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space station

(Encyclopedia)space station or space platform, artificial earth satellite, usually manned, that is placed in a fixed orbit and can serve as a base for astronomical observations; zero-gravity materials processing; s...

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

(Encyclopedia)United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or Earth Summit, an 11-day meeting held in June, 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss the global conflict between economic devel...

Crossfield, Scott

(Encyclopedia)Crossfield, Scott (Albert Scott Crossfield), 1921–2006, American aviator, b. Berkeley, Calif. A fighter pilot and flight instructor in the navy (1942–46) during World War II, he studied aeronautic...

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

(Encyclopedia)Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel: see under Nobel Prize; for a table of the winners of the prize, see Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred N...

Ericsson, John

(Encyclopedia)Ericsson, John ĕrˈĭksən [key], 1803–89, Swedish-American inventor and marine engineer, b. Värmlands co., Sweden. He moved to London in 1826, and entered the railroad locomotive Novelty in a con...

Lowe, Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt

(Encyclopedia)Lowe, Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt thădˈēəs sōˌbē-ĕsˈkē kōˈlĭnkôrtˌ lō [key], 1832–1913, American aeronaut and inventor, b. Coos co., N.H. He flew (1861) a distance of 900 mi (1,448...

air, law of the

(Encyclopedia)air, law of the, in the broadest sense, all law connected with the use of the air, including radio and satellite transmissions; more commonly, it refers to laws concerning civil aviation. The developm...

Branson, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Branson, Sir Richard (Richard Charles Nicholas Branson), 1950–, British business mogul and adventurer. He left school at 16 to start his first business, the magazine Student. In 1970 he began a mail...

Barkley, Charles Wade

(Encyclopedia)Barkley, Charles Wade 1963–, American basketball player, b. Leeds, Ala. After starring at Auburn Univ., he joined the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1984. Shorter...

Korolev, Sergei Pavlovich

(Encyclopedia)Korolev, Sergei Pavlovich, 1907–66, Soviet rocket designer. His role as chief designer of the Soviet space program was revealed only after his death. After he successfully launched two intercontinen...