里程碑！SpaceX将首个私人团队送上太空【健谈英语】

【头条播报】
The first all-private team of astronauts ever launched to the International Space Station arrived safely at the orbiting research platform in April to begin a week-long science mission hailed as a milestone in commercial spaceflight. The rendezvous came about 21 hours after the four-man team representing Houston-based startup company Axiom Space lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, riding atop a SpaceX-launched Falcon 9 rocket. The new arrivals brought with them two dozen science and biomedical experiments to conduct aboard ISS, including research on brain health, cardiac stem cells, cancer and aging, as well as a technology demonstration to produce optics using the surface tension of fluids in microgravity.

【分句讲解】
①The first all-private team of astronauts ever launched to the International Space Station arrived safely at the orbiting research platform in April to begin a week-long science mission hailed as a milestone in commercial spaceflight.
今年 4 月，迄今第一支发射至国际空间站的全私人宇航员团队安全抵达轨道研究平台，开始为期一周的科学任务，此行被誉为商业航天飞行的里程碑。

1. private adj. 个人的，私有的；私密的，私下的

private property 私人财产
private company 私有企业
private talk 私下谈话
publicly listed company 上市公司

2. orbiting adj. 轨道的
orbit v. 沿轨道运行，围绕……运动

3. hail v. 赞扬，称赞；招呼；下冰雹
be hailed as a great success 被誉为巨大的成功

hail a taxi/cab 挥手招出租车
It’s hailing!
下冰雹了！

②The rendezvous came about 21 hours after the four-man team representing Houston-based startup company Axiom Space lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, riding atop a SpaceX-launched Falcon 9 rocket.
公理太空（Axiom Space）的四人团队乘坐 SpaceX 发射的猎鹰 9 号火箭从美国宇航局肯尼迪航天中心升空，约21个小时后完成了对接。公理太空是一家总部位于休斯顿的初创公司。

1. rendezvous n. 集合，回合

2. represent v. 代表

The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 countries.
此次比赛吸引了代表来自8个国家的500多名参赛者。

3. ride v. 骑马；搭乘；驾驶

learn to ride 学习骑马
ride a horse 骑马

ride a bus 搭乘巴士
ride an elevator 乘电梯

ride a bicycle 骑自行车
ride a car 开小汽车

③The new arrivals brought with them two dozen science and biomedical experiments to conduct aboard ISS, including research on brain health, cardiac stem cells, cancer and aging, as well as a technology demonstration to produce optics using the surface tension of fluids in microgravity.
与他们一同抵达国际空间站的还有即将进行的诸多科学和生物医学实验，包括对大脑健康、心脏干细胞、癌症和衰老的研究，以及利用微重力流体的表面张力生产光学器件的技术演示。

1. conduct v. 组织，实施，执行

conduct an experiment 做实验
conduct an inquiry 进行询问
conduct a survey 进行调查

2. aboard adv./prep. 在（飞机、公共汽车、火车等）上

aboard the plane 登上飞机（on board）

3. optics n. 光学

optic adj. 光学的；跟眼睛有关的
optic nerve 视神经

4. surface n. 表面

the earth’s surface 地球表面
a flat surface 平面

5. tension n. 紧张的局势、关系、状况；紧张，烦躁
nervous tension 神经紧张