This week's Science story explores the vibrations in inner as well as outer space as Comet Kohoutek enters earth's solar system. "This is a sociohysteric happening," notes Associate Editor Frederic Golden, who wrote the story. "Astronomers are running around trying to get their equipment ready for observations, and the rest of us are excited by dramatic notions of what comets mean, especially during times of crisis." A former correspondent and editor for the Associated Press, Golden began writing science stories for TIME in the same way that Czech-born Astronomer Lubos Kohoutek discovered his celestial namesake -- that is, unintentionally. After three years in TIME'S World section, Golden was asked to write a few stories for Science, soon took over the section. "I had been interested in science in high school and then as a pre-med in college, but that's where my formal education in science stopped." The author of a geology book for junior high school students, Golden is currently writing one on astronomy for the same audience. He and his two sons, aged eleven and 13, have risen before dawn twice so far to spot Kohoutek's flight path through their 4 1/4-in. telescope; bad weather and pollution have foiled their efforts to date.

Neither bad air nor bad weather got in the way of the Pioneer Project at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif, where Correspondent John Wilhelm reported on the progress of the first missile ever scheduled to leave the solar system. "During high school years," Wilhelm says, "T used to haul an antique, three-inch brass reflector telescope through the attic to the roof of our St. Petersburg, Fla., home to look at Jupiter and its satellites, rings of Saturn and other celestialities." Although he was turned down for summer employment at Princeton's observatory after being asked one question -- about his calculus grades -- Wilhelm later became TIME'S science correspondent in Washington, D.C. Now in the Los Angeles bureau, Wilhelm has frequently turned his attention heavenward while following Apollo, Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter space missions.

In Washington, D.C., Correspondent Jerry Hannifin sought out the "Kohoutek People" at the Goddard Space Flight Center and interviewed their leader Dr. Stephen Maran, director of NASA'S Operation Kohoutek. Hannifin, a former student of celestial navigation, also consulted with local "sensitives" and was assured that Kohoutek's metaphysical "vibrations" were good. To fully appreciate this portent, Hannifin plans to attend a "celebration of consciousness" this week atop a high-rise apartment building in Washington, with his psyche -- and his twelve-power telescope -- in sharp focus.

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