Shuttle to deliver 'hot and cold' 发现号航天飞机将传送“制冷
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2009-08-25 02:50 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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The US shuttle Discovery is all set for its latest mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

美国发现号航天飞机为最近的国际空间站任务做准备。

This is the Discovery orbiter
This is the Discovery orbiter's 37th mission

The 13-day flight will deliver science equipment to the platform, including a new freezer to store biological samples and a furnace(炉子,熔炉) for baking materials.

The lab equipment was made in Europe, which is represented(表现,描绘) in Discovery's crew by Swede Christer Fuglesang.

The mission will be the 30th shuttle flight dedicated1 to station assembly and maintenance(维护,保持).

The current plan is for a further six sorties to be made to the ISS before America's re-useable spaceship fleet is retired2 at the end of next year or early in 2011.

The lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is timed for 0136 local time (0536 GMT) on Tuesday.

The latest mission has a strong European focus.

European Space Agency (Esa) astronaut Christer Fuglesang will conduct two of the three spacewalks planned during Discovery's stay at the ISS.

On one of these walks, the Swede will move cabling on the exterior3(外部,表面) of the station in readiness for the arrival next year of a connecting unit, called Node 3 or "Tranquility", and a huge window referred to as the Cupola.

The two modules5 will be Europe's final large-scale contributions to the assembly of the ISS.

Discovery's payload bay is taken up with the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module4 (MPLM), which acts as a giant packing box on shuttle logistics missions.

For this flight, the MPLM contains almost seven tonnes of cargo6. This mass includes two more important European donations to the ISS project.

One is a Melfi (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS), which can store biological samples.

"This is the second such freezer," explained Martin Zell, Esa's head of ISS Utilisation.

"This first one is already up there since three years and working extremely well.

"It's the main freezer element on the station and can operate between plus-4C, at the upper temperature, down to minus-80 degrees; and even in different temperatures in its four cold volumes, or compartments," he told BBC News.

The additional Melfi will facilitate(帮助,促进) the increased science workload7 taking place on the station now that its resident crew has been raised from three to six.

All manner of biological samples will be stored in the new facility, including blood taken from the astronauts.

This is routinely drawn8 for study, to further scientists' understanding of the impacts of long-duration spaceflight on the human body.

Growing issue

The other notable European cargo item is the Materials Science Laboratory.

This contains a safe furnace (up to 1,400C) in which astronauts can first melt and then solidify9 a range of samples, such as metal alloys10(金属合金).

The weightless conditions on the station mean the fine-scale structures in these cooling samples will grow in a different way from how they would at the surface of the Earth.

Scientists expect these experiments to provide novel information that can be applied11 to everyday industrial manufacturing processes.

With MSL and the Melfi units, Europe is providing both the coldest and the hottest conditions for science on the station.

As well as preparing the platform for the arrival of Tranquility and the Cupola, the mission's spacewalks will replace experiments that currently live on the outside of Esa's Columbus laboratory.

They will also exchange one of the tanks for storing ammonia(氨水), which is used to move excess heat from inside the station to the radiators12 located outside.

Discovery will also drop off US astronaut Nicole Stott for a three-month stay on the ISS, and pick up colleague Tim Kopra for the ride home. Kopra has been living on the platform for the past five weeks.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 dedicated duHzy2     
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的
参考例句:
  • He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
  • His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。
2 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
3 exterior LlYyr     
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的
参考例句:
  • The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
  • We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。
4 module iEjxj     
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。
5 modules 0eb9b3af2e4a00837a1b1a854c9ea18c     
n.模块( module的名词复数 );单元;(宇宙飞船上各个独立的)舱;组件
参考例句:
  • The course consists of ten core modules and five optional modules. 这门课程包括十个必修单元和五个选修单元。
  • Our English course is divided into modules on poetry, drama, and novels. 我们的英语课分为诗歌、戏剧和小说等单元。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 cargo 6TcyG     
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
参考例句:
  • 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。
7 workload fVCzw     
n.作业量,工作量
参考例句:
  • An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
  • He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。
8 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
9 solidify CrJyb     
v.(使)凝固,(使)固化,(使)团结
参考例句:
  • Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
  • Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。
10 alloys a0554febd06fadac0b9b8f0ad597e74d     
n.合金( alloy的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • This is essentially a development of thoria dispersion strengthened nickel alloys. 这基本上是用二氧化钍弥散强度化的镍基合金。 来自辞典例句
  • The lack of deep hardening in these alloys negates their use. 这些合金缺乏深层硬化能力使它们无法利用。 来自辞典例句
11 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
12 radiators 3b2bec7153ad581082a64cd93346b77f     
n.(暖气设备的)散热器( radiator的名词复数 );汽车引擎的冷却器,散热器
参考例句:
  • You can preset the radiators to come on when you need them to. 你可以预先调好暖气,使它在你需要的时候启动。
  • Stars are radiators of vast power. 恒星是强大的发光体。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
TAG标签: mission cold hot shuttle ISS
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