VOA慢速英语--US Space Agency Exploring Living Spaces for Moon and Mars

 

The United States space agency NASA is considering models of future living spaces for astronauts exploring the moon and Mars.

A group of NASA officials and veteran astronauts has examined five working models of space habitats. Private companies developed the habitats for the space agency. They were created to give NASA ideas for what a future Lunar Gateway¹ might look like.

NASA has described the Lunar Gateway as a small spaceship that would remain in orbit around the moon. It would be designed as a living space for astronauts and as a laboratory for science projects.

NASA has set a goal of returning human beings to the moon by the year 2024. The gateway would give the astronauts a base for making trips to the moon. Such a spaceship could one day be deployed² for the planet Mars, too.

NASA astronaut Mike Gernhardt serves as the chief investigator³ for the habitat testing program. “The whole point is to define what we like and what we don’t like about these different habitats,” he told Reuters news agency.

Recently, Gernhardt and his team were in Las Vegas, Nevada for a final inspection⁴ at the headquarters of Bigelow Aerospace⁵. Bigelow is one of the companies that built a habitat model.

The company’s founder⁶, Robert Bigelow, told reporters the Gateway project provides the chance “to test all these structures in a deep space environment...as a prelude⁷ to going to Mars.”

His company’s inflatable habitat, called the B330, would be launched from Earth aboard a rocket. It is made of a fabric-like material. The B330 is designed to protect astronauts from deep-space radiation and objects traveling at high speeds.

Once in space, the habitat opens up into a two-floor, 16-meter-long station that can hold up to six astronauts.

Four other companies are building model habitats. They are The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Lockheed Martin Corporation.

NASA plans to spend one billion dollars on the lunar space habitat and colonization⁸ program through 2028. Each of the companies received a part of the $65 million that the space agency approved in 2017 to develop the habitat models.

The companies are giving the space agency ideas. These include suggestions about where to place astronaut toilets, how big beds should be and how many windows the station should have. The ideas are to be used in official plans that NASA officials are to release in the coming months.

Gernhardt and two other astronauts spent three days living in each habitat model.

For its Gateway design, Lockheed Martin created a four-and-a-half meter by seven meter steel structure with beds, tables and windows. At first, the structure was designed to be a shipping⁹ container. The company had planned to use it to carry supplies to and from the International Space Station.

Lockheed Martin’s Bill Pratt told Reuters one of the most important things for the habitat is that it can be “reconfigurable” to fit whatever the immediate¹⁰ need is. “Like in an RV, your table becomes the bed that you sleep on at night.”

Bigelow said the B330 habitat has two toilets for a crew of up to six to use. He added that his company was already working to develop a virtual reality system to create an Earth-like environment so astronauts can feel at home as they orbit Mars.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

veteran – adj. long in experience or service

habitat – n. the natural living environment for living things

prelude – n. something that happens before another event or activity

inflatable – adj. able to be filled with air

toilet – n. a deep, round container that you sit on or stand near when releasing wastes from your body

reconfigure – v. to change the structure of something

RV – n. short for recreational vehicle (a large motor vehicle in which you can sleep and often cook)

virtual reality – n. a set of images and sounds produced by a computer to represent a real place or situation

1 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

2 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

3 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

4 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

5 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

8 colonization   

殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖

参考例句：

• Colonization took place during the Habsburg dynasty. 开拓殖民地在哈布斯堡王朝就进行过。
• These countries took part in the colonization of Africa. 这些国家参与非洲殖民地的开发。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。