VOA慢速英语--美国宇航局直升机在火星上进行历史性试飞

NASA's Ingenuity¹ helicopter has successfully completed a takeoff and landing on Mars.

The U.S. space agency says Monday's flight was historic because it marked the first time any aircraft had performed powered, controlled flight on another planet.

The flight was announced Monday by flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. The team said it was able to confirm the flight after receiving data and images from its Mars explorer, Perseverance². The explorer was carrying Ingenuity when it successfully landed in Mars' Jezero Crater³ in February.

NASA said the solar-powered experimental aircraft lifted off the surface of Mars at 10:34 UTC. Controllers chose the day and time based on Ingenuity's readiness and when flight conditions were acceptable.

Ingenuity climbed about 3 meters and hovered⁵ for 30 seconds before landing safely on the surface, NASA reported. It added that Ingenuity's first flight was autonomous⁶. That means the aircraft piloted itself with the help of built-in guidance and control systems developed by JPL's team.

The space agency said the operation "was full of unknowns" because of the very different conditions on Mars compared to Earth. For example, gravity's pull on the surface of Mars is one-third of Earth's. And the Red Planet's atmosphere is much thinner, with one percent of Earth's atmospheric⁷ pressure. To complete a successful flight, engineers said the helicopter's blades needed to spin five times faster than they would have to on Earth.

The space agency said data must be sent and received from Mars using orbiting satellites and land-based communication systems. Because of this, the helicopter "cannot be flown with a joystick," NASA said in a statement. The flight of the 49-centimeter tall vehicle also was not observable from Earth as it happened.

Perseverance acted as a communications link between the helicopter and Earth. It also documented Ingenuity's activities with its high-tech⁸ imaging equipment. Ingenuity itself does not contain scientific instruments. It was designed only to demonstrate whether such aircraft could be valuable in future exploration activities on Mars or other planets.

The first picture captured was a black and white image showing the helicopter's shadow as it hovered above Mars. Next came color video of Ingenuity's landing that was taken by Perseverance.

Acting⁹ NASA Administrator¹⁰ Steve Jurczyk praised the successful flight in a statement. "Ingenuity is the latest in a long and storied tradition of NASA projects achieving a space exploration goal once thought impossible," he said.

Additional flight tests are to be carried out, with plans to see if Ingenuity can go a little higher and farther each time. NASA said such helicopters could assist astronauts on future search and collection missions.

NASA has compared Ingenuity's attempt to the Wright Brothers' first flight of a motor-driven airplane near Kitty Hawk¹¹, North Carolina, in 1903. In recognition of that historic flight, a small piece of cloth that covered a wing from the Wright Brothers plane was attached to the helicopter for its first flight on Mars.

After Ingenuity's successful flight, project leader MiMi Aung said: "We've been talking so long about our Wright Brothers moment, and here it is."

Words in This Story

hover⁴ – v. to stay up in the air but without moving anywhere

autonomous – adj. independent and having the power to operate automatically without human involvement

blade – n. an arm of a propeller¹² that spins to lift an aircraft off the ground

joystick – n. a handle used to control movements of a computer game, machine or aircraft

shadow – n. a dark shape that appears on a surface when someone or something moves between the surface and a source of light

achieve – v. to succeed in doing something

indicate – v. to show that something exists or is likely to be true

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

5 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

6 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

7 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。

8 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

11 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

12 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。