美国国家公共电台 NPR A Teen Might Pick The Landing Site For NASA's Next Mars Rover

A Teen Might Pick The Landing Site For NASA's Next Mars Rover 

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Finding life on Mars remains² a tantalizing³ goal. NASA's next Mars rover mission isn't explicitly⁴ designed to look for life, but it will look for evidence life could have once existed on the red planet. And that poses a problem. Where could that evidence be? Ask six Mars experts, and you'll probably get seven answers.

But right now, one of the leading suggestions for the next rover landing site comes from a teenager who hasn't yet finished high school. As part of his series Joe's Big Idea, NPR's Joe Palca has this story about a young man with some big ideas of his own.

JOE PALCA, BYLINE⁵: When I visited Alex Longo at his home in Raleigh, N.C., the first thing I was curious to learn was when this precocious⁶ 16-year-old had become obsessed⁷ with Mars.

ALEX LONGO: Well, it wasn't just really Mars. My first experience with space exploration was in 2005. I was just 5 years old, and Mom and Dad had me watch a space shuttle launch.

PALCA: Watching that shuttle launch was the start. Alex decided⁸ not only did he want to go into space someday himself, he wanted to be the first person to walk on Mars. He began following NASA missions on the agency's website. And one day in 2014, he came across an announcement about the next rover mission to Mars.

A. LONGO: I saw that they were looking for abstracts from scientists to suggest landing sites. And I decide, well, I'll write something up.

PALCA: He figured - why not? He'd written to NASA before.

A. LONGO: Each time, you know, they sent me cool space shuttle mission posters or patches or something like that. I was like, well, I'll write to them, and maybe they'll send me some cool stuff.

PALCA: But then he thought, maybe he should tell his mom what he was planning.

LAURA LONGO: He said, hey, Mom, can I send this in to NASA?

PALCA: That's Laura Longo.

L. LONGO: And I said, well, let's take a look at it. And I sat down, and it's this multi-page, like, scientific document. And I said, oh, honey, that's really cool, thinking he's going to get some more swag (laughter). It's going to be great.

PALCA: Alex's proposal was to land in the same place NASA's rover called Spirit had landed, a place called Gusev crater⁹. Spirit found some intriguing¹⁰ potential signs there was once life on Mars. Some scientists would surely say, been there, done that. But Alex argued Gusev was worth a second look. NASA apparently¹¹ agreed because instead of swag, they sent him an email inviting¹² him to attend the first landing-site planning meeting.

A. LONGO: At first, I didn't believe it. I thought that it was a dream or something. And so I just got up, walked away. And a little while later, I came back, and that email was still there (laughter). I was like, wow, I actually just got invited to go to a NASA conference. How cool is that?

PALCA: The meeting was in Washington, D.C. His mom and dad drove him there. Alex was scheduled to speak in the last session of the conference.

A. LONGO: Honestly, I was a bit scared because there are a 125 Ph.D.s and grad students in that room. And I'm giving a presentation to all these people.

L. LONGO: I was focused on breathing so I wouldn't fall out of the chair.

PALCA: Laura Longo still beams when she recalls that day.

L. LONGO: When he finished, the entire room burst into applause. Everybody recognized how special...

A. LONGO: Yes.

L. LONGO: ...This was for this young person.

PALCA: That was 2014. Alex has now teamed up with some more experienced Mars scientists who also favor going back to Gusev crater. Their proposal is one of eight finalists. Alex also wangled an invitation to a NASA-sponsored conference to pick a landing site for the first human landing on Mars. He figured he had to go to that.

A. LONGO: Because if I really am going to be the first guy to go there, I want a say in where I'm going to be landing.

PALCA: Well, makes sense to me. Joe Palca, NPR News, Raleigh, N.C.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

4 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 precocious   

adj.早熟的；较早显出的

参考例句：

• They become precocious experts in tragedy.他们成了一批思想早熟、善写悲剧的能手。
• Margaret was always a precocious child.玛格丽特一直是个早熟的孩子。

7 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

10 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。