VOA慢速英語(yǔ): 飛船歷史性的在彗星上著陸

宇宙飛船歷史性地在彗星登陸

After traveling 10 years and hundreds of millions of kilometers, a small robotic spacecraft has for the first time landed on the surface of a comet, a solar system object made of ice and rock.

在太空旅行10年、航行數(shù)十億千米后，一個(gè)小型機(jī)器飛船首次登陸彗星表面，彗星是太陽(yáng)系的一個(gè)天體，由冰和巖石構(gòu)成。

The probe launched from the European Space Agency’s main Rosetta spaceship early Wednesday. The spaceship is designed to carefully study the appearance and materials that make up the Comet67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko.

周三早上，這一探測(cè)器搭載歐洲航天局“羅塞塔”飛船進(jìn)入太空。飛船設(shè)計(jì)很細(xì)致，主要研究彗星67P的表面物質(zhì)。

Scientists worried the probe might not land on solid ground but early reports say the Philae research probe is in good condition.

科學(xué)家擔(dān)心探測(cè)器也許無(wú)法達(dá)到彗星表面，雖然早些時(shí)候的報(bào)道稱“菲萊”著陸器運(yùn)行狀態(tài)良好。

Stephan Ulamec, of the German Aerospace Center, announced the news. He said the landing equipment and a special device meant to secure the spacecraft to the comet had deployed.

德國(guó)航天中心的史蒂芬·萊姆克宣布一個(gè)消息：他說(shuō)已經(jīng)部署好一個(gè)特別的裝置來(lái)確保著陸彗星的探測(cè)器器和飛船的安全。

“Philae is talking to us, first things he told us is that the harpoons have been fired, rewound and that the landing gear has been moved inside, so we are sitting on the surface, Philae is talking to us, more data to come.”

“菲萊”傳達(dá)給我們的信息首先是‘魚叉’被燒壞未成功發(fā)射出來(lái)，出現(xiàn)繞卷，起落架到里面，所以我們是‘坐在’彗星表面，“菲萊”傳輸給我們更多數(shù)據(jù)。”

Early on Wednesday, ground controllers at the European Space Agency operations center in Germany confirmed that Philae had separated from the Rosetta ship. The probe then began a tense trip toward the comet and landed on its surface hours later. The attempt to land on the comet was considered risky not only because scientists were unsure of the surface, but because of problems with thrusters used to land the probe.

早在周三，在德國(guó)的歐洲航天局的地面控制中心確認(rèn)“菲萊”已經(jīng)與“羅塞塔”飛船分離，探測(cè)器開始向慧星前行，并在數(shù)小時(shí)后登陸彗星。彗星著陸的嘗試被認(rèn)為是有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的，不僅僅因?yàn)榭茖W(xué)家不確定彗星表面情況，還由于用來(lái)推進(jìn)探測(cè)器的推進(jìn)器有些問題。

Scientists and many officials gathered at the European Space Agency’s Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany. After the landing was announced, there was cheering and applause.

科學(xué)家和許多官員在德國(guó)的達(dá)姆施塔特——歐洲航天局的控制中心觀看探測(cè)器登陸，“菲萊”探測(cè)器登陸成功后，響起一片掌聲和歡呼聲。

European Space Agency Director Thomas Reiter thanked the many groups who had been involved in the mission.

歐洲航天局的主任托馬斯·瑞特感謝參與到這次任務(wù)的所有成員。

Jim Green of NASA praised the landing as an important step in space exploration. “Let’s learn about the environment we are in. It’s these steps that will lead us beyond this planet, on to Mars and out into the Solar System.”

美國(guó)太空署的吉姆·格林稱贊說(shuō)這次登陸彗星是太空探索的重要一步。“我們學(xué)習(xí)自己所處的環(huán)境，不斷地努力去學(xué)習(xí)研究地球以外的星球，我們探測(cè)火星，以及太陽(yáng)系。”

Rosetta has been orbiting the Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko since August. However, the mission started with the spaceship’s launch in March of 2004. The spaceship circled the sun until it was in position to meet with the comet. Information from the European Space Agency shows the spacecraft’s trip has taken it far beyond the orbit Mars.

自從8月份起，“羅塞塔”就圍繞著彗星67P的軌道轉(zhuǎn)，但是，2004年3月，飛船發(fā)射后，任務(wù)才開始，飛船一直繞著太陽(yáng)轉(zhuǎn)，直到轉(zhuǎn)到能夠繞彗星轉(zhuǎn)的位置。歐洲航天局的信息表明飛船的行程已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)繞火星軌道的行程了。

The comet currently is traveling at a distance of more than 400 million kilometers from Earth. At such a distance, communication between the spacecraft and earth took more than half an hour. Controllers waited and worried before receiving confirmation sent from Philae that it had landed safely.

彗星現(xiàn)在距離地球有4億千米，這樣的遠(yuǎn)距離，飛船與地球的信息傳輸大概需要半個(gè)多小時(shí)。地面控制人員焦急的等待、接收探測(cè)器成功登陸后傳來(lái)的確認(rèn)信息。

Now, the probe will begin a series of scientific experiments. Philae will examine the material that makes up the comet looking for organic, or carbon-based material, and inorganic materials. The Rosetta mission cost the European Space Agency, or ESA, $1.7 billion dollars.

現(xiàn)在探測(cè)器會(huì)展開一系列的科學(xué)實(shí)驗(yàn)，“菲萊”探測(cè)器會(huì)對(duì)彗星發(fā)散出的氣體、塵埃以及彗星核結(jié)構(gòu)與其他相關(guān)有機(jī)物質(zhì)進(jìn)行詳細(xì)研究。“羅塞塔”飛船的這次任務(wù)共花費(fèi)歐洲航天局17億美元。

 The main Rosetta spacecraft will follow Comet 67P for the next year and observe it as it heads toward the sun. However, Rosetta will not approach the sun too closely. Its closest approach to our star is still outside the orbit of Earth.

“羅塞塔”飛船來(lái)年還是會(huì)繞著彗星67P轉(zhuǎn)，觀察彗星朝太陽(yáng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。但是“羅塞塔”飛船不會(huì)靠太陽(yáng)很近，離飛船最近的星星不是繞著地球轉(zhuǎn)。

The Philae probe is the result of a joint effort by scientists and space agencies in many countries from the European Union and the United States. Three experiments on the spaceship come from the U.S. space agency NASA.

“菲萊”探測(cè)器是歐盟和美國(guó)各國(guó)科學(xué)家和航天機(jī)構(gòu)一起努力的結(jié)果。飛船的三項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)來(lái)自美國(guó)航空航天局。

Photos sent back to Earth from Rosetta show Comet67P's surface as a rough world of rocky formations and ice.

“羅塞塔”發(fā)回地球的彗星67P表面的照片，就像是個(gè)粗糙的巖石面和冰面。

Rosetta is named after the stone that helped unlock the hieroglyphic language of the ancient Egyptians. ESA Director Thomas Reiter has this to say about the mission:

“羅塞塔”這個(gè)名字是以打開古埃及一種象形文字的石頭命名的。歐洲航天局的主任托馬斯·瑞特說(shuō)這次航行的使命是：

“It’s aim, of course, to unlock the secrets hidden within the icy treasure chest of a 4.6 billion years (old) object, to study its make-up and its history. To search for clues as to our own origins.”

“主要的目標(biāo)當(dāng)然是打開隱藏在46億年前的冰川寶藏中的秘密，研究它的構(gòu)成以及歷史，研究我們的起源的線索。”

I'm Mario Ritter.

我是馬瑞歐·瑞特。

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Words in this Story

Deployed-adj. to move something into a position for action

Probe-n. (science) a device used to examine or study something; a small spacecraft deployed from a larger one that is sent down to a planet, moon or comet

Origins-n. the point where things begin, a starting point