NASA找到消失8年的印度首艘月球太空船

 　　US space agency NASA has successfully located India's first lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 that lost contact with ground controllers on Earth eight years ago.

　　日前，美国航天局NASA已经成功定位到印度首艘月球太空船--月球飞船一号，该飞船于8年前发射，但随后便与地球上的地面控制人员失去了联系。

　　NASA found the spacecraft by using a new technological¹ application of ground-based interplanetary radar² and said it's still circling some 200 kilometers above the lunar surface.

　　NASA是通过陆基星际雷达的新技术发现了该宇宙飞船，并称它目前仍在月球表面上空200公里处盘旋。

　　This new technique also discovered an active spacecraft orbiting the moon, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

　　这项新技术还发现了另一艘仍然围绕月球运行的飞船，那便是NASA的月球轨道探测器（LRO）。

　　LRO was launched on June 18, 2009, while India's Chandrayaan-1 was launched on October 22, 2008.

　　月球轨道探测器LRO号发射于2009年6月18日，而印度的月球飞船一号则发射于2008年10月22日。

　　NASA找到消失8年的印度首艘月球太空船

　　'Finding LRO was relatively³ easy, as we were working with the mission's navigators and had precise orbit data where it was located', Marina Brozovic, a radar scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and principal investigator⁴ for the test project, said in a statement.

　　美国宇航局喷气推进实验室及其测试项目的主要负责人玛丽娜·布洛祖维克在一份声明中表示：“相对来说，找到LRO是比较容易的。因为我们一直与该任务的领航员一起工作并且有它位置的精确轨道数据。”

　　'Finding India's Chandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work because the last contact with the spacecraft was in August of 2009.'

　　“由于最后一次联络是在2009年8月，因此寻找印度的月球飞船一号就需要更多的侦察工作。”

　　More troubling was that the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is very small, about half the size of a smart car, and about 380,000 kilometers away.

　　更麻烦的是，月球飞船一号体积非常小，尺寸大约为一辆智能汽车的一半，并且远在38万公里之外。

　　To find the spacecraft, the team used NASA's 70-meter antenna⁵ at the agency's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California to send out a powerful beam of microwaves directed toward the moon.

　　为了找到它，该团队运用了位于加利福尼亚州的戈德斯通深层空间通信中心的70公尺口径天线，向月球发出强大的微波束。

　　NASA said these large radar antennas⁶ demonstrated that they can detect and track small spacecraft in lunar orbit.

　　美国宇航局表示，这些大型雷达探测器证明，他们可以探测和跟踪到小型的月球轨道探测器。

　　"Ground-based radars⁷ could possibly play a part in future robotic and human missions to the moon, both for a collisional hazard assessment⁸ tool and as a safety mechanism⁹ for spacecraft that encounter navigation or communication issues," the agency added.

　　该机构补充道：“不管是作为碰撞危险评估工具，还是作为航天器遇到导航或通信问题的安全机制，在未来的机器人和人类登月任务中，地面雷达都有可能会起到一定的作用。”

1 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

2 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

5 antenna   

n.触角，触须；天线

参考例句：

• The workman fixed the antenna to the roof of the house.工人把天线固定在房顶上。
• In our village, there is an antenna on every roof for receiving TV signals.在我们村里，每家房顶上都有天线接收电视信号。

6 antennas   

[生] 触角，触须（antenna的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Marconi tied several antennas to kites. 马可尼在风筝上系了几根天线。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Radio astronomy today is armed with the largest antennas in the world. 射电天文学拥有世界上最大的天线。

7 radars   

n.雷达( radar的名词复数 )；雷达装置

参考例句：

• Servos for large radars and launchers are either electro-hydraulic or all-electric. 大型雷达和发射装置的伺服系统，不是电动-液压式的，就是全电动式的。 来自辞典例句
• Range-velocity simultaneous pull-off is one of effective measures for countering PD radars. 距离-速度同步拖引干扰是对抗PD雷达的有效方法。 来自互联网

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。