(单词翻译:单击)
Back in February, the Opportunity rover celebrated its 5000th Martian day on the planet next door.
2月，机会号庆祝了自己在地球邻居火星上的第5000天。
And that's a seriously amazing accomplishment, because Oppy was originally scheduled to operate for, like, three months.
这是很让人惊奇的成就了，因为根据原计划，机会号本来只会待3个月左右。
In that time, it's had to weather some pretty significant hardships, too, including a brush with death in 2007.
那时候，机会号还要克服很多困难，比如2007年的死亡刷子。
That year, a planet-wide dust storm blocked out 99% of direct sunlight for weeks, which isn't a great time when you're powered by solar panels.
那一年，火星全境爆发的尘暴阻挡了其后数周内99%的直射阳光。这场尘暴来的不是时候，毕竟机会号是要靠太阳电池板来提供能源的。
Now, at this very moment, Oppy is fighting for its life again, thanks to another huge dust storm.
而现在，机会号再次遇险，因为又发生了一场大型尘暴。
And we're really hoping it's going to be okay.
我们真心希望机会号可以安全渡过。
Because after almost 15 years, a lot of people — myself included — are pretty attached to this thing.
因为在近15年的时间里，很多人——包括我本人——都很喜欢机会号。
Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004, and it's currently roving around the western edge of Endeavour Crater.
2004年，机会号着陆火星。目前，机会号在“奋进”陨石坑西缘附近活动。
Well, it would be roving, if it weren't for a giant dust storm blotting out the Sun.
机会号本来是能正常移动的，但大型尘暴的发生阻挡了阳光。
Continent-sized dust storms happen every Martian year or so, and they're caused by similar processes to storms on Earth — things like Sun-warmed air rising and picking up dust.
火星几乎每年都会发生全境范围的尘暴，其发生原因跟地球上暴风雨引发的原因很相似——比如，因太阳照射而升温的暖空气携带着尘土上升。
But unlike around here, these storms get so big every few years that Mars's entire atmosphere turns into one giant light blocker.
但跟地球不同的是，火星上的尘暴每几年就会扩大一次规模，导致整个火星大气层都变成了庞大的阳光阻隔物。
Opportunity hasn't seen one of these giant dust storms since back in '07, and it's difficult to know when exactly they'll happen.
自2007年以后，机会号就没再遇到过如此大型的尘暴了，所以很难得知尘暴究竟会何时发生。
But this one wasn't totally unexpected.
但这一次的尘暴不是一点预兆都没有。
About six months ago, astronomers predicted we'd see something this year as Mars's orbit took it closer to the Sun and it got a bit warmer — among some other factors.
大约半年前，有数位天文学家预测称，今年，我们会见证一些现象的发生，因为今年火星的轨道会离太阳更近，所以其温度会更高些——除此之外，也有其他的因素在作用。
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter first detected this storm on May 30th, and it now covers roughly a quarter of the planet's surface.
美国宇航局火星勘测轨道飞行器第一次检测到尘暴是在5月30日，而现在尘暴已经近乎覆盖了火星表面的1/4。
When we filmed this video on Tuesday, it wasn't a planet-wide storm like we saw in 2007.
我们周二拍摄这则视频时，其规模还不似2007年全境范围那样大。
But from Oppy's perspective, it's a lot worse in terms of the amount of light being blocked out.
但从机会号的角度来讲，这次受阻阳光的量更大。
In fact, this is the most opaque dust storm we've ever observed.
实际上，这是我们观测到的尘暴中可见度最低的一次。
And that's not good news for the rover's solar panels or its power levels.
这对于机会号的太阳电池板和功率级来说不是什么好事。
On June 12th, NASA engineers attempted to communicate with Oppy, but did not hear back.
6月12日，美国宇航局的工程师试图与机会号交互，但没有收到回应。
This likely means the rover's batteries are getting low and that it's entered what's called “low power fault mode”, where basically all subsystems are shut off except the master clock.
这很可能意味着机会号的电池电量极低，已经进入了“低功率故障模式”，基本上除了主时钟之外的所有子系统都停止运行了。
The rover's computer can occasionally wake up to check its power levels, but we won't hear anything from it again until its batteries are full enough to exit that mode. If it ever does.
机会号部署的计算机有时候会苏醒并查看功率级，但我们无法收到机会号的消息，因为其电池电量不够，只能处于当前模式。也或许它连苏醒所需的电量也不够了。
With so many systems shut down, the rover can't keep itself warm, either.
太多的系统停止运行，导致机会号无法维持温度。
So if Opportunity goes without sufficient power for too long, it'll basically freeze to death.
所以机会号长时间没有充足电量的话，就会因冻结而报废。
So, we'll just wait to hear back from it… in silence… any day, now...
所以我们现在只能静候佳音。
Luckily, Endeavour Crater is warming up as the Southern Hemisphere heads into its summer season.
幸运的是，“奋进”陨石坑的温度正在回升，因为南半球进入了夏季。
And the dust storm is helping to keep the area warmer than it would otherwise be.
而且尘暴的出现也使得该地区气温升高。
Current estimates suggest that Opportunity will survive the ordeal, but we don't know exactly how long this storm's going to last.
目前有估测认为，机会号会熬过这次考验，但我们不知道这次尘暴会持续多久。
Because there's so little water in Mars's thin atmosphere, dust can float around for months.
因为火星稀薄的大气层中含水量很少，所以尘土可以持续漂浮数月之久。
So it will definitely be a while before Oppy's solar panels will can get things fully operational.
所以，在机会号的太阳能电池板能恢复正常运行之前，还需要一段时日。
If there's any good news, though, it's that the Curiosity rover will be fine.
唯一的好消息就是机会号不会报废。
It's also seeing skies dim way over in Gale Crater, but it relies on nuclear power, not solar panels.
虽然“奋进”陨石坑上方的天空可见度很低，但机会号不只依靠太阳能电池板提供能量，还有核能可用。
Along with NASA's other robot immigrants, it will even do a little science while we wait for this storm to pass.
这一点跟美国宇航局的其他一些机器人探测器一样，所以，我们可以静候机会号度过这次难关。
It, along with our three orbiters, will record things like temperatures and pressures at the surface and in the various parts of the atmosphere.
包括机会号在内的4个探测器将记录火星表明及大气层不同部分的气温、压强等数据。
They'll also monitor the characteristics of the dust particles being flung around.
除此之外，他们还会监测漂浮着的尘粒。
Studying this storm will help scientists better understand Mars's weather, which will hopefully allow us to predict future weather events one day.
研究尘暴可以助力科学家更好地理解火星的天气，继而有希望帮助我们预测火星的未来气象。
But hopefully we won't have to sacrifice one of our favorite robots to get there.
不过，希望我们不用不费一兵一卒就能看到这一天到来。
Now while Mars is whipping dust around, a paper published in Nature Geoscience this week reports that the wind on our other planetary neighbor is changing the length of its days.
虽然火星上有尘粒漂浮，但根据本周《自然地球科学》上发表的一篇论文：地区附近其他行星上的风会改变昼长。
Of all the planets in our solar system, Venus has — by far and away — the longest day.
太阳系里的所有行星中，金星的昼长是最长的。
It's about 243 Earth days long. Yeah. 8 months.
其总昼长达近243个地球日，也就是8个月。
But weirdly, measurements can't seem to pin down exactly how long it is.
但奇怪的是：通过测量的方式无法确定金星的昼长。
They aren't off by much — less than 10 minutes — but it's enough of a curiosity that astronomers are trying to determine what's happening.
虽然偏差并不大——小于10分钟而已——但这种现象足以让天文学家产生好奇心并一探究竟。
One team hypothesized that the difference might be partially caused by the interactions between Venus's thick atmosphere and its hot nightmare of a surface.
有一个研究小组作出假设称，这种偏差产生的部分原因是金星厚重的大气层与其表面的高温发生了作用。
Their idea was inspired after Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft observed a super long, bow-shaped feature at the top of the atmosphere in 2015.
他们是受到日本航天器晓(Akatsuki)的启发：2015年，该航天器在大气层上端发现了一个弓形的超长地带。
See, Venus's atmosphere rotates around the planet 60 times faster than the ground beneath it — although we don't know why.
毕竟火星大气层的转速是其地下部分的60倍，虽然我们不知道原因。
But that bow-shaped structure is somehow relatively stationary above a mountainous region on the continent called Aphrodite Terra.
但这个弓形地带跟阿佛洛狄忒台地的某山区保持相对静止。
The team ran computer simulations of Venus's atmosphere and confirmed that the structure is most likely an atmospheric gravity wave caused by the surface topography.
该小组在电脑上模拟了进行的大气层，并得出结论称该弓形结构最有可能是由表面形貌学引起的大气层重力波。
Gravity waves aren't the same as gravitational waves — the ripples in spacetime that happen when things like black holes collide.
重力波跟引力波不是一回事——后者是黑洞之类的东西相撞后在时空中产生的涟漪。
Instead, they're waves made of air that are forced to ripple up and down.
而重力波是由空气组成的波，重力波要被迫的上下浮动。
This can happen after air hits a mountain and gets shot upward, then pulled back down by gravity.
重力波形成的场景包括空气撞击山峰并受到向上的推力后，又受到重力的拖拽。
At that point, the air's momentum keeps it bobbing up and down until it settles back to equilibrium.
在这种情况下，空气的动能会让重力波上下弹跳，直到归于均衡。
The simulations showed that the amount of torque these waves exert on Venus's surface are enough to cause the planet's rotation to vary by a couple of minutes.
模拟情况表明，重力波对金星表面产生的扭矩足以让金星的转速产生几分钟的偏差。
It's not enough to explain all of the differences in measurement, but it was a fairly simplified model.
这个模拟不足以解释测量中的所有偏差现象，但这是一个相当简化的模型了。
With more data, tracking the change in the length of day will ultimately allow astronomers to figure out why Venus spins the way it does, which we don't actually have a definitive answer for.
有了更多的数据后，通过追踪昼长的变化就能让天文学家最终弄清金星为何如此旋转。这个问题，我们目前尚未解决。
Admittedly, another way we could try and solve that mystery is by sending a lander or rover to Venus… but it's terrible there.
无可否认，还有一种方法可以用来尝试解决这个谜题，那就是将着陆器或者探测器发送到金星上……但金星环境太恶劣了。
Opportunity is having a hard enough time on Mars where it's relatively static and lead isn't a liquid.
机会号在火星上举步维艰，因为机会号在那里处于相对静止的状态，而且铅又不是液态的。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Space!
感谢收看本期的《太空科学秀》！
And a special thanks to our President of Space, Matthew Brant!
尤其要感谢我们的负责人马修·布兰特！
Thank you so much for your support.
感谢你们的支持。
If you'd like to keep up with the latest news from around the solar system — and the rest of the universe — you can go to youtube.com/scishowspace and subscribe.
如果大家想继续了解有关太阳系的最新消息——以及宇宙的其他地方——可以订阅youtube.com/scishowspace哦！
We post a news episode like this every Friday.
我们每周五都会有类似今天这样的视频发布。
