Space Shuttle Atlantis Returns to Launch Pad(2/2)

[生词]

liftoff  n.（名词）The initial movement by which or the instant in which a rocket or other such craft commences flight.起飞，发射：火箭或其他类似的飞行器起飞时的初始动作或时刻

debris n.碎片, 残骸

modification n.更改, 修改, 修正

insulating    adj.绝缘的

shield   n.防护物, 护罩, 盾, 盾状物vt.(from) 保护, 防护v.遮蔽

puncture  n.小孔v.刺破

doom    n.厄运, 毁灭, 死亡, 世末日v.注定, 判决

fleet  n.舰队(尤指有固定活动地区的舰队), 港湾, 小河

moratorium   n.延期偿付, 延期偿付期间~ (on sth) temporary stopping of an activity, esp by official agreement 暂停, 中止

girder          n.梁, 钢桁的支架

[全文听写]

The date is dictated by the need to avoid a later launch that would conflict with a Russian Soyuzl liftoff September 14^th of a new Russian-American space station crew. It is also dependent on NASA's desire for a daylight takeoff so it can observe how much debris flies off the shuttle’s external fuel tank.

确定该日期发射是为了避免与俄罗斯Soyuzl号——搭载着新俄美空间站的全体宇航员，9月14号的升空相冲突。同样也是因为NASA要求在白天发射，以便观察有多少碎片从飞船的附加油箱上脱落。

It wants to make sure that the tank modifications have ended the threat of large piece of hard insulating from falling off and threatening the shuttle’s fragile heat shield, like the piece that punctured and doomed the shuttle Colombia in 2003.

这是为了确保油箱的改造终结了大块脱落的绝热板对飞船脆弱的绝热层的威胁，就像那块2003年刺破，并且毁灭了哥伦比亚号的碎片。

NASA is eager to finish the half-built space station in the four years left before shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

NASA急于在四年中完成现在在建的空间站，这一批飞船到2010年退役。

Construction stopped after the shuttle Colombia disaster forced a moratorium on shuttle flights. The only two flights since then have been tests safely improvements to the fuel tank, but carried no major parts for the research outpost.

哥伦比亚的灾难迫使航空飞行停止，也导致了建设的暂停。从那以后，仅有的2次飞行是对改进的油箱安全的测试，并没有携带研究站的主要部件。

Now, Atlantis is packed with a 17-ton girder holding a second set solar arrays that will power future station laboratories, living quarters and other equipments.

现在，Atlantis已经装上了一个重达17吨的支架支撑的第二套太阳能板，它将会对未来空间站实验室，生活间和其他设备提供能量。