NASA最新研究：地球是孤独？

　　An image provided by NASA shows Saturn’s largest moon Titan passing in front of the giant planet in an image made by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The natural color view of Saturn and one of it’s moons was made by Cassini’s wide-angle camera on May 6, 2012 and released by NASA on Wednesday Aug. 29, 2012

　　根据美国宇航局提供的图像显示，围绕土星最大的一颗卫星太阳神在通过该巨大行星前被美国宇航局的卡西尼号飞船给抓拍下来。土星和它的一颗卫星的自然图像于2012年5月6日被卡西尼号飞行器上的广角相机拍下，并于2012年的8月29日周三被美国宇航局发布。

　　NASA on Thursday will unveil its latest discoveries about ocean worlds in our solar system "and the broader search for life beyond Earth."

　　美国宇航局本周四将公布关于我们太阳系中海洋世界的最新发现“以及外星生命更广阔的研究”。

　　The briefing will provide information gleaned from the Cassini spacecraft and Hubble Telescope, NASA says. The agency says the new discoveries will help "inform future ocean world exploration" — including NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission planned for launch in the 2020s.

　　美国宇航局表示，该简报将提供卡西尼号飞行器以及哈勃望远镜所搜集到的信息。该机构称新的发现有助于“预知未来海洋世界的探索”--包括美国宇航局将于2020年启动的欧罗巴快船计划。

　　Cassini, which has been orbiting Saturn for almost 13 years, is scheduled to plunge into the gap between Saturn and its innermost ring later this month. A few months later, the nuclear-powered craft will puncture Saturn’s top clouds, disintegrate and vaporize, ending 20 years of unprecedented scientific discoveries.

　　卡西尼号飞行器围绕土星运行了约13年，计划于本月进入土星表面及其内层之间的间隙。几个月之后，核动力飞船将穿过土星的云端，分解蒸发，结束其二十年前所未有的伟大探索。

　　The Hubble Space Telescope launched April 24, 1990, on the space shuttle Discovery and now whirls around the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour.

　　哈勃望远镜于1990年4月24日发射，被搭载在探索号航天飞船上，如今正以每小时17000英里的速度围绕地球旋转。

　　Saturn’s B Ring,finer than ever.This image shows a region in Saturn’s outer B ring. NASA’s Cassini space craft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before. And from this view, it is clear that there are still finer details to uncover.

　　该图片显示了土星外层的B环，可以看到土星的B环比以往任何时候都好。美国宇航局的卡西尼号飞行器观察到该区域的详细情形前所未有的清晰。通过这个图片，我们清楚的认识到还有更深入的细节有待发掘。