美国国家公共电台 NPR NASA Plans To Launch A Probe Next Year To 'Touch The Sun'

 

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NASA held a press conference today about a mission to the sun. This is planned to launch next summer. The goal is to send a probe right into the sun's atmosphere. NPR's Rae Ellen Bichell reports.

RAE ELLEN BICHELL, BYLINE¹: There are two big mysteries that this mission is trying to answer. One, what allows the sun to fling winds out at supersonic speeds? And two, says mission project scientist Nicole Fox, why is the sun's atmosphere actually hotter - 300 times hotter - than its surface?

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

NICOLA FOX: That defies the laws of nature. It's like water flowing uphill. It shouldn't happen.

BICHELL: The plan is to take a package of instruments that's small enough to fit inside a fridge, and as NASA puts it, send it to touch the sun. Touching² is a bit of a stretch since there's nothing solid to actually touch, but the spacecraft is going to get 4 million miles from the visible surface. Betsy Congdon, an engineer with the Johns Hopkins Applied³ Physics Laboratory, says that might not sound close...

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

BETSY CONGDON: But if you think about a football field, and the sun's sitting on one side, and the Earth's sitting at the other, we're getting within the 5 yard line. So we're getting very, very close and closer than anyone has ever gotten before.

BICHELL: Congdon is in charge of keeping the equipment on board the spacecraft from getting fried.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

CONGDON: Yeah, that is my job. We're basically putting up a big umbrella.

BICHELL: An 8-foot wide disk made of layers of carbon which would get burnt to a charcoal⁴ crisp if it weren't for the fact that there's no oxygen in space. The high-tech⁵ umbrella will keep equipment humming along at room temperature while temperatures outside rage at more than 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit⁶.

Today, NASA named the spacecraft the Parker Solar Probe after Eugene Parker, a retired⁷ physicist⁸ who predicted the existence of solar winds almost 60 years ago. He's about to turn 90. Rae Ellen Bichell, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF BOARDS OF CANADA'S "SATELLITE ANTHEM ICARUS")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

3 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

4 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

5 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。

6 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。