VOA慢速英语2018 帕克太阳探测器成为最接近太阳的航天器

Parker Solar Probe Becomes Closest Spacecraft to Sun

The American space agency is reporting that its Parker Solar Probe now holds the record for the closest approach to the Sun by a human-made object.

美国航天局报告称，其帕克号太阳探测器现在创下了最接近太阳的人造物体的记录。

NASA officials said the robotic spacecraft passed the old record of nearly 43 million kilometers from the Sun’s surface on October 29. Officials said this information comes from the Parker Solar Probe team.

美国宇航局官员表示，这艘无人飞船于10月29日打破了距离太阳4300万公里的旧记录。官员们称这些信息来自派克号太阳探测器团队。

The old record for closest solar approach was set by a German-American spacecraft, called Helios 2, in April 1976.

1976年4月，德国和美国联合发射的太阳神2号飞船创下了最接近太阳的旧记录。

The Parker Space Probe is expected to continue setting records as it moves even closer to the Sun. NASA officials say the spacecraft will get as close as 6.16 million kilometers from the surface during one of its visits. They expect that to happen in the year 2024.

帕克号太阳探测器有望在不断接近太阳的过程中继续创造记录。美国宇航局官员表示，该飞船将在其中一次造访太阳的过程中，接近至太阳表面616万公里。他们预计这会在2024年实现。

“It’s been just 78 days since Parker Solar Probe launched, and we’ve now come closer to our star than any other spacecraft in history,” noted 1 Project Manager Andy Driesman. He is with the Johns Hopkins Applied 2 Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

项目经理安迪·德里斯曼（Andy Driesman）表示：“帕克号太阳探测器升空仅78天，就成为迄今最接近太阳的航天器。”德里斯曼在马里兰州劳雷尔市的约翰霍普金斯应用物理实验室工作。

The Parker Solar Probe also was expected to set a new record for the fastest spacecraft traveling relative to the Sun. The current record, held by Helios 2, is 246,960 kilometers an hour.

预计帕克号太阳探测器也将会创下相对太阳行进速度最快航天器的新记录。目前的记录是由太阳神2号保持的246,960公里每小时。

The Parker Solar Probe team is measuring the spacecraft's speed and position using NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The network sends a signal to the spacecraft, which then sends a signal back to DSN ground stations in Australia, Spain and the United States.

帕克号太阳探测器团队正在使用美国宇航局的深空网络（简称DSN）来测量航天器的速度和位置。该网络向航天器发送信号，然后航天器向澳大利亚、西班牙和美国的深孔网络地面站发回信号。

Space agency officials said the Parker Solar Probe's speed and position were estimated using DSN measurements made on October 24. The team used that information along with known orbital forces to estimate the spacecraft's speed and position from that point on.

美国宇航局官员称10月24日使用深空网络估算了帕克号太阳探测器的速度和位置。该团队利用这些信息以及已知的轨道应力来估算航天器从那一刻起的速度和位置。

The Parker Solar Probe will continue flying closer to the Sun's surface until it reaches its first perihelion — the point closest to the Sun in its orbit — on November 5.

帕克号太阳探测器将会继续飞近太阳表面，直到11月5日达到其第一个近日点，即最接近太阳的轨道点。

The spacecraft will have to deal with extreme heat and radiation levels as it moves closer to the surface. However, the probe is expected to make observations that will add to scientists’ understanding of the Sun.

航天器在不断接近太阳表面的过程中必须面对极端高温和辐射。然而，该探测器有望进行观测，增进科学家对太阳的认识。

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

approach – n. a way of dealing 3 with something

manager – n. someone who directs something; a supervisor 4

network – n. a group of system of interconnected things

(space) probe –n. a device used to get information from outer space and send it back to Earth