Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - asteroids｜又中又英

As a young boy I loved science fiction books. My favourite science fiction book was The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells which was made into a movie. It's about aliens from Mars invading Earth. The word“alien”used this way means creatures from other planets. I read several news reports recently about things that would have been science fiction when I was a boy but are real now. They were about flying electric cars, a spacecraft that smashed into an asteroid, and a huge new rocket to return humans to the moon and from there to Mars. Asteroids are moving space rocks.

A decade ago a startup company called Kittyhawk, which is financially supported by Google co-founder Larry Page, planned on building electric-powered flying taxis. Kittyhawk built a prototype（preliminary model）of a flying taxi. But the company recently said it would end its imaginative project. Experts agree flying cars are possible but more powerful batteries must first be developed. Last month NASA, America's space agency, used a spacecraft that was launched last November to chase a small asteroid seven million miles from earth. The asteroid was not a danger to Earth but NASA smashed the spacecraft into it anyway.

It wanted to prove it could hit and change the direction of asteroids in case asteroids were on a collision course with Earth. The expression“collision course”means two objects, such as cars, heading towards and hitting each other. NASA has also been trying to test a new rocket that would eventually carry astronauts back to the moon. Weather and mechanical problems delayed the launch. NASA landed a total of 12 astronauts on the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. But its new spaceships are far more advanced. Science fiction is becoming reality！
＊
＊
＊
＊
＊
＊
＊
＊

还是小孩子的时候，我爱看科幻书。我最喜欢的科幻书是H.G.威尔斯所著的《世界大战》，它也曾被拍成电影《强战世界》。

它是关于来自火星的aliens侵略地球——alien在这里解作外星人。我最近读到几则新闻报道，那些事情在我年幼的时候，还只能是科幻小说情节，但现在都成真了。那些新闻是关于飞行的电动车、一艘太空船撞进一颗小行星（asteroid）中，以及一艘巨型的火箭将乘载人类重返月球，再由月球到火星。Asteroids就是小行星。

十年前，一间由谷歌联合创办人拉利．比治经济支持的初创公司Kittyhawk，计划制造以电力驱动的飞行的士。Kittyhawk建造了飞行的士的原型（prototype），但这间公司最近说它会结束这个富想像力的项目。专家们也认为，飞行车是可能的，但必须首先研发更强力的电池。上一个月，美国太空总署用一艘于上年十一月发射的太空船，去追击一个小行星（asteroid），该小行星距离地球有七百万英里远，对地球没有威胁，但太空总署还是把太空船撞进小行星之中。

它想证明，要是小行星走进与地球相撞的轨迹（collision course）上，它可以击中并转变小行星的运行方向。习语collision course是指两样事物，例如车辆，迎头相向并撞上对方。太空总署也在试验一个新的火箭，这支火箭最终会载太空人回到月球。天气及机械问题延误了火箭发射。

太空总署于一九六○年代及一九七○年代总共送了十二个太空人登陆月球，但它的新太空船更先进。科幻小说正变成真实！
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani褚简宁