Lesson18 The International Space Station: A World Project

Scientists have built an exciting project 270 miles into space. Sixteen countries from all around the world worked together to plan and construct a permanent space station. The 16 nations included the United States,Canada,Japan,Russia,Brazil, Belgium,Denmark,France,Germany,Italy,the Netherlands,Norway,Spain,Sweden,Switzerland,and the United Kingdom. In fact, the International Space Station (ISS) is the largest international scientific project in human history.Construction on the ISS began in 1998 and was completed in 2002.
Six people from different countries live on the Space Station. It has a permanent laboratory where the scientists conduct research that they cannot do on Earth. These studies will be possible because the space station is almost completely outside Earth's gravity. Some of this important research will help scientists understand more about human learning and memory. The scientists will also be able to study Earth systems such as the oceans,weather,climate,and plant growth.These systems affect the quality of life for all people today,as well as for our future generation.

construct 建造
permanent 永久的
construction 建造
gravity 重力

国际空间站——一项全球性工程

科学家们已经在太空270英里处建造了一项激动人心的工程。世界上16个国家共同努力，设计并建造了一个永久性空间站。这16个国家包括美国、加拿大、日本、俄罗斯、巴西、比利时、丹麦、法国、德国、意大利、荷兰、挪威、西班牙、瑞典、瑞士和英国。

事实上，国际空间站是人类历史上最大的国际性科学项目。国际空间站的建造开始于1998年，完工于2002年。
来自于不同国家的六个人居住在空间站中。空间站有一个永久的实验室，在那里科学家可以做他们在地球上无法做的实验，因为空间站几乎完全不受地心引力影响。其中一些重要的研究将帮助科学家更好地了解人类的学习与记忆。科学家还将研究例如海洋、天气、气候和植物生长等地球系统。这些系统将影响我们所有人及我们后代的生活质量。