2006年VOA标准英语-Shuttle Astronauts Prepare for Saturday Undocki

（单词翻译）

By David McAlary
Washington
14 July 2006
 
 
Expedition 13 crewmember Jeff Williams, left , work on the Interface¹ Umbilical Assembly, the failed component² of the railcar system, with commander Steve Lindsey in the Destiny module³ of the ISS
  
Astronauts aboard the U.S. space shuttle Discovery will undertake a final inspection⁴ of the orbiter's outer surface later Friday, before undocking from the International Space Station Saturday.  They will be looking for damage that might interfere⁵ with a safe return to Earth next week.

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The U.S. space agency, NASA, is taking no chances, in the hope of avoiding another shuttle catastrophe⁶ like Columbia in 2003. A hole in its wing caused by launch debris⁷ led to its disintegration⁸ upon re-entry into the atmosphere, killing⁹ all seven astronauts.

Discovery's launch was closely monitored by an array of new cameras, aircraft spotters, and shuttle wing impact sensors¹⁰. A new camera and sensors at the end of its robot arm scanned the orbiter, while docked at the space station and found no surface flaws. Based on that, NASA has cleared the shuttle for a Monday re-entry.

But it plans one more wing check. Discovery's crew will use the robot arm to scan the front edges of the wings to see if tiny space rocks, or micrometeoroids, have damaged them during the flight.

Shuttle flight director Tony Ceccacci says the inspection reduces the odds¹¹ of losing a shuttle from micrometeoroid impacts.

"All the statistics have to do with your exposure time," he said.  "So, with the late inspection we mitigate¹² that concern. The big thing is that, now, you are inspecting three days before deorbit, so your exposure time gets reduced, so your probabilities get better and better."

Discovery's crew returned to work after a day of rest Thursday, transferring the big Italian-built cargo¹³ carrier it flew to the space station back into the shuttle's payload bay. Station flight director Rick LaBrode calls Discovery's visit outstanding. It brought a third crewmember to the outpost, German astronaut Thomas Reiter. LaBrode says the combined crews also hauled more new supplies and equipment into the station than any previous flight, and in less than the expected time.

"They did a great job. We worked them, we worked them. We got our money's worth out of them, that's for sure," he said.

Discovery pilot Mark Kelly told NBC television that the success of the mission means the shuttle fleet can return to its routine visits to the space station beginning next month.

"After this flight, I think we're really in a good configuration¹⁴, and we're pretty much set up to continue assembly of the space station and continue to fly the shuttle, hopefully like we did before 2003," he explained.

But mission controllers are monitoring malfunctions¹⁵ in two shuttle auxiliary¹⁶ units that supply power to hydraulic¹⁷ systems used during re-entry and landing. One problem might be a fuel leak that could present a fire hazard to the crew. The other is less serious, a broken heater for which there is a backup unit.