The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

focusing specifically on starburst galaxies and luminous
protogalaxies. WIRE experienced problems shortly after
launch, and ground controllers attempted to recover the
spacecraft. However, the entire supply of frozen hydrogen
needed to cool its main scientific instrument was
released into space, ending the spacecraft’s primary mission.
Operations have been redirected to use the onboard
star tracker for long-term monitoring of bright
stars in support of two separate science programs: astroseismology
and planet-finding. The astroseismology program
is intended to measure oscillations in nearby stars
to probe their structure. The planet-finding program
searches for stellar occultations by large planetary bodies
as they pass through WIRE’s line-of-sight to its target
star.
Launch
Date: March 4, 1999
Vehicle: Pegasus XL
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base
Orbit: 540 × 590 km × 98°
Mass: 259 kg
Woman in the Moon
A German film (Frau im Mond) directed by Fritz Lang
and released in 1929. Although it was never a box-office
hit, being a silent movie when the new “talkies” were all
the rage, it was technically accurate and visionary for its
time. This was largely due to Hermann Oberth’s contribution
as technical consultant. Indeed, Frau im Mond’s
Moon rocket was virtually identical to the one Oberth
had already described and illustrated in his Die Rakete zu
den Planetenraumen. Oberth had also come to an agreement
with Fritz Lang to build and fly a real rocket as a
publicity stunt when the film opened. However,
although Oberth and a young colleague by the name of
Wernher von Braun got as far as testing their rocket
engine in the lab, it was never destined to fly. One of
the details of Frau im Mond would have a particularly
lasting influence. As the Moon rocket nears the
moment of launch, a loudspeaker announces (the words
written on the screen): “Five ...four...three ...
two...one...zero...FIRE!” Lang had invented the
countdown—if only for dramatic effect—now so familiar
in mission controls around the world.
women in space
See Mercury 13, astronauts/cosmonauts Eileen Collins,
Shannon Lucid, Christa McAullife, Barbara Morgan,
Sally Ride, Svetlana Savitskaya, Valentina Tereshkova,
and Margaret Cavendish.
wormhole 485
Woomera
An Australian launch complex at 31.1° S, 136.8° E. In
the late 1940s, Britain, looking for a large remote area in
which to test long-range weapons such as the planned
“Super V-2,” settled upon this region of the central Australian
desert. Construction, and the building of a small
town, began in 1947, the name “Woomera” being chosen
because it is the Aboriginal word for a spear-throwing
device. Woomera was used to test a variety of projects
including the Blue Steel, Bloodhound, and Thunderbird
missiles, and played an important role in the early
British and European space programs. In 1957, the first
Skylark was launched from here, as were the Black
Knight reentry test rockets. Throughout the 1960s,
Woomera was used by ELDO (European Launcher
Development Organisation) to test the Europa-1 launch
vehicle, but when this project ended, launches of
Europa-2 were moved to the equatorial site of Korou in
French Guinea. In 1967, Woomera became a spaceport
when a Redstone rocket, purchased from the United
States, placed Australia’s first satellite in orbit. This was
followed in 1971 by the first British satellite, Prospero,
on a Black Arrow. By the 1970s, however, launches from
Woomera had dwindled, and although the site was still
used as part of the Anglo-Australian Joint Project until
1980, the town went into decline. Recently, though, the
American company Kistler Aerospace has announced
plans to use Woomera to launch satellites on reusable
rockets.
Worden, Alfred Merrill (1932–)
An American astronaut, one of 19 selected by NASA in
April 1966, who served on the support crew of Apollo 9,
on the backup crew of Apollo 12, and as Command
Module pilot of Apollo 15. Worden attended the Military
Academy at West Point, graduating in 1955. From
1955 to 1961, he was a fighter pilot and armament officer
with the 95th FIS, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.
He became the chief of the Systems Studies Division at
the Ames Research Center in 1972, a post he held until
1975. Worden worked as a consultant to the Northwood
Institute and the state of Florida from 1975 to 1982, and
later held executive positions with Maris-Worden Aerospace,
Jet Electronics and Technology, and BF Goodrich
Corporation before retiring in 1996.
working pressure
The maximum pressure to which a component in a
rocket engine is subjected under steady-state conditions.
wormhole
See article, pages 486–487.