VOA标准英语2011--Visionary Ideas Could Transform Future N

Visionary Ideas Could Transform Future NASA Missions

NASA, the U.S. space agency, has awarded $3 million in grants for 30 proposals which explore new ideas for America’s next generation space program.
The proposals reflect wide-ranging visions of new spacecraft designs, new propulsion systems and an expanded human presence in space. They each receive a first-year development grant of $100,000 to prove their worth.
NASA’s Innovative¹ Advanced Concepts program (NIAC) received hundreds of proposals representing almost every aspect of the agency's mission.
“Just looking down the list, there are some that are related to humans trying to operate in space, some that are related to spacecraft trying to operate safely or protecting people from radiation," program executive Jay Falker says, "some that are improved propulsion concepts, some that are improved structures and some that would maybe enable us to do the kinds of missions we’ve done before, a space station or a space telescope, but much, much more efficiently².”
The selected proposals came from academia, industry and from within NASA itself.
For example, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center wants to build a kind of optical “tweezers” - a laser device that could be used on deep space probes to collect samples of space debris³:
“In the proposal they mention, a type that might be on a rover like on Mars and instead of having a physical scoop⁴ that goes and gets some rock or soil, there’s a small laser trap that can do that," Falker says. "But they also show one in space. For example, it could fly near a comet and collect some of the materials of that or even, to me most interesting, because we can’t do it at all today, there’s the possibility of trying to do that during planetary entry and descent.”
Another concept, this one from Virginia-based Raytheon BBN Technologies, would use a balloon-lofted, high-altitude air gun to change the course of potentially dangerous orbital junk, such as inoperative satellites.
“The idea is to simply pulse or puff⁵ a little bit of the atmosphere up into the way of the orbiting debris," Falker says. "And that pulse of air, if we do it right, would force it to slow down, enter the atmosphere, burn up faster than it would have otherwise and may also enable us to tactically avoid a collision.”
Other proposals include a skin-tight spacesuit with sensors⁶ and flywheels to stabilize⁷ astronauts in microgravity; a propulsion system that relies on giant sails to catch the solar wind; and the use of 3-D printer technology to construct small spacecraft or components⁸ for a planetary outpost.
“The second level of that same kind of thinking is when we get good at this, people will begin to design differently because instead of taking years in development, we can get an idea, get prototypes developed quickly," Falker says. "Then we can begin sending the printers into orbit and to other destinations and that’s where we can imagine entirely⁹ different design schemes two or three generations down the road.”
Over the next year the scientists will work on their ideas, even develop and test hardware related to their projects.
According to Falker, the $3-million price tag is a drop in NASA’s proposed $18 billion budget for 2012. He’s confident it can survive any funding cuts.
“Most of the country, Congress is behind the idea that NASA should be exploring some visionary concepts and this small amount of money is worth it, and I know if we get one breakthrough, it will absolutely be worth it.”
A precursor¹⁰ to the NIAC program, which began in 1998, was suspended in 2007 after a cost-conscious U.S. Congress ordered a review of its effectiveness. A year later, a national panel of experts recommended that NASA continue investigating advanced concepts. Congress eventually gave the go-ahead to restore the program this year.
According to Falker, at year’s end, the scientists can compete for additional funds to move their concepts forward, with the hope of eventually integrating them into a future space mission.

1 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

2 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

3 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。

4 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

5 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

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 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

8 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

9 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。

10 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。