NASA's Stardust spacecraft ends 12-year operation

    WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- NASA's Stardust spacecraft(宇宙飞船) depleted¹ fuel and ceased operation on Thursday after a 12-year run, the U.S. space agency said Friday.
    "This is the end of the spacecraft's operations, but really just the beginnings of what this spacecraft's accomplishments² will give to planetary science," said Lindley Johnson, Stardust-NExT and Discovery program executive at NASA headquarters in Washington.
    "The treasure-trove of science data and engineering information collected and returned by Stardust is invaluable³ for planning future deep space planetary missions."Launched on Feb. 7, 1999, Stardust flew past the asteroid⁴ named Annefrank and traveled halfway⁵ to Jupiter to collect the particle samples from the comet Wild 2. The spacecraft returned to Earth's vicinity to drop off a sample return capsule eagerly awaited by comet scientists.
    NASA re-tasked the spacecraft as Stardust-NExT to perform a bonus mission and fly past comet Tempel 1, which was struck by the Deep Impact mission in 2005. The mission collected images and other scientific data to compare with images of that comet collected by the Deep Impact.
    The Stardust-NExT met all mission goals, and the spacecraft was extremely successful during both missions. From launch until final rocket engine burn, it travelled approximately 3.54 billion miles.
    After the mileage⁶ logged in space, the Stardust team knew the end was near for the spacecraft. With its fuel tank empty and final radio transmission concluded, the most traveled comet hunter will move from NASA's active mission roster⁷ to retired⁸.
    "This kind of feels like the end of one of those old western movies where you watch the hero ride his horse toward the distant setting sun -- and then the credits begin to roll," said Stardust-NExT project manager Tim Larson from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Only there's no setting sun in space."（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

2 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

4 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

5 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

6 mileage   

n.里程，英里数；好处，利润

参考例句：

• He doesn't think there's any mileage in that type of advertising.他认为做那种广告毫无效益。
• What mileage has your car done?你的汽车跑了多少英里？

7 roster   

n.值勤表，花名册

参考例句：

• The teacher checked the roster to see whom he would teach this year.老师查看花名册，想了解今年要教的学生。
• The next day he put himself first on the new roster for domestic chores.第二天，他把自己排在了新的家务值日表的第一位。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。