信使号

在2011年，当信使号抵达轨道，

In 2011 , when MESSENGER arrives in orbit ,

美国国家航空航天局的信使号飞船将成为第一个绕水星轨道的探测器。

NASA 's messenger spacecraft will become the first probe to orbit Mercury .

EricFinnegan是这次NASA“信使号”任务的系统工程师。

Eric Finnegan is systems engineer for NASA 's Messenger Mission .

Messenger（信使号）现在飞往水星的中途，它将于2011年到达围绕水星运行的永久性轨道。

Messenger is about halfway through its journey to put it in permanent orbit around Mercury in2011 .

美国国家航空和宇宙航行局的信使号朝着水星进发。

Messenger on NASA 's mission to Mercury .

信使号太空船预定在今年九月再次通过水星，在2011年则开始公转水星。

MESSENGER will buzz past Mercury again later this year before entering orbit in2011 .

信使号进入水星轨道。

MESSENGER First Spacecraft to Orbit Mercury .

信使号名义上将在周末完成它的数据传送回地球。

MESSENGER will nominally complete transmission of its data to Earth by the end of the weekend .

此次飞越收缩了信使号绕太阳运行的轨道，使它更接近水星。

The flyby shrunk the radius of messenger 's orbit around the sun to bring it closer to mercury .

今天，信使号项目部将公布第一艘水星轨道探测器所拍摄的一些新照片和科学发现。

Today , the Messenger project will release new images and science findings from the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury .

上面显示的就是这么一张影像，是信使号探测飞船在一月中旬掠过水星时获得的。

One such image , shown above , was acquired by the robotic MESSENGER spacecraft that swung by Mercury in mid-January .

如果没有它的六次近水星飞行（利用能抵消这种影响的行星引力场），信使号就不可能放慢到足以使它落入到预定的轨道。

Without its six flybys which used the gravitational fields of the planets involved to counter that effect Messenger could not have slowed sufficiently to allow it to drop into its intended orbit .

下面一幅高清图片是由信使号广角相机所拍摄的三种颜色下的照片合成的，但颜色已做增强处理，否则在肉眼看来，水星表面颜色会相对太淡。

This sharp imagecombines three of the MESSENGER wide angle camera 's colors , but in exaggerated fashion . Otherwise , to the unaided human eye , Mercury 's surface colors would appear comparatively muted .

第一个探测水星轨道的是美国宇航局的信使号太空飞船，它的研究人员表示，地面望远镜已经花了20年的时间收集证据表明水星上有冰，但是发现有机物确实是个意外。

Earth-based telescopes have been compiling evidence for ice on Mercury for 20 years , but the finding of organics was a surprise , say researchers with NASA 's MESSENGER spacecraft , the first probe to orbit Mercury .

图释：以上是由波多黎各的阿雷西博天文台收集的一张水星北部极地地区的雷达图片。它与2012年11月29日美国宇航局发布的一张信使号太空船在同一地区收集的加了马赛克的资料图片反映的信息重复了。

A radar image of Mercury 's North Polar Region acquired by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is shown superposed on a mosaic of Mercury MESSENGER images of the same area in this NASA handout photo released Nov 29 , 2012 .

“信使”号首席导航员SeanSolomon更详细的说明了科学计划的细节。

MESSENGER principal investigator Sean Solomon explained the science plans in more detail .

当“信使”号飞经金星的同时，ESA的“金星快车”飞船也在这颗行星上获取科学数据，这一前景令Solomon兴奋。

As MESSENGER flies by Venus , ESA 's Venus Express spacecraft will also be capturing science data on the planet , a prospect that excited Solomon .

为此次“信使”号在前往水星的长途旅程中最重要的引力机动，飞船正在对金星进行校正。

The MESSENGER spacecraft is zeroing in on Venus for the most significant gravity assist maneuver of its long journey to Mercury .

为了进入水星轨道，“信使”号在内太阳系沿漫长、往复的路线旅行。

In order to enter orbit at Mercury , MESSENGER is traveling on a long , looping tour of the inner solar system .

在冷冻中，“信使”号将遇到另一个难题：如此接近太阳的行星，冰存在吗？

And here in a freezer that messenger will encounter another puzzle : can ice exist on a planet so close to the sun ?

今天世界时23：08：19，“信使”号将掠过金星的大气层，使其减速落向太阳和最内部的行星。

Today at23:08:19 Universal Time ( 16:08:19 PDT ), MESSENGER will skim Venus'atmosphere , shedding velocity to drop it toward the Sun and the innermost planet .