[ti:Astronauts Arrive in Florida to Prepare for Weekend Launch] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Four astronauts arrived at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday [00:07.88]to prepare for a trip to the International Space Station (ISS). [00:14.08]An airplane brought the astronauts to Kennedy [00:18.00]from the U.S. space agency's training center in Houston, Texas. [00:24.80]The three Americans and one Japanese are set to leave [00:30.44]for the ISS Saturday night, if weather conditions permit. [00:36.64]The flight will be the second crew launch for SpaceX, [00:42.32]a private company working with NASA to carry astronauts to space. [00:49.84]The first SpaceX flight, in May 2020, made history. [00:56.72]It was the first time a private company had launched astronauts into Earth's orbit. [01:05.56]SpaceX built and operated the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft [01:14.24]that carried two NASA astronauts to the space station. [01:20.44]The crew – astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley [01:26.20]- returned to Earth in August after a two-month stay. [01:32.40]A Crew Dragon spacecraft – carried by a Falcon 9 rocket [01:37.52]- will again transport the astronauts on the next mission. [01:43.76]This time, the four astronauts are expected to spend about six months on the ISS. [01:52.68]The crew includes Americans Michael Hopkins, [01:56.96]Victor Glover and Shannon Walker. [02:01.60]Also making the trip is Soichi Noguchi of Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency. [02:11.72]Hopkins is a 51-year-old Air Force colonel from Missouri. [02:17.88]He will be flying to the space station for his second time. [02:22.72]He first traveled to the ISS in 2013 [02:27.40]and spent a total of 166 days in space. [02:33.80]Walker is a 55-year-old physicist from Houston. [02:39.32]The upcoming flight will be her second trip to the space station. [02:44.96]Her first came in 2010, when she spent 163 days in space. [02:53.52]Walker's husband – retired NASA astronaut Andrew Thomas – helped build the ISS. [03:02.40]Glover is a 44-year-old Navy commander from Los Angeles. [03:08.16]This will be his first space mission. [03:12.88]He will be the first African American to move into the ISS for an extended stay. [03:21.08]The 55-year-old Noguchi will be making his third trip to the space station. [03:28.56]His longest visit came in 2010, when he spent 161 days [03:35.52]on the ISS and served as Flight Engineer. [03:41.32]Dragon will be Noguchi's third transportation vehicle for getting to space. [03:48.12]In the past, he flew on a U.S. space shuttle and Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. [03:56.64]The astronauts named their Dragon spacecraft Resilience [04:01.80]to note the many challenges Americans have faced in 2020. [04:08.92]These include the coronavirus health crisis, [04:13.20]protests against racial injustice and a difficult presidential campaign season. [04:21.68]"It's been a tough year for everybody for a lot of different reasons," [04:27.12]crew commander Mike Hopkins said after arriving in Florida. [04:33.92]"We felt like if the name of our vehicle could give a little hope, [04:39.48]a little inspiration, put a smile on people's face, [04:43.92]then that is definitely what we wanted to do." [04:49.04]SpaceX officials say the company expects [04:53.08]to launch seven Dragons over the next 14 months: [04:58.04]three to carry astronauts and four for transporting supplies. [05:04.40]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM