VOA慢速英语2020 日本成功将小行星样本带回地球（在线收听）

A Japanese spacecraft has successfully dropped asteroid samples from space. The samples landed safely in the Australian Outback.

The container carrying the asteroid soil samples was dropped from 220,000 kilometers in space by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency, known as JAXA, confirmed the container, or capsule, had landed in Australia on Sunday.

The mission

The unpiloted Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014. It arrived near the asteroid Ryugu in June 2018. Its mission was to gather soil samples that may provide information about how our solar system formed.

The spacecraft touched down twice on Ryugu, which sits more than 300 million kilometers from Earth. The first touchdown took place in February 2019, when Hayabusa2 collected surface dust samples. Then, in July 2019, the spacecraft collected samples from below the surface of Ryugu. It did so by landing in a hole that it blasted open.

This computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu. (ISAS/JAXA via AP)

This computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu. (ISAS/JAXA via AP)

The operation was the first of its kind in the history of space exploration.

In addition to the samples, Hayabusa2 collected data about the asteroid, which experts say could be 4.6 billion years old. The spacecraft left the area in late 2019. Its Ryugu mission has now officially ended.

What is inside?

Officials say they look forward to examining the samples in a laboratory. The project's manager, JAXA's Yuichi Tsuda, called the capsule a "treasure box." He said the 40-centimeter container had arrived in perfect shape. "I really look forward to opening it and looking inside."

Officials have said the capsule is believed to mainly contain soil. But it may also contain some gases likely attached to the samples. After a quick inspection at a lab in Australia, the capsule was sent to JAXA's research center in Sagamihara, near Tokyo.

Why an asteroid?

Asteroids orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets. They are among the oldest objects in the solar system, and may help scientists better understand how Earth evolved. Collecting such samples can give researchers a rare chance to study these mysterious rocky objects.

JAXA officials say the study of asteroids may also help with future resource development and lead to new ways to protect Earth from collisions with big meteorites.

The only other nation to successfully collect an asteroid sample is the United States. The U.S. space agency NASA announced last month that its Osiris-Rex spacecraft had completed the sample operation on the asteroid Bennu. NASA said it was pleased the spacecraft collected more sample material than expected.

How does mission help Japan?

followed Japan's first Hayabusa mission, which launched in 2003. After a series of technical difficulties, the first Hayabusa spacecraft sent back samples from another asteroid, Itokawa, in 2010. But Hayabusa burned up in a failed re-entry attempt. The capsule, however, made it to Earth.

Many Japanese were impressed by the first Hayabusa mission, which they considered a big success given all the troubles it had experienced.

JAXA later also had problems with missions involving spacecraft sent to explore Venus and Mars.

JAXA's Tsuda says the Hayabusa2 team used all the hard lessons learned from the earlier missions to complete the Ryugu operation with "perfect" results. Some Japanese watching the event in public cried as the capsule successfully entered the atmosphere, briefly appearing as a fireball in the sky.

What comes next?

About an hour after separating from the capsule, Hayabusa2 was sent on another mission to a smaller asteroid, called 1998KY26. It is expected to take the spacecraft 11 years to reach that asteroid. Hayabusa2's new mission aims to study possible ways to prevent large meteorites from hitting Earth.

日本一艘宇宙飞船成功地将小行星样本从太空投下。样本安全降落在澳大利亚内陆地区。

载有小行星土壤样本的回收舱由日本隼鸟2号太空飞船在距离地球约22万公里的太空投放。日本宇宙航空研究开发机构（简称JAXA）证实，该容器或太空舱已于周日降落在澳大利亚。

任务

无人驾驶飞船隼鸟2号于2014年12月发射升空。2018年6月抵达小行星“龙宫”附近。其任务是收集土壤样本，以提供有关太阳系形成方式的信息。

该飞船两次在距离地球3亿公里的“龙宫”着陆。第一次着陆发生在2019年2月，当时隼鸟2号收集了小行星“龙宫”的地表灰尘样本。之后，飞船于2019年7月再次着陆“龙宫”，采集地表以下样本。为进行采集工作，其降落在一个被炸开的洞里。

这次行动是太空探索史上的首次。

除了采集样本，隼鸟2号还收集了有关这颗小行星的数据，专家认为该小行星可能有46亿年的历史。飞船于2019年底离开小行星。“龙宫”任务现在已经正式结束。

样本里有什么？

官员表示，他们期待在实验室里检查样本。该项目经理、日本宇宙航空研究开发机构的津田雄一将太空舱称为“宝箱”。他说这个40厘米长的容器完好无损地成功降落。“我真的很期待打开它，看看里面有什么。”

官员表示，据信太空舱中的样本主要是泥土。但也可能含有一些可能附着在样本上的气体。在澳大利亚一个实验室进行快速检查后，太空舱被送往日本宇宙航空研究开发机构位于东京附近的佐贺原研究中心。

为什么是小行星？

小行星围绕太阳运行，但比行星小得多。它们是太阳系中最古老的天体之一，可能有助于科学家更好地了解地球的演化方式。收集这类样本可以为研究人员提供研究这些神秘岩石天体的难得机会。

日本宇宙航空研究开发机构的官员表示，研究小行星也可能有助于未来的资源开发，并引导我们找到保护地球免受大型陨石撞击的新方法。

除日本外，只有美国成功收集了小行星样本。美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）上个月宣布，其“奥西里斯-雷克斯”飞船已完成对小行星“本努”的采样行动。美国国家航空航天局表示，飞船收集到的样本材料多于预期，这令他们非常满意。

这项任务如何帮助日本？

在隼鸟2号任务之前，日本于2003年执行了首个隼鸟任务。在克服了一系列技术难题后，第一艘隼鸟飞船于2012年从小行星“伊藤川”带回了样本。但是隼鸟飞船在重返大气层失败后烧毁。然而，太空舱却抵达了地球。

许多日本人对第一次隼鸟任务印象深刻，他们认为那是巨大的成功，因为它经历了所有的麻烦。

后来，日本宇宙航空研究开发机构在执行任务时也遇到了一些问题，这些任务涉及被派往探测金星和火星的航天器。

日本宇宙航空研究开发机构的津田雄一表示，“隼鸟2号”小组利用了从先前任务中吸取的所有惨痛教训，以“完美”的结果完成了“龙宫”行动。太空舱成功进入大气层时，天空中短暂出现了一个火球，一些在公共场合观看的日本人留下了眼泪。

接下来做什么？

在与太空舱分离约一小时后，隼鸟2号被派往另一颗较小的小行星1998KY26。这艘飞船要花11年才能到达该小行星。隼鸟2号的新任务旨在研究防止大型陨石撞击地球的潜在方法。

Words in This Story

asteroid – n. objects made of rock and metal which orbit the sun, but are smaller than planets

sample – n. a small amount of something that represents what it is like

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

evolve – v. to develop from other forms of life over millions of years

meteorite – n. a piece of rock from outer space

impress – v. make someone admire or respect you