(单词翻译:单击)
Few things are cooler than exploring somewhere that's totally new.
探索未知事物是最酷的事情了。
So when NASA unveiled their latest destination last week, it got a lot of scientists, really, excited.
正因如此，上周美国宇航局（NASA）宣布最近的目标时，许多科学家都为之兴奋。
The big news? NASA is sending a robot to Saturn's giant moon Titan!
重磅消息是什么呢？那就是NASA要派机器人去往土星最大的卫星——土卫六了。
The mission is called Dragonfly, and it's not just going somewhere different:
此次任务名为“蜻蜓”，这次任务不仅目的地与之前不同，
It'll also explore its target in a totally new way.
而且其探索目标的方式也是前所未有的。
Instead of landing, orbiting, or driving on another world, Dragonfly will fly.
此次任务不会采用着陆、环行或者驱车前行的方式，而是采用飞的方式。
It's basically a science-y version of the quadcopter drones you can buy in a store, just much, much bigger.
蜻蜓号就是科学界的四轴飞行器，只不过，它比普通的四轴飞行器要大很多。
And NASA is hoping this new approach will cover more area, and return more science, than ever before.
NASA希望蜻蜓号能覆盖更多区域、反馈更多的科学数据，比以往的任务做得更好。
Of all the places in the solar system, Titan might be the one that most closely resembles Earth.
在太阳系里，土卫六可能是跟地球最相似的了。
There aren't, like, trees growing everywhere or anything,
两者之间的相似度并非100%，
but Titan does share a striking number of features with our planet.
但土卫六确实跟地球有很多共通之处。
For one, it's the only other place in the solar system with a bunch of liquid on its surface.
一方面，土卫六是太阳系里除了地球之外唯一一个表面有大量液体的星体。
Since the temperature on Titan is roughly negative one hundred eighty degrees Celsius, that liquid is mostly ethane and methane, not water,
土卫六的温度基本上在零下180摄氏度左右，因此其表面的液体基本上都是乙烷和甲烷，没有水。
but, still, it's a place with oceans, rivers, and lakes. And it even rains on Titan.
不过，土卫六上有海洋、河流和湖泊的存在，甚至还会下雨。
This moon is also the only one with a significant atmosphere.
土卫六也是除了地球之外唯一一个有大气层包围的星体。
And, even more than that, its atmosphere is also rich with nitrogen, just like ours.
不仅如此，其大气层富含氮元素，这一点跟地球十分相似。
Titan might even have a surface shaped by volcanism, although its volcanoes would spew melted water instead of molten rock.
土卫六的表面甚至也有很多火山，虽然其火山喷射的基本上都是融化了的水，而非熔岩。
Understandably, NASA has a lot of questions about this place.
综上所述，NASA对土卫六感兴趣也就不足为奇了。
They're curious how Titan evolved like it did, and they're wondering what the moon can teach us about our home.
NASA现在很想了解的是土卫六是如何演化的，他们还想知道土卫六对我们进一步了解地球有什么帮助。
These are questions Dragonfly is hoping to answer.
这些都是蜻蜓号任务要解答的问题。
Dragonfly builds on thirteen years of research conducted by NASA's Cassini mission, which made a dozen close flybys and more than a hundred other visits to Titan.
蜻蜓号由卡西尼号任务的原班人马历时13年研究得出，卡西尼号曾经多次对土卫六进行过飞近探测。此外，其到访土卫六的次数多达100多次。
But those visits only gave us the big picture.
虽然到访次数多，但我们也只了解到了土卫六的全貌而已。
To really understand a place, you've got to get up close and personal.
要彻底了解一个地方，就要离得够近，观测的够细致。
Back in 2005, Cassini did drop the European-built Huygens lander, and it returned our very first images of the moon's surface.
2005年的时候，卡西尼号确实曾经在土卫六上卸下过惠更斯号着陆器，惠更斯号也返回了土卫六表面的第一批宝贵图像。
But Huygens lasted only a few hours, a far cry from the 2.7 years Dragonfly is expected to operate.
但惠更斯号只运作了几小时，而蜻蜓号预计要运作2.7年之久。相比之下，高低立判。
In that time, the craft will make a series of “hops” up to 8 kilometers that are designed to take its scientific instruments from one point of interest to another.
等开始运作后，蜻蜓号就会进行一系列的跳跃，跳到高达8千米的地方。这样做是为了让其装载的科学仪器能够从一个兴趣点观测到另一个兴趣点。
It'll do this using four pairs of meter-long rotors,
有4组一米长的转子来支持蜻蜓号做这件事，
which will help it travel at speeds up to 36 kilometers per hour and reach altitudes of several kilometers.
转子会助力蜻蜓号以36公里/小时的速度飞行，并支持蜻蜓号抵达几千米的高度。
That's pretty impressive, considering this thing's mass will be more than 400 kilograms, or about as much as a horse.
这是非常震撼的，毕竟蜻蜓号的质量会超过400公斤，跟一匹马差不多重。
But it's all possible because Titan's unique combination of a thick atmosphere and low gravity makes flying incredibly efficient.
但这一切得以实行都有赖于土卫六独特的厚重大气层以及较弱的引力作用，因为这两点确保了飞行的效率。
In fact, over the course of the mission, the drone is expected to fly over 175 kilometers, nearly double the distance traveled by every Mars rover combined.
实际上，在蜻蜓号执行任务的过程中，其预计飞行的距离会超过175千米，可以说是所有火星探测器行驶总距离的2倍了。
Once Dragonfly lands, it will start exploring in the Shangri-La dune field near Titan's equator, where Cassini data indicate the presence of dunes similar to those found in Namibia.
蜻蜓号着陆后，就会开始探测土卫六迟到附近的香格里拉沙丘。卡西尼号曾经发回的数据表明——那里的沙丘跟纳米比亚的沙丘十分类似。
Because dunes are big things made out of very small particles, they're incredibly important for understanding how both large- and small-scale processes affect a world.
由于沙丘这种庞然大物其实是由很小的粒子组成的，所以沙丘对于研究大规模进程、小规模进程对一个星体的影响至关重要。
Cassini, for example, found that Titan's dunes seem to point against the direction of the wind, which is totally opposite of how they work here on Earth.
比如，卡西尼号曾发现土卫六的沙丘方向似乎与风向相反，这一点就与地球的情况截然相反。
That could be because of the occasional gust of wind blowing in the opposite direction.
这可能是因为有时候风会向反方向吹。
But one way or another, Dragonfly will help scientists figure it out.
但不管怎样，到时候蜻蜓号会帮科学家解答这些问题。
After visiting the dunes, the mission will make a few more stops but will eventually work its way to the Selk impact crater,
在到访沙丘后，蜻蜓号会在几个地方做停靠，但最终会去往塞尔克撞击坑。
where water and even the kinds of organic molecules needed for life may have once existed.
在那里，生命所必需的水和有机分子可能都曾存在过。
In fact, some scientists believe that Titan today might be a little like how Earth was when life first arose billions of years ago.
实际上，一些科学家认为，今天的土卫六可能有点像几十亿年前地球刚产生生命时的样子。
We don't have any evidence for life yet, but all the ingredients are there.
我们目前还没有证据证明有生命存在于土卫六，但孕育生命的必要条件，那里都已经有了。
To teach us more about all of this, Dragonfly will carry two spectrometers for determining the chemical composition of its environment,
为了了解更多有关于此的信息，蜻蜓号会装载2个分光仪，用于判断环境的化学组成。
a suite of sensors designed to make it a mobile weather station, and, of course, a set of cameras.
此外还会装载一套感应器，目的是让蜻蜓号成为可移动的天气站。当然了，也一定会装载摄像机的。
Dragonfly joins New Horizons, Juno, and OSIRIS-Rex as the fourth mission in NASA's New Frontiers series.
蜻蜓号、新视野号、朱诺号、冥王号，这4个任务组成了NASA的“新边疆”系列任务，蜻蜓号是其中的第4个。
These other medium-sized missions have taught us an incredible amount about our solar system, so it's likely that Dragonfly will, too.
这些中型任务让我们了解到许多有关太阳系的信息，所以蜻蜓号很有可能也会不负众望。
But I have some bad news. We're gonna have to wait awhile.
不过，这里还是有坏消息要说的——蜻蜓号一时半会不会发射。
The mission is expected to launch in 2026, but won't make it to Titan until 2034.
预计要2026年才会发射，等抵达土卫六的时候已经是2034年了。
That puts it on the surface in a season when the weather should be nice and mild, but there's no denying that that's a long time from now.
那时候，土卫六上的天气应该会很温和了，但无可否认的是，要等很多年了。
But, these next fifteen years won't be boring.
不过，未来的15年不会无聊的。
Now that NASA has a target selected, researchers will carry out new laboratory simulations and reexamine old Cassini data.
因为NASA已经选定了目标，那么接下来研究人员就要进行新模拟实验了，此外也会重新检测卡西尼号以前的数据。
And with any luck, they'll discover a bunch of awesome new things for Dragonfly to check out!
如果幸运的话，他们会发现许多新鲜内容有待蜻蜓号去证实哦！
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Space News.
感谢收看本期的《太空科学秀》！
And a special huge thank you to Matthew Brant, our President of Space!
在此要特别感谢头号粉丝马修！
Because of people like Matthew and all of our Patreon Patrons
正因有马修等粉丝的支持，
we will hopefully still be here in 15 years to tell you all about Dragonfly when it gets to Titan.
未来15年里我们将依然与大家一起学习，我们的节目能办到蜻蜓号抵达土卫六的那一天。
If you want to learn more about supporting SciShow, you can go to patreon.com/scishow.
如果您想进一步了解如何支持我们节目的话，可访问patreon.com/scishow哦。
