VOA慢速英语2018 欧洲和日本的宇宙飞船开启7年的水星之旅

European, Japanese Spacecraft Begins Seven-Year Trip to Mercury

European and Japanese space agencies have successfully launched a spacecraft as part of a joint¹ effort to study Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.

欧洲和日本航天机构成功发射了一艘航天器，作为共同研究距离太阳最近的水星的一部分。

The unmanned “BepiColombo” spacecraft launched from French Guiana on October 20. It is named after the Italian scientist Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo. The Ariane 5 rocket lifted it into orbit. The spacecraft carried two probes, one developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the other by Japan Aerospace² Exploration Agency (JAXA).

这颗无人驾驶的贝皮科伦坡号（BepiColombo）太空飞船于10月20日从法属圭亚那发射升空。它以意大利科学家朱塞佩·“贝皮”·科伦坡的名字命名。阿丽亚娜5号（Ariane 5）火箭将它送入轨道。该航天器携带了两颗探测器，一颗由欧洲航天局（ESA）开发，另一颗由日本宇宙航空研究机构（JAXA）开发。

The trip to Mercury will take seven years. Scientists hope the mission will give them more information about the planet’s inside core, as well as possibly answer questions about how our solar system was formed.

这次水星之旅需要7年时间。科学家们希望这项任务能够给他们提供更多关于水星内核的信息，以及太阳系如何形成的可能答案。

ESA said the $1.5-billion mission is one of the most complex in its history. Mercury’s nearness to the sun makes it an especially difficult planet to study. There is intense gravitational pull from the sun, as well as extreme solar radiation. And the planet has extreme temperatures.

欧洲航天局表示，这项耗资15亿美元的任务是其历史上最复杂的任务之一。水星靠近太阳，使得它成为一颗特别难以研究的星球。太阳有强力的引力，以及极端的太阳辐射，而且这颗星球的气温极高。

The BepiColombo spacecraft will have to follow an elliptical path to Mercury. Its trip includes one “fly-by” of Earth and two of Venus. It also will make six fly-bys of Mercury itself. This will let it slow down before arriving at its target in December 2025.

贝皮科伦坡号飞船必须遵循一条通向水星的椭圆轨道。它的行程包括1次掠过地球和2次掠过金星，并且6次掠过水星。这将会使它在2025年12月抵达目标前放慢速度。

Once it arrives there, BepiColombo will release the two probes, called Bepi and Mio. The probes will independently investigate the surface and the magnetic field of Mercury. The probes are made to work in extreme temperatures -- from very hot to very cold. On the side facing the sun, the temperature is 430 degrees Celsius³, but away from the sun, it is minus 180 degrees Celsius.

一旦抵达水星，贝皮科伦坡号将会释放出两颗分别名为Bepi和Mio的探测器。这些探测器将会对水星的表面和磁场进行研究。这些探测器可以在从极热到极寒的极端温度下工作。在朝向太阳的一侧，温度将会达到430摄氏度。但在远离太阳的一面，它的温度是零下180摄氏度。

ESA’s Bepi probe will operate in Mercury’s inner orbit. JAXA’s Mio will be in the outer orbit. Scientists hope the data gathered will give them information on the internal structure of the planet, its surface and physical development.

欧洲宇航局的Bepi号探测器将会绕水星的内层轨道运行，日本宇宙航空研究机构的Mio将在水星的外层轨道上。科学家们希望收集到的数据将会给他们提供关于水星的内部结构、表面和物理发展的信息。

The scientists are building on the knowledge gained by the American space agency NASA’s Messenger probe. It ended its mission in 2015 after a four-year orbit of Mercury. The only other spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA’s Mariner⁴ 10, which flew past the planet in the mid-1970s.

科学家们是基于美国航天局（NASA）的信使号（Messenger）探测器获得的信息。信使号探测器在绕水星轨道4年之后，于2015年结束了它的使命。另一颗前往水星的航天器只有美国宇航局的水手10号（Mariner 10,）探测器，它于20世纪70年代中期掠过了水星。

Mercury is not much bigger than Earth’s moon. It has a huge iron core, about which little is known.

水星比月球大不了多少。它有一个巨大的铁核，关于这个铁核人们知之甚少。

Guiseppe “Bepi” Colombo was an Italian professor, mathematician⁵ and engineer. Some call him the “Grandfather of the Fly-By” because his research helped in the exploration of Mercury, Saturn⁶ and Halley’s Comet.

朱塞佩·“贝皮”·科伦坡是一位意大利教授、数学家和工程师。有人称它为飞掠之父，因为他的研究有助于对水星、土星和哈雷彗星的探测。

It is the second recent cooperation between the Europeans and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. JAXA’s Hayabusa2 probe dropped a German-French space vehicle on the asteroid⁷ Ryugu earlier this month.

这是欧洲和日本航空研究开发机构最近的第二次合作。日本宇宙航空研究机构的隼鸟2号（Hayabusa2）探测器本月早些时候在“龙宫”（Ryugu）小行星上释放了一颗德国和法国研制的飞行器。

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

probe - n. a device that is used to obtain information from outer space and send it back to Earth

solar - adj. of or relating to the sun

core - n. the central part of something

elliptical - adj. shaped like a flattened circle

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

3 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

4 mariner   

n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者

参考例句：

• A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.平静的大海决不能造就熟练的水手。
• A mariner must have his eye upon rocks and sands as well as upon the North Star.海员不仅要盯着北极星，还要注意暗礁和险滩。

5 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

6 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

7 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。