The Challenger Disaster | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror · Fascinating Horror
讲述1986年挑战者号航天飞机灾难事件，适合练习英语听力和理解历史事件。内容涵盖航天事故、科学探索与人类勇气。
On the 28th of January, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched into a clear blue sky from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
1986年1月28日，挑战者号航天飞机从佛罗里达州的肯尼迪航天中心升空，当时天空湛蓝清澈。
On board were seven highly-trained astronauts, all of them braced to experience either the first or second space flight of their lives.
飞船上共有七名训练有素的宇航员，他们所有人都满怀期待，准备迎接自己人生中的第一次或第二次太空飞行。
But, just over a minute after take off, Challenger exploded in a massive fireball and a cloud of debris.
然而，在起飞仅一分多钟后，“挑战者号”就突然爆炸了，形成了一个巨大的火球，并伴随着大量碎片飞散到空中。
Something catastrophic had gone wrong with the Shuttle…
航天飞机出了极其严重的故障……
a malfunction that at least some people on the ground had raised concerns about before the launch even began.
在发射开始之前，至少有一些地面人员就已经对这种可能出现的故障表示了担忧。
Challenger was the second Space Shuttle to be built by NASA.
挑战者号”（Challenger）是美国国家航空航天局（NASA）建造的第二艘航天飞机。
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the body responsible for the civilian space program of the United States,
美国国家航空航天局（NASA）是负责美国民用太空计划的机构。
as well as for the vast majority of American space-related research and development.
此外，它还支撑了美国绝大多数与太空相关的研究与开发活动。
Early missions into space undertaken by NASA
美国国家航空航天局（NASA）早期开展的太空探索任务
in the 1950s and 1960s made use of vehicles that were generally disposable – good for a single launch only.
在20世纪50年代和60年代，人们使用的是那些通常属于“一次性使用”的飞行器——这类飞行器仅适用于单次发射任务。
One goal of the Space Shuttle project, which begun in the 1970s, was to develop a reliable, re-usable vehicle for launches into space.
航天飞机”项目始于20世纪70年代，其目标之一就是研制一种可靠且可重复使用的航天器，用于将人类送入太空。
Challenger was the second shuttle to be built.
挑战者号”（Challenger）是第二艘被制造出来的航天飞机。
Like its predecessor, Columbia, it consisted of a reusable space plane, two reusable boosters, and a disposable fuel tank.
与它的前身“哥伦比亚号”一样，该航天器由一架可重复使用的太空飞机、两个可重复使用的助推器以及一个一次性使用的燃料箱组成。
Only the plane would go into space, with the other components being jettisoned during the launch process.
只有飞机本身会被送入太空，其他部件会在发射过程中被抛掉。
Once its mission was complete, the shuttle could glide unaided back down to Earth, to be refitted and used again in future missions.
一旦任务完成，航天飞机就可以自行滑翔返回地球，然后进行维修并再次用于未来的任务中。
Over the course of its lifetime, Challenger completed nine successful missions, and was responsible for several historic milestones.
在其服役期间，“挑战者”号完成了九次成功的任务，并为多个具有历史意义的成就做出了贡献。
It carried the first American woman to enter space in 1983, and the first African-American to enter space in the same year.
1983年，这艘航天器将第一位美国女性送入了太空，同年也将第一位非裔美国男性送入了太空。
It was used in the first shuttle launch to take place at night, and was used to carry out the very first in-flight pick-up,
它被用于首次在夜间进行的航天飞机发射任务中，并且还完成了人类历史上首次在飞行过程中的货物回收操作（即“在飞行中取回货物”）。
repair, and redeployment of an orbiting satellite.
对在轨道上运行的卫星进行维修、重新部署等工作。
Mission STS-51-L was to be Challenger’s 10th mission, and the 25th mission in the Space Shuttle program overall.
STS-51-L任务原本是“挑战者”号航天飞机的第10次飞行任务，同时也是整个航天飞机计划中的第25次飞行任务。
It had three main objectives: to deploy
它有三个主要目标：进行部署。
a small satellite, to observe Halley’s Comet,
一颗小型卫星，用于观测哈雷彗星。
and to ferry a high school teacher
以及运送一位高中教师。
into space so that she could conduct
被送入太空，以便她能够进行相关实验或研究。
two lessons from orbit as part of the Teacher in Space Project – a program designed to inspire students and teachers,
作为“太空教师计划”（Teacher in Space Project）的一部分，从太空中获得的两个重要启示：该计划旨在激励学生和教师们。
and drive interest in space exploration.
并激发人们对太空探索的兴趣。
The launch was originally planned for the 23rd of January, 1986…
这次发射最初计划于1986年1月23日进行……
but was pushed back several times, first because of a delay in the completion of another mission, and then because of unfavourable weather conditions.
但该计划多次被推迟：首先是由于另一项任务的完成进度延迟，其次是天气条件不佳。
It was eventually decided that the launch would take place on the 28th of January – despite unusually cold weather the night before,
最终决定将发射日期定为1月28日。尽管前一天晚上的天气异常寒冷，但发射计划仍按原定时间进行。
which created an abundance of ice on the launch pad.
这导致发射台上积聚了大量冰块。
The crew boarded, mission controllers made themselves
机组人员登机完毕，任务控制人员也完成了各自的工作。
ready, and at 11:38am, the rocket boosters fired up and Challenger blasted into the sky on a tail of smoke and fire.
一切准备就绪，上午11点38分，火箭助推器启动了，挑战者号在浓烟与火焰的伴随下冲向了天空。
Thousands watched its progress both in-person and on television screens all over the country.
成千上万的人通过现场观看以及全国各地的电视屏幕，关注着这一过程的进展。
73 seconds after launch, however, disaster struck.
然而，在发射后73秒，灾难发生了。
A huge fireball consumed the shuttle, and all communications with it were abruptly lost.
一个巨大的火球吞噬了那架航天飞机，随后与它的所有通讯联系都突然中断了。
The explosion, which was broadcast live on television, completely dismantled the shuttle.
这次爆炸的现场画面通过电视进行了实时直播，爆炸导致航天飞机完全解体。
The two rocket boosters survived, arcing off
那两个火箭助推器幸存了下来，继续沿着轨道运行（即它们继续沿着预定的轨道飞行）。
on an uncontrolled course for several seconds before Mission Control – worried that they might veer towards a populated area – triggered their self-destruct sequence,
在失控状态下运行了几秒钟后，任务控制中心（担心飞船可能会飞向人口密集区域）启动了其自毁程序。
and they too exploded.
然后它们也爆炸了。
As people watched helplessly on television screens and from the launch site, debris rained down, mostly landing in the Ocean.
当人们在电视屏幕上或从发射现场无助地观看着这一切时，碎片如雨般坠落下来，大部分最终落入大海中。