VOA标准英语2009年-South Korea Postpones First Rocket Launch

With just minutes to go before liftoff, South Korean engineers postponed¹ the launch of the country's first space-bound rocket. The delay comes as a disappointment to many who looked forward to the launch as a milestone² of national pride.

Excitement was mounting Wednesday at South Korea's Naro Space Center, as the time to launch dropped below eight minutes. Then, at seven minutes and 56 seconds, the digital clock froze because technicians decided³ not to proceed.
　
Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, South Korea's first space rocket, sits on launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Korea, 19 Aug 2009

Lee Sang-mok, a policy director at South Korea's Ministry⁴ of Education, Science, and Technology, says South Korea's first indigenous⁵ space mission will have to wait.

He says a pressure valve on one of the rocket's fuel tanks showed a drop. He explains that a joint⁶ Russian and Korean team of engineers are conducting a thorough technical analysis.

South Korea teamed up with Russia to spend more than $400 million on the 33-meter tall rocket, known as the Korea Space Launch Vehicle, or KSLV-1. It will carry a communications satellite into low-earth orbit.

Lee says the Russian technicians think another launch attempt could be made within several days. He says an exact date will be set after Wednesday's difficulties are more precisely⁷ understood.

South Korean officials had earlier considered delaying Wednesday's mission, out of respect for former President Kim Dae-jung, who died Tuesday. That idea was set aside because of the strong logistical momentum⁸ behind the launch.

Many South Koreans view the launch in terms of national pride, as a milestone of the country's progress in its indigenous space program. The $250-million launch facility where the rocket was set to lift off is being set as the stage for an ambitious space program, including long-range plans to land South Korean probes on the moon.

South Korea's launch plans have drawn⁹ comparisons to North Korea's April launch of a long-range rocket, which Pyongyang says was part of its peaceful space research. South Korea, the United States and Japan expressed fears the launch was a thinly veiled test of North Korea's offensive ballistic missile program.

Park Jung-ju, director of the KSLV Systems Office, says there are major differences between the North and South launches.

He says South Korea's launch plans have been transparent¹⁰ to the public, unlike in North Korea. For South Korea, he says, the launch itself is the goal - not developing weapons systems. Park says comparing South Korea's launch with the North's is "inappropriate."

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

3 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。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。