2017考研英语拓展阅读：宇航员入驻全球首个充气太空舱

考研网

考研英语阅读能力提升需要不断地积累练习，通过多阅读来积累词汇，提升阅读速度，强化把握主旨能力。2017考研复习之初，时间相对充裕，新东方在线建议大家每天多做一些阅读，可娱乐也可增长见闻，还能提升能力。下面一篇文章是关于宇航员入驻全球首个充气太空舱。
    2017考研英语拓展阅读：宇航员入驻全球首个充气太空舱
    Space station astronauts opened the world’s first inflatable space habitat
Monday and floated inside.
    周一，空间站的宇航员们打开了世界上首个充气太空舱，在里面漂浮起来。
    NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams swung open the door to the newly expanded
chamber and was the first to enter. He said it was pristine but cold inside.
    NASA(美国国家航空和宇宙航行局)的宇航员Jeffrey
Williams打开了舱门，飞进刚充好气的太空舱，成为第一个入舱的人。他说里面陈设十分简朴，但是挺冷的。
    The room — called the Bigelow Activity Activity Module, or BEAM — arrived
at the International Space Station in April, packed in the trunk of a capsule
loaded with supplies. It was inflated just over a week ago.
    这个被称作BEAM的太空舱和补给材料一起在四月份到达国际空间站。在一个礼拜之前，它才被充好气。
    Mission Control said the temperature registered 44 degrees, as anticipated,
at one end of the 13-foot-long, 10 ? -foot-wide chamber. There was no trace of
condensation, Williams noted.
    太空航行地面指挥中心表示，太空舱一边温度和预计一样达到了44度。(太空舱长13英尺、宽10.5英尺)Williams表示，太空舱没有压缩的迹象。
    For now, BEAM is empty and dark; Williams and Russian cosmonaut Oleg
Skripochka wore head lamps to illuminate the crinkled, silver walls. They
collected air samples, took expansion measurements and made sure the
air-pressurization tanks were empty, before exiting and closing the door behind
them.
    现在，BEAM内部一片漆黑且空空如也。Williams和俄罗斯宇航员Oleg
Skripochka佩戴头灯在发皱的银灰色墙边摸索。在关上舱门之前，他们收集了空气样本、充气后的尺寸，并确认空气增压舱内部没有其他东西。
    The six-man station crew will deploy more sensors and other gear over the
next few days. After each brief entry, the hatch will be sealed. Mission Control
anticipates just six or seven entries a year.
    空间站的六人小组会在接下来几天内在舱内安装更多的传感器和其他装置。在每次简短的进入勘察后，舱口会被封闭起来。地面指挥中心预计每年需要六到七次的勘察。
    NASA wants to make certain the multi-layered BEAM — an experiment led by
Bigelow Aerospace — can withstand wide temperature fluctuations, radiation and
debris impacts over time. It will remain at the orbiting lab for two years.
    在一段时间后，NASA确认由航天公司Bigelow所主持的多层次BEAM试验能够承受出气温涨落、辐射和碎片残骸的影响。
    The Nevada-based Bigelow is developing even bigger and better inflatable
habitats for space travel. Until BEAM, the company founded by hotel entrepreneur
Robert Bigelow had flown only a pair of inflatable satellites in orbit for
testing.
    坐落在美国内华达州的Bigelow正在研发更大更好的充气太空舱。在BEAM投入使用之前，该由酒店企业Robert
Bigelow成立的公司仅仅在轨道里对一些充气卫星进行测试。
    Both Bigelow and NASA envision using pumped-up habitats for Mars
expeditions. Inflatable spacecraft are lighter and more compact for launch than
the traditional metal housing for astronauts, yet provide roomier living
quarters once expanded.
    Bigelow和NASA都设想在火星探索中使用充气太空舱。和传统的金属飞行器相比，充气的飞行器更加轻盈，能够在充气后提供更大的活动空间，并且更方便降落。
    来源：雅虎新闻