Mars Rover to Begin Taking Soil Samples This Week

Mars Rover to Begin Taking Soil Samples This Week

 

Jessica Berman

 

NASA engineers say the Mars rover will begin taking its first soil samples as soon as it departs the landing platform.

Engineers say they expect the Mars rover to begin scooping² up samples of Martian soil a day or two after the probe drives off the landing platform, a maneuver³ now set for Tuesday at the earliest. If the robotic arm encounters any rocks in the soil, mission managers say the rover, named Spirit, will analyze⁴ them as well.

John Callas, science manager for the Mars mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, "Things go extremely well and I look forward to us being on the surface and commencing the really significant part of this mission, which is the surface exploration of Mars."

On Saturday, technicians finished unfolding the rover's six legs in preparation for its descent on to the surface of Mars.

They had hoped to guide the Spirit to the ground a day after the unfurling, but an airbag that helped cushion the rover's landing on Mars did not deflate as it was supposed to, and that blocked the vehicle's preferred exit path down a ramp⁵. The rover now will be eased 40 centimeters down over the side edge of the lander.

NASA's John Callas says scientists have used the postponement⁶ as an opportunity to conduct some additional unplanned experiments, including taking additional high resolution pictures of the red planet's surface.

In two weeks, a second, identical spacecraft called the Opportunity will touch down on the opposite side of the planet with the same goal of searching for evidence of water, which is necessary to sustain life.

 

注释：

NASA  abbr. National Aeronautics⁷ and Space Administration（美国）国家航空和宇宙航行局

landing platform  降落平台

scoop¹ [sku:p] v. 掘，挖

probe [prEub] n. 探测器

Jet Propulsion Laboratory  喷气推进实验室

Pasadena [7pAsE5dinE] n. 帕萨迪纳，美国加利福尼亚州南部洛山矶东北部的一座城市，因其玫瑰碗剧场和每年的玫瑰花车游行而闻名。

commence [kE5mens] v. 开始

descent [di5sent] n. 降下，降落

unfurl [Qn5fE:l] vt. 展开

deflate [di5fleit] vt. 放气

ramp [rAmp] n. 斜坡

postponement [pEust5pEunmEnt] n. 延期，延缓

unplanned [5Qn5plAnd] adj. 无计划的

resolution [7rezE5lju:FEn] n. 清晰度，分辨率

touch down  降落

sustain [sEs5tein] vt. 维持

1 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

2 scooping   

n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• Heated ice cream scoop is used for scooping really cold ice cream. 加热的冰淇淋勺是用来舀非常凉的冰淇淋的。 来自互联网
• The scoop-up was the key phase during a scooping cycle. 3个区间中，铲取区间是整个作业循环的关键。 来自互联网

3 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

4 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

5 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

6 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

7 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。