2006年VOA标准英语-Discovery Lifts Off for Space Station Mission

By Robert Raffaele
Washington, DC
05 July 2006
 
watch Discovery Liftoff report

Shuttle Discovery launch    
  
NASA successfully launched the space shuttle Discovery Tuesday, after two previous launches were scrubbed due to bad weather in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida.  The launch begins the latest mission to help finish the development of the international space station.  It also allowed NASA to breathe a sigh of relief, after more concerns arose about foam¹ insulation² on the shuttle.

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Discovery blasted off the launch pad Tuesday afternoon, on its way to a rendezvous³ with the International Space Station. Plans call for a 12-day mission to deliver supplies to the space station and repair some of its equipment. The flight began despite concerns about foam insulation possibly tearing off during launch.

Monday, NASA engineers found a 10-to-12 centimeter crack in the external fuel tank's foam insulation.  They also found a seven-centimeter piece of insulation had broken off a bracket holding a fuel line in place.

Insulation problems have plagued the shuttle program since the loss of Discovery's sister ship Columbia in February of 2003. That spacecraft broke apart during re-entry over the southwestern U.S. state of Texas, killing⁴ the entire crew.

Investigators⁵ determined⁶ a piece of foam insulation from Columbia's external fuel tank broke off during launch, creating a hole in the shuttle's heat shields.

NASA engineers put a camera on a long pipe to give them a closer look at the problem area. They eventually decided⁷ to go ahead with the launch.

Bill Gersteinmaier, NASA's Associate Administrator⁸ for Space Operations, explains. "Those views show the foam is structurally⁹ intact, it shows that the gaps that are supposed to be there between the two pieces of remaining foam are clear of debris¹⁰, there's no loose foam in there, it all looks fine and the structure is in good shape."

NASA grounded its shuttle fleet following the Columbia tragedy. It spent more than one billion dollars trying to correct insulation problems. Tuesday's launch was just the second since Columbia. Discovery flew about a year ago. The shredding¹¹ of foam was greatly reduced on that mission -- but still occurred. NASA responded by removing more than 15 kilograms of foam and making other changes.

Discovery's latest mission is crucial to NASA, because President Bush has stated his goal to retire the shuttle fleet by the year 2010.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin overruled a recommendation by two NASA safety inspectors¹² against Discovery's launch. He said Tuesday that NASA’s mission must go forward.  "It's an important step toward completing the international space station. We're halfway¹³ done. We have 400,000 pounds of hardware on orbit, we have another 400,000 plus to go."

The first of 16 additional shuttle flights to complete construction of the space station could fly as soon as late August -- if Discovery's current mission is a success.

1 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。

2 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。

3 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 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》

6 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。

7 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。

8 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

9 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。

10 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

11 shredding   

v.撕碎，切碎( shred的现在分词 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件）

参考例句：

• Like the Tehran experience, the shredding may be all for naught. 如同德黑兰事件中的情况一样，切碎文件可能是徒劳的。 来自时文部分
• How shredding began is subject to some guesswork. 粉碎处理行业的起源是个有争议的问题。 来自时文部分

12 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。