VOA慢速英语--中国进行火星着陆器测试和太空探索

China showed off its Mars spacecraft during a landing test last week in the northern province of Hebei.

China is planning to send a lander and rover to Mars next year to explore parts of the red planet.

The United States and European space agency are also sending rovers to the planet in 2020, and the United Arab Emirates plans to launch an orbiter.

Zhang Kejian is head of the China National Space Administration. Before the landing test, he told foreign diplomats¹ and the media that China's Mars Mission is on schedule.

Officials say the Mars lander successfully passed a hovering-and-obstacle avoidance test. The landing area had small piles of rocks on the ground, similar to what the uneven³ surface on Mars is like. The lander will have to move around on this kind of surface when it gets to the planet.

"In 2016, China officially began the Mars exploration mission work," Zhang said, "and currently all of the different development work is progressing smoothly⁴."

China has developed a powerful rocket, the Long March 5, to send the spacecraft to Mars in 2020.

Zhang Rongqiao is chief designer of the Mars mission. He said the trip to the plant will last about seven months. But landing on it will take only about seven minutes.

The landing will be the most difficult part of the space flight, he said.

Many spacecraft sent to Mars have been lost or destroyed over the years. Only the U.S. space agency NASA has been successful, with eight landings.

China's space program plans to use a Long March 5 rocket to send a spacecraft to the Moon by the end of this year, or early next year. The Chang'e-5 spacecraft will bring back pieces of rock from the moon's surface.

Last January a Chang'e-4 probe successfully touched down on the far side of the moon. While NASA sent humans to the moon, this was the first time for a probe to touch down on the lesser-known far side. The landing was a major success for China's space program.

China first landed a spacecraft on the moon in 2013.

The U.S. government has barred most space cooperation with China out of security concerns. The ban has kept China from sending crews to the International Space Station, or ISS.

In 2003, China became the third nation to put a human in space with its own rocket. The former Soviet⁵ Union and the United States were the first. Since then, China has been racing⁶ to catch up with the two countries. It hopes to become a major space power by 2030.

China is also building a permanent space station, larger than the ISS. It has invited other countries to take part in the project. Chinese officials expect to complete work on the project around 2022. That is about the time when NASA is said to start building a new space station laboratory to orbit the moon. The U.S. plans to use the new laboratory as a stopping place for trips to other parts of the solar system.

Words in This Story

rover – n. a vehicle for exploring the surface of the moon, a planet or other space object

orbiter – n. a space craft that is designed to orbit the moon or another planet, not land on it

on schedule – phrase on time; as expected or planned

hover² – v. to float in the air without moving in any direction

obstacle – n. an object that you have to go around or over; something that blocks your path

pile – n. a collecting of things lying one on top of another

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

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

3 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

4 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。