First commercial spacecraft docks with space station

 WASHINGTON, May 25 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule docked with the International Space Station on Friday and became the first commercial spacecraft to reach the orbital outpost.

 

According to U.S. space agency NASA, the capsule was securely bolted to the Harmony module¹ of the station at 12:02 p.m. EDT. ( 1602 GMT), following a grab by the station's robotic arm earlier in the day.

 

"Dragon has attached with the International Space Station!!!! History has been made!!!" California-based private company SpaceX announced through its Twitter account following the docking.

The cone-shaped Dragon capsule is 19 feet tall and 12 feet across. It carries more than 1,000 pounds of cargo², mostly food and clothing -- items that NASA regards as no big loss should the launching fail.

 

The station's hatches are set to open on Saturday for the unloading of the Dragon's more than half ton of cargo to begin.

 

Dragon will remain at the space station for nearly a week. Then, it will be unberthed next Thursday and will head back to Earth where it is planned to re-enter the atmosphere and splashdown off the coast of southern California.

 

"Now that a U.S. company has proven its ability to resupply the space station, it opens a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space and new job creation opportunities right here in the U.S.," NASA Administrator⁴ Charles Bolden said in a statement.

 

White House science adviser⁵ John Holdren also hailed the achievement.

 

"For the first time, a private American company has successfully launched a spacecraft into orbit and berthed³ it with the International Space Station -- an achievement of historic scientific and technological⁶ significance and a key milepost in President Obama's vision for America's continued leadership in space," Holdren said in a statement.

 

"I could not be prouder of our scientists and engineers -- both government and private sector⁷ employees -- who have contributed to this historic mission," he said.

 

What sets the Dragon apart from other capsules is that it can bring back space station experiments and old equipment as the space shuttles did. None of the Russian, European or Japanese supply ships do that -- they burn up when they return to Earth. The Russian Soyuz vehicles that ferry astronauts have little room to spare.

 

If the mission is successful, SpaceX would collect the remaining payments on a 396-million-U.S.dollar agreement with NASA to develop the cargo ship. SpaceX would then enter a 1.6-billion- dollar contract for a dozen cargo flights to the station.

 

SpaceX launched Dragon from Cape⁸ Canaveral on Tuesday with its Falcon⁹ 9 rocket. On Thursday, the capsule came within 1.6 miles of the space station in a practice fly-by.

 

Before Dragon's lift-off, flights to the space station have always been a government-only affair.

 

Until their retirement¹⁰ last summer, U.S. space shuttles carried most of the gear and many of the astronauts to the orbiting outpost. Since then, American astronauts have had to rely on Russian capsules for rides. European, Japanese and Russian supply ships have been delivering cargo.

 

NASA is looking to the private sector, in this post-shuttle era, to get American astronauts launching again from U.S. soil. It will be at least four to five years before SpaceX or any other private operator is capable of flying astronauts.

1 module   

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。

2 cargo   

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。

3 berthed   

v.停泊( berth的过去式和过去分词 )；占铺位

参考例句：

• The ship is berthed at Southampton. 船停泊在南安普敦。
• We berthed our ship at dusk. 黄昏时分我们在泊位停船。 来自辞典例句

4 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

9 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

10 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。