【外语特色•学习小贴士】Discovery

As Discovery begins its 39th and final mission into Earth's orbit Thursday, America’s 30-year space shuttle program comes one step closer to its scheduled end this April.
发现号航天飞机2月24日下午升空，开始它第39次、也是最后一次飞行任务。美国历经30年的航天飞机计划将按计划于4月结束。

Discovery has been a regular visitor to Earth's orbit since its maiden flight in 1984. It is the oldest and longest-serving vehicle in the U.S. space agency’s shuttle fleet. Discovery’s final flight follows several delays due to technical problems and repairs to its external fuel tank, but NASA’s mission launch director Mike Leinbach says the shuttle is still space-ready.
发现号1984年进行首次航天飞行之后，成为地球轨道的常客。发现号是美国太空总署航天飞机机队里最老、服役年头最长的一架航天飞机。美国航空航天管理局的发射主任迈克·莱因巴克说，这次发现号的最后飞行，曾经因为技术问题以及修理外油箱而几度延期，但它仍旧能承担太空飞行任务。

"It’s her 39th mission and [there] would have been quite a few left in her had the program been extended, but it wasn’t," he says. "It is a kind of bittersweet to get the last flight out of her, but she’s going to perform perfectly fine in orbit and bring the crew home safely."
他说：“发现号是一架很棒的航天飞机。这次是它第39次飞行。如果太空飞行计划延长，它还可以飞许多次。可是计划没有延长。 这次看着它做最后一次飞行，我们心里真是苦甜参半。但是它将在圆满完成任务，把宇航员平安带回家。”

Discovery’s 11-day mission is a supply run to the International Space Station. On board are 3,855 kilograms of cargo including a large supply closet, a replacement radiator and a humanoid robot helper named Robonaut 2.
发现号在这次11天的任务中，要为国际空间站运送补给物资。机上装载了3,855公斤货物，包括一个大型储藏柜，一架替换的散热器和一个名叫太空机器人2号的人形机器人。这个头戴金盔、身着白衣的机器人将协助宇航员在空间站内外进行维修以及其它工作。

NASA plans two more missions, one each for the remaining two orbiters, Endeavor and Atlantis, before the Shuttle program ends later this year.
美国航空航天局计划，今年在航天飞机项目结束之前，再进行两次太空飞行，分别由奋进号和亚特兰蒂斯号执行。

NASA will then have to rely on European, Russian and Japanese rocket launches to carry astronauts and supplies into orbit until commercial U.S. space ferries become fully operational, possibly within the next five years. In the meantime, plans are still being worked out for putting Discovery and the other retired space shuttles on permanent museum display.
在那之后，美国航空航天局将暂时依靠欧洲、俄罗斯和日本的火箭，将宇航员和供应物资送入轨道，直到美国的商业太空飞行准备就绪为止。这可能需要5年的时间。与此同时，有关方面正在计划将发现号和其它退役的航天飞机送入博物馆，永久性展出。

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文字记者：龙美村

编辑：李政