VOA慢速英语20060708a

IN THE NEWS - Shuttle Crew Is Busy on the Space Station, as NASA Faces Pressure to Finish the JobBy Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 16:00:00 UTC

I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.


Discovery arriving at the International Space Station

This week, the space shuttle Discovery flew to the International Space Station as NASA struggles to meet an important date. A plan to complete the station by two thousand ten is at risk.

This is only the second shuttle flight since two thousand three. In February of that year, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart as it prepared to land. The accident killed the seven crew members.

Now, just short of a year has passed since the return to flight.

Plans call for sixteen shuttle flights by two thousand ten. NASA, the National Aeronautics¹ and Space Administration², has fallen behind in its effort to reach that goal.

The goal is part of a plan that President Bush announced two and a half years ago to send astronauts to the moon again.

Government money would finance³ a new spaceship that could take people to the moon by two thousand twenty. The last time anyone went there was in nineteen seventy-two. The plan also calls for traveling to Mars⁴.

But Mister⁵ Bush said the first goal was to finish the space station by two thousand ten, to study the long-term effects of living in space. Fifteen other nations are also involved in the space station.

NASA plans to retire its three remaining shuttles once the station is completed.

This week, Discovery became the first shuttle launched⁷ on America's Independence Day. It lifted off with a crew of seven on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Bad weather had delayed the launch⁶. Also, there had been some concerns about the safety of the foam⁸ protective⁹ material on the external¹⁰ fuel tank.

During the Columbia launch, a piece of material fell off the fuel tank and struck a wing. The piece weighed more than seven hundred grams. It put a hole in the heat shields¹¹ and the shuttle came apart on re-entry.

A small amount of foam did come loose from the fuel tank on the Discovery. But officials decided¹² it was not enough to be dangerous. Also, astronauts are examining the heat shields while at the space station.

If any damage were serious, an emergency plan calls for the astronauts to remain on the station. NASA would then send up another shuttle to return them to Earth.

Discovery carried up thousands of kilograms of equipment and supplies. On Friday, crew members connected a big storage container to the station. The Italian-made container is called Leonardo.

The shuttle also brought a German astronaut who will remain on the station for six months. The arrival of Thomas Reiter means a full three-person crew for the first time since May of two thousand three.

The other two crew members, Pavel Vinogradov of Russia and American Jeff Williams, arrived on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in March.

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Jerilyn Watson. You can download our programs at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

2 administration   

n.经营，管理；行政，行政机关，管理部门

参考例句：

• Who is in charge of the administration of your company?你们公司的行政工作由谁负责？
• The teachers are responsible to the school administration.教师向学校行政负责。

3 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。

4 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

5 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

6 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？

7 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

8 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

9 protective   

adj.防护的，保护的

参考例句：

• A mother naturally feels protective towards her children.做母亲的天生要保护自己的孩子。
• We feel safe with a protective device in the house.我们因为家里有了防护装置而感到安全。

10 external   

adj.外部的，外面的，外来的；与外国有关的

参考例句：

• External causes become operative through internal causes.外因通过内因而起作用。
• The external features of the building are very attractive.这座建筑物的外观是很吸引人的。

11 shields   

n.盾( shield的名词复数 )；护罩；盾形奖牌；保护人v.掩护( shield的第三人称单数 )；庇护；给…加防护罩

参考例句：

• Spears hurtled against shields. 矛猛击在盾上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Radiation shields are commonly used to reduce radiation errors. 辐射屏蔽罩一般用于降低辐射误差。 来自辞典例句

12 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。