美国小姐妹制作出可运转的火星探测器模型

时间：2013-08-30 07:28:14

（单词翻译:单击）

Meet Camille and Genevieve Beatty, who at 13 and 11 are being hailed for building a functioning scale model of the Mars rover that is now a permanent fixture1 at the famed New York Hall of Science.

美国北卡罗莱纳州的一对小姐妹自己动手，制作出能够实际运转的火星探测器模型。如今，该模型已经成为纽约科学馆的永久藏品。

 
The Beatty rover is a near replica2 of the early version NASA sent to Mars in 2004 and was unveiled in early August with hoopla（喧闹） that's made the red-headed North Carolina siblings3 science rock stars.
 
"To have two young girls building our Mars rover is exactly the kind of thing we want to have happen here," said Margaret Honey, president and CEO of the science center that sits on the grounds of the 1964 Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough4 of Queens.
 
The girls' drive to build their rover was inspired by a documentary on the robotic exploration of the Red Planet.
 
But their love of science all started with a little "destructive curiosity," says their father, Robert Beatty, who guided their enthusiasm for engineering.
 
"Camille kept taking things apart. She would bring me a dismantled5 remote-control box or a dismantled clock, and she'd say, ‘Dad, what's this little green thing in here.'"
 
He didn't have all the answers, but he was intrigued6 by her curiosity and asked if she wanted to build something herself.
 
You bet they did.
 
From remote controls . . . to robots
 
Then life in the Beatty household started to get interesting. The sisters went from taking things apart to putting things together.
 
"We would just experiment," said Camille. "We started small, using off-the-shelf RadioShack parts. Then we decided7 let's go huge with it . . . and build a robot!"
 
Over the course of two years, the Beatty family built several robots — ones that could roll, crawl and even fly.
 
The family also built a website chronicling the girls' robot-making adventures. Initially8 meant to keep family and friends up to date on various projects, the Beatty Robotics site quickly gained a following.
 
From North Carolina . . . to the Big Apple
 
Even the folks at the New York Hall of Science were impressed. They were already planning to redo the Mars exhibit when they decided to commission the girls and their dad.
 
"We didn't set out to look for two girls to build our Mars rover. We were actually looking for companies that had robotics expertise," said Honey.
 
The Beatty girls' Mars rover isn't a toy or a model. It's a remarkable9 working version with more than 750 parts, many of them built by the family from scratch. It has rotating wheels and sensors10 that keep it from bumping into walls. It also has a high-tech11 suspension system that allows it to grapple with rough terrain12.
 
"We studied the actual rover very closely," their father said. "The pictures, the drawings. ... We did everything we could to replicate13 it in every way."

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1 fixture hjKxo     
n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款
参考例句：
  • Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
  • The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。
2 replica 9VoxN     
n.复制品
参考例句：
  • The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
  • The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。
3 siblings 709961e45d6808c7c9131573b3a8874b     
n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分
4 borough EdRyS     
n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇
参考例句：
  • He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
  • That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。
5 dismantled 73a4c4fbed1e8a5ab30949425a267145     
拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消
参考例句：
  • The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
  • The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。
6 intrigued 7acc2a75074482e2b408c60187e27c73     
adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
  • You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
  • He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。
7 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
8 initially 273xZ     
adv.最初，开始
参考例句：
  • The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
  • Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
9 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的
参考例句：
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
10 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
11 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句：
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
12 terrain sgeyk     
n.地面，地形，地图
参考例句：
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。
13 replicate PVAxN     
v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的
参考例句：
  • The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
  • It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

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