[ti:Technology Company Launches Airship Over New Mexico] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A technology company successfully test-launched one of its airships [00:05.02]high above the New Mexico desert this week. [00:09.76]The company, Sceye, hopes its airship will one day [00:15.35]be able to improve internet connectivity [00:19.20]and collect data on everything from industrial pollution to wildlife threats. [00:28.16]The airship launched on Tuesday. [00:30.48]The test was meant to see whether the ship could reach the Earth's stratosphere [00:35.28]and stay there for a long period of time. [00:37.78]The stratosphere is the upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere. [00:43.20]It begins around 11 kilometers above the Earth's surface [00:47.69]and ends about 50 kilometers above the Earth's surface. [00:52.96]On Wednesday morning, Sceye announced the test was a success. [00:59.20]The result means the company is closer to being able to reproduce and sell its airship technology. [01:08.08]The head of Sceye is Danish businessman Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. [01:15.08]He started Sceye after the U.S. space agency, NASA, [01:20.88]asked technology companies to think about ways to build an airship that could rise [01:27.50]into the Earth's stratosphere and stay there for longer than eight hours. [01:33.92]At the time of NASA's suggestion, [01:36.52]no airship could remain in the stratosphere for longer than eight hours. [01:43.44]The researchers at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab in California [01:48.61]said a ship that could stay in the stratosphere for a long period of time [01:53.24]could provide important data for scientists. [01:58.40]Vestergaard Frandsen said he was pleased with the test. [02:03.25]In a news release, he said the ship "holds extraordinary potential for stratospheric discovery." [02:12.84]He said he believes the company's airships will be able to gather data on methane pollution, [02:19.35]help get internet to parts of the world without it and look for wildfire threats. [02:27.64]He said he hopes the company's airships will be available for purchase in the next 18 to 24 months. [02:34.60]It takes the company about eight months to build each ship. [02:39.72]Sceye's airship is made from special material that reflects the sun. [02:45.16]It runs on solar panels and lithium-sulfur batteries. [02:50.00]The ship is designed to carry heavy equipment. [02:53.16]The airship is filled with helium gas and does not have a crew. [02:58.76]The ships can also carry heavy equipment. [03:02.52]Sceye is based in Roswell, New Mexico. [03:06.66]One of the company's investors is New Mexico's Economic Development Department. [03:13.09]Sceye is also working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [03:17.74]and New Mexico's government to study air pollution and climate change. [03:23.48]David Kim is Sceye's chief technology officer. [03:27.53]He called the successful test a "milestone moment." [03:32.12]I'm Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM