VOA慢速英语2021--美国宇航局：太空船“接触”太阳

NASA: Spacecraft ‘Touches’ Sun

The American space agency NASA says a spacecraft has entered the sun's outermost¹ atmosphere for the first time.

The Parker Solar Probe traveled through the solar atmosphere's outer edge – known as the corona² – in April, scientists announced this week. They said it took them a few months to examine data from the spacecraft and to confirm the result.

Unlike Earth, the sun does not have a solid surface. Instead, it is a superheated ball of material held together by gravity and magnetic forces.

Some solar material escapes and is released into space in what is known as the solar wind. The solar wind is the flow of charged particles, known as plasma³, released from the corona into space.

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 with a main goal of studying the solar wind. Scientists say being able to study the solar wind and the corona close up can help them better understand how solar activity influences Earth.

NASA has described the spacecraft's entry into the outermost atmosphere as successfully "touching⁴" the sun.

Nour Raouafi is the project scientist on the mission. He is with the Johns Hopkins Applied⁵ Physics Laboratory in Maryland. Raouafi called the finding "fascinatingly exciting."

The spacecraft is now able to sense conditions in the magnetically-influenced corona for the very first time, Raouafi said.

He added that the evidence used to confirm the findings included data on magnetic fields and the solar wind, as well as images. "We can actually see the spacecraft flying through coronal structures that can be observed during a total solar eclipse," Raouafi said.

Scientists announced the findings during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Results were also published by the American Physical Society.

The scientists reported Parker was about 13 million kilometers from the center of the sun when it crossed the boundary between the solar atmosphere and the solar wind. They said the spacecraft was able to go in and out of the corona at least three times.

The Parker team said early data also suggested the spacecraft may have entered the corona during its ninth close pass in August. But further study is needed to make a confirmation⁶. The scientists said Parker made its 10th close pass last month.

The spacecraft is expected to keep getting closer to the sun and diving deeper into the corona until its final orbit, planned for 2025.

Words in This Story

fascinating – adj. extremely interesting

eclipse – n. a situation in which the sun is covered by the moon, or the moon is covered by the Earth's shadow

1 outermost   

adj.最外面的，远离中心的

参考例句：

• He fired and hit the outermost ring of the target.他开枪射中了靶子的最外一环。
• The outermost electron is shielded from the nucleus.原子核对最外层电子的作用受到屏蔽。

2 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

3 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

4 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。

5 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。

6 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。