'Grand finale' for Cassini space mission 土星探測器卡西尼號任務將“隆重收場”

本集內容

‘Grand finale’ for Cassini space mission 土星探測器卡西尼號任務將“隆重收場”

學習要點

有關“Space 太空”的詞匯

文字稿

Instantly recognisable – Saturn and its spectacular rings. The Cassini spacecraft’s revealed this planet in incredible detail and these are some of its latest close up images – from its hexagonal north pole to its ring system and even an aurora.

But this mission’s very nearly at its end. Cassini’s been in space for twenty years. It’s set down a probe, spotted plumes on one of Saturn’s moons and discovered colossal storms – but now it’s running out of fuel – its final days though will be crucial.

This spacecraft will go out with a bang – its last manoeuvre will be a death dive into Saturn’s atmosphere, bringing this blockbuster mission to a close.

土星和她的壯麗光環 – 很容易被識別。這臺叫做卡西尼號（Cassini）的宇宙飛船以極為精致的細節為我們展現瞭這顆星球，這是由卡西尼號拍攝的最新特寫圖像，包括土星北極的六邊形風暴、光環系統，它還拍到過一次極光。

但這項任務臨近收尾。卡西尼號已經進入太空二十年，它在土星上設置瞭探頭，並在它的一顆衛星上觀測到瞭霧狀體，還捕捉到瞭巨型風暴。但該探測器的燃料即將耗盡，不過它最後階段的工作是至關重要的。

飛船會以向土星大氣縱身一躍的形式終結它的使命，屆時場面會非常壯觀，而這項規模浩大的土星探測任務也將就此圓滿結束。

詞匯

Saturn
土星

ring system
行星環系統

aurora
極光

probe
探測器、探頭

atmosphere
（天體的）大氣

你知道嗎？

Next year, NASA is planning to launch The Parker Solar Probe, which will travel to within four million miles of the Sun’s surface, enduring temperatures of about 2,500C.

明年，美國航空航天局（NASA）計劃發射一臺名為派克太陽探測器的飛船，它將駛入距太陽表面400萬英裡的區域，這意味著飛船需要承受2500攝氏度的高溫。

練習

True or false? The Cassinni spacecraft will be destroyed during its final journey into Saturn’s atmosphere.

答案

TRUE. Cassinni’s last manoeuvre will be a death dive into Saturn’s atmosphere – so it will kill off the spacecraft. It will melt and be torn apart as it dives into the planet’s gases at over 120,000km/h.