Space Shuttle Discovery to Carry Robot on Final Mission

    Crews at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are preparing the Space Shuttle Discovery for its final launch, scheduled for Thursday.
    Among the things it will carry to the International Space Station will be a humanlike robot designed to help astronauts（宇航员） aboard the station carry out several common tasks.  The device might pave the way for greater use of robotics in space exploration.
    The Discovery crew will consist of six humans and one robot called "Robonaut 2."  It is not really a member of the crew; in fact it will be stowed away in the cargo¹ compartment（货舱） until Discovery links up with the space station.  But the The 120-kilogram robot does have a certain star quality.
    It consists of a head that looks like a sleek² metallic-looking helmet, a torso, two arms and two hands with fingers that operate much like human digits³.
    Robonaut Lead Mechanical Engineer Josh Mehling, who helped develop Robonaut 2 for NASA, says the arms and hands of the device exert the right force to hold, rather than crush, any item the robot picks up.
    "Throughout the robot's arm, it has the ability to sense the forces it is exerting on the environment or the environment is exerting on it.  And the five-fingered hand also has tactile⁴ sensing throughout the finger sections, so it can feel what it is touching," he said.
    Mehling says Robonaut 2 is capable of carrying out several tasks aboard the space station that otherwise would take up human astronaut time and energy. "The robot could be used to set up a work site for an astronaut or to tear down a work site or to just hold things for the astronaut.  Really, the goal  going forward is that a system like Robonaut could free up the astronauts to be doing the real hard science that requires the human brain in the loop," he said.
    Robots have long been used in space exploration（勘探,勘察） and in manufacturing back on Earth.  But the use of a robot that resembles a human being on the space station recalls the robots of science fiction books and movies, that often have human attributes.  One characteristic of humans is to relate to animals, plants and even mechanical devices as if they are humans, what psychologists call anthropomorphizing.
    Josh Mehling says the Discovery crew had a chance to work with Robonaut 2 in the lab at the Johnson Space Center here in Houston and has, to some extent, bonded⁵ with it. "They enjoyed working with it and taking pictures with it.  They really sort of adopted Robonaut 2 as a part of their crew and, while I am not a social psychologist, I think the crews on the space station will enjoy the company of a humanoid robot," he said.
    In addition to the robot, Discovery will carry a storage module⁶ and supplies to the space station.  The 11-day journey will be the 39th and final mission of the oldest space shuttle. iscovery was first launched in 1984 and has since flown close to 230 million kilometers. The shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis are scheduled to make their final flights later this year.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

3 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 tactile   

adj.触觉的，有触觉的，能触知的

参考例句：

• Norris is an expert in the tactile and the tangible.诺里斯创作最精到之处便是，他描绘的人物使人看得见摸得着。
• Tactile communication uses touch rather than sight or hearing.触觉交流，是用触摸感觉，而不是用看或听来感觉。

5 bonded   

n.有担保的，保税的，粘合的

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。

6 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。