卡西尼号

科学家利用NASA土星探测船“卡西尼号”传回的数据，分析了土星泰坦表层的复杂化学物质。

Data from NASA 's Cassini probe analyzed the complex chemistry on the surface of Titan-the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere .

美土星探测飞船卡西尼号运行正常。

Us Cassini spacecraft runs well on mission to study saturn .

在它的表面，卡西尼号发现了液态水。

And on the surface , Cassini has found liquid .

卡西尼号已经揭示了这颗星球的真实性质。

Cassini has revealed the planet 's true nature .

近来，美航局卡西尼号轨道飞行器用雷达扫描了土星的卫星泰坦。

NASA 's Cassini orbiter recently took some radar readings of the Saturnian moon Titan .

卡西尼号于9月完成使命，按计划撞向土星大气层中焚毁。

The mission ended in September with a planned fiery crash into Saturn 's atmosphere .

上面这幅高解析的土卫二影像，就是来自卡西尼号近距离飞越所摄；

Pictured above , a high resolution image of Enceladus is shown from a close flyby .

卡西尼号本预计于11月11日飞过土星最大的卫星&泰坦。

The spacecraft was scheduled to fly past Saturn 's largest moon , Titan , on11 November .

卡西尼号的身体

The Body of Cassini

今年12月25日，卡西尼号将释放惠更斯号探测器，让它航向土卫六，历时三周。

On December 25 Cassini will release the Huygens probe , which will coast toward Titan for three weeks .

木星到达昼夜平分点的原始照片被美国卡西尼号宇宙飞船拍摄到并发回地球。

Raw images of the moment Saturn reached its equinox have been beamed to Earth by the US Cassini spacecraft .

在最近，分析卡西尼号捕获的土卫二尘埃物质，发现有钠的成份，暗指底层有个咸水的海洋。

Most recently , an analysis of dust captured by Cassini found evidence for sodium as expected in a deep salty ocean .

卡西尼号在研究土星的同时，还探索了可能存在外星生命的土卫六和土卫二。

While it studied the planet , Cassini explored moons - Titan and Enceladus - that could be home to extraterrestrial life .

2017年初，一项由“卡西尼号”飞船参与的任务探测到了氢分子，这表明地表下正发生化学反应。

But in early 2017 , a mission involving the Cassini spacecraft detected hydrogen molecules that point to a chemical reaction occurring under the surface .

自2004年抵达土星以来，卡西尼号宇宙飞船已经将土星、土星环及土星卫星的图片传送回地球。

The Cassini spacecraft has been sending home images of Saturn , its rings and its moons since arriving at the gas giant in 2004 .

如同伽利略号，卡西尼号的能源来自放射性元素钸的自然衰变，产生热后再转换成电。

Like Galileo , Cassini is powered by the natural decay of the radioactive element plutonium , which generates heat that is then converted to electricity .

这是卡西尼号自从1997年发射以来第六次进入安全模式，不过从它2004年到达火星以来这只是第二次。

This is the sixth time Cassini has gone into safe mode since its launch in1997 , and only the second since it arrived at in2004 .

2005年卡西尼号探测到土卫二南极地区附近的孔中喷射出水蒸气和冰，而这里正是冰下湖的所在处。

In 2005 , the Cassini probe detected water vapor and ice spewing from vents near the moon 's South Pole , where the subsurface lake is located .

冬去春来，卡西尼号搜索太空船最近拍到了土卫六北极的地貌图，其中充满了湖泊。

With spring emerging and winter clouds retreating , the Cassini probe was recently able to get some great snapshots of the lakes littering Titan 's north pole topography .

由卡西尼号飞船携带的探测器惠更斯将在土星的最大卫星土卫六的表面着陆。

The probe " Huygens " carried on the " Cassini " spacecraft will land on the surface of Saturn 's satellite Titan , the largest of all Saturn 's moons .

工程师们将要重新设定在卡西尼号中软件中的许多重要数据，如设备开启指示器和能耗量。

Engineers will need to reset a lot of values in Cassini 's software by hand , such as indicators for which instruments are on and how much power is being used .

研究人员研究了美国宇航局卡西尼号轨道飞行器对土星光环为期六年的观测，卡西尼号轨道飞行器能够探测出冰及遮住冰层的彩色污染物，例如铁和碳氢化合物。

Researchers examined six years of Saturn observations from NASA 's Cassini orbiter , which can detect ice as well as the colorful contaminants that obscure it , such as iron or hydrocarbons .

说来也怪，尽管卡西尼号搜索太空船早在2004年就绕着土卫六观测，但这是第一次云层消散天文学家拍到北极的清晰画面。

Oddly enough , this is the first time the clouds have lifted enough to offer a clear view of the pole , even though the Cassini probe has been orbiting Titan since 2004 .

美国宇航局喷气动力实验室的项目主管罗伯特米切尔说，数月来卡西尼号携带的照相机镜头上蒙了一层薄雾，影响拍摄效果。

Program manager Robert Mitchell at nasa 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that for months the lens of the camera carried on Cassini had been frosted with a thin haze , which affected the quality of its picture-taking .

上世纪80年代初，“航行者号”取得一个惊人的新发现，这一发现随后又被卡西尼号飞船证实：一个边长超过地球直径的巨型六边形风暴笼罩在土星的北半球上。

In the early 1980s , the Voyager mission made a surprising and unprecedented discovery , which was confirmed by a visit from the Cassini spacecraft . Encompassing all of Saturn 's north pole is a giant hexagonal storm with sides longer than the diameter of Earth .

不管是何种情况，当“卡西尼”号在2010年返回“土卫五”的时候，该航天行动的科学家们盼望能够搜集到更多的资料。

Whatever the case , the mission scientists are eager to gather more data when Cassini returns to Rhea in2010 .

“卡西尼”号将开始长达四年或更久的土星及其31个卫星的探测飞行。

Cassini appears ready to explore Saturn and its retinue of31 known satellites over the next four years , perhaps much longer .

自从“卡西尼”号抵达土星系统后，取得了许多突破性的发现，改革了人们对土星及其行星的认知。

The spacecraft has already revolutionized our knowledge of the ringed planet and its moons . Cassini discovered spewing water-ice geysers on the moon Enceladus .

装满燃料的卡西尼？惠更斯号重达5500公斤，高约6.8公尺。

Fully fueled , Cassini-Huygens weighed about 5,500 kilograms and stood 6.8 meters tall .

当卡西尼·惠更斯号宇宙飞船从1997年开始接触土星，

When the Cassini Huygens spacecraft took off in 1997 for a closing encounter with Saturn ,