Astronauts Take a Walk in Space

Broadcast: Apr 09, 2003

 

Two U.S. astronauts took a spacewalk Tuesday to perform exterior¹ maintenance on the International Space Station. It was the last opportunity to fix hardware while the outpost has enough spare hands before the crew size soon decreases from three to two.

The grounding of the U.S. shuttle fleet after the Columbia disaster means a smaller station crew for the foreseeable future. The big shuttles can carry enough supplies to support a large station crew, but the U.S. space agency NASA says the smaller Russian rockets now filling the supply job can support only two crewmembers adequately.

To take advantage of the trio of astronauts and ¹⁾cosmonauts now on the outpost, NASA decided² to advance the maintenance schedule before the two-man replacement³ crew arrives at the end of this month.

NASA's space station manager, Bill Gerstenmaier, says the smaller crew could do the work, but it is better to have a third crewman inside helping⁴ the others into their bulky spacesuits and assisting in other ways. "So we went ahead and looked at tasks that we thought we could go ahead and do now while we had three crew on board that would put us in a better posture⁵ to go into this period with just two crew and limited consumables," he says.

As a result, station commander Ken⁶ Bowersox and science officer Don Pettit floated outside the space station to make several components⁷ more durable⁸. Among their tasks, they added a backup power source for ²⁾gyroscopes that stabilize⁹ the outpost's position and reconfigured power connections to make them more stable.

In a few weeks, the two crewmen and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budharin are to transfer command to their replacements¹⁰, astronaut Ed Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. Because U.S. shuttles are grounded after the Columbia accident, the crew exchange will occur with the help of Russian Soyuz rockets about one month later than originally planned.

In Houston, Texas Tuesday, experts investigating the Columbia disaster found fault with the analysis by which NASA concluded that the shuttle's wing was not damaged by hard foam¹¹ insulation¹² falling from its external fuel tank during launch.

The experts are checking the possibility that the foam strike, indeed, caused a wing opening that superheated atmospheric¹³ gases penetrated¹⁴ during re-entry. NASA engineers had determined¹⁵ while the flight was in progress that falling foam could not have hurt the wing.

But the chairman of the board of experts, retired¹⁶ Admiral Harold Gehman says the analytical¹⁷ model they used was flawed. "The model has a lot of limitations. It's a ³⁾rudimentary kind of model. It's essentially¹⁸ a spreadsheet. It's really not a computational model," he says. "It's just a bunch of data based on previous experience and some testing. But it is not a predictive model."

The investigators¹⁹ say the conclusion reached from that analysis influenced NASA's decision not to request long range military photography to determine if there was wing damage that could threaten the shuttle.

NASA has argued that even if wing damage had been found during Columbia's mission, it could not have been repaired in orbit.

David McAlary VOA news, Washington.

1)    cosmonauts [9kCzmE`net]n.女宇航员

2)    gyroscope[5^aiErEskEup]n.陀螺仪, 回旋装置, 回转仪, 纵舵调整器

3)    rudimentary[ru:dI5mentErI]adj. 根本的, 未发展的

 

1 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

2 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。

3 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

4 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。

5 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

6 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.

7 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

8 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

9 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

10 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网

11 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。

12 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

13 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

14 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

15 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

16 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

17 analytical   

adj.分析的；用分析法的

参考例句：

• I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
• As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。

18 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

19 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》