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Broadcast: Feb 07, 2003
U.S. space agency officials confirmed Friday that they are analyzing1 military photographs that appear to show damage to the space shuttle Columbia shortly before it disintegrated2 over Texas last week. Searchers in Texas have also found part of one of the shuttle's wings.
NASA official Mike Kostelnik told reporters in Washington that the space agency has received photographs of the final moments of Columbia, taken by a powerful Air Force camera on the ground.
Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine reports that the photos were taken just a minute before Columbia broke apart. The magazine says the images showed serious structural3 damage to Columbia's left wing, including what it describes as a "1)ragged" edge along the wing near the 2)fuselage.
NASA official Mike Kostelnik says some of the photos are of "very poor resolution," and that it will be up to the independent board investigating the Columbia disaster to determine exactly what they show. "I can't really make a judgment4 on what the image actually shows," he said. "People looking at that would draw their own analysis. Clearly, this is the type of information that the [independent investigating] board will make these judgments5 on, and what that means. But it is during the time period when we are getting these 3)anomalies [unusual data readings from the shuttle] on the ground. So, whatever is happening is probably consistent with whatever that photo shows."
If the photos do confirm damage to Columbia's left wing, investigators6 may be drawn7 back to the possibility that a chunk8 of foam9 insulation10 from the shuttle's external fuel tank may have played a significant role in the disaster, when it struck the shuttle's left wing shortly after liftoff.
Mr. Kostelnik also announced that searchers in Texas have found the carbon edge of one of Columbia's wings, perhaps one of the most significant pieces of debris11 yet recovered. "We do have a large piece of one of the wings. It is not clear which wing this is," he said. "But, obviously, given the anomalies [problems] we have on the descent coming through the left wing, obviously, this structure is very important."
Mr. Kostelnik says the investigation12 into Columbia's demise13 is moving into a new phase, as the probe is turned over to an independent board selected by NASA.
Also Friday, thousands of workers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida gathered at the Cape14 Canaveral landing strip where Columbia was to have landed last Saturday to pay tribute to the seven astronauts who died in the disaster.
Jim Malone VOA news, Washington.
1) ragged[5rA^id]adj. 粗糙的
2) fuselage[5fju:zilB:V]n. [空]机身
3) anomaly[E5nCmEli]n. 不规则, 异常的人或物
1 analyzing | |
v.分析;分析( analyze的现在分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析n.分析 | |
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2 disintegrated | |
v.(使)破裂[分裂,粉碎],(使)崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3 structural | |
adj.构造的,组织的,建筑(用)的 | |
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4 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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5 judgments | |
判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判 | |
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6 investigators | |
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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7 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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8 chunk | |
n.厚片,大块,相当大的部分(数量) | |
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9 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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10 insulation | |
n.隔离;绝缘;隔热 | |
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11 debris | |
n.瓦砾堆,废墟,碎片 | |
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12 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
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13 demise | |
n.死亡;v.让渡,遗赠,转让 | |
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14 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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