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A Rare Landing On the Moon  March 4, 2025

 

Hello, sunshine. I'm Coy Wire. Welcome to CNN 10, your 10 minutes of news where I simply tell you the what, letting you decide what to think.

 

Hope you're off to a terrific Tuesday so far. If not, smell the flowers, cool the soup, and let's get to it. We begin today on the east coast of the U.S. as wildfires scorched parts of the Carolinas.

 

Dry, windy conditions ignited nearly 200 wildfires in South Carolina alone, according to the governor's office there, who declared a state of emergency over the weekend to support firefighting efforts across the state.

 

The Carolina Forest Fire has already burned more than 1,000 acres just north of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In North Carolina, a brush fire caused by a fallen power line along an interstate highway spread quickly up a nearby mountain, threatening several structures.

 

Some residents near the highway were ordered to evacuate. Firefighters have been working to put out fires in both states and have been able to contain many of the smaller fires.

 

The fire threat continued for the region early in the week, though higher humidity and lighter winds in the forecast are expected to help quell the fires in the coming days.

 

quell [kwɛl] v. 镇压；平息；压制；消除；减轻

 

Fires here are not unusual, with South Carolina seeing nearly 5,000 every year, according to state emergency management teams.

 

We hope everyone watching from the area is staying safe and out of harm's way.

 

Yesterday, we talked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's heated exchange last week with U.S. President Donald Trump.

 

heated [ˋhitɪd] adj. 激昂的；兴奋的

exchange [ɪksˋtʃendʒ] n.（短暂的）交谈，对话; 争吵

 

Well, this weekend, leaders from across the continent and Canada gathered in support of Ukraine meeting in the United Kingdom.

 

President Zelensky spent an hour with King Charles III at his royal estate, then joined British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and a gathering of the Western leaders in London, who welcomed the Ukrainian President as a guest of honor.

 

The European leaders presented a united front in their stance in the Russia-Ukraine war as the countries worked to build a plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

 

front [frʌnt] n. 前线；战线

 

The Prime Minister said the goal of the meeting was addressing Ukraine's short-term needs, securing a lasting deal to end the conflict, and planning security guarantees for Ukraine's future.

 

Right now, European negotiation efforts appear at odds with the Trump administration's approach in opening diplomatic talks with Russia last month, calling into question whether the U.S. will get on board with any future European ceasefire plan. CNN's Nick Robertson shows us how the historic weekend unfolded.

 

at odds 不一致

call into question 对...表示怀疑

 

So, President Zelensky getting an important meeting with King Charles, one of the king's country residents, about 100 miles north of London's Sandringham.

 

They spend an hour together, and it's important symbolically because it embodies, if you will, the support that the UK is giving to the Ukrainian President.

 

But remembering as well, just a few days ago, when the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in the Oval Office with President Trump, he handed President Trump a letter, an unprecedented invitation to President Trump of a second state visit to the UK.

 

So, here, Zelensky getting the royal treatment as well, embodying that support from the British government, the British people, and the monarchy.

 

Before he was there, he was at that gathering of European leaders, as well as Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, being hosted by the British Prime Minister.

 

The British Prime Minister saying that this was an effort to make sure that Ukraine has the military and economic needs that it needs to fight the war.

 

Today, he spoke about an additional $2 billion of funding going to Ukraine, Ukraine spending that on air defence missiles, 5,000 of them to be purchased in the UK, all of that very, very important.

 

But some of the key details that we began to learn was that this was something of an historic moment. That's the way Keir Starmer saw it, that this was a crossroads in history where he was trying to build a coalition of the willing, European nations, forward-leaning, able to step up and be part of the security guarantees. This is how he framed it.

 

forward-leaning 积极进取的

frame [frem] v. 构筑；建造；塑造

 

Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can't mean that we sit back. Instead, those willing will intensify planning now, with real urgency.

 

sit back 不采取行动

 

The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others. Europe must do the heavy lifting. But to support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong US backing.

 

boots on the ground (派驻)地面部队

the heavy lifting（工作）最主要的方面;（任务）最困难的部分

 

And that very important point there, the need to have US support here, and he spoke about it in this way as well, that France, the UK and Ukraine would work on this plan with the European nations and then bring it to the White House.

 

So in a way that I feel like shielding President Zelensky to some degree from sort of getting in a one-on-one situation in the White House with President Trump again, that turned so fractious just a few days ago.

 

fractious [ˋfrækʃəs] adj. 难以对待的；难以捉摸的

 

Pop quiz, hot shot.

 

What planet in Earth's solar system has the most moons?

 

Mercury, Neptune, Jupiter or Saturn?

 

If you said Saturn, you're so money. It has 146 confirmed moons. Jupiter is second with 95.

 

you're so money: you're really cool/ awesome/ great

 

To Earth's one and only moon now,where the unmanned Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon on Sunday.

 

Now, since its launch in early February, the robotic vehicle traversed roughly 239,000 miles to the moon, navigating hazards on the lunar surface to pull off an upright landing.

 

traverse [trəˈvɝs] v. 横渡，横越；越过；穿过

pull off 成功完成

 

Texas-based aerospace company Firefly is now only the second private sector company ever to achieve this type of lunar landing.

 

Blue Ghost is now getting to work. It'll spend the next two weeks conducting science and technology demonstrations like collecting lunar samples and capturing high definition imagery. That 14-day time period is an important one to note.

 

Blue Ghost touched down just as lunar daytime was beginning at its landing site. One lunar day lasts 14 Earth days. When lunar day ends and lunar night begins, the lander will face brutally cold conditions.

 

Temperatures could drop to as low as minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit. That's minus 173 Celsius. Normally, those conditions would mean the end for a lunar lander.

 

But NASA, who is funding the mission, wants Blue Ghost to continue to work through lunar night for as long as it can.

 

And the space agency gave more funding for Firefly to prepare the lander to survive the frigid temperatures. Our Victor Blackwell spoke to a former NASA astronaut about what comes next for this lunar lander.

 

Over the next 14 days, Blue Ghost will take pictures of an eclipse and a rare phenomenon last seen by astronauts more than 50 years ago. It's called the Lunar Horizon Glow.

 

People think of the moon as a vacuum, that there's no atmosphere around it, but it actually does have an extremely thin atmosphere.

 

vacuum [ˋvækjʊəm] n. 真空

 

It's a very, very low pressure. And so the glow is caused, of course, by sunlight passing through that atmosphere, and in the right conditions, you're able to observe it.

 

So in Earth, of course, the sunlight passing through our dense atmosphere makes it glow these beautiful shades of blue.

 

I'm not sure exactly what color the lunar glow is, but I suspect it's a shade of blue as well.

 

This isn't NASA, it's a private company, only the second one to do it. Why do you think it's so rare, only the second company to do this?

 

Well, that's right. It's difficult to land on the moon. Several organizations, including countries, have tried and failed. Just several months ago, Intuitive Machines successfully became the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on the moon since Apollo 17 back in 1972.

 

intuitive [ɪnˋtjʊɪtɪv] adj. 直觉的；有直觉力的；凭直觉获知的

 

And congratulations to Firefly Aerospace for now being the second since then, and the second commercial company to do so.

 

NASA's commercial lunar program, nicknamed CLPS, is really hitting its stride.

 

hit one’s stride: to become familiar with and confident at something you have recently started doing

 

Today we are giving a 10 out of 10 to ahigh-rise window washer rescue.

 

New York City firefighters rushed to a midtown skyscraper after window washer scaffolding got swept up in strong winds.

 

It was a terrifying moment for the workers, for bystanders, as the rigging was swinging about 80 stories high. It even smashed into a window, sending glass raining down below.

 

rigging [ˋrɪgɪŋ] n. 装备；装束

 

First responders thankfully got to the 78th floor apartment and secured the scaffolding to pull in the window washers to safety. Not all heroes wear capes.

 

scaffolding [ˋskæf!dɪŋ] n. 脚手架; 鹰架

cape [kep] n. 披肩；斗篷

 

Now to our favorite part of the show. It is shout-out time, and we have two of them today.

 

First, Miss B at Rocky Heights Middle School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and all my high-flying Nighthawks, thank you for making us part of your day.

 

And Miss Allen, Miss Andrews up in Carrollton, Michigan at Wagger Middle School, rise up.

 

Thank you all. We love that you are subscribing and commenting on our CNN10 YouTube channel. For your shout-out requests, we are close to 1 million subscribers, thanks to you.

 

We'll see you right back here tomorrow, and do it again on CNN10.