Anija transportuese Discovery është në orbitë rreth tokës pas lëshimit me sukses nga qendra amerikane e Cape Canaveral. Megjithatë ka patur shqetësime në rritje për dicka që është vënë re se ka rënë nga anija menjëherë pas nisjes. Jeremy Cooke njofton:

Dëgjo lajmin

Immediately after Discovery's lift-off NASA officials were in jubilant mood, talking of the power and majesty of the launch and of the mutual congratulations and back-slapping at ground control. But even as the shuttle's commander, Eileen Collins, was reporting from space that this was the smoothest of her four flights into orbit, engineers at Mission Control were trying to assess the significance of an onboard video which apparently shows debris falling from Discovery soon after it cleared the tower.

Fresh in everyone's mind here of course is the Columbia disaster of 2003 when heat-resistant tiles became damaged during the launch. The result was a catastrophic failure on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere two weeks later, with the loss of all seven astronauts on board.

It seems clear that NASA genuinely doesn't know the seriousness of any problem it may face on this current mission. It may take days to assess any damage. But the hope here at Cape Canaveral continues to be that this mission will salvage the agency's battered reputation and help open the way for a continuation of the space programme and eventually a manned flight to Mars.

Jeremy Cooke, BBC

Dëgjo fjalët

lift-off
lëshim, nisje

in jubilant mood
shumë të lumtur, në një gjendje festive

mutual congratulations
urime, përgëzime reciproke

back-slapping
Rrahje e krahëve dikut (miqësisht)

to assess the significance of
për të vlerësuar rëndësinë e

an onboard video
një video e filmuar nga astronautët në bordin e anijes

debris
copëra të mbetura pas një aksidenti ose shpërthimi

Fresh in everyone's mind
Në mendjet e të gjithëve është e freskët ...

a catastrophic failure
dështimi katastrofik

salvage the agency's battered reputation
shpëtoj reputacionin, namin e dëmtuar rëndë të agjensisë (NASA)