U.S. Shuttle Discovery Takes Off

美國太空梭發現號升空（下）

【新聞關鍵字】

1. debut n. 首演

2. falcon n. 獵鷹

3. demonstration n. 展示

4. entrepreneur n. 企業家

5. Capsule n. 太空艙

6. Grant v. 給予

NASA will then turn over cargo deliveries to two commercial firms that are privately held by both Space Exploration Technologies of California and Orbital Sciences Corporation of Virginia.

美國太空總署之後將轉移貨物遞送業務給兩家商業公司，這兩家公司為加州的太空探測科技和維吉尼亞州的軌道科技公司所擁有。

Station partners Russia, Europe and Japan also have vessels that can haul cargo to the outpost.

太空站的合作夥伴俄羅斯、歐洲和日本，也有太空船可以運送貨物到前哨國際太空站。

Crew transport is handled exclusively by Russia, which flies its three-person Soyuz capsules at a cost of US$51 million per seat.

船員的運輸則全由俄羅斯安排，以三人座蘇伊式太空艇載運，費用為每個座位美金5,100萬。

The Obama administration is proposing to boost NASA’s budget by US$6 billion over five years to seed development of commercial space taxis in the U.S..

歐巴馬政府計畫調高美國太空總署預算至5年60億美金，來培養美國境內商業太空計程車的發展。

Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, plans to debut its Falcon 9 rocket next month on a demonstration mission.

太空探測科技，或稱為太空X，計畫在下個月的展示任務中，首次亮相獵鷹九號火箭。

Founder and chief executive Elon Musk, a multimillionaire Internet entrepreneur, says it will take about three years to develop a launch escape system so SpaceX’s Dragon capsule can carry people.

創辦人兼執行長艾隆‧馬斯克，是一位網路企業億萬富翁，他說：這需要三年左右的時間來發展小艇逃生系統，以讓太空X龍級太空艇可以載人。

Other firms, including Boeing and United Launch Alliance, are all working on space taxi development under NASA grants.

其他的公司，包含波音和聯合發射聯盟，都在美國太空總署的資助下發展太空計程車運輸業務。

本新聞影音出處：新唐人電視台英語新聞

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_na/2010-04-06/001657940124.html

【每日一句】

I am in the third grade.

我是三年級

【今日諺語】

Put your shoulder to the wheel, please.

請鼎力相助

【看笑話學英語】

Our marketing Class at university was discussing an elevator company that sold its products worldwide.

我們大學行銷課裡正在討論一家全球行銷的電梯公司。

The professor had listed on the blackboard some forces influencing the company’s operations, including political climate, currency restrictions and import quotas.

教授將影響公司營運的一些力量列在黑板上，包括政治氣侯、貨幣限制與進口配額。

When he asked if anyone could name other forces that would have an impact on an international elevator company, a voice from the back called out, “Gravity."

當他詢問是否有人可以指出，其他可對國際電梯公司造成衝擊的力量。有個聲音從後面叫了出來：“重力”！