VOA慢速英语: 飞船历史性的在彗星上着陆

宇宙飞船历史性地在彗星登陆

After traveling 10 years and hundreds of millions of kilometers, a small robotic spacecraft has for the first time landed on the surface of a comet, a solar system object made of ice and rock.

在太空旅行10年、航行数十亿千米后，一个小型机器飞船首次登陆彗星表面，彗星是太阳系的一个天体，由冰和岩石构成。

The probe launched from the European Space Agency’s main Rosetta spaceship early Wednesday. The spaceship is designed to carefully study the appearance and materials that make up the Comet67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko.

周三早上，这一探测器搭载欧洲航天局“罗塞塔”飞船进入太空。飞船设计很细致，主要研究彗星67P的表面物质。

Scientists worried the probe might not land on solid ground but early reports say the Philae research probe is in good condition.

科学家担心探测器也许无法达到彗星表面，虽然早些时候的报道称“菲莱”着陆器运行状态良好。

Stephan Ulamec, of the German Aerospace Center, announced the news. He said the landing equipment and a special device meant to secure the spacecraft to the comet had deployed.

德国航天中心的史蒂芬·莱姆克宣布一个消息：他说已经部署好一个特别的装置来确保着陆彗星的探测器器和飞船的安全。

“Philae is talking to us, first things he told us is that the harpoons have been fired, rewound and that the landing gear has been moved inside, so we are sitting on the surface, Philae is talking to us, more data to come.”

“菲莱”传达给我们的信息首先是‘鱼叉’被烧坏未成功发射出来，出现绕卷，起落架到里面，所以我们是‘坐在’彗星表面，“菲莱”传输给我们更多数据。”

Early on Wednesday, ground controllers at the European Space Agency operations center in Germany confirmed that Philae had separated from the Rosetta ship. The probe then began a tense trip toward the comet and landed on its surface hours later. The attempt to land on the comet was considered risky not only because scientists were unsure of the surface, but because of problems with thrusters used to land the probe.

早在周三，在德国的欧洲航天局的地面控制中心确认“菲莱”已经与“罗塞塔”飞船分离，探测器开始向慧星前行，并在数小时后登陆彗星。彗星着陆的尝试被认为是有风险的，不仅仅因为科学家不确定彗星表面情况，还由于用来推进探测器的推进器有些问题。

Scientists and many officials gathered at the European Space Agency’s Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany. After the landing was announced, there was cheering and applause.

科学家和许多官员在德国的达姆施塔特——欧洲航天局的控制中心观看探测器登陆，“菲莱”探测器登陆成功后，响起一片掌声和欢呼声。

European Space Agency Director Thomas Reiter thanked the many groups who had been involved in the mission.

欧洲航天局的主任托马斯·瑞特感谢参与到这次任务的所有成员。

Jim Green of NASA praised the landing as an important step in space exploration. “Let’s learn about the environment we are in. It’s these steps that will lead us beyond this planet, on to Mars and out into the Solar System.”

美国太空署的吉姆·格林称赞说这次登陆彗星是太空探索的重要一步。“我们学习自己所处的环境，不断地努力去学习研究地球以外的星球，我们探测火星，以及太阳系。”

Rosetta has been orbiting the Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko since August. However, the mission started with the spaceship’s launch in March of 2004. The spaceship circled the sun until it was in position to meet with the comet. Information from the European Space Agency shows the spacecraft’s trip has taken it far beyond the orbit Mars.

自从8月份起，“罗塞塔”就围绕着彗星67P的轨道转，但是，2004年3月，飞船发射后，任务才开始，飞船一直绕着太阳转，直到转到能够绕彗星转的位置。欧洲航天局的信息表明飞船的行程已经远远超过绕火星轨道的行程了。

The comet currently is traveling at a distance of more than 400 million kilometers from Earth. At such a distance, communication between the spacecraft and earth took more than half an hour. Controllers waited and worried before receiving confirmation sent from Philae that it had landed safely.

彗星现在距离地球有4亿千米，这样的远距离，飞船与地球的信息传输大概需要半个多小时。地面控制人员焦急的等待、接收探测器成功登陆后传来的确认信息。

Now, the probe will begin a series of scientific experiments. Philae will examine the material that makes up the comet looking for organic, or carbon-based material, and inorganic materials. The Rosetta mission cost the European Space Agency, or ESA, $1.7 billion dollars.

现在探测器会展开一系列的科学实验，“菲莱”探测器会对彗星发散出的气体、尘埃以及彗星核结构与其他相关有机物质进行详细研究。“罗塞塔”飞船的这次任务共花费欧洲航天局17亿美元。

 The main Rosetta spacecraft will follow Comet 67P for the next year and observe it as it heads toward the sun. However, Rosetta will not approach the sun too closely. Its closest approach to our star is still outside the orbit of Earth.

“罗塞塔”飞船来年还是会绕着彗星67P转，观察彗星朝太阳运动。但是“罗塞塔”飞船不会靠太阳很近，离飞船最近的星星不是绕着地球转。

The Philae probe is the result of a joint effort by scientists and space agencies in many countries from the European Union and the United States. Three experiments on the spaceship come from the U.S. space agency NASA.

“菲莱”探测器是欧盟和美国各国科学家和航天机构一起努力的结果。飞船的三项试验来自美国航空航天局。

Photos sent back to Earth from Rosetta show Comet67P's surface as a rough world of rocky formations and ice.

“罗塞塔”发回地球的彗星67P表面的照片，就像是个粗糙的岩石面和冰面。

Rosetta is named after the stone that helped unlock the hieroglyphic language of the ancient Egyptians. ESA Director Thomas Reiter has this to say about the mission:

“罗塞塔”这个名字是以打开古埃及一种象形文字的石头命名的。欧洲航天局的主任托马斯·瑞特说这次航行的使命是：

“It’s aim, of course, to unlock the secrets hidden within the icy treasure chest of a 4.6 billion years (old) object, to study its make-up and its history. To search for clues as to our own origins.”

“主要的目标当然是打开隐藏在46亿年前的冰川宝藏中的秘密，研究它的构成以及历史，研究我们的起源的线索。”

I'm Mario Ritter.

我是马瑞欧·瑞特。

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Words in this Story

Deployed-adj. to move something into a position for action

Probe-n. (science) a device used to examine or study something; a small spacecraft deployed from a larger one that is sent down to a planet, moon or comet

Origins-n. the point where things begin, a starting point