Space Shuttle Space Shuttle ChallengerChallenger
William Harwood
Space Shuttle Challenger
William HarwoodAbout the Author
Warm-up QuestionsBackground Information
Challenger/ Kennedy Space Centre/ UPI/ NASA
About the Textmain idea/ word study/ useful expressions/
sentence paraphrase
In-class ExercisesAfter-class Discussion
William Harwood, a newspaper reporter, worked as Cape
Canaveral bureau chief of the United Press International whe
n he wrote about his experience as a witness to the tragic expl
osion.
About the author
• What is a space shuttle?
• Do you know Challenger? Can you give some information
about it?
• There are some abbreviations in the text, please give out their
full names and remember them.
Warm-up questions
Background information
Challenger
A space shuttle, was made in USA and
launched from the Kennedy Space Center in
Jan.28, 1986. It cost 1~2 billion. Two ﹩
minutes after it was launched, it exploded,
killing all the members of the crew. It was the
greatest space travel tragedy ever recorded.
Kennedy Space Center
Located in Cape Canaveral, Florida,
it is the launch site of U.S. space flights,
which witnessed the launching of the first U.S. manned space
flight in 1961, the first lunar-landing in 1969 and the explosion of
the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
Crew members of challenger
Background information
UPI (abbr.) United Press International 合众国际社 It is a major news agency in the United States.
NASA (abbr.)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 国家航空和宇宙航行局 It is an independent US government agency based in Ken
nedy Space Center in Florida and was established in 1958 for s
pace exploration.
Background information
Main idea
This article is in the nature of
reportage, written by a newspaper
reporter of UPI who witnessed the
disastrous launch of the space shuttle challenger. It was 25th shuttle
launch in USA. It was originally scheduled for 9:38 a.m., Jan.28,
1986 at Kennedy Space Center, but the cold weather delayed fueling
and launch for two hours. At 11:38 a.m., the spacecraft was
launched and exploded about two minutes later, killing all the
members of the crew. The following research showed that the cause
of this disaster was fuel release from one of the boosters.
About the text
• alert: v. to make sb. notice sth. important or dangerous
---The radio alerted the citizens to prepare for the hurricane.
adj. attentive or quick to think or act
---to be alert to possible dangers
• arc: v. to move in a curved way
---the stars that arc across the sky
n. sth shaped like a curve or an arch
---the vivid arc of a rainbow
About the text
Word Study
• bay: n. a body of water partially enclosed by land but with a wide mouth, affording access to the sea
---the Bay of Biscay n. the position of having been checked or held at a distance ---The hunters brought their quarry to bay.
• corkscrew: v. to move or cause to move in a spiral or winding course
---to corkscrew one’s way through the crowd
adj. spiral in shape
---corkscrew curl
About the text
Word Study
• flame: n. hot and bright burning gas
---The sticks burst into flames.
v. to burn brightly; to blaze
---The rising sun flamed the eastern sky.
• ignite: v. to cause or start to burn
---The liquid ignited when somebody dropped a match in it accidentally.
v. to arouse the passions of, to excite
---His speech ignited the crowd greatly.
About the text
Word Study
• lull: n. a short period of time in which there is less activity or noise than usual
---a lull before the storm, in the conversation, during the battle.
v. to cause to sleep or rest; to soothe or calm
---The monotonous voice of the movement of the train lulled me to sleep
About the text
Word Study
• narrative: n. sth. told as a story ---to give a clear narrative of the incident. adj. consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story ---narrative poem
About the text
Word Study
• puff: n. a sudden small movement of wind, air, or smoke ---A puff of wind blew the papers off the table. v. to blow in puffs ---He often puffs cigarette smoke in others’ face for fun
About the text
Word Study
• orbit: n. the path traveled by an object such as a spacecraft which is moving around another much bigger object such as the Earth
---How many satellites have been sent into orbit round the Earth?
v. to revolve around an orbit
---Our satellite itself will orbit around the moon for a period of two days.
• punch: v. to hit with a sharp blow of the fist ---to punch sb. on the nose. v. to depress (a key or button, for example) in order to act
ivate a device or perform an operation ---to punch the keys of a typewrite
About the text
Word Study
• shuttle: n. a spacecraft that can fly into space and return to Earth and can be used more than once
v. to cause to move back and forth frequently ---business people who shuttle between European capitals
• thunder: v. to produce thunder or sounds like thunder ---The train thundered through the station. n. the crashing or booming sound produced by rapidly
expanding air along the path of the electrical discharge of lightning
---We haven’t heard much thunder this summer
About the text
Word Study
• twin: adj. being two things closely resembling each other --- twin cities; twin sisters n. either of a pair of children or young animals born of
the same mother at the same time
• wheel: n. disc or circular frame that turns on an axel as on cars, carts, bicycles etc. as part of a machine
v. to turn around suddenly
---He wheeled round suddenly.
About the text
Word Study
About the textUseful Expressions
• the press site (para.1): the place where the press people, the newspaper and TV station reporters who had come to cover the event, worked
• worth staffing (para.2): worth providing workers for the job
• “live” reporting (para.3): reporting while the event is going on
• print journalists (para.3): journalists who work for newspapers and magazines
• let out (para.3): to make known; to reveal
---Who let that story out?
to allow sth. to leave a place (said of gas, air, light, water)
---He let the air out of the tyres
About the textUseful Expressions
• warm up (para.3): to prepare for an athletic event by exercising, stretching, or practicing for a short time beforehand
to make more enthusiastic, excited ---to warm up an audience with a few jokes.• to be scheduled for (para.3): to plan or appoint for a certain tim
e or date ---The sale is scheduled for tomorrow.• to keep sth. on track(para.4): to make sure the process is procee
ding as planned ---The launch team was struggling to keep the count down on
track.• to build up (para.4): to increase gradually ---to build up one’s strength after an illness
About the textUseful Expressions
• to call it up (para.4): to make it appear on the computer• shoot the breeze (para.4): chat• to thunder to life (para.4): to be ignited with a terrible noise ---Challenger’s three main engines thundered to life on sched
ule.• on schedule (para.4): on time ---The task will be finished on schedule if nothing prevents.• to shoot out sth. (para.4): to move, come, go, send out suddenly a
nd quickly ---He shot out of school when the bell rang
About the textUseful Expressions
• to clear (para.5): to jump over or leave some place without touching it
• winged away (para.6): was sent quickly• raw copy (para.7): unpolished copy, giving all unpleasant facts
without trying to make them more acceptable ---raw material, raw meat, raw date.• header material (para.13): the material to be put at the top of a p
age• in the event of sth. (para.20): if sth. happens ---In the event of his death, Sheilla will inherit the money.• to well up (para.21): to flow or rise like water from a well ---Tears welled up in her eyes.
About the textUseful Expressions
• to hang on (para.13): not to replace the receiver ---The line was engaged and the operator asked if I’d like to
hang on. to grip sth. firmly ---Hang on tight, we’re off. to depend on ---A great deal hangs on this decision.
• to serve as sth. (para.20): to work for
---served as a gardener and chauffeur
to be suitable for; to be used as
---Let this incident serve as a reminder to future generations.
About the textSentence Paraphrase
• It was bitterly cold that night. I remember turning on the drafty
UPI trailer’s heaters in a futile attempt to warm up while I
started banging out copy. (para.3)
It was extremely cold that night. An icy wind was blowing
through the trailer. I remember I turned on the heaters in the
trailer to get some warmth while I started working, but it did not
help much.
About the textSentence Paraphrase
• Off to the side, a brilliant tongue of orange flame periodically
flared in the night as excess hydrogen was let out harmlessly in
the atmosphere. (para.4)
Some distance away to the side, a bright tongue of orange flame
was burning fiercely in the darkness when the unnecessary
hydrogen was released into the atmosphere.
About the textSentence Paraphrase
• I reminded him not to push the SEND button until I confirmed
vertical motion. . .(para.4)
I asked him not to send the news until If made sure that the
shuttle was indeed rising upward.
About the textSentence Paraphrase
• . . . should disaster strike, the plan went, I would start dictating a
nd Trott would start filling raw copy to the wire. (para.7)
. . .if there were a disaster, we would do as planned: I would tell
what was happening orally and Trott would send what I said by t
he wire without much improvement.
About the textSentence Paraphrase
• But the sound quickly faded to a dull rumble as Challenger
wheeled about and arced over behind its booster exhaust plume.
(para.8)
The engine of the booster produced gas, steam and a small
cloud. After that Challenger flew around and moved in a curved
shape; the original terrible roar disappeared and a long, deep,
rolling sound began to be heard.
About the textSentence Paraphrase
• And then, in that pregnant instant before the knowledge that
something terrible has happened settled in, a single booster
emerged from the cloud, corkscrewing madly through the sky.
(para.10)
And then, in that critical moment of pause and silence, before we
knew that something terrible had happened, we could see a
single booster coming out from the cloud and flying down in a
spiral way through the sky.
About the textSentence Paraphrase
• I was flying on some kind of mental autopilot. (para.10)
I was working automatically just like a pilot letting the plane fly
on its own.
In-class exercises Complete the sentences with the expressions
listed below in their proper forms.
in the event of on schedule to be scheduled for
to build up to serve as to warm up
1) It was getting cold. Luckily I had an old overcoat, which also
a blanket at night.
2) The completion of this expressway January 2005.
3) In the first few years, they were just for the
reform. The real restructuring started in the year 2000.
In-class exercises
4) They did not complete the project . We don’t
know yet what caused the delay.
5) a war, these subways could air-raid
shelters.
6) His knowledge on his subject began to after several
years of doing extensive reading.
Keys
1) Served as 2) is scheduled for
3) Warming up 4) on schedule
5) In the event of, serve as
6) build up
After-class discussion
• What can you learn from this text?
• Describe the disaster of Challenger in 1986.