U.S. space shuttle Endeavour lifts off

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour lifts off on Wednesday evening from Kennedy Space Center in Florida after five delays, on a track to the International Space Station (ISS).

According to NASA TV, Endeavour blast off at 6:03 p.m. EDT (2203 GMT). After two minutes and five seconds, the twin solid rocket boosters assisting Endeavour's launch into space were separated as planned from the shuttle's external tank.

The reusable boosters then fell back toward the Atlantic Ocean, where they will land under parachutes and be retrieved¹ by recovery ships.

The rocket engines boosting Endeavour and its external tank towards orbit shut down as planned about eight and a half minutes into flight.

"The weather is finally cooperating, so it is now time to fly," launch director Pete Nickolenko called out to the crew ahead of the launch. "Persistence² pays off."

The astronauts will dock with the ISS on Friday, which was soaring more than 220 miles above the Pacific at launch time. When they do, it will be the first time 13 people are together in space.

Endeavour should have blasted off to the ISS in mid-June, but was postponed³ for two times by potentially dangerous leaks of hydrogen gas. Lightning and thunderstorms have also foiled three earlier scheduled launches.

Endeavour's last attempt to blast off on Monday was abandoned minutes before launch because lightning and thunderstorms moved in near the launch pad and the Shuttle Landing Facility, required to be clear in case it's needed for an emergency landing shortly after launch. Mission managers decided⁴ not to try a launch on Tuesday to avoid predicted bad weather and to allow ground crews to replace a small thruster cover on the shuttle's nose that came unglued.

Endeavour commander Mark Polansky is leading a crew of seven space flyers that includes Canadian Julie Payette and NASA astronauts Doug Hurley, David Wolf, Chris Cassidy, Thomas Marshburn and Tim Kopra on the mission. Kopra is making a one-way trip to the station to replace Koichi Wakata of the Japanese Aerospace⁵ Exploration Agency as an Expedition 20 flight engineer.

Endeavour's 16-day mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module⁶ that will allow experiments to be exposed to space during the first spacewalks.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

2 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

6 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。