美国有线新闻 CNN 小行星2018VP1撞击地球几率极低 NASA从本努小行星采样

What or who is 2018 VP One? An asteroid¹, a comet, Mike Pence, or the first "Masked Singer". It's a bird, it's a plane? No, it's an asteroid that's headed toward Earth as you watch this show.

2018VP1是什么？一颗小行星，一颗彗星，迈克·彭斯，还是第一个“蒙面歌王”。是一只鸟还是一架飞机？都不是，这是一颗小行星，大家收看我们的节目时它正朝着地球飞来。

And it could hit the Earth one day before the U.S. election but it probably won't. Scientists have known about this asteroid since 2018. It's about the size of a refrigerator and they say there's a chance of 1 in 240 that it will enter Earth's atmosphere in November 2nd.

它可能会在美国大选前一天撞击地球，但也可能不会。科学家在2018年发现这颗小行星。这颗小行星的大小和冰箱差不多，科学家称其在11月2日进入地球大气层的几率为240分之1。

But even if 2018 VP One is on a path to do that, astronomers² say it will disintegrate³ and burn up in our atmosphere before it hits the ground beneath our feet. Many of them are far more interested in another asteroid named Bennu.

但天文学家表示，即使2018VP 1进入地球大气层，它也会在落到地面之前在大气层中解体并燃烧。许多天文学家对另一颗名为“本努”的小行星更感兴趣。

NASA has a $1.16 billion mission in which a spacecraft is going to try to touch down on Bennu, collect a sample of its surface and bring it back home to Earth in 2023. It's taking so long because the asteroid and the spacecraft are 200 million miles from Earth. But if it works, it will be the first time a sample from a rock in space is brought back to our planet. NASA should know by Tuesday if the sample collection successfully to?ok place.

美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）有一项耗资11.6亿美元的任务，其中一艘航天器将尝试在“本努”着陆，收集其表面样本，并于2023年带回地球。这需要很长时间，因为小行星和航天器和地球有2亿英里的距离。但如果任务成功，这将是第一次将太空岩石样本带回地球。美国国家航空航天局会在周二之前得知样本采集是否成功。

1 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。

2 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 disintegrate   

v.瓦解，解体，（使）碎裂，（使）粉碎

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• The plane would probably disintegrate at that high speed.飞机以那么高速飞行也许会四分五裂。