CNN 2011-03-12

Discovery. Hello to all of you. I'm Carl Azuz. Thank you for checking out this Thursday edition of CNN Student News. First up, wheels down. The space shuttle Discovery touching¹ down for the last time yesterday after finishing a 13-day mission to the international space station. Over the course of its lifetime, Discovery has spent 365 days -- a full year! -- in space. It carried the oldest person to ever fly in to space, astronaut John Glenn at age 77; not his first trip. The first African-American to perform a spacewalk rode in Discovery; the first female to ever pilot a spacecraft, on Discovery. Now, it'll be the first shuttle to retire. John Zarrella was at the Kennedy Space Center when Discovery landed yesterday. John, what it was like there?

Carl, the weather was just spectacular here at the Kennedy Space Center. A little bit windy, but perfectly² blue skies as the space shuttle Discovery, after 39 flights in space, after 148 million miles flown, returned to Earth for the last time. From here on, Discovery and the other vehicles, after they fly, will be "safed," as they say, and in essence become museum pieces down the road.

We have main engine start.

The space shuttle: For more than 30 years, it has been part of our vocabulary. Soon, it will be part of our history. The winged spacecraft is unmistakable, an engineering marvel³. Without it, the international space station could not have been built.

When you come to the round handrail, pause for the solar re-operations.

The Hubble Telescope would not have been repaired more than once. The Air Force used the shuttle for secret missions. We'll never know exactly what. Of course, it's no secret the shuttle program is now coming to an end. Long overdue⁴, some say. Time to move on, build something safer, more reliable, less expensive to fly.

Maybe five, 10, 15 years from now, there's going to be a nostalgia⁵ for the shuttle. Were we ever that audacious to go build a spacecraft to do things like that? And I think we're going to look back, and it's going to be as if it was something out of a science fiction movie.

As each orbiter returns to Earth from its final flight, it will be readied for retirement⁶. Engines removed, toxic⁷ gases purged⁸, cryogenics and pyrotechnics removed. Discovery will be the first shuttle to move on.

And so, I somewhat liken it to, now we're at a point where we're sending our kid off to college, right? We've taken care of these vehicles. We've loved them. We've put everything we have into them. And now it's time for us to let them go a little bit.

It will take nine months to make each orbiter ready. In essence, a museum piece. Discovery, the oldest in the fleet, 39 missions under her belt, 142 million miles flown, is headed to the Smithsonian.

I hope they display it so that everybody can see, you know, what it was really like to be inside of it, what it was like to fly it, what it was like to operate it. And, more importantly, all the things that it could do.

Where Endeavour and Atlantis end up hasn't been decided⁹. Wherever it is, they will instantly become the centerpiece attractions where people will walk up with their children and grandchildren and say, "I remember when shuttles flew." John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

1 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

5 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

6 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。

7 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

8 purged   

清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响

参考例句：

• He purged his enemies from the Party. 他把他的敌人从党内清洗出去。
• The iron in the chemical compound must be purged. 化学混合物中的铁必须清除。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。