 |
 |
當(dāng)前位置： Language Tips> 雙語(yǔ)新聞
分享到
 |
|
Tthe Zenit-2SB rocket with the Phobos-Ground probe blasts off from its launch pad at the Cosmodrome Baikonur, Kazakhstan.(Agencies) |
|
The remainder of the crippled Phobos-Grunt spacecraft is set to crash to Earth on Sunday following its botched mission to Mars, space experts have said. The minibus-sized Russian craft has been in a low orbit around Earth since losing contact with engineers shortly after its launch on November 8. It had been intended to explore Phobos, one of Mars's two moons, but became stranded while still orbiting Earth and attempts to put it back on its original course failed. Most of its mass is expected to burn up as the craft re-enters the atmosphere but 20 or 30 pieces of small debris collectively weighing about 200kg could reach Earth. In a normal re-entry about 20 per cent of the space junk's mass would be likely to reach Earth, but in the case of Phobos-Grunt it could be even less because it contains large quantities of unused fuel which will burn or dissipate in the atmosphere. In theory the remains could land anywhere south of Watford or north of the Falkland Islands, with a sea landing most likely due to the size of the oceans relative to the continents. But scientists said observers would be unlikely to even see the debris crash to Earth unless it flew directly overhead in a clear sky, and that the chances of anyone being injured were absolutely minute. Prof Richard Crowther of the UK Space Agency said: "The chances are so low – it certainly doesn't keep me awake at night worrying about the probability of a piece of space debris coming through my roof." He added, however, that international space agencies need to discuss the amount of disused equipment being left in Earth's orbit amid fears space junk could reach a "critical mass" where damaging collisions with active satellites and space craft become inevitable. The craft will explode on its descent meaning any material reaching the ground could be spread over an area measuring 200km long and 20km wide, and many pieces will be so small they would be hard to spot on the ground. British experts based at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire will monitor the craft as it descends but even as it begins its last orbit, 90 minutes before it arrives, they will only be able to predict its landing spot with an uncertainty of 4,000km. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
航天專家日前表示，“福布斯－土壤”火星探測(cè)器發(fā)射失敗后，報(bào)廢的航天器碎片將于周日墜入地球。 在去年11月8日發(fā)射后不久，這個(gè)面包車大小的火星探測(cè)器就與技術(shù)人員失去了聯(lián)系，進(jìn)入環(huán)繞地球的低軌運(yùn)行。 這個(gè)探測(cè)器原本是用來探測(cè)火衛(wèi)一的，火衛(wèi)一是火星的兩顆衛(wèi)星之一。但是探測(cè)器升空后一直處于地球軌道，變軌的努力也失敗了，導(dǎo)致計(jì)劃擱淺。 探測(cè)器大多數(shù)的碎片都會(huì)在再次進(jìn)入大氣層時(shí)燃燒殆盡，但其總重約200公斤的20到30個(gè)小型殘骸將墜入地球。 通常情況下，探測(cè)器再次進(jìn)入大氣層時(shí)，約有20%的太空垃圾可能會(huì)到達(dá)地球，但是“福布斯-土壤”帶來的太空垃圾可能會(huì)更少，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)探測(cè)器攜帶了大量未用燃料，燃料會(huì)在大氣層中燃燒或消散。 理論上看，殘骸可能會(huì)落在沃特福德以南或?？颂m群島以北的任何地方，但因?yàn)檫@一地區(qū)海洋面積比陸地面積大得多，殘骸最有可能墜入海中。 但科學(xué)家稱，觀測(cè)者可能連殘骸墜入地球也無法看到，除非殘骸在晴朗的天空從人們頭頂飛過，而且人們因殘骸墜落而受傷的幾率微乎其微。 英國(guó)航天局的理查德?克勞塞教授說: “這種幾率太小了，我當(dāng)然不會(huì)晚上睡不著，擔(dān)心航天器的殘骸會(huì)砸透我的房頂”。 然而，他補(bǔ)充道，各國(guó)航空局需要討論一下遺留在地球軌道中的廢棄材料，以免太空垃圾達(dá)到“臨界質(zhì)量”，對(duì)正在運(yùn)行中的衛(wèi)星和航天器造成不可避免的破壞性碰撞。 該航天器將在其下落過程中爆炸，這意味著所有到達(dá)地面的殘骸都可能分散在長(zhǎng)200公里，寬20公里的區(qū)域內(nèi)。一些碎片可能太小，無法在地面上找到。 約克郡北部，費(fèi)林戴爾斯皇家空軍基地的英國(guó)專家將監(jiān)視航天器的墜落。但是盡管該航天器最后一次繞軌運(yùn)行距其墜地還有90分鐘，專家們也只能將其墜落點(diǎn)預(yù)測(cè)在4000公里內(nèi)。 相關(guān)閱讀 年度最“偽科學(xué)”大獎(jiǎng)：鯨魚精液讓海水變咸？ 俄民眾抗議選舉舞弊現(xiàn)場(chǎng)驚現(xiàn)UFO 意科學(xué)家因未能準(zhǔn)確預(yù)報(bào)地震出庭受審 為湊經(jīng)費(fèi) 英國(guó)防部廉價(jià)甩賣直升機(jī)、航母 （中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 實(shí)習(xí)生唐徐進(jìn) 編輯：Julie） |
|
Vocabulary: botched: 搞糟，辦砸 critical mass: 臨界質(zhì)量 |
上一篇 : 夫妻干同行更易產(chǎn)生矛盾
下一篇 : 2012年最值得去的45個(gè)地方
分享到
添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我們這兒都有！
中國(guó)首份雙語(yǔ)手機(jī)報(bào)
學(xué)英語(yǔ)看資訊一個(gè)都不能少！
關(guān)注和訂閱
口語(yǔ)
關(guān)于我們 | 聯(lián)系方式 | 招聘信息
電話：8610-84883645
傳真：8610-84883500
Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn
