EXPLORATIONS - Space Digest

EXPLORATIONS - Space Digest
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

 
Space Ship One.
And this is Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we have a report about NASA's two exploration vehicles on the surface of Mars¹. We also tell about a very successful satellite that is orbiting Mars. We begin with a report about Space Ship One. The privately² owned spacecraft won a ten million dollar prize by flying into space two times in six days.

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VOICE ONE:

Thousands of people gathered near the little town of Mojave, California Monday. They watched as a privately built rocket plane made its second successful flight into space.

 
Another view of Space Ship One.
The rocket plane is called Space Ship One. The Scaled Composites³ Company of California built it. Aviation⁴ designer Burt Rutan (roo-TAN) designed the spacecraft and organized the project. Mister Rutan is already famous for designing and building the first airplane to fly around the world without stopping for fuel.

An aircraft called the White Knight⁵ carried the smaller Space Ship One to an altitude of fifteen kilometers. It then released Space Ship One. Mike Melvill flew the White Knight aircraft. He was the earlier pilot on Space Ship One. Brian Binnie was the second pilot to fly Space Ship One. After the White Knight released Space Ship One, pilot Binnie fired the rockets that gave it the power needed to reach space. Space Ship One was designed to reach sub-orbital space. This is just below the area where a spacecraft would enter an orbit around the Earth. Space Ship One flew to a height of more than one hundred twelve kilometers above the Earth.

VOICE TWO:

Brian Binnie became only the second private citizen to successfully fly into space. He and Mike Melvill are now the only two private citizens who have flown as astronauts. About an hour after Space Ship One landed, it was announced that the spacecraft's team had won the Ansari X prize of ten million dollars.

To win the Ansari X Prize, a spacecraft had to be built entirely⁶ with private money. It had to make two flights within fourteen days. Each flight had to reach a height of at least one hundred kilometers above the Earth.

This is the area where the Earth's atmosphere ends and space begins. The spacecraft also had to carry the pilot and the amount of weight that would equal two passengers.

The X Prize competition was organized to support space travel by private companies for private citizens. Reports say more than twenty-four different groups around the world planned or built spacecraft similar to Space Ship One. Each had hoped to win the X Prize.

Aircraft designer Burt Rutan's Space Ship One made its first successful flight in June. It reached one hundred kilometers above the Earth.

It made a second flight on September twenty-ninth. Pilot Melvill was at the controls. That flight was the team's first attempt to win the X Prize.

VOICE ONE:

Businessman Paul Allen was among those in the large crowd who watched the flight on Monday. He is one of the founders⁷ of the Microsoft Company. Mister Allen helped pay for the Space Ship One project. Mister Allen says he spent more than twenty million dollars on the project. He says he has wanted to be part of space research since he was a small boy.

Richard Branson, who owns Virgin⁸ Airlines, was also there. He says he will buy several larger spacecraft from Mister Rutan. Mister Branson wants to start a business to take passengers into space. He says more than five thousand people have offered to pay for a seat on the first flights to space.

News of the flight of Space Ship One was also sent to the International Space Station. Astronaut Mike Fincke and Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka welcomed Astronaut Binnie into space. The International Space Station team said it was great to learn that for a while on Monday they were not the only people off the planet Earth.

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VOICE TWO:

For more than twelve days in September, NASA's two exploration vehicles on the surface of Mars did not move. For most of that time the planet Mars passed nearly behind the Sun. This prevented good radio communications between NASA scientists here on Earth and the exploration vehicles.

 
A picture taken before Mars Rover Spirit temporarily shut down.
The two vehicles were also passing through the worst part of the Martian winter. This meant there was little sunlight for the vehicles' collection devices to change into electric power. Now, NASA reports Mars is no longer behind the sun. Both vehicles are again making the needed electric power from sunlight and have returned to work.

VOICE ONE:

The two vehicles are named Spirit and Opportunity. They successfully completed their first three months of work in April. Now, they have completed another five months of work. Their main job is to search for evidence of water or water ice on the surface of Mars.

Andrew Dantzler is a top official at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. He says Spirit and Opportunity are continuing their work. Mister Dantzler says NASA is adding more support for the team here on Earth.

VOICE TWO:

Jim Erickson is the project manager for both vehicles at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Mister Erickson says scientists had believed the two vehicles would have stopped doing any useful work by this time. However, he says neither vehicle shows any signs of problems. This is the second time NASA has extended the work period for the two vehicles.

Mister Erickson says NASA does not know how much longer the two vehicles will continue to do useful work. He says it could be days, weeks or several months. Mister Erickson says the exploration vehicle team will do their best to continue getting the best possible use from these very valuable scientific machines.

VOICE ONE:

When Mars moved from behind the Sun, Spirit was near an area of the Martian surface called the Columbia Hills. This is more than three kilometers from its landing area.

Opportunity is inside a huge hole called Endurance¹⁰ Crater¹¹. It will explore an area of rock called Burns Cliff.

More than one hundred fifty exploration team members work with the two vehicles. However, they no longer all work together at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The team members are now able to work at their home agencies in several states and in Europe. Special computer, video and sound equipment permit them to work together without being in the same building.

This reduces the cost of the project and permits scientists to spend more time at home with their families. Steve Squyres is a scientist with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He is a top investigator¹² working with Spirit and Opportunity. He says he can now explore Mars during the day and still go home at night to be with his family.

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VOICE TWO:

The Spirit and Opportunity research vehicles are not the only scientific instruments sending back important information about Mars. NASA's Mars Global Surveyor satellite has recently started its third period of extended work.

The Mars Global Surveyor has been orbiting the planet for seven years. It has already sent back more than one hundred seventy thousand photographs of the Red Planet. NASA reports that it is sending back better pictures than ever because of new methods of photography.

The new photographs show three times the amount of detail as in the past. For example, one of the improved photographs shows the wheel marks left on the Martian surface by the exploration vehicle Spirit.

Ken⁹ Edgett is a scientist for the Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California. Malin Space Science Systems built the Mars Orbiter Camera. Mister Edgett says the new method is very difficult and does not always result in a good picture. However, he says when it does, the results are extremely good.

NASA has placed more than twenty-four thousand new photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor's Orbiter Camera on the Internet computer communications system. You can see these photographs by going to www.msss.com.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.

1 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 composites   

合成物，混合物，复合材料( composite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The main classes of materials are metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites. 材料的主要分类为金属、高聚物，陶瓷，及合成材料。
• Silane coupling agents are also used in many commercial sand-epoxy-type composites. 硅烷偶联剂亦用于许多通用的砂子环氧型复合材料中。

4 aviation   

n.航空，航空学，飞机制造业

参考例句：

• Ten years ago,they began to develop the aviation. 十年前，他们开始发展航空工业。
• Pilots of large aircraft are masters of aviation.大型飞行器的驾驶员是航空学方面的专家。

5 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

10 endurance   

n.耐久力，忍耐力，耐久的时期，持续的时间

参考例句：

• She reached the end of endurance.她到了忍受的极限。
• The exercise obviously will improve strength and endurance.这种锻炼会明显改善体力增加耐力。

11 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。

12 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。