Mission to Mars Unveiled on First Space Day

安徽 张 炼

Mission to Mars Unveiled on First Space Day

安徽 张 炼

【导读】2016年4月24日是我国首个“中国航天日”，中国航天终于有了自己的节日。一大批科研成果和航天计划揭开面纱，共同庆祝“中国航天日”。

China marked its first ever Space Day on April 24，the day its first satellite Dongfanghong-1 launched into space in 1970.

A range of events was held across China，after the State Council ①announced in late March that，starting this year，the country would celebrate this occasion. And one of the highlights ②was a press conference ③on April 22，during which Xu Dazhe，head of the China National Space Administration④，said the central government approved a Mars mission. As part of this newly unveiled⑤plan，an unmanned probe⑥ will be sent to orbit and land on the Red Planet in 2020.

It’s a challenging task. Since the 1960s，different countries have sent more than 40 probes to Mars，and only 19 accomplished their missions. If China’s probe succeeds in landing on Mars，it will conduct scientific research on the Martian soil，environment，atmosphere and water，opening a new chapter in the country’s deep-space exploration program.

Apart from the Mars mission，Xu also revealed a series of other space exploration plans. China will launch about 150 of its Long March carrier rockets over the next five years. There were 86 Long March missions in the five years from 2011 to 2015，and 48 from 2006 to 2010.

Chen Xuechuan，assistant president of the China Aerospace⑦Science and Technology Corporation，told Xinhua News Agency that China is quickly catching up with other countries after being a relative latecomer in human space endeavors ⑧.

The launch of the SJ-10 retrievable ⑨ scientific research satellite earlier this month marked the 226th mission of the Long March rocket family，and the pace of the launches is accelerating.

“Our fist 100 Long March missions took us 37 years. But it only took us seven years to complete the latest 100，”Chen said.

（文章摘自21世纪英语网，有删改）

【新词汇学习】

①the State Council 国务院

②highlight n. 醒目处

③press conference 新闻发布会

④the China National Space Administration 中国国家航天局

⑤unveiled adj. 公开的

⑥probe n.探测器

⑦aerospace n. 航空航天（工业）

⑧endeavor n. 努力，尽力

⑨retrievable adj. 可取回的

【长难句分析】

1.China marked its first ever Space Day on April 24，the day its first satellite Dongfanghong-1 launched into space in 1970.

【句式结构分析】主句是“China marked its first ever Space Day on April 24”，“the day”是同位语，“its first satellite Dongfanghong-1 launched into space in 1970”是定语从句，修饰“the day”，其关系副词“when”在从句中作时间状语，被省略了。

【译文】中国将4月24日设立为第一个“中国航天日”，1970年的这一天，我国第一颗人造地球卫星“东方红一号”发射成功。

2. A range of events was held across China，after the State Council announced in late March that，starting this year，the country would celebrate this occasion.

【句式结构分析】主句是“A range of events was held across China”，after引导时间状语从句，在时间状语从句中的“that，starting this year，the country would celebrate this occasion”是宾语从句，“starting this year”是该从句中的状语，将引导词that与从句分隔开了。

【译文】今年三月下旬国务院宣布设立航天日后，全国开展了一系列活动。

【读后思考题】Why does the article say “one of the highlights was a press conference on April 22”？

One Possible Answer：

Because during the press conference，Xu Dazhe，head of the China National Space Administration，said the central government approved a Mars mission. It’s a challenging task. Since the 1960s，different countries have sent more than 40 probes to Mars，and only 19 accomplished their missions.

（作者单位：安徽省安庆市第七中学）