必克VOA新闻：哈勃太空望远镜使命渐入尾声

[00:06.59]Hubble was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990.

[00:11.40]Mission Control saw something it hadn't expected: fuzzy images.

[00:16.60]Hubble Space Telescope Program Manager Douglas Broome

[00:20.19] delivered the troubling news:

[00:22.69]"The conclusion we've come to is that a significant spherical aberration

[00:27.30] appears to be present in the optics, in the optical telescope system optics."

[00:31.80]In other words - the outer edge of Hubble's primary mirror

[00:35.59]had been ground too flat,

[00:37.39] off by roughly one-fiftieth the thickness of a human hair.

[00:42.09]In 1993, a shuttle mission carried a replacement camera, WFPC2

[00:47.59]and an instrument with corrective lenses called COSTAR

[00:51.09] for astronauts to install on the telescope.

[00:53.69]"The COSTAR inserted mirrors into the optical beam

[00:57.39] that corrected the light for all the other instruments,"

[01:00.39]said National Air and Space Museum senior curator David Devorkin.

[01:04.70]The fix proved that very difficult and very complicated operations

[01:08.70]could be undertaken by shuttle astronauts.

[01:11.20]"The whole idea of living and working in space

[01:13.29] is doing useful stuff and this certainly was useful."

[01:16.89] "On the astronomical side and you might say on the technical side,

[01:21.09]it represents how fast telescopes are improving

[01:25.00]because Hubble was only repaired once,

[01:28.39]but it was upgraded four times."

[01:31.29]COSTAR and WFPC2 were replaced in 2009

[01:35.00]and are now on exhibit in the museum.

[01:37.50]Hubble images have become better and sharper over time.

[01:51.59]And the powerful space telescope has led to other important breakthroughs.

[01:57.50]"… understanding star forming regions,

[01:59.89]how stars form out of gas and dust,

[02:02.00]and now the ability of the Hubble to see deeply into the infrared,

[02:06.50]far deeper than before

[02:08.40] has shown us the processes inside these interstellar clouds

[02:12.50] that literally are forming the stars

[02:15.40] and their interaction with the dust and gas around them."

[02:18.60]As Hubble nears the end of its journey in space,

[02:21.50]the telescope has paved the way for its replacement.

[02:25.30]The James Webb Space Telescope -

[02:27.30]with an expected launch date in 2018 -

[02:30.30]will probe even farther beyond the spectrum of light

[02:33.30]with a primary mirror five times larger than Hubble.

[02:37.20]"The James Webb is optimized for infrared

[02:40.30]because all of the most amazing discoveries about galaxy formation,

[02:44.30]star formation and the kind of stuff

[02:47.50]that astronomers want to know is in the infrared."

[02:51.00]No more service missions are scheduled for repairs or upgrades.

词汇解析

remarkable

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

adj.非凡的；值得注意的；显著的；异常的；卓越的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

He showed remarkable courage when he faced the danger.

他在面对危险的时候表现出非凡的勇气。

Remarkable economic results have been achieved by the company.

那个公司取得了显著的经济效益。

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optical

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

adj.视觉的；光学的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

The optical system of the eye stimulate cell of the retina.

眼睛的视觉系统刺激视网膜内的细胞。

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thickness

难度：2星扩展词汇，属常用10000词

英汉解释

n.厚度；浓度；层

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

The results show that certain thickness of the base metal and the regime of heat treatment will increase the peak hydrogen concentration and promote the tendency of disbonding.

结果显示，一定的母材厚度和焊后热处理条件，使熔合线附近氢浓度峰值提高，从而使氢剥离倾向增大。

I wrapped the ice cream in three thicknesses of newspaper to keep it cool.

我用三层报纸包裹冰淇淋使其不致变热融化。

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shuttle

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.梭子；穿梭；往返移动之物；航天飞机

v.往返运送；穿梭移动

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.

织布机上梭子来回飞动。

用作动词 (v.)

We shuttled the passengers to the city center by helicopter.

我们来来回回地用直升机把旅客运送到市中心。

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mission

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.使命；代表团；任务；布道

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

A Chinese trade mission has been dispatched to Japan.

一个中国贸易代表团已被派往日本。

He has been on confidential missions to Berlin.

他前往柏林执行秘密任务。

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stuff

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.东西；原料；材料

n.素质；本质；废物；无用的想法；废话，蠢话

vt.塞满；填满

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Get rid of that stuff in the garage.

把车库里那些没有用的东西处理掉。

用作及物动词 (vt.)

He stuffed the suitcase with his clothes.

他把衣服塞满手提箱。

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technical

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

adj.技术的；专业的；工艺的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

On technical matters, I defer to the experts.

在技术问题上，我遵从专家的意见。

It is special craft art technical skill in Yunnan.

这是云南独特的工艺美术技艺。

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calculate

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

v.计算；估计；考虑；推测；计划；指望

参考例句

用作动词 (v.)

Scientists have calculated that the world's population will double by the end of the century.

科学家已推算出世界人口在本世纪末将要增加一倍。

We cannot calculate on his help.

我们不能指望他的帮助。

 

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