VOA慢速英语:NASA Successfully Tests New Rocket Engine(翻译)

The American space agency successfully tested a powerful new rocket engine this week in the desert of northern Utah.
美国航天局本周在犹他州北部沙漠成功试验了一种新型的强力火箭引擎。

The rocket booster is meant to take astronauts to the planet Mars one day.
火箭助推器有朝一日可能会把宇航员带到火星上去。

This was the second and last qualification ground test for what NASA officials are calling the “most powerful rocket in the world.” NASA is short for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
对NASA官员所称的“世界上最强力的火箭”来说，这是第二次、也是最后一次地面合格性试验。NASA是美国国家航空航天局的缩写。

An uncrewed test flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft is planned for 2018. Manned flights could begin within years if that test is successful.
“猎户座飞船”项目计划在2018年进行一次无人试飞。如果试验成功了，几年内就可以开始载人飞行了。

Space agency officials were pleased with the results of the test.
该局官员对这次试验的结果表示满意。

“This final qualification test of the booster system shows real progress in the development of the Space Launch System,” said William Gerstenmaier. He is the associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the space agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“这最后一次对助推器系统的合格性测试，显示出我们在太空发射系统发展方面有了切实的进步。”威廉·格斯坦梅尔说。他是NASA华盛顿特区总部人类探索与行动使命理事会的副行政官。

Gerstenmaier said the new engine can produce 1.6 million kilograms of thrust, or force. The successful test shows the progress NASA is making in human exploration of space, he added.
格斯坦梅尔说，新型引擎能够产生160万公斤的的推力，或者叫动力。他补充说，这次成功的试验显示NASA在人类对太空的探索方面有了很大进步。

The American company Orbital ATK conducted the test for NASA. The 47-meter booster rocket engine was tested in a horizontal position, sending fire across the test area.
美国Orbital ATK公司为NASA实施了这次试验。火箭推进器引擎长47米，以水平位接受试验，整个试验区域都被喷了火。

The test itself lasted only two minutes, but that was enough for NASA to collect data about 82 different areas of the engine’s performance. It is part of the process to certify the booster for flight.
试验本身只持续了两分钟，但是足够NASA收集这种引擎在82个不同指标上的数据了。这是为了飞行安全而确保推进器工作状况的一部分。

The booster is part of the Space Launch System NASA officials are developing for space flight. They say two boosters and four main engines will be used after the system is fully developed. Those engines will produce more than four million kilograms of thrust, enough to lift a large rocket off of Earth and toward Mars.
NASA官员们正在为太空飞行而开发太空发射系统，助推器是其中的一部分。他们说，等到系统完全开发之后，将投入使用两个助推器和四个主引擎。这些引擎将产生超过400万公斤的推力，足以将巨大的火箭带离地球、推向火星。

But sending humans on a flight to the Red Planet is still many years away. NASA says a manned trip to Mars might start sometime in the 2030s.
但是把人类送到红色星球上，还要努力很多年。NASA称载人火星之旅可能要在21世纪30年代才能实现。

I’m Mario Ritter.
马里奥·里特为您报道。