A Countdown of Countdowns: The Space Shuttle's Finale 03.12.10

　　为倒数而倒数：航天飞机的终章 2010-03-12

　　Ver 1.01

　　At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, flags swing in the breeze as space shuttle Endeavour approaches Launch Pad 39A. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

　　在位于佛罗里达州的NASA肯尼迪航天中心，旗随着微风飘摆，伴随着39A发射台上的奋进号。

　　For 50 years, NASA's been famous for counting backward from 10 to zero. But a final countdown is now under way that will stand out among them all.

　　50年来，NASA一直以从10至0的倒数而著称。但是最终的倒数已经开始浮现并将超越以往。

　　After 130 space shuttle missions, only four remain before the fleet is scheduled to retire. That's four flights remaining to use the unique capabilities of the shuttle to finish construction on the International Space Station and prepare it for life after shuttle. Each flight is unique and extremely complicated. Attention to detail and planning will be needed to be successful. There are no easy flights remaining and there may be pauses in this countdown that will ensure the highest chance of mission success. The shuttle will fly each flight when it's ready.

　　经过130次航天飞机任务后，机队在准备退役之前，只剩下4次任务。这4此任务继续依靠航天飞机独特的能力来完成国际空间站的建设以及为国际空间站在航天飞机退役之后谋划生路。每次任务都是独特并且极端复杂的。注重细节和遵照计划是成功所要求的。任务并不容易，且可能于倒数时中断，以确保拥有使任务成功的最高机会。准备就绪后航天飞机将逐一发射。

　　Take the time to look and really study the remaining shuttle flights. Here's a close up look at the countdown of flights:

　　花点时间老看看并了解这些剩下的旅程吧。这里可以深入了解倒数的旅程：

　　8: STS-127 -- A Mission for all Nations

　　8：STS-127--全球参与的任务

　　The International Space Station has been growing steadily over the past few years, but the one thing it still doesn't have is a porch. STS-127 will take care of that.

　　过去的几年中国际空间站正在持续成长，但是一直缺少的一样东西便是一个门廊。STS-127会注意这一点

　　Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the external facility for Japan's Kibo module during that mission, completing the Japanese complex on the space station and providing a science platform outside the station walls.

　　奋进号航天飞机在任务期间会运送一个日本希望舱的外部设施，完成国际空间站上日本结构的全部建设，并提供一个空间站外的实验平台。

　　And if the international flavor of the cargo isn't enough, it will be the first shuttle mission to visit the station after its expansion to a six-person crew, when the station will have representatives from all five international partners on board.

　　如果说货舱中的国际味不够浓厚，这将是第一个，访问扩展到6名成员后的空间站的航天飞机任务，届时空间站将有来自全部5个国际伙伴机构的成员在站。

　　"It just brings a lot of different nations together," STS-127 Commander Mark Polansky said. "I look at space and what we've done with the International Space Station as a wonderful example of how we can cooperate. We all have a common goal, and we all work together. We all have cultural differences, and somehow we put all that aside and we get the job done."

　　它就像把不同的国家连在一起，STS-127指令长Mark Polansky说，我仰望太空，我们在空间站的所作所为是我们有能力共同合作的精彩体现。我们都有一个宫廷的目标，并且我们一同工作。我们彼此存在文化差异，但以某种方式我们可以忽略那些并把工作做好。

　　The installation of the new external facility will be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate all that.

　　新外部设施的安装工作将是一个完美的机会去证实这一点。

　　"You'll have this truly integrated operation, where you've got the Canadian robotic arm holding the new big piece of Japanese hardware, brought up by a United States vehicle," said Holly Ridings, the lead space station flight director for the mission. "If you think about the integration of all those parts and pieces, it's really amazing how far we've come."

　　你会遇到这个真实而综合的操作，当你获得加拿大臂抓住的这个又新又大的由美国运载器运来的日本组件，Holly Ridings，任务中空间站飞行主管说道，如果你琢磨一下综合起来后的所有零件，我们的作为真是难以置信

　　7: STS-128 -- Stepping Up Station Science

　　7：STS-128-增长中的空间站实验

　　With the increasing size of the space station crew comes an increasing amount of crew time available to be spent on science. STS-128 will bring up new projects for them to spend that time on.

　　随着空间站的空间逐渐增加，成员数量进入了增长时期以便可以开展实验。STS-128将会为其带去新的计划。

　　Tucked inside the multi-purpose logistics module to be carried up inside Discovery's cargo bay will be two new experiment racks the materials science research rack-1 and the fluids integrated rack. The materials rack will allow the crews of the space station to conduct experiments on such diverse materials as metals, glasses, crystals and ceramics. They'll be able to study how materials mix and solidify or how crystals grow, outside the confines of the Earth's gravity.

　　发现号货舱所装载的多功能后勤舱中的折页将会成为两个新的实验台-材料试验研究台1和流体综合实验台。材料试验太可以让空间站机组试验不同的材料，比如金属，玻璃，水晶和陶瓷。特们可以研究如何制造合金以及水晶的成长，且不受地球重力的影响。

　　If it's not covered by the materials rack, there's a fair chance that it will be by the fluids rack. Colloids, gels, bubbles, boiling and cooling are just a few of the long list of areas astronauts will study using the fluids rack.

　　当然材料试验台并不是全部，流体实验台也会提供一个好的实验机会。胶质，凝胶，气泡，沸腾和冷却，这些只是宇航员通过这个实验台所要学习的部分领域。

　　Of course, with all the additional science being done on the station, the crews will need more room in which to store the fruits of their labor. So Discovery will also bring up a second Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS or MELFI, as it's known.

　　当然，空间站上当全部的实验均被开展后，机组需要更多的空间以便存储他们的劳动成果。所以发现号会为空间站带去第二个负80度实验室冷藏器，正如大家所知。

　　And one other way that the STS-128 (and STS-125 and STS-127) mission will further the cause of science is by taking part in crew seat vibration tests that will help engineers on the ground understand how astronauts experience launch. They'll then use the information to design the crew seats that will be used in future Constellation launches.

　　另一方面，STS-128（以及STS-125和STS-127）任务将会通过机组座椅振动测试来促进了解其中的原因，并帮助地面工程师了解宇航员发射时的感受。工程师会用得到的数据设计用于未来星座计划发射是所需的座椅。

　　Astronauts Nicole Stott and European Space Agency's (ESA) Christer Fuglesang, both STS-128 mission specialists, attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, participate in a fixed-base shuttle mission simulator (SMS) training session in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Image credit: NASA

　　宇航员Nicole Stott以及来自欧洲航天机构的Christer Fuglesang，均为STS-128的任务专家，正专注于有关他们的发射训练和宇航服穿着，并参加一期位于Jake Garn模拟器和NASA约翰逊航天中心的，基于航天飞机任务模拟器（SMS）改造的训练

　　6: STS-129 -- Spares to Space

　　6：STS-129-空间的备用品

　　There will be lots of reasons to miss the space shuttles when they retire, but one of the most practical ones will be the lack of transportation options for large space station equipment.

　　当航天飞机退役后会有很多原因去怀念它，但是有一个最实际的原因便是缺乏应对运输空间站大组件的选择。

　　In addition to all the modules and truss segments that the shuttle has been hauling into space for the past 10 years, there have been occasional ORUs or orbital replacement units, a fancy word for spare parts many of which were big. Too big, in fact, to be brought up on any other vehicle that visits the space station or any that's being planned.

　　在过去10年中，除了有航天飞机带到空间中的全部组件和衍架部分外，还有特殊场合的ORU-即轨道替换单元，空间备用品的别致名称-他们大部分都很大。事实上太大了，以至于不能被已经造访空间站的运载器或任何规划中的运载器所携带。

　　"What you've done," Kirk Shireman, International Space Station program deputy manager, said, "is take away the 18-wheeler and replace it with a bunch of small pickup trucks."

　　"你们所做的"，Kirk Shireman，国际空间站项目副主管说道，"是要撤掉18轮卡车，换上一堆小卡车。"

　　For STS-129, the 18-wheeler's cargo hold will be full of spares to keep the station going after the big wheels have stopped rolling. There will be a spare control moment gyroscope, a spare nitrogen tank assembly and a spare ammonia tank assembly. A spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, and a spare trailing umbilical system for the rail car that the arm travels on. A spare antenna and a spare high pressure gas tank.

　　所以STS-129，18轮卡车的货舱将装满备件以确保空间站在卡车的大轮停止转动后继续运行。空间站将会有一个备用的力矩控制陀螺仪，一个备用的氮气储罐群和一个备用的氨储罐群。一个备用的空间站机械臂插销锁定感应器和一个备用的脐带式拖曳系统用于装载机械臂的轨道车移动。一个备用的天线和一个备用的高压气体罐。

　　There will be plenty more spares to come before the last shuttle flight, but STS-129 is definitely a start.

　　在最后的航天飞机任务到来之前将会有更多的备件被运往空间站，但是STS-129是一个确切的开始

　　"This should last us for some time," Shireman said.

　　"这会给我们留下一些时间"，Shireman说道。

　　Astronaut Charlie Hobaugh (left), STS-129 commander; along with astronauts Robert Satcher (center) and Randy Bresnik, both mission specialists, attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, await the start of a Full Fuselage Trainer (FFT) mock-up training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Image credit: NASA

　　宇航员Charlie Hobaugh（左），STS-129指令长；与同为任务专家的宇航员Robert Satcher（中）和Randy Bresnik，专注于有关他们的发射训练和宇航服穿着，等待位于NASA约翰逊航天中心的轨道器模拟设施的完整机舱训练机（FFT）的模拟训练

　　5: STS-130 -- A Room with a View

　　5：STS-13--一个有视野的房间

　　STS-130 will represent a major milestone mission, as it will be bringing up the last major United States addition to the space station. And as usual, last doesn't equal least.

　　STS-130任务将会象征着一个重要里程碑，因为它将为空间站带去去最后一个美国的附加组件。正如以往，最后的不代表微不足道的。

　　Not only will space shuttle Endeavour be bringing up the final node this one named Tranquility and giving the expanded crew plenty of space to spread out in, but as this node will come attached to the six-windowed cupola, it's likely to become everyone's favorite room on the station.

　　这个被命名为宁静的节点舱，不仅是航天飞机所带去的最后的节点舱-为机组人员的分布提供充足的空间，还会安上一个六面窗的圆顶屋，将会成为空间站上所有人最爱的房间

　　"This flight will, I think, grab the public's attention," Shireman said. "It's just going to be a really, really neat module for those on board. The dream of being able to go out and just have an unencumbered view of space we'll have it. You can open up all the windows and look around and really feel like you're out there."

　　"这次旅程将会，我想，吸引公众的注意"，Shireman说道。"它将成为站上的一个非常非常整洁的舱段。想要能够出去并无阻碍的看看宇宙这个梦想将会实现。你可以打开所有的窗户环望四周，就像真的在外面一样。"

　　The windows aren't just for fun, however they'll be working windows. As more cargo vehicles begin frequenting the space station, the station's robotic arm is going to be called into action to capture some of them as they approach and guide them into their docking port. A good view of that operation will be a welcomed help to those at the controls of the arm.

　　观景窗不仅是用来娱乐，事实上他们将是工作用窗。随着更多的货运飞船频繁造访空间站，当他们靠近时，空间站机械臂将会参与部分飞船的捕捉，并引导他们进入对接口。良好的视野将会在工作进行时很好地有助于机械臂的操作。

　　part2 : http://hi.baidu.com/popharbor/blog/item/1a4d103b29 9e64e714cecb6b.html