Steps to Countdown---倒计时前的准备工作

From NASA

Many things must be done before a shuttle can launch.

航天飞机发射前有很多工作必须完成。









The shuttle has many parts. They are made in different places in the United States. The finished parts are sent to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The external tank is put together in Louisiana. It rides on a barge to Florida.

航天飞机由许多部件组成。它们在美国的不同地点生产。成品则被送往位于佛罗里达州的国家航空航天局下属的肯尼迪航天中心。航天飞机的外贮箱在路易斯安那州组装，并由大型平底驳船运至佛罗里达。





The solid rocket boosters come from Utah. They ride on a train to Florida. The orbiter is the part of the shuttle that looks like an airplane. When the orbiter returns from space, it lands at Kennedy Space Center.

固体火箭推进器来自犹他州，由火车运送至佛州。轨道器是航天飞机的一个组成部分，外形像飞机。当轨道器从外太空返回地球时，它在肯尼迪航天中心着陆。






Sometimes the orbiter has to land somewhere else due to bad weather in Florida. Then it rides piggyback on an airplane to Florida. Before taking off at Kennedy Space Center, the orbiter gets a checkup. It may need repairs. It may need some new parts.


有时，由于佛州天气状况不佳，轨道器就必须降落到其他地点。之后，它由一架飞机“背”回佛罗里达。轨道器在发射前会在肯尼迪航天中心进行检查。它有可能需要修理，也有可能需要更换新部件。





Then the orbiter moves to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The VAB is one of the largest buildings in the world. The external tank and solid rocket boosters are waiting in the VAB. NASA workers connect the orbiter to these parts. NASA calls it "stacking."

接下来，轨道器就被运往航天器组装中心(VAB)。组装中心是世界上最大型的建筑物之一。航天飞机外贮箱和火箭推进器就在该中心等待装配。国家航空航天局的工作人员将轨道器与这些部件装配在一起，他们把这样的工作称为“搭积木”。





After all of the parts are put together, the whole vehicle is called the Space Transportation System. Now it's time to move to the launch pad. The Space Transportation System rides on a crawler. The top of the crawler is as big as a baseball diamond. The crawler has tracks of wheels like a tank. It is very, very slow. It moves about one mile per hour on a road called the crawlerway.

所有部件组装完毕后，这一整套运输工具就被称作空间运输系统(STS---Space Transportation System，该名称是航天飞机的正式称呼)。现在该是将其运送至发射台的时候了。空间运输系统被放置在一个巨大的履带式平板运输台之上。其顶部的面积有一个棒球场那么大，它也有类似于坦克所用的履带，移动速度非常非常慢。它在运输台行走通道上以每小时1英里的速度前行。




When the shuttle gets to the launch pad, NASA has more work to do before countdown. The shuttle may sit on the launch pad for weeks. This is the countdown clock. It tracks the amount of time until launch.

当航天飞机被安放到发射台上时，国家航空航天局在倒计时发射前还有很多工作要做。航天飞机在发射台上有可能要待上几星期。左图就是发射倒计时电子钟，发射前的剩余时间就由它来显示。







The astronauts get into the orbiter about 3 hours before launch. Everyone waits for the words, "3… 2… 1… Liftoff!"

宇航员在发射前3小时进入轨道器。之后大家就等待着听到 "3...2...1...发射！"