Project Aims to Study Stratosphere Via Aerospace Firm's Glider
时间：2018-12-08 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2015年(九月)
Project Aims to Study Stratosphere Via Aerospace 1 Firm's Glider 2
A glider designed by Airbus Group successfully completed its maiden 3 flight Wednesday ahead of next year’s attempt to reach the edge of the space. The ultimate goal is to study the stratospheric weather, which seems to have more influence on Earth's climate than previously 4 thought.
Because gliders 5 are engineless, they must be towed by powered planes to a certain height. From there, they use natural updrafts, also called mountain waves, to soar through the sky. That is why their wings are so much longer than an ordinary plane’s.
Under the right conditions, experienced pilots can reach very high altitudes and stay aloft for hours in gliders.
On its first flight, Airbus’ Perlan 2 reached only 1.5 kilometers, but next year project managers plan to go a lot higher, to an altitude of 27 kilometers — higher than the records set by the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes.
“We're not a thousand percent sure that the mountain wave will go that high, but all the meteorologists tell us that it does, so we're going to go out and find out,” chief pilot Jim Payne said.
The goal is to investigate how fast-moving winds blowing at altitudes between 10 and 50 kilometers influence Earth's climate.
“It turns out some of the biggest waves in the world — vertical 6 movements — exist in the stratosphere," said Ed Warnock, chief executive officer of the Perlan Project. "We're going to go and study those waves. Those waves change weather and they change climate, and we are going to study how do they do that.”
Stratospheric winds may also influence commercial air traffic as airliners 7 fly higher to reduce fuel consumption. The air density 8 at those altitudes is similar to that of the Martian atmosphere, so the Perlan Project may also contribute to the design of aircraft that someday could fly through the skies of the Red Planet.
- The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
- Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。
- The glider was soaring above the valley.那架滑翔机在山谷上空滑翔。
- The pilot managed to land the glider on a safe place.那个驾驶员设法让滑翔机着陆到一个安全的地方。
- The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
- The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。
- The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
- Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。
- The albatross is the king of gliders. 信天翁是滑翔鸟类之王。 来自《用法词典》
- For three summers, may bested and improved their gliders. 他们花了三个夏天不断地测试、改进。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
- The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
- Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。