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VOA慢速英语2012 SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - American Space Agency Launches Black Hole Hunter

时间:2012-07-24 03:21:17

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - American Space Agency Launches Black Hole Hunter

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Christopher Cruise.

JUNE SIMMS: And I’m June Simms. Today we tell about American efforts to seek out and study black holes. We also tell about final preparations for setting down a science laboratory on Mars. And we hear from both supporters and opponents of plans to send a human crew to the red planet.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: America’s National Aeronautics1 and Space Administration launched a telescope into space last month. The telescope is designed to identify and study black holes. NASA officials are calling it, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array or NuSTAR.

Scientists believe black holes lie at the center of every huge galaxy2, including our own Milky3 Way galaxy. The gravitational power of black holes is so strong that not even light can escape from them. As gas, dust and stars are pulled into a black hole, the material moves faster and heats up. This action creates very powerful X-ray light emissions5. Scientists plan to use NuSTAR to search for these emissions.

Paul Hertz is NASA’s director of astrophysics.

PAUL HERTZ: “Stars, nebulae and black holes emit X-rays of the type that we use in medical X-rays, and these cannot be detected from the surface of the Earth. But the NuSTAR telescope will focus these X-rays onto its digital camera and send the pictures back to Earth for scientific analysis.”

JUNE SIMMS: About a week after the launch of NuSTAR, its ten-meter-long mast was deployed6, separating the mirrors on the telescope from its detectors7. That provides the distance required to change the X-ray light into sharp images.

NASA says a main goal of the project is to count the number of collapsed8 stars and black holes in the universe. The telescope will be able to find black holes hidden behind dust and gas. It also can tell how fast a black hole is spinning. This information will help scientists learn how black holes form. NASA’s Paul Hertz says scientists really are not sure what they will find.

PAUL HERTZ: “Like all of our NASA missions, we’re going to find unexpected things out there that will lead us to questions and answers that we aren’t even anticipating at this time.”

We have placed an image on our website that shows hundreds of black holes. NASA says it is the best image that telescopes being used today can provide. The space agency also has created a simulation that shows how much more NASA expects NuSTAR will see when it searches the sky.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The American space agency is making final preparations to set down a laboratory on Mars. NASA launched its Mars Space Laboratory spacecraft from Cape4 Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida last November. It is set to arrive on the red planet on August sixth.

NASA says its goal is to learn if the landing area has or ever had conditions that might support life. Part of the Mars Space Laboratory is a robotic rover named Curiosity. It is designed to carry out an investigation9 of Mars’ ability to support microbial life. 

Two other vehicles – named Spirit and Opportunity – have been exploring Mars since early two thousand four. But Curiosity is about two times as long and five times as heavy as the other rovers. And it has many more scientific instruments than they have. The investigation is expected to last almost two years. 

JUNE SIMMS: Last week, the National Air and Space Museum held a “Mars Day” in Washington. The head of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, Jim Green, spoke10 to people about Curiosity and about how difficult it is to land a spacecraft on Mars. He said most of the space agency’s missions to Mars have ended in failure. Fourteen projects have been successful, but twenty-six have failed. He told VOA the chance of Curiosity successfully landing on Mars is, in his words, fifty-fifty.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Scientists are looking forward to receiving a lot of information from the surface of Mars. But many Americans appear to be more excited about the possibility of sending human beings to the red planet.

The American space agency hopes to put humans on the planet by twenty-thirty. But the estimated cost to do that is increasing at a time when members of Congress are calling for cuts in government spending. And some scientists are even questioning whether NASA should send humans into space.

JUNE SIMMS: Experiments are continually being carried out on the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. Such experiments provide dazzling images of deep space. They also add to our knowledge of the universe.

Steven Weinberg, a University of Texas professor, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in nineteen seventy-nine. He says scientists have learned more from technology than humans in space.

STEVEN WEINBERG: “And when you have a facility that involves people, like the International Space Station, which is an order of magnitude more expensive than these unmanned observatories11, no important science comes out of it.”

Professor Weinberg says robots can do much more on Mars than humans.

STEVEN WEINBERG: “For the trillion dollar cost of sending human beings to Mars, perhaps to just one location on Mars, we could have unmanned rovers wandering all over the planet.”

Charles Bolden has been NASA’s Administrator12 since two thousand nine. He told VOA the space agency is combining robotic and human activity on its missions to Mars.

CHARLES BOLDEN: “We are always talking about collaborative efforts between humans and robots. We can’t do any…there is no either/or. People like to talk about either/or. And it’s not an either/or – it’s a together. Collaboration13 between humans and robots are absolutely essential for any human exploration in the future. You know, if you want to, if you want to know what I think is going to happen – the first humans to land on Mars are going to go right into a habitat that’s already there for them and it will have been constructed by a robotic crew that went up and did it.”

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Neil deGrasse Tyson is director of the world-famous Hayden Planetarium14 in New York City. He agrees with Professor Weinberg that it is more cost-effective to use robots than humans. But he adds it is important to send people into space.

NEIL deGRASSE TYSON: “The issue is what does it mean culturally to send a robot versus15 send a person? We don't give ticker-tape parades for robots, we don't name schools after robots, we don’t build statues to robots.”

Mr. Tyson says human beings have a need to explore. And he says many people would sacrifice their lives to do so.

Professor Weinberg understands the appeal of sending a human crew on short space flights. But he says people cannot stay in a hostile place like Mars for a very long time.

STEVEN WEINBERG: “We can’t even do that with Antarctica. There is no economically self-sustaining colony on Antarctica and, compared to Mars, Antarctica is heaven.”

Professor Weinberg says humans should stop thinking about living on other planets and put more effort into protecting Earth’s environment.

(MUSIC)

JUNE SIMMS: It is not just scientists who are criticizing the space agency’s plans to send humans to Mars. Some critics are former NASA officials and astronauts. Among them is Chris Kraft, the former head of the Johnson Space Center in Texas.

CHRIS KRAFT: “That objective is ludicrous. It cannot be done. It can’t be done technically16 and, more importantly, it can’t be done financially.”

NASA Administrator Bolden was asked about Mr. Kraft’s comments.

CHARLES BOLDEN: “I can’t comment on what he said. We’re planning on a mission, you know, a series of missions that take us progressively toward a human mission to Mars in the twenty-thirties.”

Mister Kraft supports calls to build bases on the Moon before sending humans to Mars.

CHRIS KRAFT: “We know how to go back to the Moon; it’s a reasonable program; it’s a feasible program; it can be done with today’s capabilities17.”

In fact, NASA planned to send humans back to the Moon, but many scientists objected to the plan. They said it should be bigger. Two years ago, President Obama cancelled the plan.

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: David Alexander directs the Space Institute at Rice University in Texas. He blames NASA’s problems on politicians who control the agency’s budget.

DAVID ALEXANDER: “A lot of people blame NASA for not having a plan or not having this and that, but, actually, they have lots of plans based that they’ve worked on based on what they have been told to do by Congress and various Congresses over the years.”

But NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver says many members of Congress support space exploration. She believes that Congress will give the agency the money to send humans to Mars. She says sending humans there has been a goal of NASA for many years.

LORI GARVER: “It’s finally getting to the point where we are investing in those capabilities that are going to be able to get us there in a time frame when people are really starting to talk about it realistically.”

But David Alexander say before that can happen, NASA officials and America’s leaders must answer some important questions.

DAVID ALEXANDER: “The biggest issue though, of course is that a lot of people, a lot of critics are saying is ‘Why? Where are we going, why are we going there, and what are we going to do with this big thing that we develop?’”

(MUSIC)

JUNE SIMMS: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Christopher Cruise, with reporting by Suzanne Presto18 and Greg Flakus.

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Our producer was June Simms, who was also one of our announcers. I’m Christopher Cruise. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 aeronautics BKVyg     
n.航空术,航空学
参考例句:
  • National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
  • He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。
2 galaxy OhoxB     
n.星系;银河系;一群(杰出或著名的人物)
参考例句:
  • The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
  • The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。
3 milky JD0xg     
adj.牛奶的,多奶的;乳白色的
参考例句:
  • Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
  • I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。
4 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
5 emissions 1a87f8769eb755734e056efecb5e2da9     
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体)
参考例句:
  • Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
  • Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。
6 deployed 4ceaf19fb3d0a70e329fcd3777bb05ea     
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用
参考例句:
  • Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
  • The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。
7 detectors bff80b364ed19e1821aa038fae38df83     
探测器( detector的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
  • This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者,这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
8 collapsed cwWzSG     
adj.倒塌的
参考例句:
  • Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
  • The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。
9 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
10 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 observatories d730b278442c711432218e89314e2a09     
n.天文台,气象台( observatory的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • John Heilbron, The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories, 3-23. 约翰.海耳布隆,《教会里的太阳:教堂即太阳观测台》,第3-23页。 来自互联网
  • Meteorologists use satellites, land observatories and historical data to provide information about the weather. 气象学家使用卫星、上天文台和历史资料来提供有关天气的信息。 来自互联网
12 administrator SJeyZ     
n.经营管理者,行政官员
参考例句:
  • The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
  • He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。
13 collaboration bW7yD     
n.合作,协作;勾结
参考例句:
  • The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
  • He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。
14 planetarium y20z0     
n.天文馆;天象仪
参考例句:
  • The planetarium staff also prepared talks for radio broadcast.天文馆的工作人员还要准备讲稿给电台广播。
  • It landed in a shallow basin fifty yards from the planetarium.它降落在离天文馆五十码处的一个浅盆地中。
15 versus wi7wU     
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下
参考例句:
  • The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
  • The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。
16 technically wqYwV     
adv.专门地,技术上地
参考例句:
  • Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说,这是最先进的设备。
  • The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说,西红柿是一种水果,尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。
17 capabilities f7b11037f2050959293aafb493b7653c     
n.能力( capability的名词复数 );可能;容量;[复数]潜在能力
参考例句:
  • He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大,自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
  • Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为,标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
18 presto ZByy0     
adv.急速地;n.急板乐段;adj.急板的
参考例句:
  • With something so important,you can't just wave a wand and presto!在这么重大的问题上,你想挥动一下指挥棒,转眼就变过来,办不到!
  • I just turned the piece of wire in the lock and hey presto,the door opened.我把金属丝伸到锁孔里一拧,嘿,那门就开了。

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