NEWS worthy Clips (2/2)
Update your vocabulary with news clips from around the world
Kennedy Space Center’s Unworldly Journey
A sensational experience
The Shuttle Launch Experience isn’t the first high-tech space ride in Central Florida. Epcot’s “Mission: Space” at Walt Disney World opened in 2003. but while Mission: Space is one facet* of a generalized , Shuttle Launch Experience is a magnet* in an otherworldly universe that’s all about space. Another difference is the technology. Mission: Space uses centrifugal force* to create the sensation of increased gravity forces (G-Forces) --- a combination that proved so overwhelming to riders that Disney introduced a toned-down version of the ride.
The Shuttle Launch Experience uses the in the seat, coupled with the upward angle of the rider and images on the big screen to crate the illusion of increased gravit forces. The Shuttle Launch Experience “is as close to real flight as I think visitors could have come,” says retired astronaut Charles Bolden, who conducts the taped simulator “briefing*” before the ride.
A unique attraction
Currently, the Kennedy Space Center draws roughly 1.5 million visitors a year. After all, it’s a working spaceport that has been a hub of the world’s celestial* exploration efforts for more than four decades.
Museum-like in some places, in others, it’s a unique attraction where space exploration’s yesterdays live only a glance away from their tomorrows. But the Space Center---whose Visitor Complex receives no tax money---also needs new support, new reasons for folks to complete with nearby theme parks, which draw millions of visitors with increasingly slick*, hi-tech attractions.
Maybe by the next time a shuttle roars skyward, some of those people who stand watching will have taken the new ride and nod confidently that they are a little closer to knowing what it might be like.
Vocabulary Focus
facet(n)--- one part of a subject or situation that has many parts
magnet (n)--- person, place or thing that other people feel strongly attracted to
briefing (n)--- a meeting where important information is given to someone just before they begin an assignment
slick (adj)--- operating or performing skillfully and effectively, without problems and without seeming to need effort
Specialized terms
centrifugal force(n phr)--- 离心力 an apparent force that seems to pull a rotating object away from the point around which it is spinning
celestial(adj)--- 天空的；天体的 of or from the sky