Voyagers in Space

Voyagers in Space. Written by Cheryl Reif -Snyder.

太空旅行者号。 作者：谢丽尔·赖夫-斯奈德。

One tough job. When the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, they had a tough job ahead. Their mission was to explore Jupiter and Saturn, two giant planets in the outer solar system. Their journey would be long and difficult. If something broke, the space probes would just have to make do with what they had.

一项艰巨的任务。 1977年两艘旅行者号飞船发射升空，等待它们的是一项艰巨的任务。 它们的任务是探测太阳系外侧的两颗巨型行星——木星和土星。 这场旅程漫长又艰险。 如果零件出故障，这些太空探测器只能靠现有条件勉强运转。

Scientists built the Voyagers to be tough. Their computers were set up to deal with problems that might happen. Those computers would be toys by today's standards, though. They are thousands of times less powerful than a modern cell phone. Scientists guessed that the Voyagers would only last about five years. More than 35 years later, the twin spacecraft are still sending information back to earth.

科学家把旅行者号造得十分坚固。 飞船上的计算机提前设置好程序，可以应对可能出现的问题。 不过，以今天的标准来看，这些计算机就像玩具一样简陋。 它们的性能比现代手机弱几千倍。 科学家原本预测，旅行者号只能运行大约五年。 三十五年过去了，这两艘孪生飞船至今还在给地球传回信息。

Planning. The Voyager launches were carefully timed. In the late 1970s, the four outer planets' orbits placed them in a nearly straight line. With the planets so close together, it became possible to visit several of them during the same trip. Unfortunately, the rockets that launched the Voyagers into space could only get them to about halfway to Saturn. Scientists solved that problem by using Jupiter's strong gravity to give the spacecraft a boost as it passed by.

精心规划。 旅行者号的发射时机经过了精心选择。 20世纪70年代末，四颗外侧行星的轨道刚好连成一条近似直线。 行星位置如此接近，让旅行者号一次航程探访多颗行星成为了可能。 遗憾的是，发射旅行者号的火箭，只能把它们送到土星航程的一半左右。 科学家想到了办法：利用木星强大的引力，给路过的飞船加速。

The main task. At first, the Voyager's mission was to study Jupiter and Saturn, their larger moons, and Saturn's rings. The spacecraft carried cameras and scientific instruments. Using these instruments, the Voyagers collected information that changed how we understand our solar system.

核心任务。 最初，旅行者号的任务是研究木星、土星、它们的大型卫星以及土星环。 飞船搭载了相机和各类科学仪器。 借助这些仪器收集的信息，旅行者号改变了我们对太阳系的认知。

Jupiter The Voyagers' first target was Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet. Humans had already studied Jupiter through telescopes, but the Voyagers sent back new information. They showed that the Great Red Spot was a huge, constantly spinning storm. They discovered a faint ring surrounding Jupiter like the ones Saturn. They also found ice sheets on one of Jupiter's moons and volcanoes on another.

木星 旅行者号的第一个目标是太阳系最大的行星——木星。 人类此前已经通过望远镜研究过木星，但旅行者号传回了全新的信息。 它们发现大红斑是一场巨大的、不停旋转的风暴。 它们发现木星和土星一样，周围也环绕着一圈暗淡的光环。 它们还在木星的一颗卫星上发现了冰原，在另一颗卫星上发现了火山。