VOA标准英语2010年-Space Shuttle Endeavour Heads to Inter

Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts-off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape¹ Canaveral, Florida, 08 Feb 2010

The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida before dawn, bound for the International Space Station

Endeavour's last scheduled night launch went smoothly² in the pre-dawn hours Monday. That is, smoothly for a launch that was set for Sunday, but postponed³ because of thick cloud cover. 

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said the crew did not let the one-day delay have a negative impact on them. 

"It was just a terrific countdown.  The team was very energized⁴ going into this count," he said. "A little disappointed last night with the weather that got us, but we fought the weather last night, and it was just not the right time to launch yesterday, so we stood down, got into it today and it really rewarded everybody extremely well."

When they get to the International Space Station, the Endeavour crew will be delivering and installing a module⁵ known as Tranquility, which will provide additional room for crew members.   Attached to Tranquility is a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center.  NASA says this will provide a panoramic⁶ view of Earth and objects in space.   

Two astronauts aboard Endeavour are set to conduct three space walks that will largely be devoted⁷ to installing Tranquility.  Tranquility is the last major U.S. piece of the space station, and once it is added, the space station will be about 90 percent complete.

Leinbach sent off Endeavour's six-member crew Monday with good wishes for the planned 13-day mission. 

"Wish you good luck, God speed, and we will see you back here in about two weeks," he said.

At the time of Endeavour's launch, NASA says the International Space Station was traveling at a speed of about eight kilometers-per-second, 340 kilometers above western Romania. 

Endeavour is scheduled to dock with the station early Wednesday over the northern coast of Spain.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

5 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

6 panoramic   

adj. 全景的

参考例句：

• Most rooms enjoy panoramic views of the sea. 大多数房间都能看到海的全景。
• In a panoramic survey of nature, speed is interesting because it has a ceiling. 概观自然全景，速率是有趣的，因为它有一个上限。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。