VOA常速英语2007-Space Station Crew To Be Led By Woman

By Jessica Berman
Washington
15 October 2007

Astronaut Peggy Whitson is poised¹ to become the first woman to command the International Space Station. Whitson and two new crew members arrived at the orbiting scientific outpost Friday to begin a mission to expand the Space Station. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will spend the week familiarizing herself with the International Space Station before taking the helm from its current commander, Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin, in a ceremony on Friday.

But the Space Station is already somewhat familiar to Whitson, who had served as flight engineer for six months in 2002.

Whitson will oversee² the expansion of the Space Station with the installation of three new modules³. The modules will increase the amount of interior space by nearly 40 percent, allowing for a total of six astronauts to live and conduct experiments aboard the orbiting laboratory. Currently, there is only enough space for three crew members on the station.

"I am looking forward though to getting additional modules, because storage has become a little bit [more] cramped⁴ than it was before," said Whitson. "So, hopefully, we will have a little more room to spread out and put things away a little better after we get some new modules up here."

Accompanying Whitson to the Space Station to relieve Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov is Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. Astronaut Clayton Anderson will remain on the Space Station.

A space-flight participant from Malaysia, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, also made the trip to the Space Station in the Russian Soyuz space craft, and will return with the departing crew in about nine days.

Shukor was asked about his first reaction to outer space.

"My heart stopped beating and my eyes stopped blinking," said Shukor. "I was just staring at it the whole time. So, it was such an amazing feeling to see and feel how close I am to God's creation."

Later this month, the Space Shuttle Discovery is to dock at the Space Station. The shuttle is being commanded by astronaut Pam Melroy, and it will mark the first time that women are at the helm of both space craft at the same time.

1 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

2 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

3 modules   

n.模块( module的名词复数 )；单元；（宇宙飞船上各个独立的）舱；组件

参考例句：

• The course consists of ten core modules and five optional modules. 这门课程包括十个必修单元和五个选修单元。
• Our English course is divided into modules on poetry, drama, and novels. 我们的英语课分为诗歌、戏剧和小说等单元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作