Lesson FourteenSpace Shuttle Challenger

William Harwood

Warming-up: Discussion History has told us that in our search for

outer space or deep sea or the secrets of other scientific fields, disasters are not uncommon. We have always had to pay dearly for our discoveries, often with our lives. Is such sacrifice worthwhile? Why do people keep doing these things knowing how risky they are? What do you think are the motives of these explorers?

This article is in the nature of reportage, written by a newspaper reporter who witnessed the disastrous launch of the space shuttle Challenger in the united states in 1986

It is written in journalistic style and the narration follows the natural sequence of the event

In humanity’s search for scientific discoveries, much courage and devotion has been required and displayed. The men and women who gave their lives in this case were not the only people, and they will not be the last

Background Information

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida, United States, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC).

Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter.

The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. Although the exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. However, the shuttle had no escape system and the astronauts did not survive the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface.

The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the shuttle program and the formation of the Rogers Commission, a special commission appointed by United States President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident. The Rogers Commission found that NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes had been a key contributing factor to the accident. NASA managers had known that contractor Morton Thiokol's design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings since 1977, but they failed to address it properly. They also disregarded warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching posed by the low temperatures of that morning and had failed to adequately report these technical concerns to their superiors. The Rogers Commission offered NASA nine recommendations that were to be implemented before shuttle flights resumed.

Many viewed the launch live due to the presence on the crew of Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space Project. Media coverage of the accident was extensive: one study reported that 85 percent of Americans surveyed had heard the news within an hour of the accident. The Challenger disaster has been used as a case study in many discussions of engineering safety and workplace ethics.

Words and phrases:

1.the press site: the place where the press people, the newspaper and TV station reporters who had come to cover the event, worked

2.site: a place where sth. Important happened or is happening; a place where a building is under construction

3. UPI trailer: a vehicle that can be pilled behind a car, used by UPI people for living and sleeping in as well as for carrying the necessary equipment

4. bitterly cold: very cold. Words like “bitterly” are called “intensifiers” which we use to give emphasis to the meaning of the following words they modify.

5. “live” reporting: reporting while the event is going on

6. print journalists: journalists who work for newspapers and magazines and news agencies

7. the PM cycle: a group of articles about the same event released in the afternoon

8. the bureau: the NASA bureau in charge of public affairs

9. radio scanner: a radio receiver used by the press, that continuously tunes to pre-selected frequencies, broadcasting any signal it detects

10. lunch pad (or lunching pad): a base from which a rocket or missile is sent up into the sky

11. high power spotlight: 高能聚光灯 12. excess (adj.): (only before noun) much

more than necessary, e.g. Excess labor, excess luggage, excess

capacity

13. T minus nine-minute mark: T here stands for the liftoff

14. liftoff: the moment a space shuttle leaves the launch pad

15. winged away: was sent quickly

16. flaw: a defect or some weakness that makes sth. Imperfect, e.g.

The man said to the emperor that there was a flaw in the jade.

The disaster was caused by a mechanical flaw in the plane.

She can speak the language flawlessly.

17. strike: to happen (said of unpleasant things such as disaster)

18. exhaust (n.): the gas and steam that are produced by an engine 排出的尾气

19. plume: a small cloud of smoke that rises into the air

20. closeup: a photograph taken from very near 近镜头

21. break news: to tell people some immediate news

22. pull free: to struggle free, to move to get away from the booster Cf. to break free, to wrench free

23. lead: (journalism) a short summary, serving as an introduction to a news story

24. obits (informal) obituaries Cf. doc(doctor), flu(influenza), zoo(zoological garden), fridge(refrigerator)

25. client: (here) someone who pays for using the materials provided by UPI

Structure of the textTheme

This article is in the nature of reportage, written by a newspaper reporter who witnessed the disastrous launch of the space shuttle Challenger in the United States in 1986. Two minutes after it was launched, it exploded, killing all the members of the crew. The scene stunned the whole nation. The author did not attempt to analyze the significance of the disaster or to rouse the emotional response of the readers. He just focused on the detailed description of the event itself.

Structure Part 1 (Para.1-6): Preparations of the author before Challenger was

launched and the initial liftoff of Challenger Part 2 (Para.7-19): What the author witnessed during the disaster of

challenger Part 3 (Para.20-21): The author’s reaction after the tragedy