SCIENCE REPORT - Hubble Improvements

SCIENCE REPORT
–
January 31, 2002: Hubble Improvements¹

By Paul Thompson

1993 service flight
This is the VOA Special English Science Report.

American space agency² astronauts will soon replace much of the equipment in the Hubble Space Telescope. The
new equipment will help the Hubble produce much more information than it can today.

NASA plans to launch³ the Space Shuttle Columbia from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February
twenty-eighth. It will carry seven astronauts on an eleven-day flight to provide service to the Hubble Space
Telescope.

The Hubble was designed to permit astronauts to take it apart and replace old or broken equipment with newer
technology. More than ninety percent of its parts are designed to be replaced.

Columbia’s astronauts will replace Hubble’s camera with a new, advanced system. It
will permit the space telescope to do ten times the amount of work it can do now. The
new camera is called the Advanced Camera for Surveys or A-C-S.

The A-C-S is three different cameras. Each deals with different kinds of light. The
cameras can see and record light that the human eye can not see.

The Hubble will also receive new equipment that permits it to make electric power from
sunlight. The device⁴ will replace an older one that has been in use for eight years. The
new device will increase Hubble’s electric power by thirty percent.

Astronauts also will replace the device that controls Hubble’s electric power. The new power control device
will permit Hubble to use the added power.

Astronauts will also repair an instrument called the Near Infrared⁵ Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. They
will replace the camera’s cooling system. This special camera was placed on the Hubble in Nineteen-Ninety-
Seven. It stopped working two years later after its cooling device failed.

NASA hopes the new cooling device will be able to provide the extremely cold temperatures needed by this
special camera. They also hope to extend⁶ the camera’s working life by several years.

Since its launch in Nineteen-Ninety, the Hubble Space Telescope has made more than three-hundred-thirtythousand
scientific observations of distant objects in space.

It has observed more than twenty-five -thousand space objects. And it has provided⁷ scientific information that has
helped researchers produce more than two-thousand-six-hundred scientific papers.

This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Paul Thompson.

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1 improvements   

增加或修改( improvement的名词复数 )； 改进； 改善； 改良

参考例句：

• improvements in efficiency at the factory 工厂效率的提高
• They've spent a lot of money on home improvements. 他们花了很多钱装修家居。

2 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

3 launch   

vt.发动，推出；发射；n.发射，下水，投产

参考例句：

• The makers are about to launch out a new product.制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。
• Would it be wise to launch into this rough sea?在这样汹涌的大海中游泳明智吗？

4 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

5 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

6 extend   

v.伸开；展开，伸展；扩大；加大

参考例句：

• Can you extend your visit for a few days more?你能把你的访问再延长几天吗？
• The examinations extend over two weeks.考试持续两个星期。

7 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。