VOA标准英语2010年-NASA Searches for Water on Moon

Last October, a NASA rocket, traveling at a speed of 9,000 kilometers per hour, smashed into a dark crater¹ on the moon's south pole.

Upon impact, the Centaur² rocket kicked up a cloud of debris³ and elements from the moon's surface, creating a so-called "ejecta-plume⁴" that was monitored by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO.

Scientists analyzed⁵ the findings, and preliminary results from this mission, as well as others, suggested that there was some form of water on the moon. NASA lunar scientist Michael Wargo said that a wave of findings during the past year makes it certain.

"We've confirmed that there was indeed water ice in the ejecta-plume, and at an abundance that was about 50 percent greater than our initial estimates," Wargo announced Thursday.
That means that the impact site has more water than some deserts on Earth.

Wargo was among the scientists speaking at a NASA teleconference about the latest findings from the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and LRO missions.

Wargo said that the presence of water ice on the moon does not mean that the moon is like an ice-skating rink - not even in the deep craters⁶ of the moon's south pole that are in perpetual darkness. But, he said, "The Centaur hit in stuff that can best be described as fluffy⁷, snow-covered dirt".

Peter Schultz, a professor of geological sciences at Brown University in the northeastern U.S. state of Rhode Island, is a member of the LCROSS science team. He said that when the two-metric ton Centaur rocket hit the crater, there was an ensuing flash, but it was delayed and did not brighten as quickly as scientists had predicted.

"Based on experiments, this happens if the lunar surface is either fluffy or if ices exist near the surface," said Schultz, as he explained that this clue is helping⁸ scientists understand the lunar landscape.

The teams of international scientists said the mission showed that our moon has some of the coldest places in the solar system, even though they recorded the data when the crater's temperatures were close to their highs.

Teams that studied the impact site said data suggest an active water cycle in lunar shadows and even permafrost, which are areas where ice could be just below the surface.

And scientists said the plume contained things other than water, such as molecular⁹ hydrogen, carbon monoxide, mercury and silver. They explained these sorts of things could have come from comets and asteroids¹⁰.

The LCROSS and LRO missions have yielded data that scientists hope to use to gain a better idea of the resources on the moon.

"So we just opened this lunar closet and discovered things we just didn't expect," said Schultz. "And just as the Earth holds clues to the past climates in the ices of the poles, the moon also holds clues to past impacts and perhaps even the last stages of lunar volcanism."

While Schultz compares the moon's south pole to a closet, Wargo has a different description for areas that are so cold that they can preserve water ice for billions of years.

"I used to describe those permanently¹¹ shadowed regions as kind of like the dusty attic¹² of the solar system. Now we know those cold craters are more like an old deep freeze that's in the basement," Wargo said. "Look at the stuff that you'd find when you don't defrost for a couple of billion years."

These findings, and others, are featured in six papers published in the October 22, 2010 issue of the journal Science.
 

1 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。

2 centaur   

n.人首马身的怪物

参考例句：

• His face reminded me somehow of a centaur.他的脸使我想起半人半马的怪物。
• No wonder he had soon been hustled away to centaur school.也难怪父母匆匆忙忙就把他送到了半人马学校。

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

5 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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》

7 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

10 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

11 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

12 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？