美国航空航天局试验火箭就位
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2009-10-21 05:34 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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The US space agency's Ares 1-X test rocket has reached its launch pad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

美国太空总署的Ares 1-X试验火箭已到达佛罗里达州肯尼迪太空中心的发射台。

The rocket was brought out on a large crawler-transporter
The rocket was brought out on a large crawler-transporter

The launcher's journey from its assembly building to the pad took nearly eight hours.

The super-slim, 100m-tall launcher is a demonstrator for the vehicle Nasa plans to use in the next decade to take its new astronaut crewship into orbit.

The Ares I-X is expected to make an unmanned, two-minute flight at the end of the month.

This is designed to check out basic design concepts and gather engineering data.

However, the project's long-term future is uncertain and could conceivably(可能,想象中) be cancelled in the coming months.

US President Barack Obama convened1 an expert panel back in May to review American human spaceflight plans and priorities.

Led by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine, the advisory2 group has suggested a range of options for getting astronauts into space - most of which do not require the new stick-like Ares launcher.

The committee is expected to deliver its final report to the White House this week.

The Ares 1-X started its move from the giant Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center at around 0639 BST (0139 EDT) on Tuesday.

It was carried atop a huge crawler(履带牵引装置)-transporter vehicle during the 6.7km (4.2 miles) journey to launch pad 39B.

The rocket is now positioned on the pad and engineers are establishing mechanical and electrical connections.

Later today, a vehicle stabilisation system - to steady the rocket against high winds - and a rotating service structure will be deployed3.

The $350m (£213m; 234m euro) test launch is scheduled to take place from the Florida spaceport no earlier than the 27th of the month.

The 1-X will climb about 40km (25 miles) into the sky during the powered phase(主动段) of its flight, continuously measuring vehicle aerodynamics(空气动力学), controls and performance of the rocket's first stage.

The demonstrator will help verify design assumptions so that when the Ares 1 proper is built, the engineers can be confident it will fly as expected.

"It's a tall rocket; it's been over three decades since anyone has built a rocket this tall. That was the Saturn4 V," explained Trent Smith, the vehicle processing engineer for the Ares 1-X.

"We have over 700 sensors5 on this rocket; and the whole point of Ares 1-X is to understand how does a rocket this shape, this weight, this tall actually fly," he told BBC News.

The top half of the 1-X is a dummy(傀儡,假人). What would be an upper-stage, with a crew capsule and its emergency escape mechanism6 are simulators made to the correct shape and weight.

Once the first stage has been extinguished and has separated from the top of the 1-X, all the elements will come back to Earth.

The first-stage booster will parachute(跳伞) into the Atlantic Ocean where it will be recovered for inspection7 by engineers. The simulation elements of the vehicle will be destroyed on impact with the water.

The US space agency is scheduled to retire its space shuttles next year, and has begun the development of a new human space launch "architecture" called Constellation8.

The architecture calls for two new rockets: the Ares 1 to launch crew, and a new heavy-lift rocket known as Ares 5 that could put into orbit the equipment needed by a manned capsule to travel to the Moon and beyond.

However, all the systems are under review, and many commentators9 expect the Ares development plans to be heavily modified or even cancelled.

If it is allowed to proceed, a manned Ares 1 is not expected to fly before 2016.



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1 convened fbc66e55ebdef2d409f2794046df6cf1     
召开( convene的过去式 ); 召集; (为正式会议而)聚集; 集合
参考例句:
  • The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
  • The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。
2 advisory lKvyj     
adj.劝告的,忠告的,顾问的,提供咨询
参考例句:
  • I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
  • He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。
3 deployed 4ceaf19fb3d0a70e329fcd3777bb05ea     
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用
参考例句:
  • Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
  • The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。
4 Saturn tsZy1     
n.农神,土星
参考例句:
  • Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪,为什么只有土星有光环。
  • These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们,土星由较轻的物质构成。
5 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
6 mechanism zCWxr     
n.机械装置;机构,结构
参考例句:
  • The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
  • The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。
7 inspection y6TxG     
n.检查,审查,检阅
参考例句:
  • On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查,发现肉变质了。
  • The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。
8 constellation CptzI     
n.星座n.灿烂的一群
参考例句:
  • A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
  • The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。
9 commentators 14bfe5fe312768eb5df7698676f7837c     
n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 );时事评论员;注释者;实况广播员
参考例句:
  • Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语,真叫人腻烦。
  • Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话,令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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