Congratulations! You have made it almost all of the way through 2017!
恭喜你!我们即将顺利度过2017年!
There are moments where it felt like maybe we wouldn't.
尽管我们的节目有不尽如人意的地方,
Next year in space news, we've got a lot to look forward to,
下一年的太空新闻,我们有很多值得期待的东西,
from rockets launching, to spacecraft arriving at their destinations, to missions coming to an end.
从火箭发射到抵达目的地的宇宙飞船,再到即将结束的任务。
And like we do around this time every year, we wanted to give you a sneak peek.
我们一如往年此时所做的那样,给你稍微透点儿料。
There are three missions that you can expect to hear more about in 2018.
2018年你可以期待三个任务的更多消息。
In late November, Mars will receive another visitor:
十一月下旬,火星将接待另一个参观者,
NASA's InSight mission, which will likely launch in May.
那就是宇航局的“InSight”号,它可能会在5月发射。
It'll land on Mars to study its interior to learn more about how the rocky planets formed.
它将在火星上着陆,研究火星的内部情况,了解更多岩质行星如何形成的信息。
All the rocky planets in our solar system have similar interior structures,
我们太阳系所有岩质行星的内部结构都类似,
with separate layers including a crust, mantle, and core.
分不同的岩层,包括地壳、地幔和地核。
While scientists know the basics of how these layers formed,
尽管科学家们知道这些岩层形成的基本原理,
how they separated is still poorly understood.
但是对它们如何分层仍缺乏了解。
But Mars happens to be an ideal size to study how that happened.
火星有了解它们如何发生的理想尺寸。
It's massive enough to have experienced most, if not all of those fundamental processes,
它的体积巨大,即使没有发生所有的基本过程,但大部分也都发生了,
but not so massive that it lost evidence of them through years of geologic activity,
要说大也不算特别大,因为它在多年的地质活动中失去了证据,
which is what happened to Earth.
这和地球的状况类似。
InSight will be studying the basic properties of Mars's layers,
“InSight”号将会研究火星岩层的基本属性,
like their size, thickness, density, and composition, as well as how heat flows through them.
比如它们的大小、厚度、密度和构成,以及热量如何流经它们。
It'll also monitor seismic activity, the rate of meteorite impacts,
它还会监测火星的地震活动,陨石撞击的速度,
and how Mars wobbles due to the gravity of its moons and the sun.
以及火星卫星与太阳的引力对它的影响。
One of its three instruments will also hammer a probe 5 meters into Mars' surface,
“InSight”号三件仪器中的一件还将探测器锤入火星表面5米深的地方,
much further down than any mission before it.
比之前的任何任务都深。
InSight was originally meant to launch in 2016 but engineers found a leak during testing so it missed its launch window.
它原本打算在2016年发射的,但在测试中发现了泄露,所以错过了发射窗口。
And it took another 26 months for the Earth and Mars to line up for another shot.
地球和火星为下一次发射排队等了26个月。
Thankfully, InSight passed its most recent battery of tests this past November,
值得庆幸的是,“InSight”号在去年11月通过了最新一轮的电池测试,
so now it'll be ready to launch in just a few months.
所以它已经准备好近几个月发射了。
Speaking of delayed missions, the finalists of Google's Lunar X-PRIZE have a new deadline: March 31, 2018.
说到延迟任务,谷歌“月球x大奖”的最终入围名单会有一个新的截止日期:2018年的3月31号。
This competition was announced back in 2007
这次竞争是在2007年宣布的,
and a year ago, five finalists were selected to compete for the 20 million dollar grand prize.
一年前,5名决赛选手入围比赛,争夺2000万美元的大奖。
To win, a team has to land a spacecraft on the Moon, move it at least 500 meters,
为了赢得胜利,每个小组必须向月球发射一枚航天器,它们至少能移动500米,
and transmit a variety of data, including videos, a panorama, and an email and text message.
并且传输各种数据,包括视频、全景图、电子邮件和短信。
The projects have to be almost entirely funded by private investors, and it has to happen by the end of March.
这些项目几乎全部由私人投资者出资,而且必须在3月底前完成。
Piece of cake, right?
小事一件,对吗?
The five final teams are Israel's SpaceIL, the US's Moon Express, India's TeamIndus,
五支决赛队伍分别是以色列的“SpaceIL”,美国的“月球快车”,印度的“TeamIndus”
Japan's HAKUTO, and the international team Synergy Moon.
日本的“HAKUTO”和国际团队的“Synergy Moon”。
SpaceIL would be the first group from Israel to land on the Moon,
SpaceIL将会是以色列第一枚登陆月球的探月器,
and if they win, they've promised to donate the prize money to advance STEM education in their country.
他们如果赢了,已答应捐出奖金来推进他们国家的STEM教育。
To travel the required distance on the Moon, their lander will perform a "space hop".
为了达到月球旅行的要求距离,他们的探月器将上演太空跳跃。
They'll land, take off again, then land 500 meters away.
它们会着陆,再次起飞,然后在500米远的地方再着陆。
Moon Express is also performing a space hop.
“月球快车”也会表演太空跳跃。
They have a contract with the company Rocket Lab and will launch from New Zealand,
他们与火箭实验室公司有个合约,将从新西兰发射,
traveling on a rocket that only had its first launch last May.
搭乘去年5月首次发射升空的火箭。
Synergy Moon, on the other hand, is the only team that can completely send itself all on its own to the Moon,
而Synergy Moon是唯一一组完全靠自己发射探月器的团队,
since one of companies involved builds and launches its own rockets.
因为其中一家公司建造并发射了自己的火箭。
Meanwhile, HAKUTO and TeamIndus will hitch the same ride to space aboard a rocket from ISRO, India's space agency.
与此同时,HAKUTO和TeamIndus将搭乘来自印度太空总署(ISRO)的同一艘飞船前往太空。
HAKUTO's four-kilogram rover has 3D printed wheels and is built out of plastic reinforced with carbon fiber.
HAKUTO的4公里探月器有3D打印的轮子,它是用碳纤维加固的塑料制成的。
And TeamIndus's rover, called ECA for short, might be the most adorable of the bunch.
TeamIndus的探月器简称ECA,它可能是这一群里最可爱的一个。
It even has its own comic strip on the team's website.
它甚至在团队网站上有自己的连环漫画。
They're planning to land in the same region Apollo 15 did.
他们计划在与阿波罗15号的同一区域着陆。
So far, it's still too early to say how many of the finalists will make it to the Moon by Google's deadline,
到目前为止,要说有多少入围者将在谷歌的最后期限之前到达月球,还为时过早。
but if any of them clinch that grand prize,
但他们中如果有谁赢得了大奖,
it'll open up a totally new phase of lunar exploration.
将开启一个全新的月球探索阶段。
The jury's still out on X-PRIZE, but we do know about one spacecraft that will definitely reach its target next year:
他们还没有获得x奖,但是我们知道有一艘航天器将在明年到达它的目的地:
OSIRIS-REx, which will arrive at the asteroid Bennu this August.
OSIRIS-REx将于今年8月到达贝努小行星。
Asteroids are left over from when the solar system formed,
当太阳系形成时,小行星被遗留下来,
and are basically unchanged records of the solar system from 4.5 billion years ago.
基本上与45亿年前的太阳系没多大变化。
We can occasionally study them when meteorites hit Earth,
当陨石撞击地球时,我们可以偶尔研究一下,
but OSIRIS-REx will go straight to the source, collecting a sample and bringing it home.
但是,OSIRIS-REx将直奔源头,收集样本并将其带回地球。
It launched back in September 2016 and has been making its way to Bennu,
它于2016年9月发射,一直在向小行星贝努飞行,
which is located between Earth and Mars, ever since.
从那以后,它定居于地球和火星之间。
When it gets there in August,
当它在8月到达那里时,
it'll spend a year mapping potential sampling sites before approaching the surface and blasting Bennu with nitrogen,
它将花费一年时间绘制潜在采样点,然后再靠近贝努小行星的表面,用氮气破坏贝努,
which will dislodge rocks and dust to be captured.
这样会移动岩石和尘埃,我们就能捕获它们了。
Bennu is a rare, primitive type of asteroid that's chock full of carbon.
贝努是一种罕见的原始小行星,里面全是碳。
It's expected to have organic molecules and water-containing clays,
人们预计它会有有机分子和含水粘土,
and OSIRIS-REx will be able to confirm those hypotheses.
而OSIRIS-REx能够确认这些假设。
It will also study how Bennu's momentum changes as it rotates and emits heat,
它还将研究贝努旋转和释放热量时,其动量如何变化,
which will help scientists understand its long-term trajectory.
这将帮助科学家了解它的长期轨迹。
That's important, because over a century from now,
这很重要,因为一个多世纪之后,
Bennu could hit Earth, although it's a slim chance,
贝努能够撞击地球,但希望渺茫,
so, you probably don't need to worry too much about your, like, potential grandkids.
所以你不必太过担心你未来的孙子孙女。
OSIRIS-REx won't return to Earth until 2023, so like a lot of science missions,
在2023年之前,OSIRIS-REx不会返回地球,所以和许多科学任务一样,
we'll have to wait a few years before we get all that juicy data.
我们要等上几年才能得到充足的数据。
But luckily for us, there are way more missions running through 2018 and beyond,
但幸运的是,2018年及以后有更多的任务要进行,
so we'll have plenty to tell you about in the upcoming year.
所以在接下来的一年里,我们会有很多的事情告诉你。
Thank you for watching this episode of SciShow Space!
感谢您收看本期的太空科学秀!
If you would like to keep learning about the universe with us next year, you can do that!
如果你想在来年继续与我们了解宇宙,绝对能做到!
Just go to youtube.com/scishowspace and subscribe.
那就登录youtube.com/scishowspace点击订阅吧。