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On This Date in History - July 8

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Astronomy & Space Word of The Day

geosynchronous orbit: A direct, circular, low inclination orbit in which the satellite's orbital velocity is matched to the rotational velocity of the planet; a spacecraft appears to hang motionless above one position of the planet's surface. In other words, the satellite and planet move at the exactly the same speed.

Today in History:


1695: Christisn Huygens died in The Hague, Netherlands.

1994: Hubble Space Telescope - USA & Europe Telescope photographed the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter.

1999: Deep Space 1 (DS1) - USA Asteroid and Comet Flyby - (launched 24 October 1998) flew by the Mars-crossing near-Earth asteroid 9969 Braille. The Deep Space 1 (DS1) is the first of a series of technology demonstration probes being developed by NASA's New Millennium Program. It again flew by comet Borrelly in September 2001.

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