VOA慢速英语2016 美国航天局为小行星会面做准备

（单词翻译）

AS IT IS 2016-08-26 US Space Agency Prepares for Asteroid¹ Meet-up 美国航天局为小行星会面做准备

American researchers are making final plans to send a spacecraft into space for a possible meeting with an asteroid.

美国研究人员正在做最终规划，将向太空发射一艘宇宙飞船，与小行星进行一次可能的会面。

The spaceship is called OSIRIS-Rex.It is six meters long and shaped like a man’s bow tie.

这艘飞船被命名为OSIRIS-Rex。它有六米长，形状像人们的领结。

The asteroid is called Bennu.It is larger than the Empire State Building in New York City.Bennu weighs about 60 million tons and is traveling at a speed of more than 100,000 kilometers an hour.

这颗小行星被命名为Bennu。它比纽约市的帝国大厦还要大。Bennu重约6000万吨，以超过每小时10万公里的速度运行。

The huge space rock is getting closer to Earth.It comes as close as 500,000 kilometers to the planet every six years.

这颗巨大的太空岩石越来越接近地球。每六年接近地球50万公里。

Researchers want to take a close look at Bennu because it is considered one of the most dangerous asteroids² in our solar system.

研究人员想要密切关注Bennu，因为它被认为是太阳系中最危险的小行星之一。

The American space agency, NASA, will start its investigation³ next month. NASA officials say the launch window for the spacecraft opens Thursday, September 8.That means the space agency can launch OSIRIS-Rex on that date or later. The plan is to put it in orbit around Bennu in about two years.

美国宇航局NASA，将于下个月开始探究。美国宇航局官员表示，航天器的发射窗口将于9月8日星期四打开。这意味着美国宇航局可以在该日期或之后发射OSIRIS Rex。按计划，将在两年之后将其发送至Bennnu的轨道。

The spacecraft will not land on Bennu, but will make contact with the asteroid briefly⁴ -- for about five seconds. At that time, a part of the spacecraft shaped like a container will gather about 60 grams from Bennu’s surface.

飞船将不会在Bennu上着陆，但将与小行星短暂接触大约五秒钟。同时，航天器上一个容器形状的部分将收集约60克的Bennu表面物质。

All of that material will return to earth inside a device the researchers are calling the Sample Return Capsule, or SRC.It is expected to land in the Utah desert in September of 2023.

研究人员将所有这些物质将放在样品返回舱（SRC）设备中返回地球。预计它将于2023年九月在犹他沙漠登陆。

NASA researchers are calling Bennu a “primitive” asteroid – meaning it has been in existence for a long time. Rock particles cover the asteroid’s surface.The space agency says some of those particles may “contain the…precursors to the origin of life and the Earth’s oceans.”

美国宇航局研究把Bennu称作“原始”小行星 - 意思是它已经存在了很长一段时间。小行星的表面覆盖着岩石颗粒。航天局说，这些颗粒可能“含有......生命起源和地球海洋的初期形式。”

Scientists want to learn as much as possible about Bennu because of the danger it could cause our planet. The asteroid “...has a relatively⁶ high probability of impacting the Earth…” in less than 200 years, according to a NASA statement.

因其可能给我们星球导致危险，科学家们希望尽可能多地了解Bennu。根据美国宇航局的一个声明，在200年内这颗小行星“……非常有可能影响地球……”。

Another thing that makes Bennu dangerous is its path around the solar system.That path is changing because of something called the Yarkovsky effect.The Yarkovsky effect is what happens when a cold piece of rock gets close enough to the sun to get heated. Scientists want to know how that warmth changes the orbit of asteroids and other space objects.

Bennu变得危险的另一个原因是它围绕太阳系的运动路径。由于一种叫做Yarkovsky效应的因素，它的运动路径是变化的。冰冷的岩石靠近太阳被加热时，即发生Yarkovsky效应。科学家们想知道，温暖变化是如何改变小行星和其他太空物体的轨道的。

Words in This Story

spacecraft – n. a vehicle that is used for travel in outer space

asteroid – n. any one of thousands of small planets that circle around the sun

bow tie – n. a narrow length of cloth that is worn by men around the neck and tied into a bow at the throat

precursor⁵ – n. something that comes before something else and that often leads to or influences its development

solar system – n. our sun and the planets that move around it