VOA慢速英语 韩国发射首枚自主研制的太空火箭

South Korea has launched its first space rocket to be completely developed and built in the country. But the rocket failed to successfully deploy² a test satellite into orbit after its launch Thursday.

韩国发射了首枚完全在该国研发和制造的太空火箭。但是该火箭在周四发射之后，未能成功将测试卫星送入轨道。

South Korean television showed a live broadcast of the launch. The 47-meter rocket lifted off with bright yellow fire shooting from its engines.

韩国电视台对此次发射进行了现场直播。这枚47米高的火箭升空时，引擎发出明黄色的火焰。

The rocket is called Nuri. It launched from the country's Naro Space Center, which is on a small island off South Korea's southern coast.

这枚火箭被称为世界号。它是从位于该国南部海岸附近小岛上的罗老航天中心发射升空。

President Moon Jae-in watched from the space center. He said the rocket completed all its flight stages just as it was supposed to. "All this was done based on technology that is completely ours," he said.

文在寅总统在航天中心观看了这次发射。他表示，火箭按预期完成了所有飞行阶段。他说：“所有这些都是基于我们完全自主的技术完成的。”

But Moon added that the rocket then failed to place the test satellite into orbit. "Unfortunately, we did not fully¹ reach our goal."

但是文在寅还表示，火箭随后未能将测试卫星送入轨道。“不幸的是，我们未能完全达到我们的目标。”

Moon praised the workers and said although the mission was incomplete³, the project would press ahead. "It's not long before we'll be able to launch it exactly into the target trajectory⁴." Moon said the launch demonstrated the country's progress and promised that the "Korea Space Age" was coming.

文在寅称赞了工作人员，并表示虽然任务没有完成，但是该项目会继续推进。“用不了多久，我们就能将它准确地发射到目标轨道上。”文在寅表示，这次发射展示了韩国的进步，并预示韩国太空时代即将到来。

Nuri is the country's first space launch vehicle developed and built completely with South Korean technology. The three-stage rocket is powered by five rocket engines to complete its first and second stages. Another engine is used during the rocket's final stage.

世界号是韩国首枚完全采用本国技术研发和制造的太空运载火箭。这枚三级火箭由5台火箭发动机提供动力来完成第一和第二阶段。在火箭的最后阶段使用另一台引擎。

The rocket is designed to carry a payload of up to 1.5 tons to an orbit 600 to 800 kilometers above Earth.

这枚火箭旨在将高达1.5吨的有效载荷送上距离地球600到800公里的轨道。

Science minister Lim Hye-sook told reporters the mission failed because the third-stage engine stopped burning about 50 seconds earlier than expected. This prevented the payload from reaching the right speed to reach orbit.

韩国科技部长林惠淑对记者表示，此次任务失败是因为第三级发动机比预期提前了大约50秒停止工作。这让有效载荷未能以正确速度进入轨道。

Officials from the country's space agency, the Korea Aerospace⁵ Research Institute, said debris⁶ from the test payload was expected to land in waters south of Australia. The agency said it was planning to form an inspection⁷ committee soon to study what went wrong and to make plans for the next test launch. Another attempt is planned for May.

韩国航空宇宙研究院官员表示，测试载荷的碎片预计将落入澳大利亚南部水域。该机构称其计划很快成立一家审查委员会，研究哪方面出了问题，并为下一次测试发射制定计划。该国原计划在明年5月份进行另一次发射尝试。

After depending on other countries to launch its satellites since the early 1990s, South Korea is now trying to become the 10th nation to send a satellite into space with its own technology.

在该国自上世纪90年代初开始依赖其它国家发射卫星之后，韩国现在正努力成为第10个利用自主技术将卫星送入太空的国家。

Officials say this ability would be important for the country's future space projects. South Korea plans to launch communications satellites as well as its own military intelligence satellites. The country is also hoping to send an explorer to the moon by 2030.

官员们表示，这种能力对该国未来的太空项目来说非常重要。韩国计划发射通信卫星以及自己的军事情报卫星。该国还希望在2030年前将探测器送上月球。

South Korea launched another space launch vehicle from the Naro spaceport in 2013. That vehicle, named Naro, was a two-stage rocket built mainly with Russian technology.

韩国于2013年从罗老航天中心发射了另一枚太空运载火箭。这枚被称之为罗老号的火箭是主要采用俄罗斯技术制造的二级火箭。

Naro's launch came after years of delays and a series of failures. The rocket reached the desired altitude during its first test in 2009. But it failed to release a satellite into orbit. Then, during a second test in 2010, Naro exploded shortly after takeoff.

罗老号的发射是在多年的延迟和一系列失败之后推出的。该火箭在2009年的第一次测试中达到了预期高度。但它未能将卫星送入轨道。然后在2010年的第二次测试中，罗老号在升空后不久发生了爆炸。

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

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 incomplete   

adj.不完全的，不完善的

参考例句：

• The building was left incomplete.那座楼没有完工就停下来了。
• His novel was incomplete when he died.他死的时候他的小说没有写完。

4 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

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 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 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。