China Shows First High-definition Pictures of Mars Taken by Tianwen-1

The China National Space Administration made public on March 4, 2021 the first high-definition pictures of Mars taken by the nation's spacecraft.

The pictures — two black-and-white and one colored — were shot (recent) by China's Tianwen-1 robotic probe when spacecraft was travelling in Mars' orbit, according to the administration.

The two black-and-white (image) were taken by the high-definition camera on Tianwen-1's orbiter when the probe was about 330 to 350 kilometers above the Martian surface. The colored picture was generated by another camera on the orbiter, (show) Mars' north pole.

As the first (independence) Mars mission of the country, Tianwen-1 (launch) by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on July 23, 2020 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, starting the nation's planetary exploration program.

The probe, consists of two major parts — the orbiter and the landing capsule — has successfully landed on Mars.

It entered (it) preset parking orbit above Mars and flew in this orbit for about three months releasing its landing capsule, said the administration.

All of the seven mission payloads (有效载荷) on the orbiter were activated during the probe's stay in the parking orbit (carry) out scientific tasks and also to observe and analyze the landforms(地貌) and weather of the best landing site.

Is it your dream to fly and to work in space? Do you want to be a NASA astronaut? Like many jobs, the first thing would be to fill out the application. A record-breaking 18,300 people filled out applications recently when NASA announced it was filling its Astronaut Candidate program. But out of those 18,300 applicants, just 8 to 14 will be hired by the US space agency.

It will take 18 months to decide who will be in the new class of astronauts. NASA will review all of the files, which will later go to its current team of astronauts, to make sure they meet the basic qualifications(技能条件).

The first requirement is that the applicants must be US citizens. They need a college degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics. They also need at least three years of experience in a similar field or at least 1,000 hours as a jet pilot.

There are requirements to pass a physical test. And then there are personality qualities tests as well. What kinds of personalities are NASA looking for in an astronaut? NASA's Selection Manager Anne Roemer said, "I think leadership, teamwork, the ability to not only work on a team, lead a team, but also follow, be a follower on a team. Communication certainly plays a role, so it's some pretty common skill that I think translates into even other professions. "

About 120 applicants will be invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for a first round of interviews, about half of whom will go back for a second round. Once selected, they must complete two years of training in everything about spaceflight — things like learning about all the systems used by NASA, walking in space and Russian language training. Until the US has a working vehicle to be launched into space, NASA still depends on Russia to get astronauts into space.

Many Tuesday mornings I have coffee with my father. Although my father is a man of few words, I really1the time along with him.

One recent Tuesday, I found it a bit2when I rang the doorbell, no one seemed to be home. After climbing in through the window, I3through his home, checking every room. I tried not to4. Yet, upstairs, downstairs, no Dad anywhere.

I was worried.5, my father was seventy-one years old. Anything could have happened to him. Then, I got in my car and drove to my mother's aerobics (有氧运动)  class.

On the drive, I thought a lot about our history together. Suddenly, I was three years old and he was6me up to the living room window to see the Christmas lights. In his7, I was safe and secure. Then I was twelve and my dad was8all the kids at my birthday party with his magic tricks. I was so9of my father for being so talented. He'd made my party a10.

As I entered my mother's class, I was nervous. My mom looked at me in11. "Mom, where's Dad?" I asked, "He's working in the12on the side of the house!" she answered.

And I hurried to my car and13back to the yard. "Hey, Dad!" I yelled out and told him about my fears of the last half hour. And so, as I14the door to my father's house, we went inside for our usual cup of coffee.

Thanks, Daddy, for all the15and more importantly, for all your love.

1）比赛时间;

2）演讲话题;

3）报名方式。

注意:

1）词数80左右;

2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

The Mars 2020 rover, which will set off for the Red Planet this year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA's scientists said on Friday as they introduced the vehicle. The rover has been constructed in a large, sterile room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, where its driving equipment was given its first successful test last week.

Shown to invited journalists on Friday, it is scheduled to leave Earth in July 2020 from Florida's Cape Canaveral, becoming the fifth US rover to land on Mars seven months later in February.

"It's designed to seek the signs of life, so we're carrying a number of different instruments that will help us understand the geological and chemical situations on the surface of Mars," deputy mission leader Matt Wallace told AFP.

Among the devices aboard the rover are 23 cameras, two "ears" that will allow it to listen to Martian winds, and lasers used for chemical analysis.

Approximately the size of a car, the rover is equipped with six wheels like the former US rover, Curiosity, allowing it to travel along rocky land.

Speed is not a priority for the vehicle, which merely has to cover around 200 yards (about 180 metres) per Martian day—approximately the same as a day on Earth.

Fueled by a tiny nuclear reactor, it has seven-foot-long (about 2 metres) articulated arms and a drill to crack open rock samples in locations scientists identify as potentially suitable for life.

We are hoping to move fairly quickly. We'd like to see the next mission launched in 2026 where the rover will get to Mars, pick up the samples, put them into a rocket and finally bring them back to the Earth, said Wallace. NASA's Mars 2020 rover will remain active for at least one Martian year, which is around two years on Earth.

Something quite tragic(悲剧的) happened in our home.It had a1effect on our lives.It challenged the way we relax and even where we sit.There was no fire or flood...we2our Wi­Fi service for over a week.

I was raised in the pre­Wi­Fi era, so I was relatively3to the situation.My children,4, did not have this training.When given the news that there was no Wi­Fi in the house, their first response was："But, what will we do？" Fortunately, the TV still worked, although the children were5to find that it had only 70 channels.

For the children, a(n)6challenge was homework, most of which is now given online.The lack of broadband seemed to provide a new version of "the dog ate my homework" excuse.My daughter7that one of her friends had her water supply temporarily8due to a leak, but she thought that our lack of Wi­Fi was9."Because you can go to the shop and buy water, right？"

My husband and I need the Internet to10us to work at home.Luckily, I've found out that these days you can go to the shop to purchase Wi­Fi.Although expensive, it allows you to set up your own Wi­Fi network11 .Buying 1GB of data makes you view your broadband differently.I don't want to12it like leaving a tap running.We log on to the Wi­Fi network and do what we have to do as13as possible and log off.

The changes that technology has created in our daily life have occurred without us really14.The15part of our time without Wi­Fi was seeing the children make forts(堡垒) out of the sofa cushions, which they haven't done in years.

现在，课本远远不止有文字和图片。

关键是应该马上处理这个问题。