VOA慢速英语 Glider Plane to Soar Stratosphere for Data

AS IT IS 2015-09-30 Glider¹ Plane to Soar Stratosphere for Data

Gliders² are light aircraft that fly with no engine. They are pulled by a powered plane into the sky and set free to fly on air currents. They soar on wind currents called “mountain waves.” That is why their wings are longer than ordinary planes.

The aerospace³ company Airbus Group recently completed the first flight of a glider it calls Perlan 2. The Perlan Project intends to use gliders to take measurements in the stratosphere. Scientists believe weather in the stratosphere affects the Earth’s climate more than they thought before.

Airbus plans to send Perlan 2 to an altitude of 27 kilometers next year. That is higher than the records set by the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes.

Jim Payne is the chief pilot of Perlan 2.

"We're not a thousand percent sure that the mountain wave will go that high, but all the meteorologists tell us that it does, so we're going to go out and find out."

Ed Warnock is the chief executive officer of the Perlan Project.

He says the project intends to discover how fast moving winds at altitudes between 10 and 50 kilometers influence the earth's climate.

"It turns out some of the biggest waves in the world -- vertical⁴ movements -- exist in the stratosphere. We're going to go and study those waves. Those waves change weather and they change climate, and we are going to study how do they do that."

Stratospheric winds may also influence commercial air traffic. Many airplanes fly at high altitudes to reduce fuel consumption.

The air density⁵, or thickness, at those altitudes is similar to the atmosphere on the planet Mars. This may lead to future aircraft designs that could someday fly through the skies of the Red Planet.

Words in This Story

altitude – n.  the height of something such as an airplane above the level of the sea

atmosphere – n. the whole mass of air that surrounds the Earth

meteorologist – n. a scientist who deals with the atmosphere and with weather

stratosphere – n. the upper layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that begins about 11 kilometers above the Earth’s surface and ends about 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface

1 glider   

n.滑翔机；滑翔导弹

参考例句：

• The glider was soaring above the valley.那架滑翔机在山谷上空滑翔。
• The pilot managed to land the glider on a safe place.那个驾驶员设法让滑翔机着陆到一个安全的地方。

2 gliders   

n.滑翔机( glider的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The albatross is the king of gliders. 信天翁是滑翔鸟类之王。 来自《用法词典》
• For three summers, may bested and improved their gliders. 他们花了三个夏天不断地测试、改进。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

3 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。

4 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

5 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。