时间:2019-01-07 作者:英语课 分类:2006年VOA标准英语(三月)


英语课

By David McAlary
Washington
29 March 2006
 

The Russian Soyuz TMA-8 booster rocket that carried the three-man crew to the international space station   
  
A new crew is on its way to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spaceship. A Russian cosmonaut and U.S. astronaut, joined by Brazil's first astronaut, took off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, for a two-day flight to orbit. The mission will support the basic operations of the orbiting research laboratory until U.S. space shuttles fly again.

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Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, U.S. astronaut Jeff Williams, and the first Brazilian to head for orbit, Marcos Pontes, took off from the same launch pad that Yuri Gagarin did when he became the first human to orbit Earth in 1961.

The deputy space station manager at the U.S. space agency NASA, Kirk Shireman, witnessed the launch.

"Last night having dinner right next to the cottage where Gagarin stayed the night before his launch, this morning watching the vehicle roll out of the assembly building, then here on the launch pad, you certainly feel the history of human spaceflight all around you. It's great to be a part of that," said Mr. Shireman.

Cosmonaut Vinogradov and astronaut Williams will do the normal tour of duty aboard the station, six months. They will take over from astronaut William McArthur and cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, who are set to return to Earth aboard a Soyuz a week after their replacements 1 arrive.


Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes takes part in zero-gravity training aboard a plane flying near Moscow   
  
Brazilian crewman Pontes will return with them after conducting several days of studies on microscopic 2 technology called nanotechnology. His presence on the outpost celebrates the 100th anniversary of Brazil's first airplane flight by aviator 3 Alberto Santo-Dumont.

Again, Kirk Shireman.

"It's a pleasure to see all the different flags on this Soyuz vehicle," he added.  "So I'm looking forward to those guys being up there and continuing the work that we have on the International Space Station."

Vinogradov and Williams are the 13th crew for the station since occupation began in 2000, and the eighth two-man crew.  Crew size dropped from three to two after the U.S. space shuttle Columbia disintegrated 4 in 2003. The almost continuous grounding of the shuttle fleet since then has left no cargo 5 craft big enough to haul the amount of supplies necessary to support three people and the equipment required to continue station construction.

As a result, station occupants have had little time to do much more than be caretakers for the outpost, with science experiments significantly reduced. Vinogradov and Williams expect to conduct two maintenance spacewalks during their half-year expedition.

Last July's mission of the shuttle Discovery was to have ended the long flight hiatus and allowed the station's crew size to return to three shortly thereafter. But NASA grounded the fleet again because Discovery's external fuel tank shed dangerous debris 6 during launch, the same problem that caused Columbia's demise 7. After a long overhaul 8 of the tank's foam 9 insulation 10 covering, Discovery is expected to launch again no earlier than July.

When it does, it will bring a third station crewmember who has been forced to patiently await his chance to board it while the shuttle fleet has been grounded. He is German astronaut Thomas Reiter, the first non-American or non-Russian long-duration crewmember on the outpost.

American deputy station manager Shireman says he looks forward to the renewal 11 of normal operations aboard the station and the resumption of its assembly.

"That's really critical to the program, to continue that building, especially when we know that shuttles are going to retire in 2010," he noted 12.



n.代替( replacement的名词复数 );替换的人[物];替代品;归还
  • They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
  • For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说,价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网
adj.微小的,细微的,极小的,显微的
  • It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
  • A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。
n.飞行家,飞行员
  • The young aviator bragged of his exploits in the sky.那名年轻的飞行员吹嘘他在空中飞行的英勇事迹。
  • Hundreds of admirers besieged the famous aviator.数百名爱慕者围困那个著名飞行员。
v.(使)破裂[分裂,粉碎],(使)崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )
  • 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》
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
  • The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
  • A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。
n.瓦砾堆,废墟,碎片
  • 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。
n.死亡;v.让渡,遗赠,转让
  • 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。
v./n.大修,仔细检查
  • Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
  • It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知,铁路系统需要大检修。
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫
  • 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。
n.隔离;绝缘;隔热
  • 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。
adj.(契约)延期,续订,更新,复活,重来
  • Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
  • Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
adj.著名的,知名的
  • 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。
学英语单词
air weapons controller
analytical geometry of space
antifungal factor
antihomomorphism
ball bearing shielded
BEOP
bilge board scow
cassone
castane
chelon
Chirico, Giorgio de
civilized behavior
civitas
clett
complementary arc
concentrate fresh milk
courtlike
coveners
crosswind stability test
crown of beam
decoster
densifications
dispatch tables
Elatolite
electro-optic transmitter
Empoundment
farm sth out
fi-lb
flint corn
forsung
free oil lubricating compressor
free-verser
fruge
gapest
grism
haematogeneses
halden
hammady
human interface technology laboratory
idumean
Impatiens toxophora
implementation of the transport level
inelasticity coefficient
initial test
integrated optical spectrum analyzer
intracanaliculi
issuable
italicus
Kartarpur
lexian distributions
lymphadenovarix
memorialized
mennonitisms
mental energy
microwave source
mole skin
networked community
Nicollella
noncontaminated atmosphere
objective behavior inventory
odd electron spin
order of dimensioning
oxygen fill valve
parathyroid tetany
penetrating effect
Philippopolis
pinto bean
platform end door
protoform
publicly
pyres
refractometric analysis
return-tube boiler
rounds per shift
Saiyid Mazār
short shut-down
simple and opposite
Sovkhoznyy
static convergence correction
subdelirium
sums up
super-short
superheater flue
swallow nest
taeniarhynchosis
tear gases
terry sole
thyristor brush
transfer tensor
underscan
unhaired hide
upper window edge
valerian fluidextract
vibration proofing material
vinactane
weigh on sb
without further ado
woonerfs
woronoff ring
wrapping-up
xerophytia
zamia pumilas