VOA慢速英語: 飛船歷史性的在彗星上著陸

宇宙飛船歷史性地在彗星登陸

After traveling 10 years and hundreds of millions of kilometers, a small robotic spacecraft has for the first time landed on the surface of a comet, a solar system object made of ice and rock.

在太空旅行10年、航行數(shù)十億千米后，一個小型機器飛船首次登陸彗星表面，彗星是太陽系的一個天體，由冰和巖石構成。

The probe launched from the European Space Agency’s main Rosetta spaceship early Wednesday. The spaceship is designed to carefully study the appearance and materials that make up the Comet67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko.

周三早上，這一探測器搭載歐洲航天局“羅塞塔”飛船進入太空。飛船設計很細致，主要研究彗星67P的表面物質(zhì)。

Scientists worried the probe might not land on solid ground but early reports say the Philae research probe is in good condition.

科學家擔心探測器也許無法達到彗星表面，雖然早些時候的報道稱“菲萊”著陸器運行狀態(tài)良好。

Stephan Ulamec, of the German Aerospace Center, announced the news. He said the landing equipment and a special device meant to secure the spacecraft to the comet had deployed.

德國航天中心的史蒂芬·萊姆克宣布一個消息：他說已經(jīng)部署好一個特別的裝置來確保著陸彗星的探測器器和飛船的安全。

“Philae is talking to us, first things he told us is that the harpoons have been fired, rewound and that the landing gear has been moved inside, so we are sitting on the surface, Philae is talking to us, more data to come.”

“菲萊”傳達給我們的信息首先是‘魚叉’被燒壞未成功發(fā)射出來，出現(xiàn)繞卷，起落架到里面，所以我們是‘坐在’彗星表面，“菲萊”傳輸給我們更多數(shù)據(jù)。”

Early on Wednesday, ground controllers at the European Space Agency operations center in Germany confirmed that Philae had separated from the Rosetta ship. The probe then began a tense trip toward the comet and landed on its surface hours later. The attempt to land on the comet was considered risky not only because scientists were unsure of the surface, but because of problems with thrusters used to land the probe.

早在周三，在德國的歐洲航天局的地面控制中心確認“菲萊”已經(jīng)與“羅塞塔”飛船分離，探測器開始向慧星前行，并在數(shù)小時后登陸彗星。彗星著陸的嘗試被認為是有風險的，不僅僅因為科學家不確定彗星表面情況，還由于用來推進探測器的推進器有些問題。

Scientists and many officials gathered at the European Space Agency’s Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany. After the landing was announced, there was cheering and applause.

科學家和許多官員在德國的達姆施塔特——歐洲航天局的控制中心觀看探測器登陸，“菲萊”探測器登陸成功后，響起一片掌聲和歡呼聲。

European Space Agency Director Thomas Reiter thanked the many groups who had been involved in the mission.

歐洲航天局的主任托馬斯·瑞特感謝參與到這次任務的所有成員。

Jim Green of NASA praised the landing as an important step in space exploration. “Let’s learn about the environment we are in. It’s these steps that will lead us beyond this planet, on to Mars and out into the Solar System.”

美國太空署的吉姆·格林稱贊說這次登陸彗星是太空探索的重要一步。“我們學習自己所處的環(huán)境，不斷地努力去學習研究地球以外的星球，我們探測火星，以及太陽系。”

Rosetta has been orbiting the Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko since August. However, the mission started with the spaceship’s launch in March of 2004. The spaceship circled the sun until it was in position to meet with the comet. Information from the European Space Agency shows the spacecraft’s trip has taken it far beyond the orbit Mars.

自從8月份起，“羅塞塔”就圍繞著彗星67P的軌道轉(zhuǎn)，但是，2004年3月，飛船發(fā)射后，任務才開始，飛船一直繞著太陽轉(zhuǎn)，直到轉(zhuǎn)到能夠繞彗星轉(zhuǎn)的位置。歐洲航天局的信息表明飛船的行程已經(jīng)遠遠超過繞火星軌道的行程了。

The comet currently is traveling at a distance of more than 400 million kilometers from Earth. At such a distance, communication between the spacecraft and earth took more than half an hour. Controllers waited and worried before receiving confirmation sent from Philae that it had landed safely.

彗星現(xiàn)在距離地球有4億千米，這樣的遠距離，飛船與地球的信息傳輸大概需要半個多小時。地面控制人員焦急的等待、接收探測器成功登陸后傳來的確認信息。

Now, the probe will begin a series of scientific experiments. Philae will examine the material that makes up the comet looking for organic, or carbon-based material, and inorganic materials. The Rosetta mission cost the European Space Agency, or ESA, $1.7 billion dollars.

現(xiàn)在探測器會展開一系列的科學實驗，“菲萊”探測器會對彗星發(fā)散出的氣體、塵埃以及彗星核結構與其他相關有機物質(zhì)進行詳細研究。“羅塞塔”飛船的這次任務共花費歐洲航天局17億美元。

 The main Rosetta spacecraft will follow Comet 67P for the next year and observe it as it heads toward the sun. However, Rosetta will not approach the sun too closely. Its closest approach to our star is still outside the orbit of Earth.

“羅塞塔”飛船來年還是會繞著彗星67P轉(zhuǎn)，觀察彗星朝太陽運動。但是“羅塞塔”飛船不會靠太陽很近，離飛船最近的星星不是繞著地球轉(zhuǎn)。

The Philae probe is the result of a joint effort by scientists and space agencies in many countries from the European Union and the United States. Three experiments on the spaceship come from the U.S. space agency NASA.

“菲萊”探測器是歐盟和美國各國科學家和航天機構一起努力的結果。飛船的三項試驗來自美國航空航天局。

Photos sent back to Earth from Rosetta show Comet67P's surface as a rough world of rocky formations and ice.

“羅塞塔”發(fā)回地球的彗星67P表面的照片，就像是個粗糙的巖石面和冰面。

Rosetta is named after the stone that helped unlock the hieroglyphic language of the ancient Egyptians. ESA Director Thomas Reiter has this to say about the mission:

“羅塞塔”這個名字是以打開古埃及一種象形文字的石頭命名的。歐洲航天局的主任托馬斯·瑞特說這次航行的使命是：

“It’s aim, of course, to unlock the secrets hidden within the icy treasure chest of a 4.6 billion years (old) object, to study its make-up and its history. To search for clues as to our own origins.”

“主要的目標當然是打開隱藏在46億年前的冰川寶藏中的秘密，研究它的構成以及歷史，研究我們的起源的線索。”

I'm Mario Ritter.

我是馬瑞歐·瑞特。

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Words in this Story

Deployed-adj. to move something into a position for action

Probe-n. (science) a device used to examine or study something; a small spacecraft deployed from a larger one that is sent down to a planet, moon or comet

Origins-n. the point where things begin, a starting point