Discovery Docks On Final Trip to Space Station

    The U.S. space shuttle（航天飞机） Discovery has docked at the International Space Station on its final voyage into outer space.
    The shuttle paused on its way to the orbiting outpost Saturday to perform a 360 degree backflip（后翻滚）, a maneuver¹ that allows astronauts on the space station to take pictures of the shuttle's heat shield to inspect it for possible damage.
    In addition to a crew of six, Discovery is also carrying a human-like robot designed to assist astronauts, and a multi-purpose storage unit.
    Discovery, first launched（发射） in 1984, has flown on 38 missions, more than any other shuttle in the NASA fleet.  It carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit in 1990, and was the first shuttle to travel to Russia's Mir Space Station.
    The mission was originally scheduled for late last year, but was postponed² because of a hydrogen leak and cracks in the external fuel tank.
    The United States is ending its space shuttle program 30 years after the first launch.
    The shuttle Endeavor still has one final voyage, set for April 19 and Atlantis may have one more after that.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

2 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。