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McDonald Observatory

(Encyclopedia)McDonald Observatory, astronomical observatory located on Mt. Locke, near Fort Davis, Tex.; founded in 1932, sponsored by the Univ. of Texas in cooperation with the Univ. of Chicago. Its equipment inc...

NASA

(Encyclopedia)NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ...

Strategic Air Command

(Encyclopedia)Strategic Air Command (SAC), former command of the U.S. air force (see Air Force, United States Department of the) charged with organizing, training, equipping, administering, and preparing strategic ...

Sagan, Carl Edward

(Encyclopedia)Sagan, Carl Edward sāˈgən [key], 1934–96, American astronomer and popularizer of science, b. New York City. Early in his career he investigated radio emissions from Venus and concluded that the c...

European Astronaut Center

(Encyclopedia)European Astronaut Center (EAC): see European Space Agency. ...

European Launcher Development Organization

(Encyclopedia)European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO): see European Space Agency. ...

pump

(Encyclopedia)pump, device to lift, transfer, or increase the pressure of a fluid (gas or liquid) or to create a vacuum in an enclosed space by the removal of a gas (see vacuum pumps under vacuum). The centrifugal ...

Ultima Thule

(Encyclopedia)Ultima Thule, in astronomy and space exploration, nickname for Arrokoth. ...

chancel

(Encyclopedia)chancel, primarily that part of the church close to the altar and used by the officiating clergy. In the early churches it was separated from the nave by a low parapet or open railing (cancellus), its...

Mather, John Cromwell

(Encyclopedia)Mather, John Cromwell, 1946–, American astrophysicist, b. Roanoke, Va., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1974. He has been a researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., s...