Szebehely Győző (1921-1997)

The “Three-Body” Expert. Examining a transparent celestial sphere is General Electric’s cheerful specialist in space mechanics, Victor Szebehely (…) Recently he has been directing work on ways to slow down a spaceship before a moon landing. But he calls his most important contribution his study of the “three-body problem”: calculating how three celestial bodies - the earth, the moon and a spaceship, for example - constantly change position in relation to one another. No one formula has yet been found to cover all celestial trios, but Szebehely’s techniques have proved immensely valuable in space exploration. In: LIFE Science Library - Mathematics by David Bergamini and the Editors of LIFE. Time Inc, New York, 1963. Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt.

A scale model of the Concorde is getting a water-tunnel test to determine its airflow characteristics. Photo: Office National d’Etudes et Recherches Aeronautiques. In: Flight by H. Guyford Stever, James J. Haggerty and the Editors of LIFE Life Science Library, Time Inc., New York, 1965.

Vought SB2U dive-bombers. Artist: John t. McCoy, Jr. In: LIFE - U.S. Navy special edition, October 28, 1940.

Consolidated PBY flying boats, patrol bombers. Below them is aircraft carrier Lexington. Artist: John T. McCoy, Jr. In: LIFE - U.S. Navy special edition, October 28, 1940.

“Talkers” on the bridge relay commander’s orders by ship telephone to director stations, anti-aircraft machine guns, lookouts, torpedo directors and range finders. Headphones enable them to hear answers above the crash of the destroyer’s eight-in. guns, a formidable armament. In: LIFE - U.S. Navy special edition, October 28, 1940.

A U.S. sailor appears on this week’s cover because this issue of LIFE is almost entirely devoted to the U.S. Navy. This sailorboy is 18-year-old Joseph John Timpani of Cranston, R.I. Like thousands of young Americans he is giving the next few years of his life to service in the Navy. LIFE - U.S. Navy special edition, October 28, 1940.

Technicians in plastic protective suits and face masks repair pressure valve at atomic energy plant. In: LIFE Magazine, 1954 April 5.

The world’s first hydrogen blast, at Eniwetok in 1952, was caused by a nuclear process like the one that powers the Sun. In: Life nature library - The Universe by David Bergamini and the Editors of Time-Life Books. Time-Life Books, New York, 1962.

Cosmic pioneer Edwin Hubble, in a 1949 photograph, perches in the observer’s cage of the then-new 200-inch telescope. He first discovered and studied other galaxies with the telescope’s 100-inch predecessor. In: Life nature library - The Universe by David Bergamini and the Editors of Time-Life Books. Time-Life Books, New York, 1962.