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NASA Pleased with Orion Test Flight as Spacecraft Heads Back to Earth

时间:2022-12-15 02:41:31

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NASA Pleased with Orion Test Flight as Spacecraft Heads Back to Earth

The American space agency NASA says its Orion spacecraft has performed beyond expectations during its test mission to fly around the moon.

Orion is set to return to Earth on December 11. NASA said the uncrewed spacecraft will re-enter Earth's atmosphere and deploy1 a parachute before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California near San Diego.

The spacecraft, or capsule, made its second and final close pass by the moon on December 5. The move brought Orion to within 127 kilometers of the lunar surface. This was the closest any spacecraft built to carry humans has come to the moon since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Orion's last pass by the moon happened during an operation NASA describes as a "powered flyby burn." The three-and-a-half minute operation is designed to change the vehicle's velocity2 and set it on a course back to Earth.

One week earlier, Orion reached its farthest point in space – about 434,522 kilometers from Earth. That marked the midway point of the spacecraft's 25-day mission.

NASA administrator3 Bill Nelson looked forward to Orion's return to Earth in a statement. He said when the spacecraft re-enters Earth's atmosphere, "it will come back hotter and faster than ever before – the ultimate test before we put astronauts on board."

NASA has said Orion will be traveling at speeds up to 32,000 kilometers per hour while reentering Earth's atmosphere. This is much faster than spacecraft returning to Earth from the International Space Station.

The purpose of the Orion mission was to test the capsule, as well as NASA's huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocket used to carry it to space. The mission is part of the space agency's Artemis program, which aims to land Americans on the moon by the mid-2020s.

The latest mission was called Artemis I. Its goal is to prepare for Artemis II, which will include astronauts traveling inside Orion. If all goes well during that mission, NASA will launch Artemis III, with the goal of landing astronauts on the moon's surface.

While Orion has no astronauts on board, NASA placed three model humans, known as mannequins, on the spacecraft. The models are connected to a series of sensors4 designed to measure radiation and movements throughout the mission.

During a recent news briefing, NASA officials said they had been very satisfied with how Orion and its systems had performed during the mission. No major problems have been reported.

Mike Sarafin is the Mission Manager for Artemis I. He told the briefing, the mission was "going very well." He said because of this, NASA had been able to complete several mission objectives5 and was able to add some unplanned ones as well.

Sarafin said that by the time the mission ends, Orion will have traveled more than 2.2 million kilometers.

Debbie Korth is the deputy6 manager for the Orion program. She told reporters: "We couldn't be more pleased about how the spacecraft has been performing – really beyond all our expectations."

The last major test of the spacecraft will be to see how its heatshield performs during reentry. The heatshield will have to survive temperatures of around 2,800 degrees Celsius7. That temperature is about half that of the surface of the sun.

A recovery mission has been organized to pick up the capsule from the Pacific Ocean. NASA's Landing and Recovery Director is Melissa Jones. She said her team of engineers and recovery specialists has worked with U.S. Navy divers8 attached to the USS Portland transport ship. The divers will help NASA bring in Orion after the spacecraft's splashdown near San Diego.

Korth said Orion represents the beginning "of a series of increasingly complex missions" yet to come in the Artemis program. She added that with the mission progressing so well, "we are really using this spacecraft to push the envelope and see what we can get in terms of performance" to prepare for future missions.

Words in This Story

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

velocity – n. the speed at which something moves

ultimate – adj. the best or greatest example of something

heatshield – n. a barrier of material designed to protect a spacecraft from heat during its reentry into an atmosphere

splashdown – n. a landing by a spacecraft in the ocean

push the envelope – idiom to behave in more extreme ways, or to try new things that have not been acceptable or attempted before


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 deploy Yw8x7     
v.(军)散开成战斗队形,布置,展开
参考例句:
  • The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
  • The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。
2 velocity rLYzx     
n.速度,速率
参考例句:
  • Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
  • The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。
3 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。
4 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
5 objectives 861802a819f42ceaafcbf9a7c7fab2c7     
n.目标( objective的名词复数 );[光学](望远镜、显微镜、照相机及其他光学仪器上的)物镜;[语法学]1)。 宾语 2)。 宾格;[军事]出击目标
参考例句:
  • Our objectives need to be precisely delineated. 我们的目标需详细解释清楚。
  • Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives. 要实现我们的目标,钱是至关重要的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 deputy fw0xE     
n.代理人,代表,副职;adj.代理的,副的
参考例句:
  • John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间,约翰将代理我的职务。
  • She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。
7 Celsius AXRzl     
adj.摄氏温度计的,摄氏的
参考例句:
  • The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
  • The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。
8 divers hu9z23     
adj.不同的;种种的
参考例句:
  • He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人,要他们和他作伴。
  • Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作,同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

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