2006年VOA标准英语-US Company Builds Large High-Flying Balloon to

By Mike O'Sullivan
Palmdale, California
06 September 2006

Engineers in the California desert are testing a new communications platform that blends modern electronics with old technology. Developers say a helium-filled balloon carrying high-tech¹ equipment can be a cheaper alternative to satellites. The device called a Stratellite could provide communication links to inaccessible² places.

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Bob Jones in front of the Stratellite prototype  
  
The prototype of the robotic airship is being assembled in a huge hangar where the B-1 bomber³ was built, and where engineers once worked on the experimental X-33 spacecraft.

Bob Jones of the company Sanswire Networks says the balloon will hover⁴ in the stratosphere at a height of nearly 20,000 meters. From there, it will provide video, voice and data communication to an area the size of Texas.

The Stratellite will offer links for cell phones and television receivers, in what he calls the last-mile solution.

"The last-mile solution - it means that people that live up in the mountains or out in the country where there's no infrastructure⁵, well, this is the answer," said Bob Jones.

He says a network of Stratellites could offer computer users Internet access anywhere.

"For example, if I'm in the middle of the Mojave Desert, I could open up my laptop and I could communicate," he said.

Jones envisions hundreds of the airships hovering⁶ high above the United States to augment⁷, but not replace, existing satellite and ground communications.

"We would like to see a lot of these things flying and providing the needed communications," noted⁸ Bob Jones.

The Stratellite is a rigid⁹ airship, unlike a blimp, which has no supporting structure. The new ship is more like the Zeppelins of the 1920s and '30s.

The prototype is a little smaller than an advertising¹⁰ blimp, at 37 meters stem to stern. Made with modern materials such as carbon composites, it is incredibly light, weighing only 340 kilograms. The prototype is one-fifth the size of the final version.

Bob Jones with the Stratellite fin  
  
Jones shows a visitor the components¹¹ being crafted in the hangar.

"Yeah, these are the fins," he points out. "They are very light. This is carbon/carbon right here. This is a foam¹² core. And you have got carbon with foam sandwiched. So what we are doing is, for the structure - this is the main structure here - we want to make sure that this does not fail."

The Stratellite is intended to stay aloft for 18 months, before operators on the ground return it for servicing.

The airship will undergo testing in coming days. Its technology is unproven, and even if it works, there is tough competition in a crowded industry. But Jones believes the new device will fill a niche¹³ in the communications market, and will also have other uses.

"It is amazing looking at the potential of this vehicle, not only the use of the communication but for homeland security, utilizing¹⁴ something like this to fly the coastal¹⁵ area, the border between Canada and the U.S., and down in Mexico and the U.S., and being able to detect people going across," continued Bob Jones.

He says the balloon could be used for search-and-rescue operations and in natural disasters.

Jones says the South American nations of Colombia and Peru and the US military have shown interest in the project.

Sanswire is not the only company looking for new uses of old technologies. Next door, a company founded by Russian immigrants is making advertising blimps, and developing a new hybrid¹⁶ airplane-airship to carry tourists and cargo¹⁷.

And just down the highway, in the desert town of Mojave, aerospace¹⁸ visionary Burt Rutan is working on a craft to carry tourists into space. In 2004, he launched the world's first private spaceship, called SpaceShipOne, from Mojave Airport.

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 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

3 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

4 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

7 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

12 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

13 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

14 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

15 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

16 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

17 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。

18 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。