Sixteen teams from around the world have set their sights on the moon. The teams are also hoping to win the $30 million Lunar XPRIZE.

来自世界各地的十六个团队将他们的注意力放在月球上。这些团队也希望赢得三千万的月球艾克斯大奖。

Google, the U.S. technology company, launched the international space competition in 2007. The goal is to use private financing to build a planetary rover and send it to the moon. This vehicle also has to travel 500 meters on the moon's surface, and send high quality video and images back to earth. All the work is to be completed at less than what a public lunar project would cost.

美国科技公司，谷歌，在2007年发起国际空间竞争。目标在于利用私人资金来制造行星探测车。并将其发送到月球。这款车要在月球表面行驶500米，并且将高质量视频及图像发送回地球。完成所有工作需要的成本少于公共月球项目的成本。

'Part-Time Scientists' Try to Put a Rover on Moon

One team from Germany is close to getting funding for its rover. They call themselves the Part-Time Scientists.

来自德国的一个团队，将接近得到资助来制造探测车。他们称自己为兼职科学家。

Robert Boehme founded the "Part-Time Scientists." He says his team has been working on its lunar rover since 2008. The vehicle has an adjustable solar panel, which creates electricity from the sun's light. It also has three cameras and four strong tires.

罗伯特·伯麦，成立了“兼职科学家”团队。他说，自从2008年以来，他的团队一直致力于研究月球探测车。该探测车拥有可调节太阳能电池板。通过太阳光发电。它还带有三个摄像头及四个坚固的轮胎。

Mr. Boehme says his team is using parts that were designed for smaller electronics and satellites.

伯麦表示，他们使用了原被用于地球使用和用于卫星的电子组件。

"Using technology -- which is kind of not intended to send something to the moon -- is always very risky, so we have to really slim down everything so that it fits into a less than four ton payload vehicle."

“使用本来不是用于登月的技术总是非常冒险的，所以我们必须对一切进行精简，这样最终组装成的车辆总负荷不到4吨。”

Cost is also a concern. Mr. Boehme says his team is making its rover as high-tech as possible.

成本也是一个顾虑，这也是这个团队尽量使用高科技的原因。

"So what we wanted to try to do was to make as much as hi-tech -- as you would call -- available for space applications, so that you have more processing power for less energy. Energy is the No. 1 constraint in space. And that really cuts down to our mission costs." Visit the website www.chinavoa.com to get more information!

“所以我们想要尝试的是使用尽量多的高科技-只要你能说上来的-适用于太空，这样就可以用更少的能量处理更多任务。能源是太空中最大的约束。所以我们的任务成本必须降低。”

Mr. Boehme expects the project to cost less than $30 million. He hopes to have signed an agreement for a launch vehicle by the end of the year. His team hopes to send the rover on its way to the moon by the end of 2017.

Boehme预计他们的任务费用将少于三千万美元。他希望能在今年年底之前获得运载工具合同，在2017年底之前将月球车送上月球。

The 15 other teams in the competition are from the United States and nine other countries. They are Brazil, Canada, Chile, Hungary, Japan, India, Israel, Italy and Malaysia.

参加竞赛的其他15个团队分别来自巴西，加拿大，智利，匈牙利，日本，以色列，意大利，马来西亚，印度和美国。

I'm Jonathan Evans.

我是乔纳森•埃文斯。

VOA's Faith Lapidus reported on this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

lunar– adj. of or relating to the moon

rover – n. a vehicle used for exploring the surface of a moon or planet (a rover is sometimes called a planetary rover)

adjustable– adj. changing something in a minor way to make it work better

solar - adj. related to the sun

slim– adj. thin or small in size

payload– n. the goods or material carried by a vehicle

mission – n. a job or project

Sixteen teams from around the world have set their sights on the moon. The teams are also hoping to win the $30 million Lunar XPRIZE.

Google, the U.S. technology company, launched the international space competition in 2007. The goal is to use private financing to build a planetary rover and send it to the moon. This vehicle also has to travel 500 meters on the moon's surface, and send high quality video and images back to earth. All the work is to be completed at less than what a public lunar project would cost.

One team from Germany is close to getting funding for its rover. They call themselves the Part-Time Scientists.

Robert Boehme founded the "Part-Time Scientists." He says his team has been working on its lunar rover since 2008. The vehicle has an adjustable solar panel, which creates electricity from the sun's light. It also has three cameras and four strong tires.

Mr. Boehme says his team is using parts that were designed for smaller electronics and satellites.

"Using technology -- which is kind of not intended to send something to the moon -- is always very risky, so we have to really slim down everything so that it fits into a less than four ton payload vehicle."

Cost is also a concern. Mr. Boehme says his team is making its rover as high-tech as possible.

"So what we wanted to try to do was to make as much as hi-tech -- as you would call -- available for space applications, so that you have more processing power for less energy. Energy is the No. 1 constraint in space. And that really cuts down to our mission costs." Visit the website www.chinavoa.com to get more information!

Mr. Boehme expects the project to cost less than $30 million. He hopes to have signed an agreement for a launch vehicle by the end of the year. His team hopes to send the rover on its way to the moon by the end of 2017.

The 15 other teams in the competition are from the United States and nine other countries. They are Brazil, Canada, Chile, Hungary, Japan, India, Israel, Italy and Malaysia.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

VOA's Faith Lapidus reported on this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

lunar– adj. of or relating to the moon

rover – n. a vehicle used for exploring the surface of a moon or planet (a rover is sometimes called a planetary rover)

adjustable– adj. changing something in a minor way to make it work better

solar - adj. related to the sun

slim– adj. thin or small in size

payload– n. the goods or material carried by a vehicle

mission – n. a job or project