VOA新闻杂志2023 科学家发现月球水库

Scientists report they have discovered water in materials collected during a Chinese moon mission.

科学家报告称，他们在中国登月任务收集的材料中发现了水。

The water is in extremely small glass beads¹ that were found in the dirt where many meteorites² have hit the moon.

水存在于极小的玻璃珠中，这些玻璃珠是在月球被许多陨石撞击时产生的土壤中发现的。

The dirt was collected in 2020.

这些土壤是在2020年收集的。

Hejiu Hui of Nanjing University took part in the study, which was published recently in Nature Geoscience.

南京大学的何久辉参与了这项研究，该研究结果最近发表在《自然·地球科学》杂志上。

Hui said the beads differ in size from the width of one hair to several hairs.

何久辉说，玻璃珠的大小不一，有的玻璃珠的直径和一根头发一样粗，有的直径宽度有几根头发粗。

The amount of water inside was extremely small.

玻璃珠里面的水量非常少。

Since billions if not trillions of these beads exist on the moon, there could be large amounts of water.

由于月球上有数十亿颗甚至数万亿颗这样的玻璃珠，所以月球上可能存在大量的水。

But mining it would be difficult, the research team said.

但该研究小组表示，开采它会很困难。

"Yes, it will require lots and lots of glass beads," Hui said in an email.

何久辉在一封电子邮件中说：“是的，这需要很多很多的玻璃珠”。

"On the other hand, there are lots and lots of beads on the moon."

“另一方面，月球上有很多很多的玻璃珠。”

The findings are based on 32 glass beads randomly³ chosen from moon dirt collected on China's Chang'e 5 moon mission.

这些发现是基于从中国嫦娥五号任务中收集的月球土壤中随机选择的32颗玻璃珠。

More will be studied, Hui said.

何久辉说，还将进行更多的研究。

The beads are everywhere, the result of the cooling of melted material sent out by incoming space rocks.

玻璃珠到处都有，这是太空岩石熔化后释放的物质冷却的结果。

This shows "water can be recharged on the moon's surface ... a new water reservoir on the moon," Hui said.

何久辉说，这表明“月球表面的水可以被补充……月球上的一个新的蓄水池”。

The study's findings raise the possibility that water could be removed by heating the beads in future robotic missions.

这项研究发现提高了在未来的机器人任务中通过加热玻璃珠来去除水分的可能性。

Still, more studies would be needed to show whether such water removals are possible or if the water would be safe to drink.

不过，还需要更多的研究来证明这样去除水是否可行，或者水是否可以安全饮用。

Earlier studies found water in glass beads formed by volcanic⁴ activity on the moon.

早期的研究发现，月球上的火山活动形成的玻璃珠中含有水。

Those studies used material collected on the moon by American astronauts more than fifty years ago.

这些研究使用了50多年前美国宇航员在月球上收集的材料。

The American space agency NASA plans to put astronauts back on the moon's surface by the end of 2025.

美国航空航天局计划在2025年底之前将宇航员送往月球表面。

The astronauts will aim for the south pole where craters⁵ are believed to be filled with frozen water.

宇航员将目标锁定南极，据信那里的陨石坑里充满了冰冻水。

I'm John Russell.

约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。

1 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

2 meteorites   

n.陨星( meteorite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One theory about the existence of extraterrestrial life rests on the presence of carbon compounds in meteorites. 地球外存在生命的理论是基于陨星上存在碳化合物质这一事实的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

4 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

5 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》