VOA慢速英语2021--2021年火星探索取得进展,太空旅游兴起

2021 Saw Progress on Mars, Rise in Space Tourists

The year 2021 saw some important developments in the exploration of Mars as well as a rise in American-based space tourism.

In February, the American space agency NASA announced that its Mars explorer, Perseverance¹, landed successfully on the Red Planet. Perseverance is on a mission to collect Martian soil and rocks as part of a search for signs of ancient life.

Perseverance landed in an area of Mars called Jezero Crater². Scientists believe the area contains a large ancient lakebed. NASA considers the area a promising³ place to find possible signs of microbial life. Scientists believe if life ever existed on Mars, it would have been present 3 to 4 billion years ago, when water flowed on the planet. Perseverance is NASA's fifth rover to explore Mars.

Perseverance carried to Mars a small experimental helicopter named Ingenuity⁴. In April, NASA announced Ingenuity had successfully completed a takeoff and landing on the planet. It said the flight was historic; it marked the first time any aircraft had performed a powered, controlled flight on another planet.

Ingenuity was meant to demonstrate such flights are possible. NASA says similar helicopters and other aircraft could be used in the future to assist astronauts in search and collection operations.

Only a few test flights were planned, but the Ingenuity team said the first ones were so successful that they decided⁵ to extend the number of experimental flights. So far, Ingenuity has completed at least 17 flights, with flights progressing in length and distance.

This year, both China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sent their first spacecraft to Mars.

In May, China announced that its Tianwen-1 spacecraft had successfully landed on Mars after a seven-month trip. The vehicle landed at Utopia Planitia, a large flat area in the northern half of the planet. The six-wheeled explorer is studying the planet's surface soil and atmosphere in search for signs of ancient life.

The UAE's Hope Probe spacecraft was sent to an extremely high orbit to study Mars. The Emirates Mars Mission aims to study atmospheric⁶ and weather conditions around Mars. Among other things, it seeks to help scientists understand how hydrogen and oxygen react in the planet's upper atmosphere.

In February, scientists announced they had created a new map that aims to identify the best sources of water on Mars. Water is considered a critical resource to support future exploration activities on Mars. The map identifies two specific areas on Mars where subsurface ice could likely be found.

In July, British billionaire Richard Branson launched into space on a rocket plane built by Virgin⁷ Galactic, the space tourism company he created. Branson joined two pilots and three other "mission specialists" on the flight. Virgin Galactic aims to fly private citizens to the edge of space to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and observe Earth.

A little over a week later, American billionaire Jeff Bezos flew to the edge of space on a rocket built by his company, Blue Origin. Three other people took the quick trip with him: Bezo's brother, a Dutch teenager and an 82-year-old pilot.

The flights by Branson and Bezos officially launched a new industry that promises any citizen the chance to visit space. Such trips will be costly⁸, however. Virgin Galactic's price for a single flight is $250,000. Blue Origin has not publicly announced its price. Both businesses have established operating bases, called "spaceports," in rural areas of the U.S.

And earlier this month, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa arrived for a 12-day stay at the International Space Station (ISS). The businessman arrived along with an assistant aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The price of that trip has not been made public, but some reports say it cost up to $50 million.

Words in This Story

mission – n. an important project or trip, especially involving space travel

microbial – adj. relating to microbes (very small living things)

tourism – n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

1 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

2 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

7 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。