NASA的太阳轨道器将进行历史性的太阳探测任务

NASA’s Solar Orbiter is set to launch on a historic mission to the sun that will provide the first images of the star’s poles.

美国国家航空和宇宙航行局(NASA)的太阳轨道飞行器(Solar Orbiter)将启动一项历史性的太阳任务，它将提供太阳两极的首批图像。

The probe is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 11:03 pm EST on Feb. 9.

探测器计划于美国东部时间2月9日晚上11:03从卡纳维拉尔角空军基地发射，搭载美国联合发射联盟阿特拉斯五号火箭。

“Solar Orbiter will observe the Sun with high spatial resolution telescopes and capture observations in the environment directly surrounding the spacecraft to create a one-of-a-kind picture of how the Sun can affect the space environment throughout our solar system,” NASA explained in a statement. “The spacecraft also will provide the first-ever images of the Sun’s poles and the never-before-observed magnetic environment there, which helps drive the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle and its periodic outpouring of solar storms.”

美国国家航空航天局在一份声明中解释说:“太阳轨道飞行器将用高空间分辨率的望远镜观察太阳，并捕获直接围绕在航天器周围环境中的观测结果，从而创造出一幅独一无二的画面，展示太阳如何影响我们整个太阳系的空间环境。”“这艘宇宙飞船还将首次提供太阳两极的图像，以及那里从未被观测到的磁环境，这有助于驱动太阳11年的太阳周期和太阳风暴的周期性喷发。”

The mission is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

这次任务是美国宇航局和欧洲航天局(欧空局)的合作。

On its closest approach, the Solar Orbiter will be 26 million miles from the sun, so the probe’s 324-pound heat shield has been designed to withstand heat up to 970 degrees Fahrenheit.

在最接近太阳的地方，太阳轨道飞行器将距离太阳2600万英里，因此探测器324磅重的隔热板被设计成能承受高达970华氏度的高温。

“Although Solar Orbiter goes quite close to the Sun, it also goes quite far away,” said Anne Pacros, the payload manager at the ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Center in the Netherlands, in a statement. “We have to survive both high heat and extreme cold.” Deep in space, the Orbiter will encounter temperatures of minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

欧空局位于荷兰的欧洲空间研究和技术中心的有效载荷经理安妮·帕克罗斯(Anne Pacros)在一份声明中说：“尽管太阳轨道飞行器离太阳很近，但它也离太阳很远。”。“我们必须在高热和极端寒冷中生存。”在太空深处，轨道飞行器将遭遇零下300华氏度的温度。