学习英语音频美国宇航局向月球发射新的阿尔忒弥斯火箭
NASA’s new moon rocket flew into space for the first time early Wednesday morning. The Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket is the most powerful ever built.
美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的新月球火箭周三凌晨首次飞入太空。太空发射系统(SLS)火箭是有史以来最强大的火箭。
The 98-meter-tall rocket lifted off with 4 million kilograms of force and reached 160 kilometers per hour within seconds. The rocket’s sound shook nearby buildings at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About 15,000 people watched and cheered as the rocket lit up the night sky.
这枚98米高的火箭以400万公斤的力量升空,在几秒内达到了160公里每小时的速度。火箭的声音震动了佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心附近的建筑物。当火箭照亮夜空时,大约15000人观看并欢呼。
No astronauts were on board the first mission of NASA’s Artemis program. Artemis aims to return humans to the moon a little more than 50 years after the Apollo moon landings. Twelve astronauts walked on the moon on six Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972.
美国宇航局阿尔忒弥斯计划的第一次任务中没有宇航员。阿尔忒弥斯的目标是在阿波罗登月50年后让人类重返月球。从1969年到1972年,12名宇航员在6次阿波罗任务中登上月球。
"For the Artemis generation, this is for you," launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson called out, referring to all those born after Apollo. She later told her team: "You have earned your place in history."
"对于阿尔忒弥斯一代来说,这是给你的,"发射总监查理·布莱克威尔·汤普森(Charlie Blackwell Thompson)说道,他指的是阿波罗之后出生的所有人。她后来告诉她的团队:"你在历史上赢得了一席之地。"
The Artemis 1 mission is set to last 25 days with three test mannequins in the Orion spacecraft. NASA has put sensors on them to measure the effects on human bodies.
阿尔忒弥斯1号的任务将持续25天,在猎户座飞船上有三个测试人体模型。美国国家航空航天局已在其上安装传感器,以测量对人体的影响。
Orion should reach the moon by Monday, more than 370,000 kilometers from Earth. Orion will come within 130 kilometers of the moon before going into an orbit about 64,000 kilometers farther out. This is much farther from the moon’s surface than the orbits used in the Apollo missions.
猎户座将于周一抵达月球,距离地球37万多公里。猎户座将在距离月球130公里的范围内,然后进入更远64000公里的轨道。这比阿波罗任务中使用的轨道离月球表面远得多。
The spacecraft also is set to release 10 small science satellites. One satellite is designed to map pieces of ice on the moon"s south pole , where Artemis hopes to land astronauts.
该航天器还将发射10颗小型科学卫星。一颗卫星被设计用来绘制月球南极的冰块,阿尔忒弥斯希望在南极着陆宇航员。
NASA is aiming to send astronauts around the moon on the next mission in 2024. And the space agency hopes to land humans there as early as 2025 using a lunar lander under development from SpaceX.
美国宇航局计划在2024年将宇航员送上月球进行下一次任务。航天局希望最早在2025年利用SpaceX正在开发的月球着陆器将人类送上月球。
One top aim of the Artemis 1 mission is to test the heat shield of Orion. The spacecraft will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere at 39,400 kilometers per hour before splashing down in the Pacific.
阿尔忒弥斯1号任务的首要目标是测试猎户座的隔热板。飞船将以每小时39400公里的速度重新进入地球大气层,在太平洋溅落前。
"There’s definitely relief that we’re underway," mission controller Mike Sarafin told reporters. But he added: "I personally am not going to rest well until we get safely to splashdown and recovery."
任务控制员迈克·萨拉芬对记者说:"我们正在进行中,这无疑是一种解脱。"。但他补充道:"我个人不会好好休息,直到我们安全地溅落并恢复。"
NASA has said it plans to have a woman and a person of color be among the first astronauts to land on the moon in future Artemis missions. NASA is waiting until this mission is over before introducing the astronauts who will be on the next one and those who will follow in the steps of Apollo 11′s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. They were the first men to walk on the moon, in July of 1969.
美国国家航空航天局表示,计划在未来的阿尔忒弥斯任务中,让一名女性和一名有色人种成为首批登陆月球的宇航员。美国国家航空航天局(NASA)正在等待这一任务结束,然后介绍下一个任务的宇航员,以及阿波罗11号的尼尔·阿姆斯特朗(Neil Armstrong)和巴兹·奥尔德林(Buzz Aldrin)的宇航员。1969年7月,他们是第一个登上月球的人。
The Artemis program costs NASA at least $37 billion. And some groups who watch government spending estimate the costs could reach $93 billion by 2025.
阿尔忒弥斯计划耗资至少370亿美元。一些关注政府支出的团体估计,到2025年,成本可能达到930亿美元。
The program has faced many delays and costs more than planned. The SLS rocket was supposed to have made its first test launch by 2017. Test launches in August and September were cut short. Then, a strong storm and technical problems further delayed the launch by 10 weeks.
该项目面临许多延误,成本超出计划。SLS火箭本应在2017年前进行首次试射。8月和9月的试射被缩短。随后,一场强烈的风暴和技术问题进一步将发射推迟了10周。
NASA hopes to establish a base on the moon and send astronauts to Mars by the late 2030s or early 2040s.
NASA希望在20世纪30年代末或20世纪40年代初在月球上建立基地,并将宇航员送上火星。
I’m Andrew Smith.