Discovery lands safely after 13-day mission

时间：2006-12-25 03:22:44

（单词翻译:单击）


The US Space Shuttle Discovery lands Dec. 22, 2006 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Discovery and its seven-member crew landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center after worries about weather had scotched1 an earlier landing time.
 
Dec. 24 - Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew has landed in Florida after a 13-day mission that advanced construction of the International Space Station.

 

Discovery touched down at 2232 GMT on the landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center, near Cape2 Canaveral, where it had lifted off in a nighttime launch on December 9.

 

"You have seven thrilled people here," shuttle commander Mark Polansky said just after landing.

 

A controller at the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, replied: "Congratulations on what was probably the most complex assembly mission of the Station to date."

 

The Discovery astronauts spent eight days at the International Space Station (ISS), continuing the construction of the orbiting laboratory by attaching a two-tonne truss to its girder-like structure in the first of four space walks.

 

During the next two space walks, they rewired the station's power system and put it on a permanent basis.

 

A fourth space walk was added Monday to shake loose a solar array panel that had gotten stuck as it was being folded.

 

"It was a wonderful end to a great mission," Michael Griffin, a NASA administrator3, said at a news conference at Kennedy Space Center where he welcomed the astronauts after they left the spacecraft.

 

"The crew on orbit and the crew on the ground could not have done better," he said.

 

The shuttle's return to Earth initially4 was scheduled Thursday but the mission was extended a day to allow for the unplanned space walk.

 

Poor weather conditions in Florida had scotched an earlier scheduled landing Friday and National Aeronautics5 and Space Administration officials had considered bringing the shuttle down at alternative sites.

 

A decision to land at Kennedy was made only at the last minute and "it turned out to be a great one," Griffin said.

 

NASA officials had hoped weather conditions would improve enough in Florida to avoid having to land the space shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base in California or White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

 

A landing at either location in the western United States would have meant NASA would have to fly the shuttle to Florida, in the southeast, on the back of a modified Boeing 747 plane, which would cost some 1.7 million dollars.

 

The shuttle plunged6 at more than 26,500 kilometers (16,500 miles) an hour as it descended7 through the Earth's atmosphere, triggering a double sonic boom as it lowered through the skies above the runway on Florida's Atlantic coast.

 

On board were six US astronauts and one from the European Space Agency (ESA), Christer Fuglesang, Sweden's first astronaut.

 

After this mission, NASA plans at least 13 more shuttle flights -- including five in 2007 -- to complete construction of the International Space Station by 2010, when the three-spacecraft shuttle fleet is due to be retired8.

 

ISS construction fell years behind schedule after the 2003 Columbia tragedy when the spacecraft disintegrated9 minutes ahead of landing, killing10 all seven astronauts aboard.

 

NASA suspended the shuttle program to deal with safety problems. The space shuttle Atlantis mission in September marked the resumption of ISS construction.

 

Discovery carried astronaut Sunita Williams to the ISS, where she will remain for six months. Williams replaced Thomas Reiter, a German ESA astronaut who had been on the station since July and who returned on Discovery.

 

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1 scotched 84a7ffb13ce71117da67c93f5e2877b8     
v.阻止( scotch的过去式和过去分词 )；制止（车轮）转动；弄伤；镇压
参考例句：
  • Plans for a merger have been scotched. 合并计划停止实行。
  • The rebellion was scotched by government forces. 政府军已把叛乱镇压下去。 来自辞典例句
2 cape ITEy6     
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 administrator SJeyZ     
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。
4 initially 273xZ     
adv.最初，开始
参考例句：
  • The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
  • Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
5 aeronautics BKVyg     
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。
6 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降
参考例句：
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
7 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的，出身于...的
参考例句：
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
8 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的
参考例句：
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
9 disintegrated e36fb4ffadd6df797ee64cbd05a02790     
v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
  • The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财
参考例句：
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

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