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New probe launched
人类“逐日”梦想终于要实现了
There is an ancient Chinese story about a giant man named Kua Fu who chases the sun. He drains the Yellow and Wei rivers during his race and finally dies of dehydration. His failure has reminded people of the unstoppable power of the sun for centuries.
中国古代有“夸父逐日”的故事。逐日时夸父喝干了黄河、渭水，最终干渴缺水而死。数百年来，他的失败警示着人们太阳势不可挡的力量。
And yet, scientists throughout history have tried to better understand the most important star in our sky. On Aug 12, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US, marking the start of its trip to the sun, according to space.com.
然而，从古至今科学家们都在试图更好地了解天空中这颗最为重要的恒星。据太空网报道，8月12日，美国国家航空航天局在美国佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角空军基地发射了帕克太阳探测器，开启了探日之旅。
The probe itself is almost as big as a car and needed the help of a powerful rocket to escape Earth's orbit, change direction and reach the sun, reported CNN.
据CNN报道，这个汽车大小的探测器在重型火箭的运载下离开地球轨道，随后改变方向，奔向太阳。
In order to reach the sun, the probe must complete seven flybys of Venus, using the power of the planet's gravity to change its path, sending it toward the sun.
为了接近太阳，帕克探测器需要7次飞掠金星，借助金星引力改变飞行轨道，不断靠近太阳。
But that's not the only difficult part of the journey. As the probe approaches the sun's corona, it will have to bear temperatures reaching 1,400 C, as well as deal with serious radiation. So how will the probe survive?
但这并非探日之旅中的唯一难题。随着探测器不断靠近日冕，它将面临1400摄氏度的高温以及巨大的辐射。探测器将如何克服这些困难呢？
"The spacecraft and most of the payload will be protected by a shield from the sun's heat, which will be as high as 500 times what we experience on Earth," deputy project scientist Nour Raouafi told Discovery Magazine.
“探测器及其大部分的装备都装上了保护罩，以抵御比地球上高出500倍的高温。”该项目副主任、科学家努尔·拉乌夫在接受《探索》杂志采访时表示。
According to NASA, this shield is a special 11.5 cm-thick carbon-composite shield that will be positioned between the probe and the sun's corona.
美国国家航空航天局表示，保护罩由厚度为11.5厘米的特殊碳复合材料制成，将探测器和太阳日冕隔开。
It's advanced technology like this will make the probe's trip to the sun much smoother. If everything goes as planned, the probe will reach a speed of 692,018 kilometers per hour as it orbits the sun, setting a new record for the fastest man-made object (物体) in history, NBC noted. It will fly close to the sun 24 times between 2018 and 2025, NBC added.
这项先进技术将会令探测器的探日之旅更为顺利。美国全国广播公司指出，按照计划，探测器将以每小时692018千米的速度进入太阳轨道，届时将成为迄今为止速度最快的人造物体。在2018-2025年期间，帕克将靠近太阳24次，美国全国广播公司补充道。
The "mission to touch the sun" will "not only make history by answering questions that have puzzled scientists for decades, but it may also lead to the discovery of new phenomena that are completely unknown to us now," Raouafi told Discovery Magazine. "This mission has the potential to push solar research into a new direction," he added.
“这次‘触摸太阳'的行动创造了历史，它不光能够解答困惑科学家们多年的谜题，还能让我们发现未知的新现象，”拉乌夫向《探索》杂志表示。“这次行动或许能将太阳研究推动进入一个新方向，”他补充道。
