环球英语 — 51：Stardust

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight¹ program. I’m Mike Procter.
Voice 2
And I’m Rebekah Schipper. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“We travelled about five thousand million [5,000,000,000] kilometres in space. We visited a comet². We took pieces of it. And they landed on Earth this morning.”
Voice 4
“I fully³ expect school books in the future will have a lot of new information from the samples that landed here this morning.”
Voice 2
On Sunday January fifteen [15], 2006 a very special container arrived back to earth from space. This container travelled a total of four thousand six hundred million kilometres [4,600,000,000]. It had been in space for seven [7] years!
Voice 1
Today’s Spotlight is on the Stardust space vehicle. The Stardust collected materials from space. Scientists were very happy to see the Stardust return to earth. They were excited to study the materials collected inside. Why do scientists believe these materials are so important?
Voice 2
NASA, the United States’ space program, began building the Stardust in 1994. It took five [5] years to build. NASA engineers sent it into space in February, 1999.
Voice 1
The Stardust vehicle is small. It weighs only about three hundred and fifty [350] kilograms. During its time in space, the Stardust carried a special container. Inside the special container was a very special material. Scientists call this material aerogel.
Voice 2
Scientists make aerogel by mixing together four different chemicals. The chemicals react together and form a wet, soft substance. Then scientists put the substance under a lot of heat and pressure. The final result is a very dry, very fine, soft material, like a sponge⁴. It is blue. And it is very light. That is because aerogel is over ninety-nine [99] percent porous⁵ - ninety-nine percent just holes!
Voice 1
The fact that aerogel is so porous is very important. In fact, it is the reason why NASA chose to use this material for the Stardust project. You see, aerogel can capture⁶ materials in its centre.
Voice 2
The purpose of the Stardust was to explore a comet. A comet is a small object that circles the sun. Stardust was the first NASA project designed to return materials from outside of the moon’s orbit⁷.
Voice 1
NASA wanted the Stardust to cross paths with a particular comet named Comet Wild Two. However, the comet was moving very fast and it was very far away! But the scientists were prepared for that. By using mathematics they were able to time exactly when the Stardust and the comet would meet. Their plan was to have the Stardust orbit the sun three [3] times. On its third time around the Stardust and Comet Wild Two would cross paths. The Stardust would then be travelling at the same speed as Comet Wild Two.
Voice 2
The Stardust and the comet had to be travelling at the same speeds. If the comet had been travelling faster, the comet’s particles⁸ would hit the Stardust. Small, fast-moving particles could have easily destroyed the Stardust. But if the Stardust had been travelling faster than the comet, it would have passed the comet by. It would not have been able to gather the materials the scientists wanted.
Voice 1
It took years for the Stardust to reach Comet Wild Two. In January of 2004 the Stardust finally crossed paths with the comet.
Voice 2
So, why did scientist choose Comet Wild Two? Well, it is because they believe that this comet is over four billion [4,000,000,000] years old! Weather and pressure have changed the shapes and the faces of planets⁹. But comets are frozen¹⁰. Comets are made of frozen ice and dust. They mainly fly outside of the Solar System. Scientists believe that comets are the most unchanged bodies in space. So, scientists hope that particles collected from Comet Wild Two will explain more about the beginning of the universe.
Voice 1
The aerogel in the Stardust was able to collect particles from the comet. And on January 15 2006 those particles arrived here on earth, four [4] years after the Stardust collected them. What a journey!
Voice 2
A team of scientists opened the Stardust container. They were surprised by what they found. The aerogel was able to capture over one million [1,000,000] pieces of material!
Professor Brownlee of the University of Washington is one of the lead scientists for the Stardust. He said,
Voice 3
“(The Stardust) is a huge success. We can see lots of impacts¹² into the aerogel. There are big ones and there are small ones. One impact¹¹ is almost large enough to put your little finger into it.”
Voice 1
One hundred fifty [150] scientists all over the world are waiting for their chance to study these materials.
Voice 2
These materials are the first of their kind to return to Earth from space. Scientists believe that molecules¹³ from the space dust will be the same as molecules found on earth. They also believe that the space molecules will be the same as some molecules found in the human body. Scientists say that these materials will give evidence about the beginning of our Solar System.
Voice 1
Some people fear the results from the Stardust study. They fear that scientists will say that human life may exist outside of Earth. If human life exists in other places, then humans would not be special. But Brownlee does not believe humans exist anywhere else. He believes that the conditions are perfect for life only on Earth. So, Earth, along with the people on it, is unique.
Voice 2
Brownlee has spent many years studying dust from space. He believes this dust holds secrets to the beginnings of the universe. He believes that the origins of people are in dust.
Voice 1
Christians¹⁴ use similar language. They believe that people are special. And they believe that the earth is special too. The Bible¹⁵ shares that God created the earth. And then it says:
“Then the Lord¹⁶ God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.”
Voice 2
The Bible is not a science book. The Bible is the story of God and man. Both science and religion have something to say about where we came from. Science can be used to describe “how.” Science helps us understand how things work. But, religion helps us to understand “who.” Who made us? The Bible is clear in its message that God made us. In the Bible one prophet¹⁷ says:
“God, you created the deepest parts of my being. You put me together inside my mother’s body. How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that.”
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 comet   

n.慧星

参考例句：

• Recently they have discovered a comet.最近他们发现了一颗彗星。
• Halley's Comet is going to come back in 2061.哈雷彗星将于2061年回归。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 sponge   

n.海绵，海绵状的东西；v.用海绵擦拭，吸收掉， 抹掉

参考例句：

• The child is screwing water out of a sponge.小孩正把海绵中的水挤出来。
• You should try to sponge out the memory of the accident.你该努力抹除那次事故的记忆。

5 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

6 capture   

vt.捕获，俘获；占领，夺得；n.抓住，捕获

参考例句：

• The company is out to capture the European market.这家公司希望占据欧洲市场。
• With the capture of the escaped tiger,everyone felt relieved.逃出来的老虎被捕获后，大家都松了一口气。

7 orbit   

n.轨道；vt.使沿轨道运行；使进入轨道运行；vi.沿轨道运行，环行

参考例句：

• The space rocket was launched and went into orbit.宇宙火箭发射后进入轨道。
• We can draw the earth's orbit round the sun.我们可以画出地球绕太阳运行的轨迹。

8 particles   

微粒( particle的名词复数 )； 颗粒； 极少量； 小品词

参考例句：

• These small particles agglomerate together to form larger clusters. 这些颗粒聚结形成较大的团。
• The nucleus of an atom consists of neutrons, protons and other particles. 原子核由中子、质子和其他粒子构成。

9 planets   

行星( planet的名词复数 )； 地球（尤指环境）

参考例句：

• Does life exist on other planets? 其他行星上有生命吗？
• the planets of our solar system 太阳系的行星

10 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

11 impact   

n.冲击，碰撞；影响；vt.装紧，压紧

参考例句：

• The computer had made a great impact on modern life.计算机对现代生活产生了巨大的影响.
• How will the war impact on such a poet?战争对这样一个诗人会产生什么影响？

12 impacts   

影响，作用( impact的名词复数 )； 碰撞； 冲击； 撞击

参考例句：

• In particular, what alternatives and environmental impacts must be discussed? 特别是，必须讨论哪些替代方案以及哪些环境影响。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。

13 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

14 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

15 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

16 lord   

n.上帝，主；主人，长官；君主，贵族

参考例句：

• I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
• How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊，竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾！

17 prophet   

n.预言家，先知，提倡者

参考例句：

• A prophet made a prophecy that the kingdom would fall.一位预言家预言那个王国将要灭亡。
• The pity is that you are not a prophet.可惜你不能未卜先知。