万花筒2008-03-12:欧洲不需要NASA

Europe's new generation spacecraft European space travel is taking a giant step forward with the launch of a first-of-its-kind spacecraft.

It’s the biggest space vehicle Europe has ever built. Jules Verne weighs 20 tons and stands more than 30 feet high. In a way it’s not much more than a high-tech¹ space truck to carry supplies to the International Space Station. But it’s actually much more important than that, because it gives Europe the ability to take goods and astronauts into space independently of NASA.  

“The Jules Verne Vehicle is something which the Europe has spent a lot of money and a lot of time working on, and if it works, it will be certainly a big step forward for the countries that are involved with that. That does not include the UK um, but nonetheless it certainly is a big technological² breakthrough to have something like this going up built by the countries in the Europe rather than the Americans in doing this kind of work. ” 

When it blasts off from French Guiana early on Sunday, it will be unmanned carrying a cargo³ of almost 8 tons of fuel, food, air and water. The European Space Agency says it’s the first spacecraft to dock in space without human intervention⁴. It uses a Russian-built docking system, with laser eyes to close in on the space station. And although it’s unmanned, it is man-rated, so astronauts will be able to collect supplies, including drinking water from Milan during its six months’ stay. After that it will undock, carrying the Space Station’s rubbish, and burn up on reentry—a very expensive dustbin.   

It’s been built mostly in France and Germany but British engineers helped to fuel the vehicle at the launch site. 

"This is a lot bigger than anything I have ever done before. I’m quite excited about it because it's, it's what, it’s the European contribution to the Space Station, and it’s on a big scale as well.”  

After the last space shuttle flies in 2010, Jules Verne will be the only game in town. 

WORDS IN THE NEWS     

1. dock : verb 

When one spacecraft docks or is docked with another, the two crafts join together in space. 

2. man-rated : adj

Human-rated or man-rated are terms used to describe the certification of a rocket or airplane as worthy⁵ of transporting humans. NASA now uses "Human-rating" when describing requirements for these systems. The terms "man-rated" and "human-rated" are mostly used interchangeably.

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 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。

3 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。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。