VOA慢速英语 登陆月球:双子星计划

　　Suddenly the power began to increase. The astronauts turned the systems back on. By the third day in orbit, all was normal again.

　　Then another problem developed with the same fuel cells. The cells created electricity by mixing hydrogen with oxygen. The process also produced some water. But the fuel cells were producing too much water. Containers that held the water were filling up too fast.

　　NASA was worried that the extra water could destroy the power supply needed for the spacecraft's return to Earth. So, Cooper and Conrad again turned off most of the power in the spacecraft.

　　VOICE ONE:

　　Again, the spacecraft floated almost silently above the Earth. Communications were few. Cooper and Conrad could not do any of the planned experiments. But each day, they set another record for surviving in space.

　　Eight days after their launch, Cooper and Conrad fired the control rockets and re-entered the atmosphere. They had circled the Earth one hundred twenty times. They had seen one hundred twenty sunrises and sunsets. They had traveled more than five million kilometers. They had proved that people could live and work in space for the time it would take to get to the moon and back.

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