2006年VOA标准英语-Space Shuttle Discovery Lands Safely in Florida

By David McAlary
Washington
17 July 2006
 
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery has landed in Florida, ending a resupply and maintenance mission to the International Space Station. Its successful flight means the space agency NASA can finally resume construction of the station.

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Shuttle Discovery landing at the Kennedy Space Center    
  
Discovery's safe landing is an obvious relief to NASA, which was forced to halt assembly of the half-built space station more than three years ago when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated¹ upon re-entry into the atmosphere.

Discovery, roaring like any other airplane, glided² smoothly³ onto a runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

After landing, shuttle commander Steve Lindsey inspected the spacecraft and declared it free of damage, after its nearly nine million-kilometer journey.
 
 
Shuttle Discovery commander Steve Lindsey
  
"This is my fourth flight, and I've done four walk-arounds, and I've never seen a vehicle that looked as clean as this one did," said Steve Lindsey.

That is important to NASA, because it worked more than three years to ensure that shuttles suffer as little damage as possible from the kind of launch debris⁴ that doomed⁵ Columbia. That orbiter burned up when searing atmospheric⁶ gases entered a hole in its wing, caused by hard foam⁷ insulation⁸ that broke away from the external fuel tank during liftoff and hit it.

As a result, NASA removed or reshaped several areas of tank foam, installed an array of ground cameras to monitor launches, and put new cameras and sensors⁹ on shuttles to detect possible launch debris strikes or hits by micro-meteoroids while in orbit.

NASA chief Michael Griffin attributes Discovery's near-pristine condition to these new measures and a bit of luck.

"This is as good a mission as we've ever flown, but we're not going to get overconfident," said Michael Griffin. "We have to take it flight by flight."

During Discovery's two-week flight, two spacewalking astronauts tested new procedures to make repairs in orbit to the shuttle's fragile heat shield. The orbiter also transported a third crew member to the space station, which had only two since Columbia's accident. Station manager Mike Suffredini says it also hauled up new supplies and equipment, and its crewmembers made repairs to station systems critical to resuming the outpost's construction.

"So with this flight, in our minds, we are ready to get on with assembly, and we will do just that," noted¹⁰ Mike Suffredini.

Station assembly restarts late next month, when the shuttle Atlantis is to deliver a pair of solar energy panels, new batteries and a truss segment on which to mount other components¹¹.

NASA chief Griffin points out that shuttle flights are always risky¹² and that station assembly missions are the most complicated that shuttles fly. He says only 16 shuttle flights remain before the fleet is retired¹³ in 2010, and more orbiter troubles could be ruinous for the space station's construction schedule.

"We don't have any slack [leeway]," he said. "We have just enough shuttle flights left to do the job. So, we can't afford to mess up."

Griffin thanked America's international partners in the space station program for their patience and support, while NASA took time to make shuttles safer to fly.

1 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》

2 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

4 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。

5 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

6 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

7 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。

8 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。

9 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

12 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。