Columbia Investigation

By Paul Thompson
Broadcast: September 10, 2003
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Seven astronauts and the Space Shuttle Columbia were lost in an accident February first. Today we tell about the results of the investigation¹ to discover the cause of that terrible accident.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
Saturday morning, February first, two-thousand-three, was an exciting day at the Kennedy Space Center. American space agency² officials, workers and family members of the seven astronauts on the Space Shuttle Columbia were waiting to watch the space vehicle land.
The crew had performed a successful science flight in 1)orbit³ around the Earth. They worked on their science experiments twenty-four hours a day during the sixteen-day flight.
At eight-fifteen in the morning, the Space Shuttle Columbia and the crew of seven began entering Earth's atmosphere. At eight-fifty-nine, NASA lost all information and communication with Columbia.
The shuttle was flying six times faster than the speed of sound and sixty-two kilometers above the Earth. People in three states reported hearing an extremely loud noise and seeing fire in the sky.
VOICE TWO:
A television 2)cameraman in the southwestern state of Texas was waiting for the Columbia to pass over his area. He pointed⁴ his camera in the area of the sky were the shuttle would be seen.
The pictures he recorded showed a bright light and a long trail of white smoke. Columbia was breaking apart.
Within minutes, NASA confirmed that something was terribly wrong. Within an hour, it announced the Columbia and its crew had been lost. Thousands of pieces of the shuttle fell in a huge area of the United States, including parts of the states of California, Arizona, Texas and Louisiana.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
On August twenty-sixth, the special Columbia Accident Investigation Board reported on the causes of the February first accident.
The committee's thirteen members spent seven months gathering⁵ information for the report. The committee had more than one-hundred-twenty investigators⁶ to help them and more than four-hundred NASA engineers to explain technical information.
The committee's report says the main cause of the accident was a piece of light-weight protective⁷ material. This material came loose from the support structure that connects the shuttle to the large rocket it uses during launch⁸.
The object hit the edge of Columbia's left wing with a strong force caused by the great speed of the shuttle. This created a small hole in the wing's special protective material. This material is designed to provide protection against the fierce heat caused by the shuttle's speed when it 3)reenters Earth's atmosphere.
After its sixteen successful days in space, the shuttle began returning to Earth. When the shuttle began to fly into Earth's atmosphere, extremely hot air passed through the hole and into the wing. This heat damaged the metal and caused the wing to fail. The shuttle went out of control and began to come apart. There was no possible way for the seven members of the crew to survive.
VOICE TWO:
The Columbia accident investigating committee's report says the protective material hitting and damaging the wing was the main cause of the accident.
The committee said the accident should never have been permitted to happen. It said NASA officials must accept much of the responsibility that led to the accident. The committee said the management system that controls NASA failed in several important jobs. When these tasks were linked together they created problems or failed to solve problems that led to the accident.
The committee members said it is important to remember that the investigation of the accident was an investigation of the NASA system, not an investigation of individual people.
VOICE ONE:
The group's report says NASA's management team learned⁹ soon after Columbia's launch that the protective material had hit the wing. NASA management members watched film of the incident several times.
This was not the first time this had happened. This same kind of protective material had come loose before and hit other shuttles. NASA's management decided¹⁰ it had not created a problem in the past and was not important this time. Officials decided that the material had not damaged the wing.
The investigating committee asked why nothing was done to correct and prevent this from happening again as it had in the past. The report said correcting the problem of loose material during launch would have prevented the accident.
VOICE TWO:
After NASA learned that the material had hit the wing, several NASA workers suggested the Department of Defense¹¹ use a special satellite to take photographs of the wing. The photographs could be studied to see if the wing had been damaged.
The NASA workers asked for this kind of inspection¹² three different times. The investigating committee said NASA's management either took no action or blocked such an inspection.
The committee also said the NASA workers who made the requests for the photographs had not made them to the correct management teams. Also, one of the requests did not suggest that this might be an important safety issue.
The committee report said the requests were among eight chances that could have resulted in pictures of Columbia in space. These pictures might have provided¹³ evidence that the wing had been severely¹⁴ damaged. This could have led to actions that might have prevented the loss of the crew of Columbia and the shuttle.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The members of the Columbia Accident Investigating Board said they believe human space fight must continue. The group also said the people who fly into space do so 4)knowing that danger is always involved in such a flight.
The committee said safety must be the first concern of all NASA workers. It said this is the only way to make acceptable¹⁵ the dangers of space travel. The committee's report said NASA workers must feel they can go to their team managers with any safety concerns.
The report also said the workers must know that managers will take the needed action to improve safety, or take the needed steps to investigate any possible safety problem.
VOICE TWO:
The investigating committee's two-hundred-fifty page report ended with twenty-nine suggestions to improve safety for those who fly into space. One of these is the creation¹⁶ of an independent technical engineering¹⁷ group.
This group would be responsible for investigating any safety threat that might harm a shuttle craft¹⁸. The group would also identify and investigate anything that might create a danger to the shuttle system.
It would also have the power to stop any launch if a problem became a safety issue or caused a threat to the crew or the shuttle.
VOICE ONE:
The committee also recommended a new training program for the Space Flight Mission¹⁹ Management Team. The new training would expand vehicle safety emergencies. The management team would train to deal with unexpected²⁰ problems that might take place during future flights.
The team would also train to work quickly in an emergency with support organizations within NASA and with the companies that build the equipment NASA uses on space craft.
The committee members also recommended developing a new method of recording²¹ space shuttle launches²². They said at least three cameras should be used to photograph the Space Shuttle launch. These cameras would record the shuttle from launch to the separation of the solid rocket 5)booster. Experts would then carefully study this recorded information after each launch to look for possible damage to the shuttle.
VOICE TWO:
The committee also said the future of safe human space flight depends on good leadership. The group said the people of NASA must change. Safety must come first in all future launches.
On Monday, NASA released²³ a plan that includes the steps the agency is taking to obey each suggestion of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. NASA Administrator²⁴ Sean O'Keefe said these steps are already being carried out. He said NASA will work to return the three remaining space shuttles to flight as soon as safely possible.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson and produced by Mario Ritter. This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in Special English on the Voice of America.

注释:
1) orbit [5C:bit] n.轨道
2) cameraman [5kAmErEmAn] n.摄影师
3) reenter [7ri:5entE(r)] v.重进入，再加入
4) knowing [5nEuiN] adj.会意的，心照不宣的
5) booster [5bu:stE] n.助推器，起飞发动机

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

3 orbit   

n.轨道；vt.使沿轨道运行；使进入轨道运行；vi.沿轨道运行，环行

参考例句：

• The space rocket was launched and went into orbit.宇宙火箭发射后进入轨道。
• We can draw the earth's orbit round the sun.我们可以画出地球绕太阳运行的轨迹。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 protective   

adj.防护的，保护的

参考例句：

• A mother naturally feels protective towards her children.做母亲的天生要保护自己的孩子。
• We feel safe with a protective device in the house.我们因为家里有了防护装置而感到安全。

8 launch   

vt.发动，推出；发射；n.发射，下水，投产

参考例句：

• The makers are about to launch out a new product.制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。
• Would it be wise to launch into this rough sea?在这样汹涌的大海中游泳明智吗？

9 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

13 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

14 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

15 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

16 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

17 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

18 craft   

n.工艺，手艺；小船，飞机；行业；诡计

参考例句：

• The harbour was full of pleasure craft.港口满是游艇。
• He's a master of his craft.他有一手好手艺。

19 mission   

n.使命，任务，天职；代表团，使团

参考例句：

• He was charged with an important mission.他受委托承担一项重要使命。
• I'll leave you to undertake an important mission.我要让你承担一项重要使命。

20 unexpected   

adj.想不到的，意外的

参考例句：

• I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒，用来招待不速之客。
• His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。

21 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

22 launches   

v.发射( launch的第三人称单数 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launches into an inarticulate tirade against conventional people. 他词不达意地发表了一通激烈言论攻击因循守旧的人们。 来自辞典例句
• The thesis divides into three parts and launches explaining. 论文分三个部分展开阐述。 来自互联网

23 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

24 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。