VOA慢速英语2019 猎鹰重型携24颗卫星进入太空

SpaceX Falcon¹ Heavy Successfully Launches with 24 Satellites

American space company SpaceX has successfully launched its large Falcon Heavy rocket on a flight to deploy² 24 satellites.

美国太空探索技术公司SpaceX成功发射了大型猎鹰重型火箭，此次发射将部署24颗卫星。

The rocket lifted off early Tuesday morning from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon Heavy is considered the world’s most powerful operating rocket.

周二凌晨，该火箭于弗罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心发射升空。猎鹰重型火箭被认为是世界上最强大的运行火箭。

It was the third successful flight of a Falcon Heavy rocket. The U.S. Department of Defense³ ordered the current mission.

这是猎鹰重型火箭第三次成功发射。美国国防部下令执行这一任务。

The satellites will be used for experiments involving several U.S. government agencies, as well as some university projects.

这些卫星将被用于美国政府机构和一些大学项目的实验研究。

SpaceX chief Elon Musk⁴ said Tuesday’s mission was the company’s “toughest rocket launch ever.” It required four separate upper-stage engine firings. The satellites also needed to be placed in three different orbits. The process was expected to take about six hours.

SpaceX的首席执行官伊隆·马斯克表示，周二的任务是公司“有史以来最复杂的火箭发射任务。” 此次发射需要四次独立的上层发动机点火。这些卫星还需要被部署到三个不同的轨道上。整个过程预计需要六个小时。

SpaceX uses reusable rockets to reduce the cost of space travel for its customers. These include government and military agencies, the U.S. space agency NASA and private companies.

SpaceX使用了可循环使用的火箭来降低客户太空旅行的成本。包括政府和军事机构，美国太空机构NASA和一些私营公司。

Several minutes after liftoff, the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters returned safely to Earth and landed at Florida’s Cape⁵ Canaveral Air Force Station. The center booster was supposed to land on a special platform in the Atlantic Ocean, but did not reach its target.

发射几分钟后，猎鹰重型火箭的助推器安全返回地球并在弗罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角空军基地着陆。中央核心助推器本应在大西洋一块特殊平台着陆，但未到达指定着陆点。

SpaceX said the landing failure of the center booster was not unexpected because of the difficult nature of the mission. “It was a long shot,” SpaceX’s Musk said on Twitter.

SpaceX表示，中央核心助推器着陆失败也在预料之中，因为此番任务本来就艰难。“这是一次不大会成功的尝试，”SpaceX的埃隆·马斯克在Twitter上说道。

In addition to the satellites, the Falcon Heavy carried an atomic clock built by NASA, a solar sail project and even human ashes.

除卫星之外，猎鹰重型火箭还搭载着一个由NASA制造的原子钟、一艘太阳帆甚至还有人类骨灰。

The Deep Space Atomic Clock is a technology experiment aimed at giving spacecraft self-flying abilities in the future.

深空原子钟是一项技术试验，旨在赋予未来航天器自主飞行的能力。

The solar sail project was led by the U.S.-based Planetary Society. The goal of the group’s LightSail is to become the first orbiting spacecraft to be powered completely by sunlight. The head of the Planetary Society is scientist and television star Bill Nye, who praised SpaceX for its cooperation. “Hey @elonmusk, thanks for the ride!” he tweeted.

太阳帆是美国行星协会发起的项目。该协会“光帆号”的目标是成为首个完全由阳光驱动的轨道太空船。行星协会主席是科学家兼电视明星比尔·奈伊。他称赞了与SpaceX的这次合作。“嘿！@elonmusk感谢你载它一程。”他在推特中写道。

Among the human ashes on the flight were some belonging to astronaut Bill Pogue, who flew on NASA’s first space station, Skylab, in the 1970s. Pogue died in 2014.

这次飞行搭载的人类骨灰中有已逝宇航员比尔·波格的骨灰。20世纪90年代，他曾在NASA首个太空站“天空实验室”（Skylab）上飞行。波格于2014年逝世。

The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket in use today. Each first-stage booster has nine engines, for a total of 27 firing at the same time during liftoff. SpaceX says the rocket has the ability to lift nearly 64 metric tons into orbit. Only NASA’s Saturn⁶ V rocket, which took U.S. astronauts to the moon, had the ability to carry more into space.

猎鹰重型火箭是现今运行火箭中运力最强的火箭。每个一级助推器有9个发动机，发射时同时点火27次。SpaceX表示，该火箭可承载近64公吨的物品进入轨道。只有NASA建造的土星5号火箭能承载更重的物品进入太空，该火箭曾搭载美国宇航员登上月球。

Words in This Story

mission – n. an important task, usually involving travel somewhere

stage – n. a period of development

customer – n. person who buys goods or services

booster – n. engine on a spacecraft that gives extra power for the first part of a flight

platform – n. a raised surface built to hold something

1 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

5 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

6 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。