VOA慢速英语--日本航天器到达小行星表面进行研究

Japanese Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid¹ to Study Surface

A Japanese spacecraft arrived at an asteroid Wednesday after traveling for more than three years.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft is to perform a new experiment. It will create a crater² on the asteroid’s surface collecting pieces of rock to bring back to Earth.

Japan Aerospace³ Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the Hayabusa2 is about 20 kilometers from the asteroid which is orbiting the sun 280 million kilometers from Earth.

Over the next year and a half, the robotic explorer will attempt three short landings to gather rocks. If they are successful, the asteroid material could provide information about the beginning of the solar system and possibly life on Earth.

Space officials say however that the mission will be difficult.

Hayabusa2 will spend about two months looking for safe landing places on the rough surface. Because of the high surface temperature, it will stay for only a few seconds each time it lands. Any rocks it collects would be sent back in a re-entry container expected to arrive at the end of 2020.

In photographs released by JAXA, the Japanese space agency, the asteroid appears to be more square-shaped than round. A number of large craters⁴ can be seen. Project Manager Yuichi Tsuda described the asteroid in an online post. He said the rough surface will make choosing landing places “both interesting and difficult.”

The first landing is planned for September or October. The final landing is planned for April or May. Before the final landing, Hayabusa2 will send out a device that will explode above the asteroid. It will shoot a two-kilogram copper⁵ object into the asteroid at high speed to create a crater.

Hayabusa2 will reposition itself on the other side of the asteroid to protect itself during the operation.

It will take another two to three weeks to make sure any wreckage⁶ that could damage the explorer has cleared. Hayabusa2 will then attempt to land at or near the crater to collect underground or surface material that was blown out by the explosion.

The spacecraft also will send out three vehicles, or probes. The probes do not have wheels but can hop⁷ around to study the surface and collect rocks. Hayabusa2 will also send a French-German-made lander to study the surface with four observation devices.

Asteroids⁸ orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets. They are among the oldest objects in the solar system. For this reason, scientists believe they may help explain how Earth developed. They may even provide information about the formation of oceans and the start of life.

Hayabusa2 was launched from Japan in December 2014. It follows the first Hayabusa mission which lasted from 2003 until 2010.

The first spacecraft in the series collected rocks from a different kind of asteroid. Hayabusa took three years longer than planned after a series of technical problems.

The U.S. space agency, NASA, also has an asteroid mission. Its Osiris-Rex spacecraft is expected to reach the asteroid Bennu later this year and return with rocks from it in 2023.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

asteroid –n. objects that are smaller than planets and that usually are not perfectly⁹ round which orbit the sun

crater –n. a bowl-shaped hole formed by a falling meteorite¹⁰ or a volcanic¹¹ explosion

folktale –n. a traditional story

palace –n. the official home of a person such as a king, queen or president

solar system –n. all the objects that orbit or are influenced by the sun’s gravity

hop –v. to jump up and down

1 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

2 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

3 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

4 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

6 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

7 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

8 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。

11 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。