大型小行星朝地球而來？NASA：只能祈禱 Large asteroid heading to Earth? Pray, says NASA

Nasa chief Charles Bolden has advice on how to handle a large asteroid headed toward New York City： Pray.

關於如何因應飛向紐約市的大型小行星，美國航太總署（NASA）署長查爾斯．勃登的建議是：祈禱。

That’s about all the United States - or anyone for that matter - could do at this point about unknown asteroids and meteors that may be on a collision course with Earth, Bolden told lawmakers at a U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee hearing on Tuesday.

在可能有不知名小行星和隕石正朝地球撞來的情況下，全美國或者任何相關者在當下能做的只有祈禱，勃登19日在聯邦眾議院科學委員會聽證會上告訴議員。

An asteroid estimated to be have been about 55 feet （17 meters） in diameter exploded on Feb. 15 over Chelyabinsk, Russia, generating shock waves that shattered windows and damaged buildings. More than 1,500 people were injured.

一顆直徑估計約55英尺（17公尺）的小行星2月15日在俄羅斯車里亞賓斯克上空爆炸，產生的震波使窗戶碎裂、建築物受損，有超過1500人受傷。

Later that day, a larger, unrelated asteroid discovered last year passed about 17,200 miles （27,681 km） from Earth, closer than the network of television and weather satellites that ring the planet.

當天稍晚，一顆去年發現、不相關的更大小行星在距地球1萬7200 英里（2萬7681公里）處經過，比環繞地球的電視和氣象衛星距離還要近。

The events "serve as evidence that we live in an active solar system with potentially hazardous objects passing through our neighborhood with surprising frequency," said Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat.

德州民主黨籍聯邦眾議員強森說，這些事件「證明我們居住在活躍的太陽系中，具潛在威脅的天體通過地球附近的頻率高得驚人。」

Nasa has found and is tracking about 95 percent of the largest objects flying near Earth, those that are .62 miles （1 km） or larger in diameter.

NASA已發現並正追蹤大約95%會飛越過地球附近的大型天體，它們的直徑大於或等於0.62英里（1公里）。

新聞辭典

collision：名詞，碰撞、相撞、牴觸。collision of interests：（各方）利益相互牴觸，互不相讓。

hazardous：形容詞，危險的。例句：Throw away bottles that have contained pesticides, herbicides, motor oil and other hazardous materials.（請將裝有殺蟲劑、除草劑、機油，以及其他有毒物質的罐子丟棄。）