第1817期:Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

For those of us who grew up with the idea that there were nine planets, this is the moment we get to complete the set. Robotic probes have been to all the others - even the distant Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is the last of the familiar nine to get a visit.

对于我们这些从小就认为有九颗行星的人来说，这是我们完成这组行星的时刻。 机器人探测器已经到达了所有其他行星——甚至是遥远的天王星和海王星。 冥王星是熟悉的九颗星中最后一颗造访的。

Of course, it was demoted to dwarf status in 2006, but this doesn't seem to have dulled anyone's enthusiasm. The New Horizons probe will sweep by at high speed, grabbing as many pictures and other types of science data as it can. Not just of Pluto but also its five moons: Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra.

当然，它在 2006 年被降级为矮人，但这似乎并没有削弱任何人的热情。 新视野号探测器将高速掠过，尽可能多地获取图片和其他类型的科学数据。 不仅是冥王星，还有它的五个卫星：Charon、Styx、Nix、Kerberos 和 Hydra。

Unfortunately, the vast distance from Earth makes for very weak radio signals, and it's going to take many months to get all the images back. Nonetheless, the lead researcher, Alan Stern, says we should be prepared for some remarkable discoveries...

不幸的是，与地球的遥远距离导致无线电信号非常微弱，要恢复所有图像需要好几个月的时间。 尽管如此，首席研究员艾伦斯特恩表示，我们应该为一些非凡的发现做好准备......

I like to say that this is in a sense, a return to the kind of space exploration in the sixties and seventies, when everything was completely new - first mission to Venus, first mission to Mars, first mission to everywhere. And although new missions, for example to the surface of Mars, teach us tremendous amounts, where people say we re-write the textbook. This is an example of not re-writing the textbook - we're gonna write the textbook.

我想说，这在某种意义上是回到了六七十年代的那种太空探索，那时一切都是全新的——第一次到金星的任务，第一次到火星的任务，第一次到无处不在的任务。尽管新任务（例如火星表面任务）教会了我们大量知识，但人们说我们重写了教科书。这是一个不重写教科书的例子——我们要写教科书。

词汇表

complete the set （此处指）证明太阳系确实有九大行星
robotic probes 机器探测器
familiar 熟知的
demoted 被降级
dwarf status 矮（星）级别
dulled 使降低、失去兴趣
grabbing 抓取
vast 巨大的
remarkable 不同寻常的，非凡的
in a sense 从某种程度上，从某种意义上讲
mission 任务
tremendous 极多的，惊人的