2006年VOA标准英语-Space Shuttle Undocks from ISS

By David McAlary
Washington
15 July 2006
 
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery has departed from the International Space Station (ISS), but has not gone far away. It will remain in the vicinity of the outpost until flight controllers are certain there is no surface damage that would endanger Monday's planned landing.

-----------

This image made from NASA TV, shows the Space Shuttle Discovery and the ISS prior to undocking  
  
After a week-and-a-half visit, the shuttle and station crews bid each other farewell and closed their hatches. Discovery pulled away slowly and almost immediately, its crew began scanning parts of its heat shielding that protects it from the fiery¹ re-entry through the atmosphere. They scanned the nose cone² and front edge of its right wing with the robot arm camera for any potential damage from tiny space rocks called micrometeoroids.

They had scanned the edge of the left wing on Friday and earlier in the mission, checked the condition of the shuttle's fragile ceramic³ tiles.

The U.S. space agency NASA has added this task to avoid another shuttle catastrophe⁴ like Columbia in 2003. Launch debris⁵ punctured⁶ a hole in its wing, leading to its disintegration⁷ upon re-entry into the atmosphere. If Discovery's wing is seriously damaged by space rocks, the crew can seek safe haven⁸ on the space station until another shuttle comes to rescue them.

As a result, the shuttle is remaining just 70 kilometers from the station until mission managers are sure that Discovery's surface is free of cracks or holes. If so, they will give their final permission for a landing.

Flight director Tony Ceccacci says the surface inspections⁹ have taken up a lot of time on this mission. He says space agency officials will analyze¹⁰ results to determine if the effort is worth doing again.

"For our flight, we were able to accommodate it, but we're looking at future to see, does it require taking some of the mandatory¹¹ activities of that flight off the plate to accommodate it? So we're going to evaluate and see if  the data we get from it and the crew time that's required to do it is justifies¹² doing it in future flights," he said.

Mission controllers continue to monitor a slow leak of some substance from one of three units that supply power to landing gear hydraulic¹³ systems during shuttle re-entry and touchdown. Deputy shuttle manager John Shannon says flight controllers are being cautious and assuming the drip is fuel, but he says the drip is so slow that it poses no threat of fire inside the shuttle.

"We're okay where we are right now. We're okay if it stays the way it is right now. If it doesn't change, we'll probably use it as we normally would for entry," he said.

But if the leak rate increases, Shannon says flight controllers will activate¹⁴ the power unit before re-entry to use up the fuel to avoid any possible trouble. He says two hydraulic power units are enough for a safe landing.

1 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

2 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

3 ceramic   

n.制陶业，陶器，陶瓷工艺

参考例句：

• The order for ceramic tiles has been booked in.瓷砖的订单已登记下来了。
• Some ceramic works of art are shown in this exhibition.这次展览会上展出了一些陶瓷艺术品。

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 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。

6 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》

7 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。

8 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

9 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

11 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

12 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

13 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

14 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。