VOA慢速英语2012 ECONOMICS REPORT - SpaceX Is Doing Business in Space

 

ECONOMICS REPORT - SpaceX Is Doing Business in Space

This is the VOA Special English ECONOMICS REPORT.

Space Explorations Technologies, or SpaceX, may be a company to watch in the coming years. This week, SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon¹ 9 rocket from Cape² Canaveral in Florida. The launch vehicle and its reusable Dragon capsule were carrying supplies for the International Space Station.

The countdown sounded like this.

GEORGE DILLER: “Three, two, one, zero and launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as NASA turns to the private sector³ to resupply the International Space Station."

The space agency’s George Diller was right. The National Aeronautics⁴ and Space Administration is turning to private companies to provide services like bringing supplies to the space station.

NASA official Bill Gerstenmaier spoke⁵ to reporters after the launch. He said NASA has already signed agreements with SpaceX for the company’s services.

BILL GERSTENMAIER: “We’ve already initiated⁶ the contract for twelve flights with SpaceX going forward under Commercial Resupply Services and those are already in place.”

The contract is worth one point six billion dollars. Mister Gerstenmaier said the United States no longer pays Russia to carry out such operations.

SpaceX is based in Hawthorne, California. Elon Musk⁷ started the company in two thousand two. But, it is not the first company founded the South African-born businessman. He also started the Internet payment service, PayPal, which is now owned by online auction⁸ store, Ebay. His other company, Tesla Motors, makes electric cars.

Speaking to reporters, Mister Musk likened space travel to where Internet technology was in the nineteen nineties. At that time, businesses were just starting to think about how to sell goods and services on the World Wide Web. Today, billions of dollars in goods and services are sold online.

But after the launch, Elon Musk tried to keep his attention on the job at hand.

ELON MUSK: “Well, I think right now our focus is very much on serving the International Space Station with cargo⁹ and then transitioning to crew and then advancing the state of our rocket technology…I think the critical breakthrough in rocket technology is to make full and rapidly reusable rocket.”

The Dragon capsule is designed to be able to carry both astronauts and cargo. SpaceX says it has forty launches planned over the next few years and contracts worth four billion dollars. It says sixty percent of its upcoming flights are for businesses, not the government.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

7 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

8 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

9 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。