VOA慢速英语:The Historic Flight of the Dragon

 A rocket designed and built by a privately owned company has made history by bringing a supply capsule to the International Space Station. It was the first private spacecraft to carry out such a mission.
一艘由私人公司设计并制造的火箭历史性地将补给舱送至国际太空站，这是首个执行这样任务的私人航天器。

 The company SpaceX launched its Dragon space capsule last week on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. It launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
SpaceX公司上周用该公司的猎鹰9号火箭发射了龙太空舱，发射地在佛罗里达卡纳维拉尔角。

 NASA LAUNCH COMMENTATOR: "Three, two, one, zero and the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the International Space Station."
美国国家航空航天局发射评论员:"三、二、一、零，发射猎鹰9号火箭，NASA转向依靠私人公司来向太空站提供补给。"

 SpaceX mission controllers celebrated when the rocket had reached orbit and its solar panels had deployed. Three days earlier, a launch attempt was cancelled at the last second when a computer found a problem with the engine.
火箭抵达轨道，太阳能面板打开后，SpaceX公司的飞行控制员们开始庆贺。三天前一次尝试发射中，由于电脑在最后时刻发现引擎有问题，就取消了发射。

 Charlie Bolden is the head of the American space agency, NASA. He spoke to reporters at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after the rocket was launched.
Charlie Bolden是美国宇航局局长，火箭发射后，他在佛罗里达肯尼迪太空中心向记者说。

 CHARLIE BOLDEN: "The significance of this day cannot be overstated. A private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for the first time. And, while there is a lot of work ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are certainly off to a good start."
CHARLIE BOLDEN：“这一天的意义不容忽视，私人公司向国际太空站发射了飞行器，并将首次停靠那里。要完成这项任务需要做大量工作，我们当然是开了个好头。”

 The head of SpaceX watched the launch from company headquarters. Elon Musk told reporters:
SpaceX公司负责人在公司总部观看了发射，艾龙•马斯科告诉记者：

 ELON MUSK: "There is so much hope riding on that rocket, so when it worked, and Dragon worked and the solar arrays deployed, and people saw their handiwork in space and operating as it should -- I mean it was tremendous elation. I mean, it is like, I guess, for us, it is like winning the Super Bowl."
ELON MUSK：“我们对这枚火箭倾注了太多希望，所以当一切顺利，龙太空舱发射成功，太阳能面板打开，人们看到自己制造的航天器顺利飞向太空，这是很大的喜悦，就像赢得了超级碗一样！”

 The rocket successfully linked with the International Space Station on Friday. Astronauts on board the Space Station used its robotic arm to secure the capsule.
周五，火箭已成功与国际太空站对接。太空站上的宇航员使用机器人手臂捕捉太空舱。

 SPACE STATION: "Capture is confirmed."
空间站：“捕捉成功。”

 MISSION CONTROL: "Station, Houston, congratulations on a wonderful capture. You've made a lot of folk happy down here and over in Hawthorne and right here in Houston. Great job, guys."
控制中心：“空间站，这里是休斯顿，祝贺你们成功捕捉。你们令霍桑和休斯敦的工作人员都感到高兴。干得不错！”

 NASA has invested about four hundred million dollars in SpaceX to help it develop space flight technology. And the agency also has a contract with SpaceX for twelve flights to resupply the space station.
 
美国航天局在SpaceX投资了大约4亿美元，用于开发太空航行技术。航天局还与SpaceX签了向太空站提供供给的12次航行的协议。

NASA wants private companies to carry out operations in low-Earth orbit.  The agency wants to center its attention on developing the next generation of spacecraft that can travel to asteroids or Mars.
航天局希望由私人公司开实施近地球轨道的操作，并希望自身集中于开发下一代可以航行到小行星或火星上的航天器。

 The Falcon 9 rocket brought more than five hundred kilograms of supplies to the space station. But it also carried the remains, or ashes, of three hundred people. Among the remains were those of astronaut Gordon Cooper and actor James Doohan. Doohan played Chief Engineer Scotty in the popular television and movie series "Star Trek. "
猎鹰9号火箭将500多公斤的供给运送至太空站，也运载了300多人的骨灰，其中包括航天员戈尔登•库勃和演员詹姆斯•督汉。督汉在热门电视剧和影片《星际航行》中扮演首席工程师史考特。

 The remains will orbit the Earth for about a year until burning up in the atmosphere.
这些骨灰将在轨一年左右，然后在大气中燃烧殆尽