CNN Student News 美“发现号”返回之旅

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NASA MISSION CONTROL: Main gear touchdown. The nose of the shuttle being rotated down toward the flight deck. The parachute being deployed, and nose gear touchdown, and the end of a historic journey. And to the ship that has led the way time and time again, we say farewell, Discovery.

 

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Farewell, Discovery. Hello to all of you. I'm Carl Azuz. Thank you for checking out this Thursday edition of CNN Student News.

 

First Up: Wheels Down

AZUZ: First up, wheels down. The space shuttle Discovery touching down for the last time yesterday after finishing a 13-day mission to the international space station. Over the course of its lifetime, Discovery has spent 365 days -- a full year! -- in space. It carried the oldest person to ever fly in to space, astronaut John Glenn at age 77; not his first trip. The first African-American to perform a spacewalk rode in Discovery; the first female to ever pilot a spacecraft, on Discovery. Now, it'll be the first shuttle to retire. John Zarrella was at the Kennedy Space Center when Discovery landed yesterday. John, what it was like there?

 

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Carl, the weather was just spectacular here at the Kennedy Space Center. A little bit windy, but perfectly blue skies as the space shuttle Discovery, after 39 flights in space, after 148 million miles flown, returned to Earth for the last time. From here on, Discovery and the other vehicles, after they fly, will be "safed," as they say, and in essence become museum pieces down the road.

 

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED NASA ANNOUNCER: We have main engine start.

 

ZARRELLA: The space shuttle: For more than 30 years, it has been part of our vocabulary. Soon, it will be part of our history. The winged spacecraft is unmistakable, an engineering marvel. Without it, the international space station could not have been built.

 

UNIDENTIFIED NASA ANNOUNCER: When you come to the round handrail, pause for the solar re-operations.

 

ZARRELLA: The Hubble Telescope would not have been repaired more than once. The Air Force used the shuttle for secret missions. We'll never know exactly what. Of course, it's no secret the shuttle program is now coming to an end. Long overdue, some say. Time to move on, build something safer, more reliable, less expensive to fly.

 

ALVIN DREW, SHUTTLE DISCOVERY ASTRONAUT: Maybe five, 10, 15 years from now, there's going to be a nostalgia for the shuttle. Were we ever that audacious to go build a spacecraft to do things like that? And I think we're going to look back, and it's going to be as if it was something out of a science fiction movie.

 

ZARRELLA: As each orbiter returns to Earth from its final flight, it will be readied for retirement. Engines removed, toxic gases purged, cryogenics and pyrotechnics removed. Discovery will be the first shuttle to move on.

 

STEPHANIE STILSON, DISCOVERY FLOW DIRECTOR: And so, I somewhat liken it to, now we're at a point where we're sending our kid off to college, right? We've taken care of these vehicles. We've loved them. We've put everything we have into them. And now it's time for us to let them go a little bit.

 

ZARRELLA: It will take nine months to make each orbiter ready. In essence, a museum piece. Discovery, the oldest in the fleet, 39 missions under her belt, 142 million miles flown, is headed to the Smithsonian.

 

STEVE LINDSEY, DISCOVERY COMMANDER: I hope they display it so that everybody can see, you know, what it was really like to be inside of it, what it was like to fly it, what it was like to operate it. And, more importantly, all the things that it could do.

 

ZARRELLA: Where Endeavour and Atlantis end up hasn't been decided. Wherever it is, they will instantly become the centerpiece attractions where people will walk up with their children and grandchildren and say, "I remember when shuttles flew." John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

 

(END VIDEO)

Storms spawn floods

AZUZ: Those clear skies at the Kennedy Space Center were the exception around most of the South yesterday. Heavy rain and thunderstorms pounded the region. And in some spots, like you see here in Louisiana, all that rain left behind flooded streets. There was a tornado in Mississippi, maybe another one in Alabama. One band of storms stretched all the way from Louisiana to Georgia. A similar story farther up the East Coast, where some people in New Jersey are dealing with floods and rising rivers there as well. They might not be out of the woods yet. There's more rain in the forecast for later this week.

 

Is This Legit?

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? The federal government sets the age at which teens can get their driver's licenses. Not true! It's up to the states to decide the age at which teens can drive.

 

Young Drivers

AZUZ: Some federal lawmakers are looking to change that. They want to get the government involved and establish nationwide standards for when teens can get different stages of their driver's licenses. Under this proposal, you wouldn't be able to get your learner's permit until you're 16. You could get an intermediate license later, based on a safe record. And then you'd have to be 18 to get your full license. Supporters say increased experience behind the wheel will mean increased safety. But a similar proposal failed in Congress before. And one Senator said some people are against a law that would deny teens a license they can already get under the current laws in their states.

 

This Day in History

AZUZ: On this day in history, March 10th, in 1862, the U.S. government issued paper money for the first time. It came out in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 dollar bills.

 

In 1876, three days after getting a patent for his new invention, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first words heard over a telephone line: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you."

 

And in 1880, the Salvation Army, an international, Christian charitable organization, officially began its work in the U.S. when eight members prayed together upon their arrival in New York City.

 

Shoutout

BARBARA HALL, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Mr. Shippy's civics classes at La Crescent Public High School in La Crescent, Minnesota! Which of these bodies of water covers the most area? Is it the: A) Persian Gulf, B) Gulf of Mexico, C) Lake Superior or D) Red Sea? You've got three seconds -- GO! The Gulf of Mexico is the biggest, with a surface area of nearly 600,000 square miles. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

 

Clean-up On Hold

AZUZ: During last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the big stories was the impact on wildlife. You might remember this video of a sea turtle swimming through the oily water. Well, Rob Marciano takes us back to some of those Gulf Coast beaches to see how the oil could still affect some of the animals in the area.

 

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Spring marks the beginning of nesting season here on the northern Gulf Coast. And soon, turtles will be coming up onto this beach and hopefully laying lots of eggs. But there's still oil left on this beach, and the heavy equipment used to remove it now has to get off.

 

TOM MAHAN, BP'S FLORIDA BRANCH DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS: This auger kicks up the sand on the beach at a prescribed depth.

 

MARCIANO: They call them "landsharks." And they've been deep cleaning the sand all winter long.

 

It's amazing how clean that is!

 

MAHAN: It's beautiful. These Florida beaches are spectacular.

 

MARCIANO: The goal is to get the beaches back to their pre-oil spill form. But layers of oil still exist deep in the sand. And these machines are only allowed to dig down 6 inches in this wildlife protected area.

 

So, there's a lot more going on under the sand than just meets the eye?

 

RICK CLARK, CHIEF OF SCIENCE, GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE: There is! It is! It's very alive, it's a very active substrate. It's very diverse. What we can't see is a lot of other critters, literally, that are below us right now that all drive this whole system.

 

MARCIANO: All part of what makes this perfect nesting grounds for some rare animals. I got to handle a few sea turtles rescued from the oil spill last year. They are truly remarkable creatures. Pretty darn cute.

 

Turtles that are born on this beach, do they come back and nest on this beach?

 

CLARK: You know, it's pretty amazing. They imprint on this area by virtue of when they hatch.

 

MARCIANO: So, they don't really have a choice? This is their nesting ground, oil or not, they're going to come back here?

CLARK: This is their habitat and home, absolutely.

 

MARCIANO: This stretch of beach averages about 2,000 baby turtles that hatch in the sand and crawl back into the Gulf every year. The hope is this year, when the turtles do come home, the little oil that's still here won't get in their way. Turtle nesting season goes all summer long. Just how many turtles will return to this beach? Well, we'll know in a few months. Rob Marciano, CNN, Pensacola, Florida.

(END VIDEO)

 

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, we have an appetizing, athletic tradition for you. Pay close attention to the start of this race in Kansas. Did you see the runners flip what's in their hands before they took off? This is the annual pancake race! One flip at the start, one at the end. And in between, just make sure your pancake doesn't fall out of the skillet. We're just glad that this year's event didn't end in any kind of controversy...

 

Goodbye

AZUZ: ...'cause we'd hate for the pancake race to be ruined by a flap, jack. Serious congrats to the winner. I mean, we imagine the skillet takes to be victorious. Whoo! You could say she battered the other runners. When she crossed the finish line, I bet she flipped out. Okay, we're done. Really quickly, a shoutout to the students and teachers at Whitewater Middle School. I enjoyed speaking with you yesterday. And we'll enjoy seeing all of you for more CNN Student News tomorrow. Bye bye.