2016年CRI China Unveils Ambitious Plans to Explore the Universe

 

The plan was released to coincide with China's first "Space Day" which was celebrated¹ on Sunday.

According to the ambitious plan, the Mars mission probe is expected to orbit the red planet, land and deploy² a rover all in one mission, round about the year 2021.

The spacecraft for the mission will be put into space by the new-generation Long March-5 heavy-lift rocket, and is being developed by the China Academy of Space Technology.

Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of the first Mars exploration, explained its significance for understanding the universe's evolution, as well as structure of matter and the origin of life.

"Such a big plan to achieve orbiting, landing and the deployment³ of a rover in one mission will make history. Only by completing this Mars probe mission can China say it has embarked⁴ on the exploration of deep space in the true sense."

However, Zhang also stressed the difficulties that would be faced in achieving this goal.

"A total of 43 Mars missions have been launched throughout the world so far. The most recent took place on March 14. It is a joint⁵ collaboration⁶ between the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency. It's just been launched and it is still on its way to Mars. There have only been 22 successful launches. So the rate of success to failure is about 50-50."

The greatest challenge lies in the landing process, since the weather on the red planet is hard to predict, and its environment is hard for researchers to imitate on Earth.

Experts also explained that since the favorable alignment⁷ of Earth and Mars occurs for only few weeks every 26 months, 2020 is a crucial launch window for the probe.

Meanwhile, China is also planning to finish building its space station by 2022.

The country will launch its second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 as well as the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft to rendezvous⁸ and dock with it later this year.

Xu Dazhe, director of Chinese National Space Administration, explained some of the goals they want to achieve.

"China will complete its civil space infrastructure⁹ -- navigation, telecommunication¹⁰ and remote sensing systems -- to serve different sectors¹¹, benefit the mankind and contribute to the improvement of people's livelihoods¹²."

The space station will also cater¹³ for international projects and foreign astronauts in a bid to develop further space cooperation with the rest of the world.

The first space lab Tiangong-1 was launched in 2011 and three dockings with the module¹⁴ were conducted in the following years.

The lab, which orbited for 4 and half years, has fulfilled its mission and was retired¹⁵ in March.

It will descend¹⁶ gradually in the coming months until it burns up in the atmosphere.

The U.S.-dominated International Space Station is scheduled to end its life in 2024, when China's space station may for a time become the only operational facility in space.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

4 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

7 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

8 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 telecommunication   

n.电信，远距离通信

参考例句：

• Telecommunication is an industry of service.电信业是一个服务型的行业。
• I only care about the telecommunication quality and the charge.我只关心通信质量和资费两个方面。

11 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

13 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

14 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

15 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

16 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。