首页
登录
职称英语
The international space station is getting a new, inflatable room that resem
The international space station is getting a new, inflatable room that resem
游客
2024-09-15
15
管理
问题
The international space station is getting a new, inflatable room that resembles a giant spare tire, NASA announced on Wednesday. Slated to launch in mid-2015, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, will fly to space deflated before being puffed into a 13-by-10-foot cylinder. Rather than providing new living space for astronauts, the module will test whether inflatable habitats have a future as orbiting laboratories, lunar outposts or living quarters for deep-space missions. And it’s arriving at a bargain price for space hardware. NASA is paying Bigelow Aerospace of Nevada $17.8 million for the module.
"This is a great way for NASA to utilize private-sector investment, and for pennies on the dollar to expand our understanding of this technology, " said Lori Garver, the agency’s deputy administrator. Station astronauts will periodically enter the BEAM to check whether its thick yet flexible walls, which include layers of Kevlar(凯芙拉,一种芳纶纤维), adequately block the twin hazards of space travel: radiation and micrometeoroids(微流星体)traveling faster than bullets. "The plan is to have the hatch closed most of the time, with the crew going in and out a few times a year to collect data, " Garver said. The module will stay attached to the station for two years. "We have ambitions to go to the moon someday, have a base there, " said Robert Bigelow, the real estate and hotel magnate who founded Bigelow Aerospace. Inflatables offer two advantages over traditional aluminum-can-like modules. They weigh less per cubic foot of living space, making them cheaper to launch, and they can balloon to diameters far too wide to fit on current rockets.
Bigelow licensed the concept from NASA in 1999 after the agency abandoned plans to use inflatable living quarters for a mission to Mars, NASA is Bigelow’s first customer. On Wednesday, Bigelow said he and his wife have invested $250 million into developing inflatable space habitats. They hope to attract wealthy tourists, pharmaceutical companies and governments that want affordable space programs to an orbital outpost that Bigelow says will be ready to fly in 2016.
Called Alpha, the private space station will offer living space for 12, twice the occupancy of the international space station. Renting one-sixth of Alpha for two months will cost $25 million, Bigelow said, transportation not included. It’s unclear if a market exists for a private space station, said Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. Still, Bigelow has already tasted success. In 2006 and 2007, the company launched two small inflatable satellites atop Russian ballistic missiles. Both operated as planned.
Wednesday’s announcement marks a deepening of NASA’s partnerships with commercial companies. The agency is also funding three companies developing craft to transport astronauts to and from orbit—vehicles also needed to bring customers to Bigelow’s outposts. One of those companies, Space Exploration Technologies, or Space X, will fly the BEAM module to the space station in the "trunk" of one of its uncrewed Dragon capsules. "It sounds like a good deal for both NASA and Bigelow, " said Pace. "Nothing can replace flight-test experience. "
The project may also stymie criticism that the 16-nation international space station, which took 13 years to construct, has been underutilized by NASA, said former station commander—Michael Lopez-Alegria, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. "It’s a real step in the right direction." [br] What does the passage mainly talk about?
选项
A、NASA is cooperating with private companies.
B、The international space station is getting a new inflatable module.
C、NASA is launching a private space station.
D、Bigelow is investing on inflatable space habitats.
答案
B
解析
主旨题。本题考查对文章的整体把握。文章第一段指出,国际空间站将获得一个新的充气空间,这个模块被称作BEAM,这是贯穿全文的线索,所以[B]为正确答案。文章第五段提到,美国国家航空航天局深化与商业公司的合作关系,但这仅是文章的一部分内容,故排除[A];文章第三、四段提到,毕格罗夫妇打算投资可充气居住空间,建立私人空间站,但这不是文章的主要内容,故排除[C]和[D]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3759117.html
相关试题推荐
Theinternationalspacestationisgettinganew,inflatableroomthatresem
Theinternationalspacestationisgettinganew,inflatableroomthatresem
It’sgettinglate,I’dratheryou_______now.A、leftB、leaveC、areleavingD、will
Therewere500_______attheinternationalacademicconferencethissummer.A、sp
[audioFiles]2017m5s/audio_ezfj_081_201705[/audioFiles]TheInternationalStu
InternationalSummerExchangeProgram1.AimsoftheprogramTocreatearew
InternationalSummerExchangeProgram1.AimsoftheprogramTocreatearew
InternationalSummerExchangeProgram1.AimsoftheprogramTocreatearew
InternationalSummerExchangeProgram1.AimsoftheprogramTocreatearew
InternationalSummerExchangeProgram1.AimsoftheprogramTocreatearew
随机试题
C语言学概念的实例分析。询问哪一个短语是endocentricconstruction(向心结构)的范例。
GraduateeducationistheDetroitofhigherlearning.Mostgraduateprograms
在正向市场中,如果行情上涨,则()合约的价格可能上升更多。A、远期月份B、近期月份C、采用平均买低方法买入的D、采用金字塔式方法买入的B当远期月
幼儿初期儿童占优势的记忆方式是()A.短时记忆 B.有意识记忆 C.形象记
()是指体育这一文化现象对人和社会所能发挥的有利作用和效能。A.体育文化功能
在工程实施阶段施工图纸或设计变更与招标工程量清单项目特征描述不一致时,发承包双方
朗伯-比尔定律只适用于()。A.单色光,非均匀,散射,低浓度溶液 B.白光,
下列哪个组合的陈述可能正确?( )。 Ⅰ.2003年上述五个城市GDP增速均
苯引起的职业肿瘤是A.肝血管肉瘤 B.肺癌 C.胰腺癌 D.白血病 E.
脊休克产生的原因是A.损伤性刺激对脊髓的抑制作用 B.脊髓失去了高位中枢的调节
最新回复
(
0
)