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In-Depth: What Is NASA’s Newly Launched Moon Mission?

时间:2022-11-28 00:36:04

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The American space agency NASA recently launched its powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on a test mission to fly around the moon.

The launch marked the first flight for SLS, which NASA describes as the most powerful rocket ever built. The project has faced years of delays and is running billions of dollars over budget.

Now that the rocket has launched and successfully deployed1 its spacecraft, we are taking a closer look at the mission NASA says is the first step in returning astronauts to the moon.

Artemis

The SLS mission is part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land Americans on the moon by the mid-2020s. It would be the first moon landing by astronauts since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The next crew to land on the moon is expected to include the first woman and the first person of color.

The goal of the latest uncrewed test mission is to prepare for Artemis II, which will include astronauts traveling inside the Orion spacecraft, or capsule. If all goes well during those missions, NASA will launch Artemis III, with the goal of landing astronauts on the moon’s surface.

The Orion capsule is expected to complete a 25-day flight that will bring it to within 97 kilometers of the lunar surface. It will travel 64,000 kilometers beyond the moon before heading back to Earth.

NASA is testing the effects of the trip on three mannequins built as models for real human astronauts. They are connected to a series of sensors2 designed to measure radiation and movements throughout the mission.

SLS power

At 98 meters, SLS is shorter and thinner than the Saturn3 V rockets that carried 24 Apollo astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970’s. But the new moon rocket is much more powerful, with 4 million kilograms of thrust.

The moonship

NASA's high-tech4, self-flying Orion capsule is named after the Orion constellation5, which can be seen around the world and is among the brightest in the sky. At 3 meters tall, Orion is roomier than Apollo's capsule and seats four astronauts instead of three. Unlike the SLS rocket, Orion has launched before. It circled Earth twice in 2014.

Science experiments

Orion is carrying a series of equipment, known as payloads, to support science experiments. Among the payloads are 10 CubeSats. These are small research spacecraft also called nanosatellites.

One of the CubeSats is designed specifically to look for and examine lunar ice while Orion orbits the moon. Others will collect other lunar data in an effort to provide scientists with more detailed6 information on the materials the moon is made of.

Apollo vs. Artemis

More than 50 years later, Apollo still stands as one of NASA’s greatest achievements. Using 1960s technology, NASA took just eight years to go from launching its first astronaut, Alan Shepard, to landing Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin on the moon. By comparison, Artemis has already been in development for more than 10 years.

While 12 Apollo astronauts walked on the moon from 1969 through 1972, none stayed on the lunar surface for longer than three days at a time. For Artemis, NASA will draw from a more diverse pool of astronauts. The agency is also expanding the time crews spend on the moon to at least a week.

The Artemis program also calls for establishing a long-term base on the moon that could one day launch astronauts to Mars.

Words in This Story

mission – n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

mannequin – n. an artificial human form

thrust – n. upward push or force

constellation – adj. a grouping of stars

achievement – n. a thing that is completed successfully

diverse – adj. including many different kinds of something


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1 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。
2 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
3 Saturn tsZy1     
n.农神,土星
参考例句:
  • Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪,为什么只有土星有光环。
  • These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们,土星由较轻的物质构成。
4 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句:
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展,这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
5 constellation CptzI     
n.星座n.灿烂的一群
参考例句:
  • A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
  • The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。
6 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

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