密歇根新闻广播 火箭发动机需要更加稳定才能抵达月球

Two words can mean the difference between life and death when rockets blast into space: combustion¹ instability.

That's what makes rocket engines blow up.

To explore Mars and the rest of outer space, scientists need to develop rocket engines that get off the ground without exploding. Researchers from the University of Michigan, Purdue and MIT are working to solve this engineering challenge.

At University of Michigan, Karthik Duraisamy directs the new Center of Excellence² on Rocket Combustor Dynamics³. He's also a professor of aerospace⁴ engineering.

Rocket engines are incredibly powerful and complex. For example, at the time of takeoff, the rocket that brought men to the moon used six times as much power as the state of Michigan, Duraisamy said.

"When you have so much energy being packed in such a small device and for short amounts of time, then the design of these systems becomes incredibly difficult," he said.

Traditionally, researchers design, build and test rockets, by relying on physical experiments to determine whether a rocket engine will blow up.

Instead of relying on the trial and error of physical tests, Duraisamy said his team plans to simulate rocket engine designs on a computer.

These virtual tests will decrease the amount of time and money it takes to test rocket engine systems.

"Instead of running 20 tests or 50 tests, we want them to get away with three or four physical tests, and many, many simulations," he said.

Listen to the full interview above to hear Duraisamy explain why rocket engines explode sometimes, and how technology has (and hasn't) changed for rocket designers in the past decades.

1 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

2 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

3 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

4 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。