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09 航空航天技术有及其相关知识
DATE=3-14-01
TITLE=EXPLORATIONS #1943 - Space Questions
BYLINE=Paul Thompson
VOICE ONE:
This is Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we answer a few common questions about (1)space, the space (2)shuttle and space (3)technology.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
Anyone who uses a computer to search for information sees the letters F-A-Q often. They usually are found on the first page of a web (4)site on the Internet (5)communications system. The letters are the short way of saying '(6)frequently asked questions'. These are questions that are asked by many people who visit the web site.
The American Space (7)Agency, (8)NASA, has many different web sites. Most include F-A-Qs. The questions and answers in our program today come from these NASA web sites. Some of the questions are funny, some are them are strange, but all of them are interesting. Most of the questions we use today are about NASA's space shuttle.
Our first question is: How fast does a space shuttle travel?
VOICE TWO:
The easy answer is: Much faster than you might think. The space shuttles are launched into what is called low Earth (9)orbit. Low Earth orbit is about five-hundred-twenty-eight kilometers above sea level. This means that the space shuttle is not beyond the reach of Earth's pull of (10)gravity.
So to remain in low orbit, the shuttle must reach a speed of about twenty-eight-thousand kilometers per hour.
It may be easier to understand if I explain it like this. Imagine that you tie a ball on the end of a string and then move it quickly around in a circle over your head. The ball will stay up in the air if you make it move fast enough. If you stop, the ball will fall. The same will happen to the space shuttle. It will fall to Earth if it does not go fast enough to (11)balance the pull of gravity. In fact when the crew of the shuttle wants to return to Earth, they make the big (12)spacecraft slow down. Gravity begins to pull it back to Earth.
Now…I have a question for you. How much fuel does a space shuttle use in a (13)flight?
VOICE ONE:
Hmmm…how about enough fuel to keep a car going for many, many years? Really, the space shuttle uses a lot of fuel. However the (14)fuel that a space shuttle uses could not be used in a car.
At the moment it is launched, the space shuttle carries two solid fuel rockets called (15)boosters. Pictures of the shuttle when it is being launched show the two rockets on the sides of the shuttle. Each of these two rockets carries more than four-hundred-fifty thousand kilograms pounds of rocket fuel. This fuel is in a solid form, not a liquid. These (16)rockets fall away after the shuttle lifts off from Earth.
The shuttle also has a large tank attached below. This tank carries almost two million liters of liquid (17)oxygen and liquid (18)hydrogen. These two fuels are mixed and (19)burned together to form the fuel for the shuttle's three main rocket engines. The fuel is used direct the shuttle up into orbit and keep it there.
O-K…my turn…who were the youngest and oldest (20)astronauts to fly on the space shuttle?
VOICE TWO:
That question is easy. John Glenn was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth in February Nineteen-Sixty-Two. Senator Glenn returned to space on the space shuttle in November Nineteen-Ninety-Eight. He was seventy-seven years old.
Sally Ride was the youngest astronaut to fly on the shuttle. She flew the first time in June Nineteen-Eighty-Three. She was just thirty-two years old when she made the trip into space.
Now…I had to answer two questions, so I get to ask two questions. How much does it cost to launch the space shuttle each time? And how much does it cost to build a new shuttle?
VOICE ONE:
The Space Shuttle Endeavor cost almost two-thousand-million dollars to build. A shuttle is (21)extremely costly because it has millions of parts. It is made of many special materials that cost a lot.
The Endeavor is the newest of the four space shuttles used by NASA. It weighs about seventy-eight tons. It is more than thirty-seven meters long and twenty-three meters wide. School children named it the Endeavor in a national (22)competition. The Endeavor was the name of a British ship that explored the Pacific Ocean in Seventeen-Sixty-Eight. The Endeavor space shuttle is about six meters longer than that (23)historic ship.
It costs about four-hundred-fifty million dollars each time the Endeavor or any of the other shuttles are launched.
Now, I have an interesting question for you. We have been talking about the space shuttle Endeavor. What are the names of the other space shuttles?
VOICE TWO:
Here are the names in the order in which they were built. The space shuttles are the Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor.
The Enterprise flew only within the Earth's atmosphere. It was used for landing tests in Nineteen-Seventy-Seven. Columbia flew the first five space shuttle flights beginning in April Nineteen-Eighty-One.
Challenger was built as a test (24)vehicle. However, devices and (25)equipment were added later so NASA would have two working space shuttles. The Challenger exploded and its seven member crew were killed after it lifted off January twenty-eighth, Nineteen-Eighty-Six.
Discovery made its first flight in Nineteen-Eighty-Four. Atlantis followed the next year. Endeavor was built to replace Challenger. It made its first flight in Nineteen-Ninety Two. On that flight, it (26)rescued a damaged communications(27) satellite.
Now…my turn to ask a question. What happens to used spacecraft? Where is the first shuttle, the Enterprise? I would like to have one…is that possible?
VOICE ONE:
It would be fun to have your own space shuttle, I agree. However that will not happen anytime soon. Spacecraft were closely studied following early human space flights. Many were taken apart and each piece carefully (28)inspected. These included the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft.
Most of these space vehicles are shown to the public at NASA centers and science (29)museums in the United States. One of them is the Apollo Eleven Command space vehicle that went to the moon and back. It is in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington D-C.
The first shuttle built, the Enterprise was only used for tests. When the tests were finished it was shown in the United States, Europe and Canada. Then it too was given to the Smithsonian. The National Air and Space Museum is building a new museum building that will hold the Enterprise and other huge historic aircraft.
O-K… my turn for a question. How do astronauts in space use the (30)bathroom and can they take a bath?
VOICE TWO:
First, they brush their teeth just as they do here on Earth. The lack of gravity does not present a problem for (31)brushing teeth. There is no way for them to bathe because the water would float away in the weightless (32)environment of space. So, they must wash with wet cloths.
Everyone always asks how astronauts use a (33)toilet. It is really very simple. The toilet is similar to those on Earth, but it does not have water in it.
Air is used to draw body wastes away. Wastewater is forced out of the space shuttle into space. Solid waste is stored and removed when the shuttle returns to Earth.
Enough about the space shuttle for now. I have a question that really interests me…when are astronauts going back to the Moon. And an even more (34)exciting question. When are they going to (35)Mars?
VOICE ONE:
The head of NASA, Daniel Goldin, has said that the space agency must meet at least four goals before a flight to Mars can take place. The first of these goals is to successfully build and operate the (36)International Space Station. The space station is (37)expanding quickly. Permanent crew members are already living there. The crew of the shuttle Atlantis linked the first science laboratory to the space station last month.
Mister Goldin said the second goal is to establish good working (38)cooperation with other nations interested in space technology. Again, the International Space Station is helping to develop this experience and cooperation.
The third goal is to plan a flight to Mars that will provide value for the money spent. He said this (39)project should take no longer than ten years.
And last, the space agency head said the world (40)economy must (41)improve so all the different nations involved will have the money to support such a project. A flight to Mars will cost thousands of millions of dollars.
Mister Goldin said NASA plans to operate the International Space Station for at least the first ten years of this (42)century. It also plans to send astronauts back to the Moon or on to Mars during the second ten years. He said things could happen more quickly, however, if there is an important new development in space technology.
((THEME))
VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written and directed by Paul Thompson. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.
(1) space[ speis ]n.空间, 间隔, 距离, 空地, 余地, 一段时间vt.留间隔, 隔开
(2) shuttle[ 5FQtl ]n.往返汽车(列车、飞机), 航天飞机, 梭子, 穿梭v.穿梭往返
(3) technology[ tek5nClEdVi ]n.工艺, 科技, 技术
(4) site[ sait ]n.地点, 场所, 遗址vt.定...的地点n.站点
(5) communications[kEmju:nI5keIF(E)nz][计] 通信
(6) frequently[5fri:kwEntlI]adv.常常, 频繁地n.经常地
(7) agency[ 5eidVEnsi ]n.代理处, 行销处, 代理, 中介
(8) NASA[5nAsE]abbr.National Aeronautics and Space Administration(美国)国家航空和宇宙航行局
(9) orbit[ 5C:bit ]n.轨道, 势力范围, 生活常规, 眼眶vt.绕...轨道而行vi.进入轨道行, 盘旋
(10) gravity[ 5^rAviti ]n.地心引力, 重力
(11) balance[5bAlEns]n.秤, 天平, 平衡, [商] 收支差额, 结余, 余额v.平衡, 称, 权衡, 对比, 结算
(12) spacecraft[ 5speiskrB:ft ]n.太空船
(13) flight[ flait ]n.飞行, 逃走, 飞跃, 飞机的航程, 班机, 追逐, 楼梯的一段, 射程vi.成群飞行, 迁徙vt.射击(飞禽), 使惊飞
(14) fuel[ fjuEl ]n.燃料vt.加燃料, 供以燃料vi.得到燃料
(15) booster[ 5bu:stE ]n.<美俚>热心的拥护者, 后推的人, 支持者, 后援者, 调压器
(16) rocket[ 5rCkit ]n.火箭v.飞速上升
(17) oxygen[ 5CksidVEn ]n.[化]氧
(18) hydrogen[ 5haidrEudVEn ]n.氢
(19) burn[ bE:n ]v.烧, 烧焦, 点(灯), 使感觉烧热n.烧伤, 灼伤
(20) astronaut[5AstrEnC:t]n.太空人, 宇航员
(21) extremely[ iks5tri:mli ]adv.极端地, 非常地
(22) competition[ kCmpi5tiFEn ]n.竞争, 竞赛
(23) historic[ his5tCrik ]adj.历史上著名的, 有历史性的
(24) vehicle[ 5vi:ikl ]n.交通工具, 车辆, 媒介物, 传达手段
(25) equipment[ i5kwipmEnt ]n.装备, 设备, 器材, 装置, 铁道车辆, (一企业除房地产以外的)固定资产, 才能
(26) rescue[ 5reskju: ]vt.援救, 营救n.援救, 营救
(27) satellite[ 5sAtElait ]n.人造卫星
(28) inspect[ in5spekt ]vt.检查, 视察v.检查
(29) museum[ mju(:)5ziEm ]n.博物馆
(30) bathroom[5bB:Wru:m]n.浴室, 盥洗室
(31) brushing[ 5brQFiN ]疾驰的 掠过的 刷光, 擦光
(32) environment[ in5vaiErEnmEnt ]n.环境, 外界
(33) toilet[ 5tCilit ]n.盥洗室, 梳洗
(34) exciting[ ik5saitiN ]adj.令人兴奋的, 使人激动的
(35) Mars[ mB:z ]n.火星, 战神abbr.[军] Medium Artillery Rocket Launcher, 中型炮兵火箭发射器
(36) international[ 7intE(:)5nAFEnEl ]adj.国际的, 世界的n.国际性组织, 国际比赛
(37) expand[ iks5pAnd ]vt.使膨胀, 详述, 扩张vi.张开, 发展
(38) cooperation[ kEu7CpE5reiFEn ]n.合作, 协作
(39) project[ 5prCdVekt ]n.计划, 方案, 事业, 企业, 工程v.设计, 计划, 投射, 放映, 射出, 发射(导弹等), 凸出
(40) economy[ i(:)5kCnEmi ]n.经济, 节约, 节约措施, 经济实惠, 系统, 机体, 经济制度的状况
(41) improve[ im5pru:v ]v.改善, 改进
(42) century[ 5sentFuri, -tFEri ]n.世纪, 百年, 百个, 板球中的一百分, 百元(钞票)
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