Today, tomorrow, learn English naturally. 天天自然学英语
NASA’s final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble
NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall — and it’s double the rubble return goal.
Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That’s just over half a cup and the biggest cosmic haul ever from beyond the moon.
It took NASA longer than expected to pry open the sample container because of stuck fasteners.
The black, carbon-rich samples — the first ever collected from an asteroid by NASA — are stored at a special curation lab at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Osiris-Rex returned the samples last September, three years after gathering them from the asteroid. The haul for the $1 billion mission would have been greater, but rocks jammed the lid of the container following the grab and some samples floated away.
The spacecraft is now on its way to another space rock, but that will involve only a flyby with no stop for samples.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
注释：
flyby: n
表示" 飞越(宇宙飞船飞近天体的探测)"，如：Cause steams , flyby height resembles increasingly big rocs. 事业蒸蒸，越飞越高像大鹏。
中文简要说明：
美国航天总署(NASA)完成了去年秋天欧塞瑞斯号（Osiris-Rex）探测器带回的贝努小行星(Bennu)样本数量，正如先前预估，它超额的完成任务，碎石样本是预估值的两倍，NASA欣喜若狂。
美联社报导，NASA官员报告称，欧塞瑞斯号获取了121.6公克的砂土与砾石，虽然这量似乎只是普通水杯的半杯多一点，但已创下外星球采样纪录，也是有史以来从月球以外收集到，最大量的水(以结晶的形式藏在砂石当中)。
样本返回地球还传了一个插曲，就是密封舱其中一个螺栓被意料外的砂土卡住，NASA的工程师一时之间还打不开，之后自行制作撬开工具，才在上个月打开了密封舱。
目前样本存放在休斯敦约翰逊太空中心的实验室中，这些砂石的色泽一片漆黑，这是因为它们富含碳，科学家相信，它们还含有一些最古老的化学物质。
虽然欧塞瑞斯号已经超额完成任务，但人类总是贪心的，科学家认为它理论上可以装载更多。当年它收集完砂石样本，并且从星球表面离开时，有个大一点点的石头卡住了容器的盖子，使得在随后的返航期间，一些砂石从未密闭的细缝中漂走了。
目前欧塞瑞斯号还在工作中，它并没有坠回地球，而是前往另一块近地小行星的路途中，但这已是额外的任务，所以它只会进行一次飞越与摄影，不会停下来采集样本。
留言微信公众号《自然学英语LearnNaturally》，可咨询更多！