Apollo parts, detached themselves and moved away, leaving a curious folded apparatus exposed to space. Slowly that great gadget expanded its accordion pleats and flattened into a shiny aluminum wing for...

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