VOA慢速英语--既然中国已经登陆火星了,接下来的任务是什么?

China recently made history by successfully landing a spacecraft on Mars. The event marked a major step in China's space program and launched a new international exploration effort on the Red Planet.

China's official Xinhua News Agency announced the landing on May 15. "China has left a footprint on Mars for the first time, an important step for our country's space exploration," it said.

China's space program had already completed several successful unpiloted missions to the moon. The country's last spacecraft to land there was able to successfully collect material from the lunar surface. It was the first time in more than 40 years that any nation had collected moon material for return to Earth.

Landing a spacecraft on Mars, however, is much more difficult than landing on the moon. The vehicles require special equipment to protect against the extreme heat of the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft also require special rockets to slow its speed and parachutes that deploy¹ at just the right time to prevent crash landings.

Historically, there have been many crash landings on Mars. So far only three nations -- the United States, China and the Soviet² Union (USSR) -- have successfully landed spacecraft.

The U.S. has had nine successful Mars landings since 1976. This includes its latest mission involving the U.S. space agency NASA's Perseverance³ explorer, or rover. The USSR's Mars 3 spacecraft landed safely in 1971. But that mission ended seconds later when the spacecraft's instruments failed.

There are currently other spacecraft operating in orbit around Mars. One was launched by the United Arab Emirates and arrived in February. The Emirates Mars Mission is studying Martian atmospheric⁴ conditions from an extremely high orbit. Three other orbiting spacecraft belong to the U.S., two are European and one is from India.

China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft -- which includes an orbiter, lander and rover -- spent seven months on the trip to Mars. It landed at Utopia Planitia, a large flat area in the northern half of the planet.

Its rover Zhurong was named after the Chinese god of fire. The six-wheeled vehicle is solar powered and weighs 240 kilograms, Xinhua reported. It has several cameras and other instruments that use radar⁵, laser and sensors⁶ to measure atmospheric conditions and magnetic forces.

Zhurong is to study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere. Like the past and present NASA rovers, it will also look for signs of ancient life, including ice and any other water below the planet's surface. Data collected by Zhurong will be sent back to Earth through the Tianwen-1 orbiter. Last week, China released the rover's first pictures from Mars.

Roberto Orosei is a planetary scientist at the Institute of Radioastronomy in Bologna, Italy. He told Nature an important part of the mission could help confirm earlier studies suggesting the presence of permafrost in the area around Utopia Planitia.

The studies found evidence that permafrost could be hiding just below the surface. The rover's ground-searching radar equipment might be able to identify signs of this permafrost, Orosei said.

Learning the depth of such permafrost and finding out more about its formation could offer new information into more recent climate changes on Mars. Scientists are trying to understand what happened to ancient water they believe once covered the surface, Orosei added.

NASA Administrator⁷ Bill Nelson praised China's successful landing on Mars.

"As the international scientific community of robotic explorers on Mars grows, the United States and the world look forward to the discoveries Zhurong will make to advance humanity's knowledge of the Red Planet," his statement read. "I look forward to future international discoveries, which will help inform and develop the capabilities⁸ needed to land human boots on Mars," Nelson added.

Words in This Story

mission – n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

permafrost – n. an area of land that is permanently⁹ frozen below the surface

advance – v. to develop or progress

capability¹⁰ – n. the ability or power to do something

1 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。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 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。

4 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。

5 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

6 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

10 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。