Space Digest

（单词翻译）

                         04 美国的航空航天技术

DATE=2-21-01
TITLE=EXPLORATIONS #1940 - Space Digest
BYLINE=Paul Thompson

       VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today, we tell about a new NASA space science (1)command center. We tell about the linking of the American space (2)vehicle (3)Destiny¹ with the International Space Station. And we tell about NASA's successful attempt to land a (4)spacecraft on a large (5)rock, far away in space.
(((THEME)))
VOICE ONE:
NASA has successfully (6)landed a small spacecraft on a space rock three-hundred-fifteen million kilometers from Earth. The small spacecraft is called the Near Earth Asteroid² Rendezvous³ Shoemaker spacecraft … or NEAR.
The small NEAR spacecraft landed last Monday on the (7)asteroid called Eros.
NEAR continued to send back pictures and (8)radar⁴ information as it began to move closer to Eros. NASA scientists say the pictures were ten times better than all the other information they received earlier from NEAR. The last picture sent from NEAR was from about one-hundred-sixty meters above Eros.
NASA officials say they expected the NEAR spacecraft to be (9)destroyed when it (10)crashed. But, they say, it made a soft landing on the rock and is still sending back information. They say the radio signals are weak but can still be heard.
VOICE TWO:
NEAR was not designed to make a landing. It has no landing (11)equipment or (12)devices. Yet NASA decided⁵ that having the space vehicle fly (13)extremely close to the (14)asteroid and try to land would provide useful information. The un-planned landing would also help NASA scientists train for landings for future space fights to other small objects in space.
Robert Farquhar is head of the NEAR project at the Johns Hopkins Applied⁶ (15)Physics Laboratory in Maryland. He said the flight down to the surface of (16)EROS took about four hours. He said he was extremely happy with the results.
VOICE ONE:
The NEAR spacecraft began its orbit around Eros a year ago in February. It used (17)cameras, radar and a special laser device to gather information about Eros. It sent back more than one-hundred-sixty-thousand pictures of Eros. This is about ten times the amount of information that NASA thought the small spacecraft could provide.
The asteroid Eros is an object about thirty-three kilometers long. Its surface is covered in large rocks. NASA sent the NEAR spacecraft to Eros to learn more about asteroids⁷. Scientists say these asteroids are small objects that remained when our solar system was created.
Scientists say they want to study asteroids because they may (18)threaten Earth in the future. They say it may help to know about the (19)structure of asteroids. This information would be useful if NASA ever had to make plans to move an asteroid from its path or destroy it to protect Earth.
(((MUSIC BRIDGE)))
VOICE TWO:
The first laboratory has been connected to the International Space (20)Station. The American Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched from the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, February Seventh. It carried the new laboratory, Destiny, to the space station which is (21)orbiting Earth. Destiny is the first of six space laboratories that will be launched and added to the space station.
The five crew members of Atlantis used the space shuttle's huge mechanical arm to take the laboratory out of the shuttle. The arm carefully moved Destiny to a linking device on the International Space Station.
Two members of the Atlantis crew put on protective clothing. They left the (22)shuttle and moved out into space to complete work on the (23)link. They also attached (24)electrical power equipment and other devices. The two astronauts also placed a device on one end of the laboratory that permits future shuttle flights to link with it. The two astronauts went into space three times before all the work outside the spacecraft was complete.
VOICE ONE:
The doors of the Destiny laboratory were opened as soon as was possible. The (25)commander of the International Space Station, Bill Shepherd and the commander of the space shuttle Atlantis, Kenneth Cockrell, met inside the new laboratory and shook hands.
Crew members (26)immediately began to remove the (27)protective coverings inside Destiny. The covers protected Destiny's equipment during the flight. One of the coverings had many names written on it. The names are from the people who prepared Destiny for flight. The cover was also had printed on it, “Dreams are like stars; You choose them as your guides, and following them, you reach your Destiny.
(28)Atlantis Astronaut Marsha Ivins promised to bring the signed cover back to Cape⁹ Canaveral for (29)visitors to see.
VOICE TWO:
Destiny will become the command and control center for the International Space Station as soon as several tests are completed. These tests will make sure all of its equipment is working correctly.
The new space laboratory has special equipment that (30)coordinates electrical power. It has equipment for cooling water. It has equipment that cleans the Space Station air of harmful elements, and controls the Station's (31)temperature.
VOICE ONE:
Destiny was built by the Boeing Company at the Marshall Space flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It is made of special (32)aluminum metal.
Destiny Laboratory is more than eight meters long and four meters around. It is linked to the space station on one end. It also has the necessary equipment to link it to another piece of the space station that will be added in the future. With the new Destiny laboratory, the International Space Station is now fifty-two meters long.
The laboratory also has a more than fifty (33)centimeter round window. Space Station crew members will be able to look out the window and take pictures of Earth and space.
VOICE TWO:
Destiny is designed to provide (34)astronauts in the future with materials for different scientific experiments. Research is expected to begin next month when the equipment and materials for some of these experiments will arrive at the space station laboratory. Scientists from around the world will use the results of these and future experiments in their work.
The crew members on the International Space Station will use Destiny's science laboratory to study the effects of the very low gravity of space. They will do experiments in medicine, biotechnology, physics, materials science, human life science, space science and (35)ecology.
NASA (36)officials say the results of these experiments will permit scientists to better understand the effects of weightlessness on humans and materials. It will also permit the space agency to prepare for future space flights … perhaps back to the moon and to Mars⁸.
(((MUSIC BRIDGE)))
VOICE ONE:
NASA says it has established a new Space Station Science Command Center. The center is now part of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The science command center will link researchers on Earth with their science experiments and with astronauts on the International Space Station.
(37)Ceremonies to open the new center were held February Second. Art Stephenson is the director of the Marshall Space Flight Center. He says the International Space Station and the new center are a step toward a long held dream…a permanent international research station in orbit about the Earth.
VOICE TWO:
The new center is in a large building. Between thirteen and nineteen flight controllers will be working there, twenty-four hours each day. The center will provide support for as long as the International Space Station exists. The center will coordinate¹⁰ and control research efforts and plan the station's science (38)experiments.
The flight controllers in the center will observe and provide for the safety needs of the astronauts and experiments. The center's flight controllers will also plan the future use of the space station.
Art (39)Stephenson says the new center at Huntsville will control the research that can only be done in space. He says it is hoped that this research can lead to knowledge that will help all people on Earth.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another (40)EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.

(1) command[ kE5mB:nd ]n.命令, 掌握, 司令部v.命令, 指挥, 克制, 支配, 博得, 俯临
(2) vehicle[ 5vi:ikl ]n.交通工具, 车辆, 媒介物, 传达手段
(3) destiny[ 5destini ]n.命运, 定数
(4) spacecraft[ 5speiskrB:ft ]n.太空船
(5) rock[ rCk ]n.岩石, 暗礁, 石头, 摇动vt.摇摆, 使动摇vi.摇, 摇动
(6) land[ lAnd ]n.陆地, (书面语)国家、国土, 地带, [复数]地产, 田产vi.靠岸, 登陆, 登岸, 到达
(7) asteroid[ 5AstErCid ]n.[天文]小游星, 小行星, 海盘车adj.星状的
(8) radar[ 5reidE ]n.雷达, 电波探测器
(9) destroy[ dis5trCi ]vt.破坏, 毁坏, 消灭v.消灭, 摧毁
(10) crash[ krAF ]n.碰撞, 坠落, 坠毁, 撞击声, 爆裂声v.碰撞, 坠落, 坠毁, (指商业公司, 政府等)破产, 垮台
(11) equipment[ i5kwipmEnt ]n.装备, 设备, 器材, 装置, 铁道车辆, (一企业除房地产以外的)固定资产, 才能
(12) device[ di5vais ]n.装置, 设计, 图案, 策略, 发明物, 设备[计]安装设备驱动程序
(13) extremely[ iks5tri:mli ]adv.极端地, 非常地
(14) asteroid[ 5AstErCid ]n.[天文]小游星, 小行星, 海盘车adj.星状的
(15) physics[ 5fiziks ]n.物理学
(16) EROS=Earth Resources Observation Satellite (System)地球资源观测卫星(系统)
(17) camera[ 5kAmErE ]n.照相机
(18) threaten[ 5Wretn ]vt.恐吓, 威胁, 预示(危险), 似有发生或来临的可能, 可能来临
(19) structure[ 5strQktFE ]n.结构, 构造, 建筑物vt.建筑, 构成, 组织
(20) station[ 5steiFEn ]n.位置, 岗位, 地位, 身份, ...局, ...站vt.驻扎, 配置
(21) orbit[ 5C:bit ]n.轨道, 势力范围, 生活常规, 眼眶vt.绕...轨道而行vi.进入轨道, 沿轨道飞行, 盘旋
(22) shuttle[ 5FQtl ]n.往返汽车(列车、飞机), 航天飞机, 梭子, 穿梭v.穿梭往返
(23) link[ liNk ]n.链环, 连结物, 火把, 链接vt.连结, 联合, 挽vi.连接起来
(24) electrical[I5lektrIk(E)l]adj.电的, 有关电的
(25) commander[ kE5mB:ndE ]n.司令官, 指挥官
(26) immediately[ i5mi:djEtli ]adv.立即, 马上, 直接地
(27) protective[ prE5tektiv ]adj.给予保护的, 保护的
(28) Atlantis[ Et5lAntis, At- ]n.传说沉没于大西洋中的岛
(29) visitor[ 5vizitE ]n.访问者, 来宾, 游客
(30) coordinate[ kEu5C:dinit ]n.同等者, 同等物, adj.同等的, 并列的vt.调整, 整理
(31) temperature[5temprItFE(r)]n.温度
(32) aluminum[ E5lju:minEm ]n.[化]铝
(33) centimeter[5sentImi:tEr(r)]n.厘米
(34) astronaut[5AstrEnC:t]n.太空人, 宇航员
(35) ecology[ i(:)5kClEdVi ]n.生态学, [社会]环境适应学, 均衡系统
(36)official[ E5fiFEl ]n.官员, 公务员adj.职务上的, 公务的, 官方的, 正式的
(37)ceremony[ 5serimEni ]n.典礼, 仪式, 礼节, 报幕员
(38)experiment[ iks5perimEnt ]n.实验, 试验vi.进行实验, 做试验
(39)Stephenson[ 5sti:vnsn ]斯蒂芬森(①姓氏 ②George, 1781-1848, 英国发明家, 蒸气机的发明人
(40)exploration[ 7eksplC:5reiFEn ]n.探险, 踏勘, 探测, [医](伤处等的)探查, 探察术