[ti:In-Depth: What Is NASA’s Newly Launched Moon Mission?] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The American space agency NASA [00:03.52]recently launched its powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket [00:11.04]and Orion spacecraft on a test mission to fly around the moon. [00:17.80]The launch marked the first flight for SLS, [00:22.68]which NASA describes as the most powerful rocket ever built. [00:28.84]The project has faced years of delays [00:33.00]and is running billions of dollars over budget. [00:37.28]Now that the rocket has launched [00:40.44]and successfully deployed its spacecraft, [00:44.16]we are taking a closer look at the mission NASA says [00:49.72]is the first step in returning astronauts to the moon. [00:55.72]The SLS mission is part of NASA's Artemis program, [01:02.20]which aims to land Americans on the moon by the mid-2020s. [01:08.28]It would be the first moon landing by astronauts [01:13.28]since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. [01:19.04]The next crew to land on the moon is expected to include [01:24.88]the first woman and the first person of color. [01:29.36]The goal of the latest uncrewed test mission [01:34.20]is to prepare for Artemis II, which will include astronauts [01:40.20]traveling inside the Orion spacecraft, or capsule. [01:45.68]If all goes well during those missions, NASA will launch Artemis III, [01:52.52]with the goal of landing astronauts on the moon's surface. [01:57.76]The Orion capsule is expected to complete a 25-day flight [02:04.60]that will bring it to within 97 kilometers of the lunar surface. [02:10.96]It will travel 64,000 kilometers [02:15.68]beyond the moon before heading back to Earth. [02:19.72]NASA is testing the effects of the trip [02:24.08]on three mannequins built as models for real human astronauts. [02:30.28]They are connected to a series of sensors [02:34.44]designed to measure radiation and movements throughout the mission. [02:40.24]At 98 meters, SLS is shorter and thinner [02:46.40]than the Saturn V rockets that carried 24 Apollo astronauts [02:52.28]to the moon in the 1960s and 1970's. [02:57.64]But the new moon rocket is much more powerful, [03:02.04]with 4 million kilograms of thrust. [03:06.20]NASA's high-tech, self-flying Orion capsule [03:11.56]is named after the Orion constellation, [03:15.60]which can be seen around the world [03:18.60]and is among the brightest in the sky. [03:21.96]At 3 meters tall, Orion is roomier than Apollo's capsule [03:28.48]and seats four astronauts instead of three. [03:32.96]Unlike the SLS rocket, Orion has launched before. [03:38.48]It circled Earth twice in 2014. [03:42.68]Orion is carrying a series of equipment, [03:47.00]known as payloads, to support science experiments. [03:52.20]Among the payloads are 10 CubeSats. [03:56.68]These are small research spacecraft also called nanosatellites. [04:03.04]One of the CubeSats is designed specifically [04:07.72]to look for and examine lunar ice [04:11.36]while Orion orbits the moon. [04:14.32]Others will collect other lunar data in an effort to provide scientists [04:20.72]with more detailed information on the materials the moon is made of. [04:26.96]More than 50 years later, Apollo still stands [04:31.92]as one of NASA's greatest achievements. [04:35.36]Using 1960s technology, NASA took just eight years [04:42.00]to go from launching its first astronaut, Alan Shepard, [04:46.56]to landing Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon. [04:52.96]By comparison, Artemis has already been in development [04:58.16]for more than 10 years. [05:00.84]While 12 Apollo astronauts walked on the moon [05:05.00]from 1969 through 1972, [05:09.36]none stayed on the lunar surface for longer [05:13.16]than three days at a time. [05:15.72]For Artemis, NASA will draw [05:19.28]from a more diverse pool of astronauts. [05:22.68]The agency is also expanding the time [05:26.84]crews spend on the moon to at least a week. [05:31.28]The Artemis program also calls for establishing [05:36.24]a long-term base on the moon [05:39.16]that could one day launch astronauts to Mars. [05:43.72]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM