外太空的模拟实验

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Located at the NASA Research Center in Iowa is a 5,000-gallon vat of water, and inside the tank is an underwater treadmill designed by Dava Newman, an aerospace engineer.

For four years Newman observed scuba divers as they simulated walking on the Moon and on Mars on her underwater moving belt.

She wanted to discover how the gravity of the Moon and of Mars would affect human movement.

To do this, Newman attached weights to the divers and then lowered them into the tank and onto the treadmill.

These weights were carefully adjusted so that the divers could experience underwater the gravity of the Moon and of Mars as they walked on the treadmill.

Newman concluded that walking on Mars will probably be easier than walking on the Moon.

The Moon has less gravity than Mars does, so at lunar gravity, the divers struggled to keep their balance and walked awkwardly.

But at Martian gravity, the divers had greater traction and stability and could easily adjust to a pace of 1.5 miles per hour.

As Newman gradually increased the speed of the treadmill, the divers took longer, graceful strides until they comfortably settled into an even quicker pace.

Newman also noted that at Martian gravity, the divers needed less oxygen.

The data Newman collected will help in the future design of Martian space suits.

Compared to lunar space suits, Martian space suits will require smaller air tanks; and, to allow for freer movement, the elbow and knee areas of the space suits will also be altered.

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单词表达

vat 大桶; 缸

tank (盛放液体或气体的) 罐; 箱; 槽

treadmill n. 踏车，跑步机；单调的工作

aerospace /ˈɛərəˌspeɪs/  N-UNCOUNT 航空航天

•the U.S. aerospace industry. …美国航空航天工业。

scuba diver戴水肺的潜水员

simulate vt. 模拟，模仿

•a machine that simulates conditions in space 一台模拟太空环境的机器

•Interviews can be simulated in the classroom. 可以在教室里模拟面试。

moving belt 移动带

gravity /ˈɡrævɪtɪ/  N-UNCOUNT地球引力; 重力

attached weights to 附带重量

lowered them into the tank onto the treadmill.

underwater /ʌndə'wɔːtə/ adj. 在水中的；水面下的 adv. 在水下

lunar gravity 月球的引力

Martian gravity 火星的引力

Martian  ADJ火星的

The Martian atmosphere contains only tiny amounts of water.

火星的大气层只含有微量的水。

traction n. 牵引；[机][车辆] 牵引力

space suits 航天服

air tanks空气罐；氧气筒

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