Unit 4. World News. Up in space.
Part 1. Warming up.
A. Keywords.
Mars, collect information, orbit, order back, lift-off, International Space Station, give up hope, return in triumph.
Vocabulary.
reconnaissance, orbiter, abbreviated, en route, truss, revive, space probe,
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Cape Canaveral, Columbia, Discovery, Pathfinder, Endeavor, Hubble Telescope.
You're going to hear 5 brief news items. Focus your attention on who, what, when, where, why and how in each news item. And then answer the questions briefly.
1. An American spacecraft is travelling to Mars to collect information about the red planet.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter left Cape Canaveral in Florida on August 12th.
The space vehicle is expected to arrive in March of next year.
It is to orbit the planet for at least four years.
2. The US space shuttle Columbia has returned to Earth after an abbreviated stay in space because of a mechanical problem.
The Space Agency ordered the shuttle back to Earth after one of the three power generators failed Sunday.
The generators called "fuel cells" provide all of the shuttle's electrical power.
And NASA safety rules require the spaceship to return to Earth if any fuel cell fails.
3. US space shuttle Discovery has made a successful lift-off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida en route to the International Space Station.
The shuttle with five male and two female astronauts onboard will take another section of the half-built International Space Station a little truss or frame into orbits.
It's scheduled to come back to Earth on December 21.
