VOA科学技术2023 回顾2022年NASA的大型任务（在线收听）

Looking Back at Big NASA Missions in 2022

回顾2022年NASA的大型任务

The American space agency NASA announced several major mission successes in 2022. Today, we look back at some of the agency's biggest developments in the past year.

美国航天局NASA宣布了2022年的几项重大任务成功。今天，我们回顾该机构在过去一年中的一些重大发展。

DART mission crashes spacecraft into asteroid

DART任务将航天器撞向小行星

NASA announced in October that its experiment to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid had successfully changed the path of the orbiting object. Officials said it was the first time in history that a human action had changed the motion of a space object.

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）10月宣布，其将航天器撞向小行星的实验成功改变了轨道物体的路径。官员们表示，这是历史上第一次人类行为改变了太空物体的运动。

NASA's DART spacecraft crashed in September into an asteroid called Dimorphos about 11 million kilometers from Earth. Dimorphos is a small "moonlet" that orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos.

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的DART航天器于9月撞上了一颗距离地球约1100万公里的小行星，名为Dimmorphos。Dimmorphos是一颗小“小卫星”，围绕一颗名为Didymos的较大小行星运行。

The goal of the crash was to see how it might redirect the asteroid's path and speed. The crash reduced the object's orbital period by 32 minutes. NASA scientists had predicted a reduction of 10 minutes. So, they were pleased with the test results.

这次撞击的目的是观察它如何改变小行星的路径和速度。这次撞击使物体的轨道周期缩短了32分钟。美国国家航空航天局的科学家曾预测减少10分钟。因此，他们对测试结果感到满意。

NASA described the crash as the world's first planetary defense test. The targeted asteroid did not present an actual threat to Earth.

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）称此次坠机是世界上第一次行星防御测试。目标小行星没有对地球构成实际威胁。

Webb Space Telescope releases first images

韦伯太空望远镜发布首批图像

In July, NASA began releasing the first images captured by its James Webb Space Telescope. Officials described the Webb as "the largest and most powerful" science telescope ever built.

7月，美国国家航空航天局开始发布詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜拍摄的第一批图像。官员们形容韦伯是“有史以来最大、最强大”的科学望远镜。

The orbiting observatory is a large infrared telescope that builds on the work of earlier telescopes, such as the Hubble and Spitzer. But the Webb is designed to gather more data and explore parts of space never observed before.

轨道天文台是一个大型红外望远镜，它建立在早期望远镜（如哈勃望远镜和斯皮策望远镜）的基础上。但韦伯号的设计目的是收集更多的数据，探索以前从未观测到的太空部分。

NASA praised the work of the Webb development team and said the telescope had begun "a new era in astronomy."

美国国家航空航天局赞扬了韦伯开发团队的工作，并表示该望远镜已经开启了“天文学的新时代”

In November, scientists said the Webb had also identified bright, early galaxies for the first time. One of the galaxies might have formed only 350 million years after the Big Bang, the event that explains the beginning of the universe.

11月，科学家们表示，韦伯还首次发现了明亮的早期星系。其中一个星系可能是在大爆炸后3.5亿年才形成的，这一事件解释了宇宙的起源。

Artemis I test mission around the moon

阿尔忒弥斯一号绕月测试任务

In November, NASA launched its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which U.S. officials have called the most powerful rocket ever built.

11月，美国宇航局发射了太空发射系统（SLS）火箭，美国官员称之为有史以来最强大的火箭。

The SLS rocket carried the Orion spacecraft, or capsule, into space. The goal was to carry out an uncrewed test mission to fly around the moon. The mission was part of the space agency's Artemis program, which aims to land Americans on the moon by the mid-2020s.

SLS火箭将猎户座飞船或太空舱送入太空。目标是执行一次绕月飞行的未经审查的测试任务。这项任务是航天局阿尔忒弥斯计划的一部分，该计划旨在在20世纪20年代中期让美国人登上月球。

During a news conference earlier this month, NASA officials said they were pleased with how Orion and its systems had performed during the mission. No major problems were reported.

在本月早些时候的新闻发布会上，NASA官员表示，他们对猎户座及其系统在任务期间的表现感到满意。未报告重大问题。

NASA said Orion had traveled more than 2.2 million kilometers during the test mission. The capsule parachuted into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California on December 11 and was safely recovered.

美国国家航空航天局表示，在测试任务中，猎户座已经行驶了220多万公里。该太空舱于12月11日在加利福尼亚州南部海岸附近的太平洋上跳伞，并被安全回收。

The goal of Artemis I was to prepare for Artemis II, which will include astronauts. That is to be followed by Artemis III, which will aim to land astronauts on the moon's surface. If that goal is reached, it would be the first moon landing by astronauts since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

阿尔忒弥斯一号的目标是为包括宇航员在内的阿尔忒弥斯二世做准备。接下来是阿尔忒弥斯三世，其目标是让宇航员在月球表面着陆。如果达到这一目标，这将是自1972年NASA阿波罗17号任务以来宇航员首次登月。

Curiosity reaches new target area on Mars

好奇号抵达火星新目标区域

After a summer trip, NASA announced in October its Curiosity explorer vehicle had reached its next exploration target on Mars.

经过一次夏季旅行后，美国国家航空航天局于10月宣布，其“好奇号”探测器已经抵达火星上的下一个探测目标。

The explorer, or rover, reached an area known as Mount Sharp. The area sits within the planet's Gale Crater, which Curiosity has been exploring since landing on Mars in 2012. Mount Sharp contains a mix of rocky material and many large hills.

探险家或漫游者到达了一个被称为夏普山的地区。该地区位于该行星的盖尔陨石坑内，好奇号自2012年登陆火星以来一直在探索该陨石坑。夏普山包含岩石材料和许多大型山丘。

Researchers have found past evidence that Mount Sharp contained many water systems billions of years ago. But scientists believe at some point, the Martian climate grew more extreme and caused the water to dry up.

研究人员发现过去的证据表明，数十亿年前，夏普山包含了许多水系统。但科学家们相信，在某一时刻，火星的气候变得更加极端，导致水干涸。

Any minerals still existing in the area might provide additional evidence of severe changes to the Martian climate. Shortly after arriving in the area, Curiosity's instruments discovered many different kinds and sizes. Among the discoveries were several different salt compounds that suggest the presence of water in the past.

该地区仍然存在的任何矿物都可能为火星气候的严重变化提供额外证据。抵达该地区后不久，好奇号的仪器发现了许多不同的种类和大小。在这些发现中，有几种不同的盐化合物表明过去存在水。

Words in This Story

asteroid – n. a rocky object that goes around the sun like a planet

era – n. a period in history that is special for a particular reason