第一架飞离大气层的飞机--X-15

67 第一架飞离大气层的飞机--X-15

EXPLORATIONS - September 12, 2001: X-15 PlaneBy Marilyn Rice Christiano

ANNCR:
EXPLORATIONS -- A PROGRAM IN SPECIAL ENGLISH BY THE VOICE OF AMERICA.
(THEME)
Today, Doug Johnson and frank 1 Oliver tell about the first airplane that flew out of the earth's atmosphere. It was designed to test equipment and conditions for future space flights. The plane was called the x-fifteen.
Voice one:
The (1)pilot of the huge b-fifty-two bomber 2 plane pushes a (2)button. From under the plane's right wing, the black sharp-nosed x-fifteen drops free. It is eleven-and one-half kilometers above the earth.
Pilot Scott Crossfield is in the x-fifteen's only seat. When he is clear of the b-fifty-two, he starts the x-fifteen's (3)rocket engine. And so begins the first powered flight of the (4)experimental 3 plane designed to take man to the edge of space.
Voice two:
The x-fifteen flies high over the sandy wasteland of California's Mojave Desert. Up, up it flies. After three minutes, its (5)fuel has burned up. It is flying about two-thousand kilometers an hour.
Scott Crossfield's voice tightens 4. His breathing becomes harder as the plane pushes against the (6)atmosphere. At that speed, the pressure is three times the force of (7)gravity.
Then the x-fifteen pushes over the top of its flight path. It settles into a long, powerless slide toward 5 the landing 6 field at Edwards air force base.
Designers of the x-fifteen have warned Crossfield about the landing. They say it will be like driving a Race Car toward a brick 7 wall at one-hundred-sixty kilometers an hour, hitting the brakes, and stopping less than a meter from the wall. Crossfield lands the plane without any problem. His success shows, as one newspaper reports, that "the united states has men to (8)match its rockets."
Voice one:
That first flight of the x-fifteen took place in September, nineteen-fifty-nine. But the story began in the nineteen-forties with the 'x' series of experimental aircraft.
The first plane ever to fly faster than the speed of sound was the x-one in nineteen-forty-seven. United states government agencies 8 and america's airplane industry (9)realized then that it was possible to build an even faster plane. It would reach (10)hypersonic speeds -- five times the speed of sound.
The first proposal 9 for this new research vehicle, the x-fifteen, was made in nineteen-fifty-four. The space agency 10, air force and (11)navy (12)jointly supported the program. They wanted a plane that could test conditions for future flights into space.
Voice two:
The project moved quickly. The North American (13)aviation 11 company won the competition to design and build the plane. The design would be part aircraft and part spacecraft. The company took less than four years to produce three x-fifteens.
The planes were not big. They were just fifteen meters long with wings less than seven meters across. They were designed to fly at speeds up to six-thousand four-hundred kilometers an hour. They were designed to reach heights of eighty kilometers. Their purpose was to explore some of the problems of manned flight, during short periods, in lower space. No one had ever done that before.
Voice one:
The x-fifteen project had four major goals.
It would test flight conditions at the edge of earth's atmosphere. It would leave the atmosphere briefly 12, then return, testing the effects of the (14)extreme heat of re-entry. It would provide information on the controls needed in the near weightless (15)environment of lower space. And it would answer a very important question. How would humans react to space flight?
Voice two:
The x-fifteen was a new idea. And it was built with new methods. It was covered in a new (16)material called "inconel x." the material was a (17)mixture of the metals nickel 13 and chromium. It would protect the plane from high temperatures.
There were new designs for the plane's rocket engine, landing equipment and the small rockets needed to move it in space. There was a new system of liquid (18)nitrogen to keep the pilot cool and to (19)resist the crushing 14 force of gravity at high speeds. And there was a new fuel, a mixture of liquid (20)ammonia and liquid oxygen.
Voice one:
The x-fifteen was never designed to go into (21)orbit. Nor could it take-off from the ground. It was carried into the air by a b-fifty-two bomber. The big b-fifty-two carried the small x-fifteen under its wing. It looked a little like a mother whale swimming with its baby.
At about fifteen-thousand meters, the b-fifty-two (22)released the x-fifteen. After a few seconds, when the x-fifteen was safely away, the pilot started its rocket engine. The x-fifteen flew upward 15 with unbelievable power.
Voice two:
The three x-fifteens were flown one-hundred ninety-nine times. Each flight was a new experiment. Planning took many days. The pilot spent fifty hours in a (23)simulator -- a copy of the plane on the ground -- preparing for his ten-minute flight.
Once the real flight began, the pilot had to remember everything he learned 16. He had to work quickly and exactly. All his movements were made against a force that could reach six times the power of gravity. He had to (24)struggle to reach forward for the controls while being pushed back hard in his seat.
A delay of even one second could affect the information being collected. It could change the plane's path just enough to (25)destroy the pilot's chance of a safe landing.
Voice one:
The x-fifteen set height and speed records greater than those expected. The number three plane climbed more than one-hundred-seven kilometers above the earth. The number two plane flew seven-thousand two-hundred thirty-two kilometers an hour. That was more than seven times the speed of sound.
The x-fifteen was the first major (26)investment by the united states in manned space flight technology. Much of what was learned from its flights speeded up the development of the space program.
Voice two:
The x-fifteen tested materials for space vehicles. It tested spacesuits worn later by America's astronauts. It tested (27)instruments for controlling a vehicle in the weightlessness of space. And it (28)proved that experienced 17 pilots had the skills necessary to fly in space.
Twelve military and (29)civilian test pilots flew the x-fifteens. A few became (30)astronauts.
The x-fifteen program lasted about ten years. There were about two-hundred flights. Some of the flights carried scientific experiments. One was a container on the end of the wing. It gathered dust and (31)tiny (32)meteoroids from the edge of space. Another was a set of special instruments that helped measure the effects of the sun's (33)radiation on the outside of the aircraft.
Voice one:
The only (34)tragedy connected with the x-fifteen program happened in nineteen-sixty-seven. The pilot was Michael Adams of the United States air force. It was his seventh x-fifteen flight.
Everything, at first, appeared to be normal. The plane reached a height of eight kilometers. It was flying more than five times the speed of sound. Then, during a test of the wings, the plane moved sharply 18 off its flight path. It dove 19 toward earth at great speed, (35)spinning (36)rapidly, out of control. Atmospheric 20 pressure was too great for the plane. It broke apart. The pilot did not (37)survive.
Voice two:
The x-fifteen made its last flight in December, nineteen-sixty-eight. Nasa needed money for its other projects. It decided 21 to end the x-fifteen program. Many space experts disagreed with the decision. They felt the x-fifteen could have continued to provide new information about aviation and space.
Today, the x-fifteen hangs in the air and space (38)museum in Washington, d-c. It is near two older memorials to flight. There is the Wright brothers' "flyer," which made the first heavier-than-air flight. And there is the "Spirit of (39)Saint Louis," which Charles Lindbergh flew alone across the Atlantic ocean.
On the floor below these aircraft are three spacecraft (40)command ships. One of them, the Apollo-eleven, traveled to the moon just seven months after the last x-fifteen flight. It carried the man who became the first human to step on the moon, Neil Armstrong, a former x-fifteen pilot.
(theme)
Announcer 22:
This special English program was written by Marilyn rice Christiano. Your narrators were Doug Johnson and frank Oliver. Join us again next week for another explorations program on the voice of America.

(1)  pilot[ 5pailEt ]n.飞行员, 领航员, 引水员vt.驾驶(飞机等), 领航, 引水v.驾
(2) button[ 5bQtn ]n.钮扣, [计]按钮v.扣住, 扣紧
(3)  rocket[ 5rCkit ]n.火箭v.飞速上升
(4) experimental[ eks7peri5mentl ]adj.实验的, 根据实验的
(5) fuel[ fjuEl ]n.燃料vt.加燃料, 供以燃料vi.得到燃料
(6) atmosphere[ 5AtmEsfiE ]n.大气, 空气, 气氛
(7) gravity[ 5^rAviti ]n.地心引力, 重力
(8) match[ mAtF ]n.火柴, 比赛, 竞赛, 匹配, (足球, 捧球, 蓝球)比赛v.相配, 相称, 比赛, 相比, 匹配
(9) realize[ 5riElaiz ]vt.认识到, 了解, 实现, 实行
(10) hypersonic[ 7haipE(:)5sCnik ]adj.极超音速的, 远超过音速的
(11) navy[ 5neivi ]n.海军
(12) joint[ dVCint ]n.接缝, 接合处, 接合点, 关节, (牛、羊等的腿)大块肉adj.共同的, 联合的, 连接的, 合办的vt.连接, 接合, 使有接头vi.贴合, 生节
(13) aviation[ 7eivi5eiFEn ]n.飞行, 航空, 航空学, 航空术
(14) extreme[ iks5tri:m ]adj.尽头的, 极端的, 极度的, 偏激的, 最后的n.极端, 极端的事物
(15) environment[ in5vaiErEnmEnt ]n.环境, 外界
(16) material[mE5tIErIEl]n.材料, 原料, 物资, 素材, 布料adj.物质的, 肉体的, 具体的, 重要的, 实质性的
(17) mixture [ 5mikstFE ]n.混合, 混合物, 混合剂
(18) nitrogen[ 5naitrEdVEn ]n.[化]氮
(19) resist[ ri5zist ]vt.抵抗, 反抗, 抗, 忍得住
(20) ammonia[ 5AmEunjE ]n.[化]氨, 氨水
(21) orbit[ 5C:bit ]n.轨道, 势力范围, 生活常规, 眼眶vt.绕...轨道而行vi.进入轨道, 沿轨道飞行, 旋
(22) release[ ri5li:s ]n.释放, 让渡, 豁免, 发行的书, 释放证书vt.释放, 解放, 放弃, 让与, 免除, 发表n.版本, 发布
(23) simulator[ 5simjuleitE ]n.模拟器, 假装者
(24) struggle[ 5strQ^l ]n.竞争, 努力, 奋斗vi.努力, 奋斗, 挣扎vt.尽力使得, 使劲移动
(25) destroy[ dis5trCi ]vt.破坏, 毁坏, 消灭v.消灭, 摧毁
(26) investment[ in5vestmEnt ]n.投资, 可获利的东西
(27) instrument[ 5instrumEnt ]n.工具, 手段, 器械, 器具, 手段
(28) prove[ pru:v ]vt.证明, 证实, 检验, 考验vi.原来(是), 证明(是)
(29) civilian[ si5viljEn ]n.平民, 公务员, 文官adj.民间的, 民用的
(30) astronaut[5AstrEnC:t]n.太空人, 宇航员
(31) tiny[ 5taini ]adj.很少的, 微小的
(32) meteoroid[ 5mi:tjErCid ]n.流星体
(33) radiation[ 7reidi5eiFEn ]n.发散, 发光, 发热, 辐射, 放射, 放射线, 放射物
(34) tragedy[ 5trAdVidi ]n.悲剧, 惨案, 悲惨, 灾难
(35) spin[ spin ]v.旋转, 纺, 纺纱n.旋转
(36) rapid[ 5rApid ]adj.迅速的, 飞快的, 险峻的n.急流, 高速交通工具, 高速交通网
(37) survive[ sE5vaiv ]v.幸免于, 幸存, 生还
(38) museum[ mju(:)5ziEm ]n.博物馆
(39) saint[ seint, sEnt ]n.圣人, 道德崇高的人, 圣徒adj.神圣v.成为圣徒
(40) command[ kE5mB:nd ]n.命令, 掌握, 司令部v.命令, 指挥, 克制, 支配, 博得, 俯临