2006年VOA标准英语-Hubble Telescope Given Reprieve; Astronauts to

By David McAlary
Washington
31 October 2006

The U.S. space agency says it will send space shuttle astronauts one more time to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope. The decision reverses one made by NASA's previous management two years ago, which caused a scientific and public outcry.

 
Hubble Space Telescope
Astronauts have repaired and upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope four times during its 16 years in orbit and a fifth visit had been planned for last year. But the 2003 loss of the space shuttle Columbia during re-entry put shuttle flights on hold.

A year later, the NASA administrator¹ at the time, Sean O'Keefe, canceled the Hubble servicing mission as too risky² for a shuttle crew. The possibility for a robotic repair visit was also eliminated when studies showed it to be too expensive and too complex to prepare by 2007, the time it was thought the telescope would fail because of weakening batteries and dead stabilizing³ gyroscopes

Now, the present NASA chief, Michael Griffin, has overturned the decision not to send a shuttle crew back to Hubble.

 
Michael Griffin 
"Today I'm here to announce a much more pleasant decision on behalf of the agency," he said. "We are going to add a shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to the shuttle's manifest, to be flown before it [the shuttle] retires."

Griffin was interrupted by a standing⁴ ovation⁵ from the employees of the NASA technical center near Washington that designed and built the telescope and planned the four previous maintenance missions.

"They have all four gone as flawlessly as one could ever imagine and I am fully⁶ confident that this fifth mission will go as flawlessly as any of us can imagine and I'm very proud of your efforts to do so," he said.

Griffin says the shuttle Discovery will take a crew of seven to restore Hubble and add new equipment as early as May 2008 to keep it operating until 2013. He points out that the mission can wait that long because NASA engineers have devised ways to prolong the life of the telescope's batteries and gyroscopes. Even if they fail by 2008, he says the telescope can be protected in a so-called safe mode until astronauts arrive.

Reaction to Griffin's decision has been enthusiastic. Barbara Mikulski, a U.S. senator from Maryland, the location of the NASA technical center, is exultant⁷.

 
Senator Barbara Mikulski talks to employees of Space Telescope Science Institute 
"It's a great day for science. It's a great day for discovery," she said. " It's a great day for inspiration because that is one of the things that Hubble has meant to so many people."

The astronomical⁸ community is equally cheered by Griffin's decision.

"I couldn't be happier," says Michael Bakich, a senior editor at Astronomy magazine. "I view the Hubble Space Telescope as one of the great machines of all time. The number of discoveries it has made and what we have learned are just incalculable."

NASA administrator Michael Griffin says the agency has gained confidence since the Columbia disaster that it can conduct a Hubble servicing mission without more risk than a shuttle visit to the International Space Station. He notes that NASA has developed techniques to inspect and repair shuttles in orbit, relieving fears that a shuttle could not survive the kind of damage that doomed⁹ Columbia, a small hole in its wing incurred¹⁰ when launch debris¹¹ slammed into it.

1 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。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 exultant   

adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的

参考例句：

• The exultant crowds were dancing in the streets.欢欣的人群在大街上跳起了舞。
• He was exultant that she was still so much in his power.他仍然能轻而易举地摆布她，对此他欣喜若狂。

8 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

9 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

10 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

11 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。