2006年VOA标准英语-New US Mars Mission to Get Better Look at

By David McAlary
Washington
06 March 2006

The newest American mission to Mars is hurtling toward the red planet, due Friday to examine it in the sharpest detail yet. It will be the largest spacecraft to circle the planet, with big capabilities¹ to match.

-----------------------------------------------

  
  

Since 1997, the U.S. space agency NASA has been dispatching orbiters and companion landers to Mars about every two years to get a better geological understanding of Earth's nearest planetary neighbor. It especially wants to learn if conditions ever existed that could have supported life. The latest in the series is the huge Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, two stories tall and nearly 15 meters wide. It is closing in on the red planet after a seven month voyage from Earth.

The head of NASA's Mars exploration program, Douglas McCuistion says the effort now moves into a more intensive phase of investigation².

"So this is a big mission for us," he said. "It's big in the strategic role in the Mars exploration program, it's the biggest orbiter sent to Mars in the past 30 years, carrying the most powerful suite³ of remote sensing instruments ever deployed⁴ to another planet."

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter   
  
NASA says the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will have better capabilities for understanding the red planet's surface, subsurface, and atmosphere than the three American and European satellites now orbiting, the two U.S. robotic rovers on the ground, or any previous mission.

"It's a weather satellite, it's a geological surveyor, it's a pathfinder for future missions," said NASA project scientist Richard Zurek. He says the new orbiter, known by its English initials MRO, carries six instruments. Some are designed to seek clues to the water most planetary scientists believe once flowed on Mars and is a key to life. They can identify water-related minerals and penetrate⁵ the ground about one kilometer to seek layers of rock, ice, and water if it is present.

"MRO follows the 'Follow the Water' program by combining global monitoring of the atmosphere and surface, by taking regional surveys of interesting areas, and then zooming⁶ in with very high resolution observations of the surface of the planet," he said. "Together, these data sets provide a new window into Mars' history and they will provide the best sites for future landers to go and to explore with some confidence that they are safe sites."

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will return torrents⁷ of data about the red planet, more than all other Mars missions combined. It has five times better resolution over more area than its predecessor⁸ satellites. It can see things as small as a kitchen table, thanks to super-sharp cameras and a planned altitude 20 percent lower than previous spacecraft - about 300 kilometers.

"Every time we have increased our ability to resolve detail on the planet, we see new things, and we expect new surprises," Zurek said. 
  

MRO pictured using its SHARAD radar⁹ to 'look' under surface of Mars  
  
With so much power to collect information, NASA had to give the new spacecraft the means to send huge amounts of it back to Earth, quickly. So the orbiter carries the largest antenna¹⁰ ever sent to Mars, three meters in diameter, and a transmitter powered by large solar panels. The space agency's manager for the project, James Graf, says the data flow will be 10 times per minute higher than previous Mars orbiters.

"These other missions have been producing fantastic data, but they have been bringing the data back through, essentially¹¹, a straw," he said. "What we are going to do is open the spigot and bring it back through a fire hose. That's crucial if you want to understand Mars. You want to increase the coverage¹² and the resolution of your measurements, so you need that greater data."

Before the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can return any science, it must gradually adjust its extremely elongated¹³ 35-hour orbit to a circular two-hour one using atmospheric¹⁴ friction¹⁵. This will take almost six months. Its primary data gathering¹⁶ phase is scheduled to last two years, but NASA says it is capable of going for up to a decade.

1 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

6 zooming   

adj.快速上升的v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去分词 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Zooming and panning are navigational tools for exploring 2D and 3D information. 缩放和平移是浏览二维和三维信息的导航工具。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Panning and zooming, especially when paired together, create navigation difficulties for users. 对于用户来说，平移和缩放一起使用时，产生了更多的导航困难。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

9 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。

10 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。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 elongated   

v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Modigliani's women have strangely elongated faces. 莫迪里阿尼画中的妇女都长着奇长无比的脸。
• A piece of rubber can be elongated by streching. 一块橡皮可以拉长。 来自《用法词典》

14 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

15 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

16 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。