Thu, May 09, 2013 page10

• Large asteroid heading to Earth? Pray, says NASA 大型小行星朝地球而來？NASA：只能祈禱

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  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chief Charles Bolden has advice on how to handle a large asteroid headed toward New York City — pray.

  That is about all the US — or anyone for that matter — could do at this point about unknown asteroids and meteors that may be on a collision course with Earth, Bolden told lawmakers at a US House of Representatives Science Committee hearing on March 19.

  An asteroid estimated to have been about 17m in diameter exploded on Feb. 15 over Chelyabinsk, Russia, generating shock waves that shattered windows and damaged buildings. More than 1,500 people were injured.

  

  The passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 through the Earth-moon system is depicted in this handout image from NASA. NASA提供2012 DA14隕石經過地球月球系統的路徑。

  Photo: Reuters
  照片：路透

  Later that day, a larger, unrelated asteroid discovered last year passed about 27,681km from Earth, closer than the network of television and weather satellites that ring the planet.

  The events “serve as evidence that we live in an active solar system with potentially hazardous objects passing through our neighborhood with surprising frequency,” said Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat.

  NASA has found and is tracking about 95 percent of the largest objects flying near Earth, those that are 1km or larger in diameter.

  (Liberty Times)

  關於如何因應飛向紐約市的大型小行星，美國航太總署（NASA）署長查爾斯．勃登的建議是：祈禱。

  勃登三月十九日在聯邦眾議院科學委員會聽證會上告訴議員，在可能有不知名小行星和隕石正朝地球撞來的情況下，全美國或者任何相關者在當下能做的只有祈禱。

  一顆直徑估計約十七公尺的小行星二月十五日在俄羅斯車里亞賓斯克上空爆炸，產生的震波使窗戶碎裂、建築物受損，有超過一千五百人受傷。

  當天稍晚，一顆去年發現、不相關的更大小行星在距地球兩萬七千六百八十一公里處經過，比環繞地球的電視和氣象衛星距離還要近。

  德州民主黨籍聯邦眾議員艾迪‧伯尼斯‧強森說，這些事件「證明我們居住在活躍的太陽系中，具潛在危險的天體通過地球附近的頻率高得驚人。」

  NASA已發現並正追蹤大約百分之九十五會飛越過地球附近的大型天體，它們的直徑大於或等於一公里。

  （自由時報／翻譯：陳成良）

  For your information

  TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

  1. unknown adj. 未知的 (wei4 zhi1 de5) 例: The cause of the disease is still unknown at this point. (致病原因仍未知。) 2. on a collision course idiom 朝衝突方向發展 (chao2 chong1 tu2 fang1 xiang4 fa1 zhan3) 例: The two countries appear to be on a collision course. (兩國有朝衝突方向發展的跡象。) 3. hazardous adj. 危險的 (wei2 xian3 de5) 例: Throw away bottles that have contained pesticides, herbicides, motor oil or other hazardous materials. (請將裝有殺蟲劑、除草劑、機油，或其他有毒物質的罐子丟棄。)
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