2 . Is there anybody out there? For centuries humans have wondered although the ways in which we have gone about this have varied. As we have gained a greater understanding of the universe, our searches have taken on more concrete(具体的) forms. Questions about aliens(外星人) have become a subject for science rather than science fiction.

Now new cooperation between the Very Large Array (VLA) observatory in New Mexico and the SETI Institute in California means that our curiosity about whether aliens exist can be closer than ever before to being satisfied. Data from the VLA’S 28 radio telescopes, used to scan a vast area of sky, will be fed through a special supercomputer that will search for distant signals.

How likely it is that a signal will be found, and what this might mean, are hard questions to answer. SETI’s existing projects have not discovered any signals from other planets so far. But recent discoveries in space and Earth sciences have provided some encouragement for those who are enthusiastic about the possibility, however remote, of detecting other civilizations.

Once it was thought that our solar system could be unique. Since the discovery of the first exoplanet (a planet beyond the solar system) in the 1990s, thousands more have been located. Around one in five stars is now thought to have a planet in their orbit(运行轨道) in a so-called “habitable(适合居住的) zone”—that is, at a distance from the star where the temperature means that life is theoretically possible.

Are Earth’s 7.5 billion humans, along with billions of other animals and plants they share their home with, on their own in the universe? If there is another life form somewhere, could it be as intelligent as humans? Or could it threaten them? I think all of these need further exploration. As explorations of Mars continue, and a new set of observations from the James Webb Space Telescope are set to begin, our interest in the possibility of alien life appears as much as before.

“Are we alone? What's out there?” Looked up at the stars, people have always wanted learn more about space, and scientist work hard to find answers. They make vehicles to carry brave people into space to find out the secrets of universe. They also really wish to discover other planets that were suitable enough support life. Despite the huge risks, people still believe in the important of carrying on space exploration.

China's space programme started late than those of Russia and the US, but it have made great progresses in a short time. China became the three country in the world to independently sent humans into space in 2003. Then China completed a second manned orbit and the first Chinese spacewalk, following by the vehicle Jade Rabbit be sent later to the moon to study its surface. After which, China launched the Tiangong 2 space lab into space and Tianzhou 1 to dock with it.

I am glad to share with you some details about my passion for moon exploration.

It started with what I have been told about the moon as a kid but grew stronger with time. As it is known to us, there is rich cultural meaning behind the faithful companion of the earth. In Chinese culture, the moon is often compared to a quiet and elegant lady. Also, it reminds people their family and friends far away.

Human have never stopped exploring the moon. I believe it is of more importance. The development of relevant technology fuels the progress of science, benefit our everyday life. What’s more, I think moon exploration shows an important human feature, that is, curiosity about an unknown, that has brought our species this far.

Do you find that I’ve mentioned above interesting and reasonable?

Yours,

Kate

5 . Have you ever noticed that the stars sometimes appear brighter in December, January and February? There's a link between cold air and the night lights. "Part of it is that it tends to be drier in the winter," said Diane Tumshek, an astronomer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Even though it's invisible, moisture can change the way light moves through the air. And in the summer, moisture can make stars appear more dull.

Air temperature is also what puts the twinkle twinkle in the little stars. "Even on very clear nights, some of the atmosphere is cooler, and some of the atmosphere is warmer,” said Tumshek, who also works with the Allegheny Observatory. And when the light from a star passes through those bubbles of varying temperatures, "it bends and shifts the light, so that we are seeing stars appear to dance or twinkle,” she said.

For star lovers in the United States, there's another factor that comes into play for bright winter stars, although this is a matter of coincidence. During Earth's journey around the sun, “there are just simply more bright stars visible from the Northern Hemisphere in the winter sky," Tumshek said. If you really want to see a shiny star, just try to find a burning ball of gas called Sirius near the horizon. At 8.6 light-years away, Sirius is relatively close to Earth and the brightest star visible in the night sky. It is also large — nearly twice as big as our sun and 20 times as bright. So this winter, when the world turns cold and it seems like we should be spending more time indoors, consider asking an adult to go exploring outside. With a warm coat and a clear sky, any night can be turned into a treasure hunt. All you have to do is look up.

China's Chang'e 5 mission     1     (successful) delivered samples of moon rocks and dust to Earth on December 17, 2020. It marks     2     first time in 44 years that moon rocks have been brought back to our planet.

The sample capsule landed in Inner Mongolia     3     a little after 2:00 a.m. Thursday local time. The drop-off was the ending of a 23-day mission that began on November 23,     4     China sent up Chang'e 5 from a site on Hainan Island. The mission's goal was     5     (collect) at least four pounds of material and bring it back to Earth.

The material collected by Chang'e 5 was from a site in the northwest region of the moon's near side. This area was formed more recently, and the rocks here     6     (think) to be only about 1.2 billion years old now. That means scientists     7     (study) the material could learn more about the     8     (evolve) of the moon.

Although Chang'e 5 was a short mission, it was one of     9     (complex) projects undertaken by the Chinese space program so far. The country is far from done with the moon---Chang'e 6,     10     (it) second lunar sample return, is ready to launch in 2023 or 2024.

7 . Despite what so many people would love to believe, NASA hasn’t discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. So, when the Curiosity rover (好奇号探测器) found something suspicious on the Red Planet’s surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.

The thin fragment was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA’s Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris,” named for the location where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover’s handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself, suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully, those concerns seem to have been unfounded.

In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the bizarre object with a tool called the ChemCam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器) to sniff out the makeup of anything it’s pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it’s actually just a very thin piece of rock.

NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan’s ChemCam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris” (PPFOD), and speculated to be a piece of spacecraft debris. In fact it was found to be a very thin flake of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight—Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!

How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris —remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn’t falling apart.

8 . An Indian spacecraft's first attempt to make a soft, controlled landing in the moon's south polar region has ended in painful silence: Shortly before touchdown (降落), the robotic lander - part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission - fell out of contact with mission control(航天地面指挥中心). The Indian Space Research Organization says that the spacecraft stopped communicating with Earth when it was within 1.3 miles of the lunar surface. ''The Vikram descent (下降)was as planned, and normal performance was observed, up to an altitude of 2.1 kilometers, '' said Kailasavadivoo Sivan, ISRO's chairman, in a statement roughly half an hour after signal loss. ''The data is being analyzed.''

A successful landing would have made India just the fourth country to touch down anywhere on the lunar (月球的)surface, and only the third nation to operate a robotic rover (巡视器) there. Nevertheless, the Chandrayaan-2 mission's orbiter(航天器) remains safely in lunar orbit, with a year-long scientific mission ahead of it. Like any voyage to a world beyond Earth, Vikram's flight was a risky endeavor, requiring the lander to slow itself down to a near standstill(停止), scan for surface obstacles (障碍物) by itself, and then take steps to avoid them during touchdown. The majority of attempts to land robots on the moon have ended in failure, either during launch or on the way to the surface.

Following its launch on July 22, Chandrayaan-2 spent the last several weeks inching its way to the moon, ultimately entering lunar orbit on August 20. On September 2, Vikram separated from the mission's orbiter, and the newly freed lander began a series of braking maneuvers (刹车操作)to lower its orbit and ready itself for landing. Had things proceeded without a fault, Vikram and Pragyaan - the small solar-powered rover it carried - would have set down on the moon at a latitude of about 70 degrees South, on a highland between Manzinus C and Simpelius N.

This landing site was ''somewhere new that we haven't seen before, so that makes it another area for ground-truthing remote sensing data,'' Clive Neal, a lunar geologist, said in an interview before the landing attempt, ''It was going to certainly enhance our knowledge of what the moon is like in those areas, so it was going to be another very good place for science and exploration.''

10 . For years, people have wondered whether there's life on other planets. Scientists may now be closer than ever to answering that question.

Using powerful telescopes, a team of astronomers in South America discovered a new planet, called Proxima b. It circles a star named Proxima Centauri, in the same way Earth circles the sun. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our solar system.

Scientists believe the new planet has a rocky surface and is similar in size to Earth. More important, they've determined that the distance between Proxima b and its “sun” gives the planet a similar temperature to Earth's.This means it could have liquid water. The presence of water on a planet makes it possible for life to exist there. Scientists refer to planets like Proxima b as “Goldilocks planets” because they are not too hot or too cold, but just right to possibly support life.

Astronomers have found other Goldilocks planets in the past, but none are as close to Earth as Proxima b. Still, the new planet is 4.2 light years from Earth—that is about 25 trillion miles away.

Despite the long distance, astronomers hope to get a much better look at our new-found neighbor one day. But they'll need to wait until more advanced telescopes are developed. They may also send a robotic spacecraft to investigate the planet.