VOA科学技术2024--Another Private US Company Aims for the Moon

Another Private US Company Aims for the Moon

　　The U.S. space agency NASA has launched a moon lander built by a private U.S. company aiming to reach the moon next week. Thursday's launch came after a failed attempt from another private American company last month.

　　SpaceX's Falcon¹ rocket launched Intuitive Machines' lunar lander to the moon, 370,000 kilometers away, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

　　The American space agency is the main sponsor for the private mission with six navigation and other technology experiments on the lander. If all goes well, the lunar spacecraft will try to land on February 22, after one day in lunar orbit.

　　Five countries — the U.S., Russia, China, India and Japan — have landed a spacecraft on the moon. No private company has yet to succeed in doing so. Only the U.S. has sent astronauts to the moon. Apollo 17's Gene² Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last of the Apollo program's astronauts to reach the moon in December 1972.

　　"There have been a lot of sleepless³ nights getting ready for this," Intuitive Machines' co-founder and chief executive Steve Altemus said before the flight.

　　The Houston-based company aims to land its 4.3-meter tall, six-legged spacecraft near the moon's south pole. The area is full of dangerous craters⁵ and cliffs but it is possibly rich in frozen water. It is also the place where NASA plans to land astronauts in a few years.

　　Last month, Peregrine, a lunar lander from privately-owned Astrobotic Technology, failed shortly after liftoff. The spacecraft, which carried some NASA experiments, broke apart and burned up 10 days after launch partly because of a fuel leak.

　　Other attempts made it to the moon before wrecking⁶.

　　An Israeli nonprofit group's lander crashed in 2019. Last year, a Japanese company saw its lander crash into the moon followed by Russia's crash landing.

　　Intuitive Machines named its lander after Homer's hero in The Odyssey⁷.

　　"Godspeed, Odysseus. Now let's go make history," said Trent Martin of Intuitive Machines.

　　NASA is paying Intuitive Machines $118 million to get its latest set of experiments to the moon. The company also gets payment from businesses. They include Columbia Sportswear, which is testing material as a thermal⁸ insulator⁹ on the lander, and artist Jeff Koons, who is sending his small moon figurines to Earth's natural satellite.

　　The lander is also carrying Embry-Riddle Aeronautical¹⁰ University's Eaglecam. The camera is designed to take pictures of the lander as it lands.

　　The spacecraft will cease operations after a week on the moon's surface.

　　Words in This Story

　　sponsor –n. a person or group that supports either a person or activity with money and effort

　　navigation –n. related to the science of getting vehicles from one place to another

　　crater⁴ –n. the mark left on the surface of a planet, moon or asteroid¹¹ after it is hit by a space object

　　cliff –n. a surface that is very steep dropping from a high to a lower place

　　thermal insulator –n. a material that protects equipment from heat

　　figurine –n. a little statue

1 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

2 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

3 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。

4 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。

5 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》

6 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

7 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

8 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• 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。

9 insulator   

n.隔离者；绝缘体

参考例句：

• Few substances can equal fur as an insulator.作为绝缘体很少有其他材料能与动物皮毛相媲美。
• A loose mulch acts on the surface as an insulator.疏松的覆盖物在土壤表面起了隔热的作用。

10 aeronautical   

adj.航空（学）的

参考例句：

• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world. 这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。 来自辞典例句
• The advent of aircraft brought with it aeronautical engineering. 宇宙飞船的问世导致了航天工程的出现。 来自辞典例句

11 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。