NASA Analyzes More Evidence in Shuttle Disaster

Broadcast: Feb 07, 2003

 

U.S. space agency officials confirmed Friday that they are analyzing¹ military photographs that appear to show damage to the space shuttle Columbia shortly before it disintegrated² over Texas last week. Searchers in Texas have also found part of one of the shuttle's wings.

NASA official Mike Kostelnik told reporters in Washington that the space agency has received photographs of the final moments of Columbia, taken by a powerful Air Force camera on the ground.

Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine reports that the photos were taken just a minute before Columbia broke apart. The magazine says the images showed serious structural³ damage to Columbia's left wing, including what it describes as a "¹⁾ragged" edge along the wing near the ²⁾fuselage.

NASA official Mike Kostelnik says some of the photos are of "very poor resolution," and that it will be up to the independent board investigating the Columbia disaster to determine exactly what they show. "I can't really make a judgment⁴ on what the image actually shows," he said. "People looking at that would draw their own analysis. Clearly, this is the type of information that the [independent investigating] board will make these judgments⁵ on, and what that means. But it is during the time period when we are getting these ³⁾anomalies [unusual data readings from the shuttle] on the ground. So, whatever is happening is probably consistent with whatever that photo shows."

If the photos do confirm damage to Columbia's left wing, investigators⁶ may be drawn⁷ back to the possibility that a chunk⁸ of foam⁹ insulation¹⁰ from the shuttle's external fuel tank may have played a significant role in the disaster, when it struck the shuttle's left wing shortly after liftoff.

Mr. Kostelnik also announced that searchers in Texas have found the carbon edge of one of Columbia's wings, perhaps one of the most significant pieces of debris¹¹ yet recovered. "We do have a large piece of one of the wings. It is not clear which wing this is," he said. "But, obviously, given the anomalies [problems] we have on the descent coming through the left wing, obviously, this structure is very important."

Mr. Kostelnik says the investigation¹² into Columbia's demise¹³ is moving into a new phase, as the probe is turned over to an independent board selected by NASA.

Also Friday, thousands of workers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida gathered at the Cape¹⁴ Canaveral landing strip where Columbia was to have landed last Saturday to pay tribute to the seven astronauts who died in the disaster.

Jim Malone VOA news, Washington.

1)    ragged[5rA^id]adj. 粗糙的

2)    fuselage[5fju:zilB:V]n. [空]机身

3)    anomaly[E5nCmEli]n. 不规则, 异常的人或物

 

1 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

2 disintegrated   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
• The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

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 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

9 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

10 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

11 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

12 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。

13 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

14 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。