VOA慢速英语--高中生给美国宇航局的火星直升机命名

An American high school student has named the first helicopter to be sent to Mars.

Ingenuity¹ was the name chosen by the U.S. space agency NASA in a competition involving thousands of students across America. The name was suggested by Vaneeza Rupani, a junior at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama.

The Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary defines ingenuity as skills that permit someone to solve problems, invent things.

Rupani's entry was one of 28,000 from students of all ages from all 50 states, NASA said in a statement. The names had already been sent in as part of a naming competition that ended in March for NASA's new Mars explorer. Perseverance² was the winning name chosen by a Virginia student for the new six-wheeled robotic explorer.

NASA said that with so many good suggestions for the explorer, it decided³ to also choose a name from the same entries for the helicopter, which will travel to Mars attached to Perseverance.

In her entry, Rupani explained her name choice. She wrote that ingenuity is what permits us "to accomplish amazing things" and "expand our horizons to the edges of the universe."

NASA Administrator⁴ Jim Bridenstine said Ingenuity represents "the values that our helicopter tech demo will showcase."

Rupani told The Associated Press, "It was really cool I got to be a part of something like this."

NASA says the explorer, which weighs about 1,043 kilograms, will collect samples from Mars for eventual⁵ return to Earth. It will also look for signs of past life and gather climate and geology data.

The explorer and helicopter are currently going through final building steps and inspection⁶ at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two are targeted to launch in July or August. After a long trip, Perseverance is expected to land at Jezero Crater⁷ on Mars on February 18, 2021.

After arriving on the red planet, the helicopter will remain under a covering to protect it until the timing⁸ is right for the aircraft to be deployed⁹. Ingenuity will then have a 31-day flight window to prove that powered flights can be successful on Mars, NASA said.

The planned launch of Perseverance is part of a program that also includes missions to the moon to prepare for possible human exploration of Mars.

NASA plans to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024. After that, it will seek to establish what it calls a Lunar Gateway¹⁰, a small spaceship that would remain in orbit around the moon. It would be designed as a base from which astronauts could make trips to the moon and possibly Mars.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

perseverance – n. the quality that allows someone to continue to do something even though it is difficult

accomplish – v. to succeed in doing something good

expand your horizons – phr. increase the number of things that you know about, have experienced, or can do

showcase – v. to present, exhibit or display

geology – n. the rocks, land, processes of land formation, etc., of a particular area

mission – n. a task or job that someone is given to do

junior – n. a student in the third of four years in a high school or college

demo – n. a shortened version of the word demonstration¹¹

eventual – adj. coming or happening at a later time

1 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

2 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。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 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。

5 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

6 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

7 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。

8 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

9 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

10 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

11 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。