Sailing in Space on Sunlight

Hey there! Today it is so easy to travel far away. We can go around the world very fast, using airplanes! But that's not how people have always traveled… A long time ago, people used wind power to cross the oceans. Those old ships had sails to catch the wind and push the ship forward. 以前的人靠著風力，開著帆船橫越海洋。 Now they're doing the same thing with ships in outer space! 現在，科學家做了太空帆船！ But… there isn't any wind in outer space. 可是，太空沒有風，太空帆船要怎麼動呢？ Space sails use sunlight! Sun power pushes the sails… 答案是太陽的力量！ The sun is a star. A huge, burning ball of fire! And the sun is always sending out waves of heat and light… sunlight! It takes about 8 minutes for the waves of sunlight from the sun to reach the earth. 太陽的光線傳到地球大約要八分鐘。 And… those waves of sunlight can push a space sail. 陽光可以推動太空帆船。 A spaceship from Japan used a small sun sail to go all the way to Venus in 2010! 日本的太空帆船在2010年到過金星。 Now, a French company wants to test a super big sun sail… it will sail around the earth… high up in outer space! 現在，法國有一家公司準備讓太空帆船環繞地球。 This test is really cool because it will help scientists learn more about sun sails. Maybe one day super huge sun sails will push spaceships with people far into space… then we could vacation on Mars! 未來有機會去火星度假囉！ ________________________________ Vocabulary 太空帆船運用陽光當作動力，在太空中旅行。 1) push 推動 Sunlight can push spaceships forward. 陽光可以推動太空船前進。 I find it hard to understand. 我覺得有點難懂。 I think it's possible only in space. 我想只有在太空中才能吧。 2) spaceship 太空船 Look, a spaceship! 你看，太空船！ That's not a spaceship, Jane. 那不是太空船。 That's a kite. 那是風箏。 3) sail 帆，航行 Sailing around the world must be fun! 航行全世界一定很好玩！ Yeah, if you have 3 to 5 years. 是，要是你有三年到五年的時間。 4) wind 風 Is it because the wind is slow? 這是因為風很慢嗎？ Well, it's because the world is big. 這是因為世界很大。 Let's read today's vocabulary. push 推動 spaceship 太空船 sail 帆，航行 wind 風 ________________________________ Quiz 1. How can the sun push a spaceship's sun sails? A: Waves of light and heat push the sun sails B: Waves of ice and water push the sun sails C: Waves of wind push the sun sails 2. What is the sun? A: A planet B: A star C: A moon 3. In 2010, where did a spaceship go using sun sails? A: Japan B: Venus C: Jupiter Answers 1. A 2. B 3. B -- Hosting provided by SoundOn