New asteroids named after Chinese astronauts

时间：2007-03-19 07:28:54

（单词翻译:单击）

NANJING, March 18 -- The Purple Mountain Observatory1 under the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced it has named two asteroids2 after Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, two astronauts from China's second manned space mission in 2005.

 

According to Yang Jiexing, secretary of the asteroids naming committee in the observatory, the naming decision has been approved by the International Astronomical3 Union.

 

Yang said code names of the two asteroids, respectively 9512 and 9517, coincide with the dates on which the Shenzhou VI was launched and returned, according to a Nanjing-based newspaper.

 

The Shenzhou VI manned spaceship took off on Oct. 12, 2005, circled around Earth continuously for five days and returned on Oct. 17, 2005.

 

"It seems the two asteroids are waiting for the Shenzhou VI to visit space," said Yang, quoted by the newspaper.

 

China started naming asteroids in 1979. The country's first space astronaut Yang Liwei and "Shenzhou" have also been sharing names with asteroids. Big names like Qian Xuesen, father of China's space and missile industry, and Yang Zhenning, a Nobel-prize physicist4, have also been used to name asteroids in the space.

 

Shenzhou V, China's first manned spacecraft, blasted off in October 2003, making China the third nation after the former Soviet5 Union and the United States to send a human into space.

 

China's next manned space flight Shenzhou VII, the third in its space program, is scheduled to take place in 2008.

 
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1 observatory hRgzP     
n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台
参考例句：
  • Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
  • Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。
2 asteroids d02ebba086eb60b6155b94e12649ff84     
n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星
参考例句：
  • Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
  • Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。
3 astronomical keTyO     
adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的
参考例句：
  • He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
  • Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。
4 physicist oNqx4     
n.物理学家，研究物理学的人
参考例句：
  • He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
  • The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。
5 Soviet Sw9wR     
adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃
参考例句：
  • Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
  • Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

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