US Company Launches First Private Mission to the Moon

US Company Launches First Private Mission to the Moon

美国公司启动首个私人登月任务

【听力音频】

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　　By Bryan Lynn

　　08 January 2024

　　An American company successfully launched a mission Monday to explore the moon. The launch of a robotic lander marked the first time a private space vehicle has been sent to the lunar surface.

　　However, the company reported a serious fuel leak about seven hours after the launch. The 1.9-meter-tall lander, called Peregrine, launched at 07:18 UTC from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

　　The spacecraft was built by Astrobotic Technology, a company based in the eastern U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was carried into space on a Vulcan Centaur rocket. The rocket was built by American space launch company, United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

　　Earlier, Astrobotic chief executive John Thornton said if all goes as planned, Peregrine will attempt to land on the moon February 23.

　　However, Astrobotic said in a statement it is currently assessing possible changes to the mission to see what might be possible. If the fuel issue is serious, it "threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the moon," the company said.

　　Astrobotic said in a press release Peregrine is loaded with 20 research experiments involving seven different countries. It is equipped to collect data on radiation and materials found on the moon's surface.

　　The lander also carried a small robotic explorer and other materials. These included a physical bitcoin, a piece of rock from Mount Everest and the ash remains of famous space lovers Gene Roddenberry and Arthur C. Clarke. Roddenberry was creator of the popular science fiction television show Star Trek and Clarke was a science fiction writer.

　　The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the inclusion of the remains. The head of the Native American group called the sending of remains a "desecration" because Native Americans consider the moon a sacred space.

　　In a message on X, formerly Twitter, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said, "The suggestion of transforming (the mission) into a resting place for human remains is deeply disturbing and unacceptable to our people and many other tribal nations."

　　Astrobotic's Thornton answered the criticism by saying the Navajo's Nation's objections came too late to reach an agreement on the issue. But he promised to try to find "a good path forward" with the Navajo Nation for future missions.

　　So far, only four nations have successfully landed spacecraft on the moon: the United States, China, the Soviet Union and India. The last time the United States landed on the moon was in 1972 with its Apollo 17 mission.

　　NASA is currently moving ahead with its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon.

　　Astrobotic is trying to be the first private business to successfully land on the moon in an effort to support the Artemis Program. But The Associated Press reports another space company's lander might beat Peregrine to the lunar surface.

　　This is because that lander, called Nova-C, is set to take a more direct path to the moon. It plans to launch next month on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Nova-C was built by Texas-based space company Intuitive Machines. The company also plans to send the lander to the moon for another mission later this year.

　　Private companies from Japan and Israel tried in the past to land spacecraft on the moon, but those attempts failed.

　　Japan's space agency will attempt another moon landing in mid-January. The agency, JAXA, launched the SLIM spacecraft on its way to the moon in September. SLIM's goal is to test the possibility that spacecraft can land on very specific targets.

　　Another Astrobotic lander, called Griffin, is set to launch to the moon's south pole in late 2024. It will be carrying an exploring robot, or rover, called VIPER. VIPER is designed to search for water sources on the moon.

　　All the private space missions were developed through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The program aims to turn over the country's major missions to private companies in an effort to operate at reduced costs.

　　I'm Bryan Lynn.

　　The Associated Press and NASA reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English.

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　　由Bryan Lynn撰写

　　2024年1月8日

　　一家美国公司周一成功启动了一项探索月球的任务。这次机器人着陆器的发射标志着私人太空船首次被送往月球表面。

　　然而，该公司在发射后大约七小时报告了一次严重的燃料泄漏。这个名为“Peregrine”的1.9米高的着陆器于格林尼治标准时间07:18从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角空军站发射。

　　这个太空船是由位于美国东部宾夕法尼亚州的Astrobotic Technology公司制造的。它是由火神半人马座火箭送入太空的。这枚火箭是由美国太空发射公司联合发射联盟（ULA）制造的，ULA是波音和洛克希德·马丁的合资企业。

　　此前，Astrobotic的首席执行官约翰·桑顿表示，如果一切按计划进行，"Peregrine"将于2月23日尝试登陆月球。

　　然而，Astrobotic在一份声明中表示，目前正在评估可能对任务产生影响的变化，以了解可能的情况。如果燃料问题严重，它"威胁到飞船在月球上软着陆的能力，"公司表示。

　　Astrobotic在一份新闻稿中表示，"Peregrine"装载了涉及七个不同国家的20项研究实验。它配备了收集关于辐射和月球表面物质的数据的设备。

　　着陆器还携带了一个小型机器人探测器和其他材料。这些包括一枚实体比特币，一块来自珠穆朗玛峰的岩石，以及著名的太空爱好者吉恩·罗登贝瑞和阿瑟·C·克拉克的骨灰。罗登贝瑞是流行科幻电视节目《星际迷航》的创造者，克拉克是一位科幻作家。

　　纳瓦霍族最近寻求推迟发射，因为其中包含了这些遗骸。这个美洲原住民团体的负责人称，将遗骸送上月球是一种"亵渎"，因为美洲原住民认为月球是神圣的空间。

　　在X平台（前推特）上，纳瓦霍族总统布乌·奈格伦表示：“将（任务）转变为人类遗骸的安息之地的建议，对我们的人民和许多其他部落国家来说都是深感不安和无法接受的。”

　　Astrobotic的桑顿回应了这一批评，他说纳瓦霍族的反对意见来得太晚，无法在这个问题上达成协议。但他承诺将尝试与纳瓦霍族找到“一个良好的前进道路”以进行未来的任务。

　　到目前为止，只有四个国家成功地在月球上着陆过航天器：美国、中国、苏联和印度。美国上次在月球上着陆是在1972年的阿波罗17号任务。

　　NASA目前正在推进其阿尔忒弥斯计划，该计划旨在将宇航员送回月球。

　　Astrobotic正在努力成为首个成功在月球上着陆的私营企业，以支持阿尔忒弥斯计划。但据美联社报道，另一家太空公司的着陆器可能会比Peregrine更早到达月球表面。

　　这是因为那个名为Nova-C的着陆器计划采取更直接的路径前往月球。它计划在下个月乘坐SpaceX的猎鹰9号火箭发射。Nova-C是由德克萨斯州的太空公司Intuitive Machines制造的。该公司还计划在今年晚些时候将着陆器送往月球进行另一项任务。

　　日本和以色列的私营公司过去曾试图在月球上着陆航天器，但这些尝试都失败了。

　　日本的宇航局将在1月中旬尝试再次登陆月球。该机构，JAXA，于9月份将SLIM航天器送往月球。SLIM的目标是测试航天器是否能在非常特定的目标上着陆的可能性。

　　另一个名为Griffin的Astrobotic着陆器计划在2024年底发射到月球的南极。它将携带一个名为VIPER的探索机器人，或者说是月球车。VIPER的设计目的是在月球上寻找水源。

　　所有的私人太空任务都是通过NASA的商业月球载荷服务（CLPS）计划开发的。该计划旨在将国家的主要任务交给私营公司，以努力以降低的成本进行操作。

　　我是布莱恩·林恩。

　　这个故事是由美联社和NASA报道的。布莱恩·林恩为VOA学英语改编了这些报道。

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　　在这个故事中的词汇：

　　mission – n. 任务，通常指的是被认为非常困难或不可能的事情

　　joint venture – n. 合资企业，涉及两个或更多企业的新业务活动，旨在结合他们的资源

　　desecrate – v. 亵渎，对神圣或高度尊重的事物造成损害或表现出缺乏尊重

　　sacred – adj. 与宗教有关或被认为是神圣的

　　transform – v. 转变，将某物从一种形式改变为另一种形式

　　disturbing – adj. 令人不安的，使你感到担忧或烦恼的