(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Major Space Missions Planned in 2021
After a series of successful space missions during the past year, 2021 promises some exciting new international exploration projects.
Three nations have launched spacecraft designed to begin exploring Mars in 2021.
The U.S. space agency, NASA, is expecting its explorer, called Perseverance, to land on the Red Planet on February 18. The explorer, or rover, is on a mission to "search for signs of life and collect rock and soil samples," NASA says.
Perseverance is NASA's fifth Mars explorer. It is carrying a small experimental helicopter, called Ingenuity. The device would be the first to test the abilities of such a craft on another planet. One important experiment will test a device designed to capture carbon dioxide from Mars' atmosphere and turn it into oxygen.
China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft launched last July on a mission to search Mars for signs of water. It is also expected to reach Mars in February. The spacecraft will attempt to land at Utopia Planitia, a large flat area in the northern half of the planet. Once there, Tianwen-1 will deploy a rover for exploration.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched its Hope Probe in July 2020. The explorer is also to reach the Red Planet next month. The country describes Hope as "the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers."
The mission will study climate and weather activity on the lower atmosphere of Mars. Hope will also observe and study hydrogen and oxygen in the Martian upper atmosphere, the UAE's space agency said.
New space vehicles to be tested
Boeing is expected to carry out another unpiloted flight test of its Starliner spacecraft. The company was chosen by NASA — along with America's SpaceX — for its Commercial Crew Program. The program uses private spacecraft to transport U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX has already completed two successful crewed missions to the ISS.
If Boeing's unpiloted test goes well, the company is expected to move ahead with its first crewed test flight of Starliner.
NASA said it plans to complete final preparations for the first flight of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for a possible launch sometime in the autumn. The flight would be the first unpiloted test flight for SLS and Orion. The goal is to complete a month-long mission around the moon.
The test is part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024. The program's long-term goal is to establish a continued human presence on the moon.
NASA tests planetary defense
In late July, NASA says it will launch its first "test for planetary defense" against asteroids. The mission is called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). It will send a spacecraft to purposely crash into an asteroid at a high speed in an attempt to change the asteroid's orbit in space. The target is a near-Earth asteroid called Didymos. The operation will only be a test of defensive capability, since Didymos represents no threat to Earth.
In October, NASA plans to launch its Lucy space mission. The operation aims to study a population of unusual objects orbiting Jupiter known as the Trojan asteroids. The space agency says the mission will involve a 12-year trip to eight different asteroids.
Also in October, NASA plans to launch its James Webb Space Telescope which has been delayed several times. It is NASA's replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in operation for 30 years.
The James Webb is a large infrared telescope that has a nearly seven-meter mirror for observing space. NASA says the mission is designed to look deeper into space and offer more answers about the past of the universe than any other spacecraft.
I'm Bryan Lynn.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. search for 搜寻；搜索；搜查；寻求；
The Turkish security forces have started searching for the missing men.
土耳其安全部队已经开始搜寻失踪人员。
2. turn into (使)变成；(使)成为；
The main body of the church had been turned into a massive television studio.
该教堂的主体部分已被改造成了一个大型电视演播室。
3. attempt to do sth. 尝试，试图（尤指做困难的事）；
Do not attempt to repair this yourself.
不要试图自己修理这个东西。
4. describe as 把…说成；把…称为；认为；
He described it as an extraordinarily tangled and complicated tale.
他说那是一个非常曲折复杂的故事。
参考译文
2021年主要太空任务计划
过去一年，一系列太空任务取得了成功，2021年还将开展一些令人兴奋的国际探索新项目。
三个已向火星发射太空飞船的国家计划在2021年开始探索火星。
美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）预计其“毅力”号探测器将于2月18日登陆这颗红色星球（指火星）。美国国家航空航天局表示，探测器或火星车的任务是“寻找生命迹象，采集岩石和土壤样本”。
“毅力”号是美国国家航空航天局的第五个火星探测器。它搭载了一架名为“机智”号的小型实验直升机。“机智”号将成为首个在另一个星球上测试飞行能力的飞行器。一项重要实验将对从火星大气中捕获二氧化碳并将其转化为氧气的装置进行测试。
中国“天问一号”宇宙飞船于去年7月发射升空，其任务是在火星上寻找水的迹象。预计该飞船也将在2月抵达火星。“天问一号”将在乌托邦平原着陆，那里是位于火星北半球的大片平坦地区。着陆后，“天问一号”将部署一辆火星车开展探测工作。
阿拉伯联合酋长国（简称阿联酋）于2020年7月发射“希望”号探测器。该探测器也将在下个月抵达这颗红色星球。阿联酋称“希望”号是“首个提供火星大气层及其各层完整图片的探测器”。
这次任务将研究火星低层大气的气候和天气活动。阿联酋航天局表示，“希望”号还将观测和研究火星高层大气中的氢和氧。
计划测试的新太空飞行器
波音公司计划对其星际飞船进行第二次无人驾驶飞行试验。该公司被美国国家航空航天局和美国太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）选为商业载人项目的执行者。该项目用私营航天器将美国宇航员送到国际空间站（简称ISS）。美国太空探索技术公司已成功完成两次前往国际空间站的载人任务。
如果波音的无人驾驶测试进展顺利，该公司将推进其星际飞船的首次载人试飞。
美国国家航空航天局表示，其计划完成太空发射系统（简称SLS）火箭及猎户座飞船首次飞行的最后准备工作，可能在秋季某个时候发射。这次飞行将是太空发射系统和猎户座飞船的首次无人驾驶试飞。目标是完成一个月的绕月任务。
这项测试是美国国家航空航天局“阿尔忒弥斯计划”的一部分，该计划的目标是在2024年将首位女性宇航员和另一位男性宇航员送上月球。该计划的长期目标是在月球上建立持续的人类存在。
美国国家航空航天局测试行星防御系统
美国国家航空航天局表示，其计划在7月下旬进行首次针对小行星的“行星防御试验”。这项任务被称为“双小行星重定向测试”（简称DART）。美国国家航空航天局将发射一艘飞船，有目的地高速撞击小行星，试图改变小行星在太空中的轨道。目标是一颗名为“迪迪莫斯”的近地小行星。这次行动只对防御能力进行测试，因为“迪迪莫斯”对地球没有威胁。
美国国家航空航天局计划在10月发射“露西”太空任务。任务目的是研究围绕木星运行的一系列不同寻常的天体，这些天体被称为特洛伊小行星。美国国家航空航天局表示，这次任务将跨越12年，前往8颗不同的小行星。
美国国家航空航天局还计划在10月发射詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜，这项计划已推迟数次。美国国家航空航天局将用其替代已运行30年的哈勃太空望远镜。
詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜是大型红外望远镜，将用近7米的镜子观察太空。美国国家航空航天局表示，这项任务旨在深入太空，提供多于其他任何航天器的有关宇宙过去的信息。
布莱恩·林恩报道。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
