朱諾號任務：探索木星之謎
即便在21世紀，地球與太陽系仍存在一些謎團，木星就是其中之一。科學家渴望更深入了解木星底下的暴風雲、巨大磁場以及水中的含氧量。科學家也想知道，地球兩倍寬、持續數百年之久的眼狀風暴「大紅斑」為何正持續縮小，以及木星是否有固態核心。
英協教育中心 Melissa Henry 中譯／陳怡君 （中央社編譯）
Even in the 21st century, there are still mysteries on Earth and in our solar system. Jupiter is one of them. Scientists are eager to know more about what is beneath the storm clouds and enormous magnetic field of Jupiter, as well as how much oxygen there is within its water. They additionally question why the ‘Great Red Spot’, or eye-shaped storm that has been going for hundreds of years and is twice as wide as Earth, is shrinking and if Jupiter even has a solid core.
即便在21世紀，地球與太陽系仍存在一些謎團，木星就是其中之一。科學家渴望更深入了解木星底下的暴風雲、巨大磁場以及水中的含氧量。科學家也想知道，地球兩倍寬、持續數百年之久的眼狀風暴「大紅斑」為何正持續縮小，以及木星是否有固態核心。
Thus, scientists have sent Juno, a solar-powered spacecraft, to fly 2,600 miles above Jupiter’s clouds to find out. The spacecraft is named Juno, after the wife of the Roman god Jupiter, and it is the closest any spacecraft has ever come to this gigantic gas giant and the first of its kind to travel such a long distance from Earth. It carries nine instruments that will enable it to look further into Jupiter, which have been protected by a titanium box due to the intensity of radiation and turbulence that Jupiter has.
因此，科學家派出太陽能太空船「朱諾號」，飛掠木星雲層上空2,600英里來尋求解答。「朱諾」以羅馬天神朱庇特之妻為名，是史上最靠近這個巨大氣體行星的太空船，也是利用太陽能從地球航行最遠的太空探測器。朱諾號上頭搭載九台設備以便深入探測木星，由於木星的強烈輻射與氣流，因此朱諾號裝上特製的鈦金屬保護罩。
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and is so big that you can see it from Earth without a telescope. It is made from hydrogen and helium, which resembles more the sun than a planet, and its stripes are made from east-west winds that can reach up to 618 km per hour. It is known for its polar aurora displays that two scientists from the UK, Professors Stan Cowly and Emma Bunce from the University of Leicester, have theorised are a result from the planet’s rapid rotation combined with volcanic material exploding from its moon Io. With fifteen years’ worth of work invested in understanding Jupiter, these two scientists were invited to work with NASA on the Juno mission to prove or disprove their theory.
木星為太陽系最大的行星， 大到在地球不用天文望遠鏡就可肉眼觀察，主要由氫氣與氦氣構成，以組成來說，木星更類似於太陽而非行星。木星表面的條紋是由東西向的風形成， 風速每小時高達618公里。木星的極光現象由英國兩位科學家─萊斯特大學的柯利教授與邦斯教授發表理論指出，由於木星高速旋轉，加上木衛一噴發出的火山物質，造就木星極光的誕生。兩位學者投入木星研究長達15年，美國國家航空暨太空總署邀請兩人參與朱諾號任務來驗證其理論是否正確。
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On July 5, 2016 after almost five years and 2.8 billion kilometers of travel, Juno successfully completed the most difficult part of its trip called the ‘Jupiter Orbital Insertion’, when it had 1.2 seconds to be captured into a relatively miniscule space of Jupiter’s gravitational pull and therefore be able to orbit the planet. After completing two elliptical orbits over 53 days, Juno will start its engine again to move into 14-day orbits. This is when the instruments will begin to collect data to answer questions and theories about Jupiter. 37 orbits later, in February 2018, the $1.1 billion USD project will plunge into Jupiter’s atmosphere and disintegrate to avoid hitting Europa, one of its largest moons, on which scientists believe could support life.
2016年7月5日，朱諾號歷經近五年、28億公里的航行後，完成最艱鉅的任務─木星軌道接入（JOI, Jupiter Orbital Insertion），在1.2秒內瞄準木星引力間的極小空間潛入，成功進入木星軌道運行。朱諾號完成為期53天的兩圈橢圓形軌道繞行後，將再度點燃引擎，進入週期14天的軌道繞行， 這些探測設備也將在此時蒐集資訊來解答關於木星的疑問和理論。到了2018年2月，這項耗資11億美元的朱諾號計畫將在環繞木星37圈後，脫離軌道墜入木星大氣層銷毀，避免撞擊到科學家認為可能有生命存在的木星最大衛星之一歐羅巴。
Past space exploration has brought a number of benefits to the public, including advanced technology to detect breast cancer, hear t defibrillators, and weather satellites to name just a few. Technology transfer is a requirement of NASA, and has been responsible for over 1,500 technology and science advances, which arguably a majority of people have knowingly or unknowingly profited from. If you would like to follow Juno, go to JunoCam at www.missionjuno.swri.edu.
過去的太空探險已為大眾帶來若干好處，包括像是偵測乳癌、心臟去顫器以及氣象衛星等先進科技。美國國家航空暨太空總署依規定必須技術轉移，影響絕大多數人類已知或不知不覺從中受益的逾1,500種技術與科學進展。如果你想追蹤朱諾號的動態，就上www.missionjuno.swri.edu.網站觀看「朱諾攝影機」。(完)
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