VOA慢速英语--朱诺近距离观看朱诺卫星

Juno Gets a Close-up Look at Jupiter 朱诺近距离观看朱诺卫星

The spacecraft Juno successfully passed close to Jupiter Saturday as it orbits the solar system’s largest planet.

NASA, the American space agency, said the spacecraft passed about 4,200 kilometers above Jupiter’s clouds. The approach was the closest the spacecraft will get to the planet before crashing into it at the end of its mission in 2018.

Early information shows NASA officials “that everything worked as planned and Juno is firing on all cylinders¹,” said Rick Nybakken. He is Juno project manager at NASA’s Jet propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

All scientific instruments on the spacecraft were turned on for the first time and pointed² towards the planet as it passed Jupiter.

NASA released a picture taken as Juno sped toward the planet. The agency says more will be made public later. The new photographs will be the closest ever taken by a space probe. They also will be the first of their kind taken of the planet’s north and south poles.

Scott Bolton is the top investigator³ of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. He said, "We are in an orbit nobody has ever been in before, and these images give us a whole new perspective on this gas-giant world."

Jupiter and the three other outer planets are known as gas-giants because of their thick, gaseous⁴ atmosphere.

Bolton said, “we are getting some intriguing⁵ early data returns.” Intriguing means very interesting. He said that it will take days before all the data collected during the flyby to be “downlinked,” or sent back to Earth.

And he said, it will take more time to understand “what Juno and Jupiter are trying to tell us” with the data scientists are gaining.

There are seven instruments on board the spacecraft sending the information to NASA.

NASA hopes scientists will learn more about the Jupiter’s beginnings, structure, and its atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The magnetosphere is believed to influence auroras, or glowing particles, above Jupiter’s northern and southern poles.

Scientists also hope to find out more about the great red spot. It is a huge storm that has lasted for hundreds of years.

NASA launch the Juno spacecraft in August 2011, from Cape⁶ Canaveral, Florida. It began its orbit of Jupiter this year on July 4.

Words in This Story

firing on all cylinders – phrase. all its parts are working

probe – n. an instrument used for examining something

pole – n. either end of the imaginary line around which something, like Jupiter, turns—north or south pole

perspective – n. knowledge or understanding

flyby – n. the act of flying over, or by, something

magnetosphere - n. an area of space surrounding an object in space that is dominated by the object’s magnetic field

1 cylinders   

n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物

参考例句：

• They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

4 gaseous   

adj.气体的，气态的

参考例句：

• Air whether in the gaseous or liquid state is a fluid.空气，无论是气态的或是液态的，都是一种流体。
• Freon exists both in liquid and gaseous states.氟利昂有液态和气态两种形态。

5 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。