研究：小行星撞击在月球上形成了两条“大峡谷”
📖 逐句对照翻译
A new study suggests an asteroid strike on the moon billions of years ago left two huge valleys about the size of Earth’s Grand Canyon.
一项新研究显示，数十亿年前一颗小行星撞击月球，留下了两个巨大的山谷，大小与地球上的大峡谷相当。
Researchers from the United States and Britain said their research shows the two steep valleys, or canyons, likely formed in less than 10 minutes.
美国和英国的研究人员表示，他们的研究表明，这两个陡峭的山谷，或者说峡谷，很可能是在不到10分钟内形成的。
They noted the crash, or impact, happened near the south pole on the far side of the moon.
他们注意到撞击发生在月球背面的南极附近。
That is the side of the moon which always faces away from Earth.
那是月球始终背对地球的一面。
The area is known as the Schrödinger impact basin.
该区域被称为薛定谔撞击盆地。
The speed of the incoming object – which the team said might have been a comet – was estimated to be around 55,000 kilometers per hour.
该团队表示，这个飞来的物体可能是一颗彗星，其速度估计约为每小时55000公里。
The strike likely happened about 3.8 billion years ago.
这次撞击很可能发生在大约38亿年前。
The researchers used data collected by a spacecraft operated by the American space agency NASA.
研究人员使用了美国国家航空航天局（NASA）运营的航天器收集的数据。
That vehicle, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, has been capturing lunar data since entering orbit around the moon in June 2009.
该航天器——月球勘测轨道飞行器，自2009年6月进入月球轨道以来，一直在收集月球数据。
One main goal of the orbiter’s mission was to create a highly detailed, three-dimensional, or 3D, map of the moon.
该轨道器任务的一个主要目标是创建一张高度详细的月球三维地图。
The data has been used by NASA to learn more about lunar resources and to plan for future missions.
NASA已利用这些数据进一步了解月球资源，并为未来的任务做规划。
The agency noted that the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter had “already collected as much data as all other planetary missions combined.”
该机构指出，月球勘测轨道飞行器“已经收集到的数据量相当于所有其他行星任务数据量的总和”。
The team studying the canyons used the orbiter’s map data to simulate the path of the incoming object, as well as material that was displaced by the crash.
研究峡谷的团队利用轨道飞行器的地图数据，模拟了来袭物体的路径，以及撞击所移位的物质。
The scientists recently published a study describing their results in Nature Communications.
科学家们最近在《自然通讯》上发表了一项研究，描述了他们的结果。
The group’s simulations suggested the space rock passed over the south pole before hitting.
该团队的模拟表明，这块太空岩石在撞击前经过了南极上空。
It then created a huge basin and launched rocky materials at speeds up to 1 kilometer per second.
随后，它形成了一个巨大的盆地，并以每秒高达1公里的速度抛射岩石物质。
The researchers said material was sent flying and struck the lunar surface like missiles.
研究人员称，物质被抛射出去，像导弹一样撞击了月球表面。
This resulted in the creation of the canyons.
这导致了峡谷的形成。
The team said the canyons appear comparable in size to the Grand Canyon, in the U.S. state of Arizona.
研究团队表示，这些峡谷的规模似乎可与美国亚利桑那州的大峡谷相媲美。
The study’s lead writer was David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.
该研究的主要作者是休斯顿月球与行星研究所的大卫·克林。
He told the Associated Press that findings suggest the asteroid strike was a “very violent” geologic process.
他告诉美联社，研究结果表明，小行星撞击是一个“非常猛烈”的地质过程。
Kring and his team estimated the asteroid was 25 kilometers across.
克林和他的团队估计这颗小行星直径约为25公里。
They estimated that the energy needed to create the two canyons would have been more than 130 times greater than the power of all the world’s current nuclear weapons.
他们估计，形成这两条峡谷所需的能量，将超过当今全世界所有核武器威力总和的130倍。
Kring said most of the rock and debris was thrown in a direction away from the south pole.
克林说，大部分岩石和碎片都被抛向远离南极的方向。
That finding is good news for NASA which plans to land astronauts in that area in the future.
这一发现对美国宇航局来说是个好消息，他们计划未来让宇航员登陆该地区。
Kring noted it should improve the exploration possibilities of future astronauts.
克林指出，这将提升未来宇航员的探索可能性。
"Because debris from the Schrödinger impact was jettisoned away from the lunar south pole, ancient rocks in the polar region will be at or close to the surface…,” Kring told Reuters news agency.
克林告诉路透社：“由于薛定谔撞击产生的碎片被抛离月球南极，极地地区的古老岩石将位于或接近地表……”
This should make it easier for future American astronauts to collect them.
这应该能让未来的美国宇航员更容易收集它们。
NASA’s future lunar exploration plans are known as the agency’s Artemis program.
美国宇航局未来的月球探索计划被称为该机构的阿尔忒弥斯计划。
The program aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
该计划旨在自1972年美国宇航局阿波罗17号任务以来，首次将宇航员送回月球。
The agency’s current plan is to send astronauts on a trip around the moon next year.
该机构目前的计划是明年将宇航员送上绕月之旅。
That would be followed a year or so later by a landing attempt on the lunar surface.
大约一年后，将进行登月表面的着陆尝试。
The researchers said older rocks in the area can help scientists gain a better understanding of the moon’s past history.
研究人员表示，该地区的古老岩石有助于科学家更好地了解月球的过往历史。
They could also help answer questions about the formation of Earth.
它们还可以帮助解答有关地球形成的问题。
Kring noted it is currently not clear whether the two huge canyons are permanently shadowed like some of the craters at the moon’s south pole.
克林指出，目前尚不清楚这两个巨大的峡谷是否像月球南极的一些陨石坑那样永久处于阴影之中。
“That is something that we’re clearly going to be reexamining,” he said.
“这是我们显然会重新审视的事情，”他说。
I’m Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters, The Universities Space Research Association and Nature Communications.
布莱恩·林恩根据美联社、路透社、大学空间研究协会和《自然通讯》的报道，为VOA慢速英语撰写了这篇报道。
