VOA慢速英语2016 美国政府批准私人登月计划（在线收听）

US Government Approves Private Moon Shot 美国政府批准私人登月计划

The United States government has given a private American company permission to send a commercial flight to the moon.

美国政府批准了私人航天公司向月球表面发射登月飞行器的请求。

Moon Express, Inc. plans to send a robotic lander to the moon. The vehicle has been reported to be the size of the R2-D2 robot from the Star Wars movie series.

月球快车公司（Moon Express）计划向月球发射机器人着陆器。报道称，这种机器的体型和《星球大战》系列影片里的R2-D2一样大。

“It’s a huge milestone for us,” said Bob Richards, who heads Moon Express.

月球快车公司首席执行官鲍勃·理查德表示：“对我们来说，这是一个巨大的里程碑”。

Until now, private space exploration companies have limited their activities to Earth’s orbit.

至今，私人航天公司对地球轨道的探测活动仍然受限。

Moon Express hopes to begin flights to the moon in 2017, the year in which Google, the technology company, presents its Lunar X Prize. The prize will go to the first privately-funded business to land a vehicle on the moon.

月球快车公司希望能在2017年开始着陆月球，届时谷歌科技公司将为其提供“月球X大奖”奖金。该项奖金将用来援助首个登陆月球的私人航天企业。

Moon Express joined the race to the moon in 2012. There are now 16 other companies in the competition.

2012年，月球快车公司参加了“谷歌月球X大奖”比赛。目前还有16家公司加入了这项竞赛。

Other private companies and individuals would like to explore space. SpaceX, an American aerospace company, has announced plans to launch its “Red Dragon” spacecraft to Mars as early as 2018. Another company, Planetary Resources, is making plans to mine asteroids for minerals.

其他的私人企业与个人组织也表示想要探索太空。美国太空探索科技公司（SpaceX）发表声明称：计划最早在2018年发射“Red Dragon”飞船到火星。另一家名为Planetary Resources公司正在制定开采小行星矿产的计划。

Moon Express has said it wants to mine for minerals on the moon.

月球快车公司也表示，想要开采月球上的矿产。

Words in This Story

milestone – n. a very important event

asteroids – n. any one of thousands of small planets that circle around the sun

commercial – adj. concerned with or involving trade, business

funded – adj. financed; provided with money for a special purpose