VOA常速英语2018--NASA未来10年或专攻外星生命是否存在

The Hubble telescope has given us spectacular pictures from space, but they’re not detailed¹ enough to help us in our search for life in the trillions of galaxies² across the universe. If tens of percent of stars have planets that could resemble the earth and could potentially have life, then the implications are that there are billions of them just within our Milky³ Way galaxy⁴.

哈勃望远镜为我们拍摄了很多绝美的太空影像，但这些影像提供的细节还不足以帮助我们搜寻浩瀚宇宙无数星系中的生命。如果很多恒星都有类似于地球的行星，并且可能可以孕育生命的话，那可能意味着单是银河系里就有无数颗这样的星体。

As a member of the NAS Committee on Exoplanet Science Strategy, Justin Crepp focused on how and what the United States will explore in space over the next decade.

作为美国国家科学院委员会外行星战略委员会的成员，贾斯汀主要研究美国未来10年空间探索的方式和目标。

In September, the Committee released a report detailing several recommendations to do just that. First, it encourages NASA to develop and launch a space-based mission, specifically to image and characterize earth-like planets around the stars, but that’s not easy. If you try to image a planet, you run into several difficulties straight away. One is that their separation is very small on the sky, so you need a certain sized telescope to do that. The problem is that Earth’s atmosphere blurs⁵ out the images and so it exacerbates⁶ that problem.

9月份，该委员会发布了一份报告，里面详细写明了数条有关这个方向的建议。首先，该报告鼓励美国宇航局研发并发射太空观测基地，也就是弄清这些恒星附近行星的影像和特征，但这并非易事。要确定某颗行星的影像，首先要解决几个难题。其中一个难题就是：它们在天空中的距离很近，所以需要特定大小的望远镜才能观测。问题在于：地球大气层会让这些影像变得模糊，所以加大了问题的难度。

The committee believes the NASA mission collecting data from above the Earth’s atmosphere and more powerful equipment could resolve that issue, which leads to the second recommendation, building two large ground-based telescopes that will produce images 10 times sharper than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. In his lab, Crepp and his colleagues work on other new equipment. Highly sophisticated equipment will also help with another recommendation, completing the partially-funded wide-field Infrared⁷ Survey telescope. When launched into space, it will not only search for planets hundreds of light-years away, it will gather information on what they’re made of and if they could support life. That Crepp says could answer an age-old question.

该委员会认为，如果美国宇航局能在大气层外收集数据，并且能够获得功能更加强大的设备的话，就能解决这个问题，所以也就有了第二条建议——建造2个大型地面望远镜，其拍摄的影像图片清晰度是哈勃的10倍。在实验室里，贾斯汀及其同事还研究了其他的新设备。高度精密的设备也可以助力另一项建议的实践，即完成部分资助的宽视场红外探测望远镜。一旦发射到宇宙中，就不仅可以搜寻上百光年外的行星，还可以汇总数据，内容关于这些行星的组成以及是否可以孕育生命。贾斯汀认为，此举能解答亘古未解的问题。

Are we alone? This is a question that impacts not only science but theology and philosophy and other areas, and so it’s a curiosity. It’s part of being human. Is our world’s special? Is it isolated⁸ or other planets out there that could have life? Can we communicate with them? Other recommendations to start to answer those questions include building state-of-the-art equipment, developing a network for teens around the world to collaborate⁹ and creating an investor¹⁰ program to fund it all. The report will be reviewed by the US Congress and used in the federal plan to search for new planets and extraterrestrial life over the next decade.

地球是有生命的唯一星体吗？这个问题不仅影响着科学界，还影响着神学、哲学等领域，这是一个谜团。这是生而为人就会想要知道的问题。我们生活的世界是特别的吗？地球是与世隔绝的吗？还是其他行星上也有生命呢？如果有，那我们能和这些生命交流吗？还有一些建议是着手回答如下问题，比如建造先进的设备，为全球青少年研发网络从而并肩作战，以及创办一个投资计划以资助所有项目。该报告将由美国国会审阅，并将用于联邦计划中，从而在未来10年中搜寻新的行星和外星生命。

1 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

2 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

3 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

4 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

5 blurs   

n.模糊( blur的名词复数 )；模糊之物；（移动的）模糊形状；模糊的记忆v.（使）变模糊( blur的第三人称单数 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• The electron clouds are clearly visible as blurs surrounding the invisible nuclei. 电子云就象环绕着看不见的核的一片云雾。 来自辞典例句
• The letter had many blots and blurs. 信上有许多墨水渍和污迹。 来自辞典例句

6 exacerbates   

n.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的名词复数 )v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Stripping the land in these ways allows faster surface runoff and exacerbates flooding. 这些做法终将使土地裸露、地表径流加快，从而加重了洪水的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• This policy exacerbates the gap between rich and poor. 这项政策加剧了贫富差距。 来自互联网

7 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

8 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

9 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

10 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。