MESSENGER Probe Sends First Mercury Images

     The U.S. space agency(代理中介) has released the first ever image taken of the surface of Mercury from a spacecraft orbiting the planet.

    The black and white image, posted on the NASA website Tuesday, shows a surface pocked with craters¹ of varying sizes and shapes. NASA says this was the first of more than 360 images taken and sent back to Earth on Tuesday.

    The images were captured by the unmanned MESSENGER probe, which earlier this month became the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.

    MESSENGER is expected to continue circling the solar system's innermost planet for at least a year before mission controllers here on Earth allow the little probe to drop through the thin atmosphere and crash on the surface.

    Mission managers say MESSENGER will use high-tech² instruments and cameras to collect important data about Mercury that possibly will solve some of the mysteries surrounding the tiny planet.

    They are interested in learning more about Mercury's geologic³ history and magnetic field, the composition of its core, and learning whether there is frozen water at its poles.   Scientists say knowing more about Mercury will give them a better understanding of the early solar system and how it formed about 4.5 billion years ago.

    The only other man-made probe to reach Mercury was NASA’s Mariner⁴ 10,  which photographed the planet on three "fly-bys" in the mid-1970s.

    Mercury is slightly larger than the earth's moon, making it the smallest planet in the solar system.  With an orbit keeping it a mere⁵ 58 million kilometers from the sun on average, Mercury is about two-thirds closer to the sun than Earth.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

3 geologic   

adj.地质的

参考例句：

• The Red Sea is a geologic continuation of the valley.红海就是一个峡谷在地质上的继续发展。
• Delineation of channels is the first step of geologic evaluation.勾划河道的轮廓是地质解译的第一步。

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 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。