Weather may delay space history

 　　Nasa is entering the final stages of preparation for its last ever shuttle mission, but it is keeping a very careful eye on the Florida sky.

　　The weather over the Space Coast was atrocious on Thursday, with torrential rain falling on the Atlantis orbiter on its pad.

　　A huge lightning bolt hit the ground close by at one point.

　　Weather forecasters say conditions do not look good for Atlantis getting away on time at 1126 (1526 GMT) on Friday.

　　"For launch our main concern is still having showers and thunderstorms in the area, so with that we still have a 70% chance of KSC weather prohibiting launch," said shuttle meteorologist Kathy Winters.

　　The assessment¹ will be a worry for the hundreds of thousands of people who have been hoping to go down to the Cape² Canaveral area to watch the ascent³.

　　Their journey could be wasted. Nasa launch managers are mindful of the impact the big crowds could have on their workers' ability to do their jobs.

　　If they call off Friday's launch close to lift-off, it is likely another attempt will not be made until Sunday.

　　"If we get into a scenario⁴ where we scrub very late in the count, in order to provide crew rest we may elect to go 48 hours to give our teams time to get home and back to work," said Jeff Spaulding, Nasa test director.

　　"With the amount of [spectators] we are expecting - upwards⁵ of half-a-million to three-quarters-of-a-million folks in the general area - getting home is going to be very challenging."

　　Four astronauts will ride Atlantis to orbit - Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.

　　Some of the most dedicated⁶ fans started to camp out early for the launch

　　The primary task of their 12-day sortie is to deliver more than 3.5 tonnes (8,000lb) of supplies to the International Space Station.

　　A third of the load is food and it will ensure the platform has a year's worth of consumables aboard to sustain its residents.

　　Friday's ascent would be the 135th and last in the 30-year orbiter programme.

　　Nasa is committed to retiring its shuttles because the vehicles are too costly⁷ to maintain.

　　The agency believes a more affordable⁸ approach to getting astronauts to the ISS can be achieved by contracting out their transport to private companies.

　　The first of these commercial carriers is expected to enter service sometime in the middle of the decade.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

4 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

5 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。