Turning moon dust into water 把月球塵埃變成水
有關(guān) “space exploration(太空探索)” 的詞匯
Where might the experiment with moon rock be carried out in the future?
One of the first things Neil Armstrong did after stepping onto the Moon was collect some soil.
尼爾·阿姆斯特朗登月后最先做的事情之一就是收集土壤。
Fifty years later, here it is at the Open University in Milton Keynes. In fact, the OU has been testing Apollo moon rock for decades. Incredible as it sounds, in their latest experiment, PhD student Hannah Sargeant is turning lunar dust into water.
五十年后,采回的土壤被送到了這里,英國(guó)米爾頓·凱恩斯鎮(zhèn)的開(kāi)放大學(xué)。其實(shí),開(kāi)放大學(xué)幾十年來(lái)一直在分析檢測(cè) “阿波羅” 號(hào)采回的月球巖石。雖然聽(tīng)起來(lái)不可思議,但在最近的實(shí)驗(yàn)中,博士生漢娜·薩金特把月球塵埃變成了水。
Hannah Sargeant, PhD student, The Open University
Water is one of the most critical resources we need for space exploration. Not just for the life support needs of humans, but also to make rocket fuel, hydrogen and oxygen - it is propellant. So if we can produce that on the surface of the Moon, we can support long-term space exploration missions and produce the rocket propellant we need to perhaps use the Moon as a sort of pit stop for missions on the way to Mars.
漢娜·薩金特 開(kāi)放大學(xué)博士生
“水是我們進(jìn)行太空探索時(shí)所需的最關(guān)鍵的資源之一。它不僅用于維持人類(lèi)的生命需要,還用于制造火箭燃料,氫和氧——它是一種推進(jìn)劑。所以,如果我們能在月球表面制造出水,我們就能支持長(zhǎng)期的太空探索任務(wù),并制造出我們需要的火箭推進(jìn)劑,這樣也許就能在前往火星的任務(wù)途中在月球上補(bǔ)充燃料。”
In five years' time, thanks to a collaboration between the European Space Agency and the Russians, her experiment could be happening at the south pole of the Moon.
在五年內(nèi),通過(guò)歐洲航天局和俄羅斯專(zhuān)家的合作,她的實(shí)驗(yàn)可能會(huì)在月球南極展開(kāi)。
It's one of the coldest places in our solar system.
月球南極是太陽(yáng)系中最冷的地方之一。
They’ll be heating moon rocks to five times the temperature of your oven, so the oxygen inside reacts with hydrogen they’ve brought along - making H2O.
科學(xué)家們將把月球巖石樣品加熱到家用烤箱溫度的五倍,這樣一來(lái),巖石內(nèi)部的氧就能與科學(xué)家添加的氫產(chǎn)生反應(yīng),生成 H2O(水)。
lunar 月球的
rocket fuel 火箭燃料
propellant 推進(jìn)劑
mission 任務(wù)
In five years' time, her experiment might be carried out at the south pole of the Moon.