2006年VOA标准英语-US Shuttle Astronauts Make "Highwire" Spacewalk

By David McAlary
Washington
08 July 2006

Astronaut Mike Fossum, left, helps astronaut Piers¹ Sellers, right, with tools in Discovery's payload bay during spacewalk, July 8, 2006  
  
Two U.S. shuttle astronauts bounced at the end of a long pole in space Saturday as they circled the earth docked at the International Space Station. They were testing whether the boom is suitable as a platform from which to make shuttle repairs in orbit.

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Like a circus highwire act, astronauts Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers stood 340 kilometers above Earth, bouncing, twisting, and bending forward and backward at the end of the 30 meter boom.

The boom is an extension of the shuttle's original robot arm. It was designed to hold a camera to inspect potential damage to the fragile heat shield on the shuttle's underside. NASA developed the orbital inspection² procedure as the result of the disintegration³ of the shuttle "Columbia," whose heat shield was punctured⁴ by hard insulating foam⁵ that had broken away from the external fuel tank during launch.

 
Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum work with the robotic arm and its new boom extension during the first spacewalk of the STS-121 mission.
  
NASA wanted to know if the spindly boom is stable enough to hold people in case human inspection and emergency orbital repairs are necessary beneath the shuttle.

Fossum gave his opinion to U.S. Mission Control in Houston. "The boom's motion itself if smooth, very smooth," he said.

The astronauts' other task during their seven hour outing was to replace a cable to the space station's rail car, which positions the outpost's mechanical arm during construction. The cable was accidentally severed⁶ last year by a cable cutter, so the two crewmen also locked the cutter to prevent a recurrence⁷.

Work was not the only thing on their mind. Before floating out of the hatch into space, Sellers asked mission control what countries will face each other in Sunday's World Cup football championship. They launched Tuesday before the finalists were known.

[Sellers] "We never found out. We've been too busy. Maybe Houston knows."
[Mission Control] "It's France and Italy. They are still in it. The final game is tomorrow."
[Sellers] "Oh, okay. Thanks. [We've] got to pick a side."

This was Sellers' fourth spacewalk, but the first for Fossum. Like all novices⁸, he marveled at the view below and picked out several geographical⁹ points, including South America's Andes mountains, Ireland, England, and the Caspian Sea. "I'm in a dream," he said. "Nobody wake me up!"

He and Sellers will make take two more spacewalks during the shuttle's two-week visit to the space station. It is the first shuttle mission in almost one year. One purpose is to replace space station supplies and deliver German astronaut Thomas Reiter as a third crewmember. But it is also a mission to test shuttle repair techniques and changes NASA has made to the orbiter's external tank to ensure it never again sheds pieces of foam large enough to endanger a shuttle.

1 piers   

n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩

参考例句：

• Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
• At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇，不论潮汐如何涨落，都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 disintegration   

n.分散，解体

参考例句：

• This defeat led to the disintegration of the empire.这次战败道致了帝国的瓦解。
• The incident has hastened the disintegration of the club.这一事件加速了该俱乐部的解体。

4 punctured   

v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气

参考例句：

• Some glass on the road punctured my new tyre. 路上的玻璃刺破了我的新轮胎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A nail on the road punctured the tyre. 路上的钉子把车胎戳穿了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 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。

6 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

8 novices   

n.新手( novice的名词复数 )；初学修士（或修女）；（修会等的）初学生；尚未赢过大赛的赛马

参考例句：

• The Russians are such novices in Africa. 在非洲的俄国人简直都是些毫无经验的生手。 来自辞典例句
• Where the primary track all novices, screams everywhere, ha ha good terror. 那里的初级道上全是生手，到处都是尖叫声，哈哈好恐怖的。 来自互联网

9 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。