Preparing for a Walk in Space

 

Broadcast: June 4, 2003
By Paul Thompson
VOICE ONE:
This is Ray Freeman.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today, we tell about how astronauts prepare to leave the safety of the International Space Station and work outside in the very dangerous environment of space.
VOICE ONE:
All astronauts who have worn protective¹ clothing and left a spacecraft to work in space have told about the beautiful sights they see. While working in space they can see most of the Earth as their orbit² carries them around our planet³. In the stillness of space, it is easy to forget that they are traveling at several thousand kilometers an hour. The great beauty they see makes it easy to forget that they are working in an extremely dangerous environment.
VOICE TWO:
American Astronaut Don Pettit recently returned to Earth as a member of crew number six of the International Space Station. He returned to Earth with American Astronaut Ken⁴ Bowersox and Russian Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin. Mister⁵ Pettit was the International Space Station science officer. He and the other crewmembers spent almost six months in space. During that time Mister Pettit wrote several reports for the American space agency⁶ about his experiences.
One of the most interesting reports is about what the crew members must do to prepare to leave the space station and work safely in space. Doug Johnson reads the words of American Astronaut Don Pettit.
VOICE PETTIT:
Have you ever seen a movie about crewmembers on a spacecraft who have to go outside to fight evil⁷ creatures or repair a hole in their spacecraft? They quickly put on their space suits and leave the ship in just a few seconds.
Well, maybe in the distant future we may be able to do it that quickly. However, getting ready to leave the safety of the International Space Station can take as long as one week. Nothing happens fast while preparing for a trip outside the space station.
The first thing you must know is that no mistakes can be made. Space is an extremely dangerous environment. Making a mistake in space is not like making a mistake on a school test. A mistake in space can cost you your life.
The major problem with preparing to go outside is the huge amount of work that must be completed. There are many small details but each is very important.
For example, many rubber rings are placed between each part of the space suit as it is linked together. Each of these rubber rings helps prevent air from leaking out of the protecting clothing. Each of these rings is very important and must be inspected. Damaged rings must be replaced.
VOICE ONE:
Don Pettit says the first major job that must be performed is cleaning the small room that is the link between the space station and outside. The astronauts are careful about cleaning the room because they do not want anything to move into space by accident. A forgotten tool or object could cause severe damage or block their work.
This small room is called an airlock. It has two doors -- one to the inside of the space station and the other to the outside and space. But as Astronaut Pettit explains, leaving the space station is still several days away. He explains how the space suit is carefully put together.
VOICE PETTIT:
The space suit comes in many parts. We keep it in a special case. We have a huge book that lists all of the parts and each of the tasks that must be done. It takes a great deal of time to read each step that must be performed and to attend to each detail. First, there are the batteries that will supply the electric power to the equipment in the suit.
The batteries supply power for the lights on the helmet that covers the astronaut's head and a video camera on the helmet. Another battery supplies heat to the special gloves that cover the hands. The heat is needed to protect our hands from the fierce cold of space.
The many batteries are inspected and connected to the power supply of the space station. It can take several hours for the batteries to receive the full amount of electricity. You do not want to be outside and have a battery fail.
Next we work on the equipment that will permit us to breathe. All humans produce carbon dioxide when they breathe. This natural gas must be taken out of the air supply we carry.
A special device⁸ in the breathing equipment takes the carbon dioxide out of the air. This device has a special chemical that must be heated in an oven⁹ for about fourteen hours before it can be used. This is an extremely important job.
Each piece of equipment, each device, each link must be inspected. When the testing and inspecting are done, we put on the space suit for more tests. The book has a list of tests that must now be performed. Everything is carefully tested following the instructions in the book. If everything works¹⁰ as it should, the tests and inspections¹¹ are complete.
VOICE TWO:
In the movies, an astronaut puts on his space suit and is ready to go. As Don Pettit says, it is not that simple for real astronauts. It is impossible for one person to put on all the necessary protective clothing before going into space. Everyone needs help. Don Pettit says that like most tasks in the International Space Station, putting on a space suit is a team effort.
VOICE PETTIT:
At the beginning of a space walk day, we ride an exercise bicycle. We do this wearing a breathing device that provides one-hundred percent oxygen. The atmosphere inside the space station is the same as that on Earth. The atmosphere is twenty percent oxygen and eighty percent nitrogen¹². Air pressure inside the space station is the same as it is on Earth. However the space suit we must wear outside does not have the same air pressure.
If there were any nitrogen in our bodies it would cause severe problems if we quickly went from one air pressure to the other. This problem is called “the bends.” Deep-sea divers¹³ must deal with the same problem. So, we breathe one-hundred percent oxygen until it forces all of the nitrogen from our bodies. We will continue to breathe only oxygen while we are in the space suit.
Now we begin the task of putting on the space suit. A crewmember helps with the many connections, links, locks and other equipment on the space suit. Many of the connections make a nice clicking sound when they are linked together correctly. We carefully listen for that sound. Our lives depend on it. Like all of our other jobs, putting on the space suit is done using our list of instructions. Nothing is left to chance. Getting dressed in a space suit takes about six hours from the time you start in the morning to the time you are ready to open the door and step out into space.
VOICE ONE:
The crewmember who is helping¹⁴ the astronaut with the many parts of the space suit has one last job to perform. The astronaut going outside is fitted with a special device that is linked to the back of the space suit. This device is filled with high-pressure nitrogen gas.
It permits the astronaut to fly back to the space station if he were to accidentally¹⁵ move too far away from the spacecraft. Moving too far away from the space station without this device would be a deadly mistake. Nothing could be done to bring the astronaut back to the space station.
The crewmember now helps the others safely enter the room that will permit them to enter space. Again, everything is tested. Then the door to the International Space Station is tightly¹⁶ closed and locked. Don Pettit explains what happens next.
VOICE PETTIT:
Slowly, the air inside the little room is released¹⁷ into space. After all of the air is gone, the door to space is opened. My first time going outside, the door would not open completely.
It just would not open. After all the work we did getting ready we thought we might have to go back inside. We could even see the extremely bright light of the sun showing through the small opening on the edge of the door. It was only a small piece of rubber that kept the door from opening. At the last moment, it did open and we stepped out into space.
It really was worth the hard work. Working outside the space station is a beautiful experience. However, if this were a movie about chasing¹⁸ bad guys in space, I am afraid they would have gotten away long before we were ready.
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Paul Thompson and produced by Mario Ritter. Doug Johnson was the voice of Astronaut Don Pettit. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Ray Freeman. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in Special English on the Voice of America.

 

1 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。

2 orbit   

n.轨道；vt.使沿轨道运行；使进入轨道运行；vi.沿轨道运行，环行

参考例句：

• The space rocket was launched and went into orbit.宇宙火箭发射后进入轨道。
• We can draw the earth's orbit round the sun.我们可以画出地球绕太阳运行的轨迹。

3 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

4 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

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 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。

7 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

8 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。

9 oven   

n.烤炉；烤箱

参考例句：

• You put food inside an oven to cook it.你把食物放进烤箱里热一下。
• She baked bread in an oven.她用烤炉烤面包。

10 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

11 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 nitrogen   

n.[化]氮

参考例句：

• The atmosphere consist of more than 70% of nitrogen.大气中含有70%以上的氮气。
• What is the percentage of nitrogen in air?空气中所含的氮的比例是多少？

13 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 accidentally   

adv.偶然地；意外地

参考例句：

• Mary accidentally let out that her mother had telephoned.玛丽无意中说出她的母亲来过电话。
• As I turned around,I accidentally hit him in the face.我转身时不经意撞了他的脸。

16 tightly   

adv.紧紧地，坚固地，牢固地

参考例句：

• My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时，孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
• The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起，我们几乎喘不过气来。

17 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

18 chasing   

n.雕镂术，雕刻工作；车螺丝；抛光；螺旋板

参考例句：

• My dog likes chasing rabbits. 我的狗喜欢追捕兔子。
• The children were having fun, chasing each other's shadows. 孩子们追逐着彼此的影子，玩得很开心。