A US space probe successfully flew by Mercury earlier this month to photograph the Solar System’s smallest planet, in the second of three planned passes, the US space agency NASA said.
The spacecraft MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) flew past the innermost planet at an altitude of 201 kilometers at a speed of 23,818 kilometers per hour.
“Everything went according to plan,” said spokeswoman Helen Johnson of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which is running the project.
MESSENGER first flew past Mercury on Jan. 14 this year, and will make its final pass in Sept. 2009.
This month’s trip aims to investigate the opposite side of the planet to the one seen on the first visit, said Louise Prockter, instrument scientist for the spacecraft’s Mercury Dual Imaging System at the Johns Hopkins University.
Mercury is the closest of all the planets to the Sun, but because of the high risks of its proximity to the Sun, it is one of the most mysterious bodies in the solar system, even though it is relatively close to Earth.
(AFP)
美國航空暨太空總署NASA日前宣布,一架美國太空探測器本月稍早已成功地飛越水星上空,並拍攝到這個太陽系中最小行星的樣貌。
這艘太空船「信使號」(水星表面、太空環境、地球化學和測距的縮寫)飛越太陽系最內部的這顆行星上空時,飛行高度為兩百零一公里,每小時時速為兩萬三千八百一十八公里。
負責此計畫的約翰霍普金斯大學應用物理實驗室女發言人海倫.強森說:「一切都如預期般進行。」
信使號在今年元月十四日首次航經水星,並將於二OO九年九月最後一次進行此任務。
約翰霍普金斯大學負責這艘太空船的水星雙面影像系統的儀器科學家路易斯.波克特說,本月的行程旨在調查首次探勘水星時未見到的另一面。
水星是眾行星中最接近太陽的一顆,但因其接近太陽,探勘的風險也相當高;雖然它相對地鄰近地球,但它仍是太陽系中最神秘的星體之一。(法新社�翻譯:袁星塵)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of
對話 Dialogue 清清:時間過得真快,又是中秋節了! Qīngqing: Shíjiān guò de zhēn kuài, yòu shì Zhōngqiū jié le! 華華:俗話說得好:「一年容易又中秋」,就是這個意思。而且還有一句:「年怕中秋月怕半,星期就怕禮拜三。」每到中秋,新年就又不遠了。 Huáhua: Súhuà shuō de hǎo: “Yì nián róngyì yòu Zhōngqiū”, jiùshì zhèige yìsi. Érqiě háiyǒu yí jù: “Nián pà Zhōngqiū yuè pà bàn, xīngqí jiù pà lǐbài sān.” Měi dào Zhōngqiū, xīnnián jiù yòu bù yuǎn le. 清清:我是不怕禮拜三啦!眼看著週末就要到了,高興都來不及。只是過年又要老一歲了,這倒真是令人害怕。 Qīngqing: Wǒ shì búpà lǐbài sān la! Yǎnkànzhe zhōumò jiù yào dàole, gāoxìng dōu láibùjí. Zhǐshì guònián yòu yào lǎo yí suì le, zhè dào zhēnshì lìng rén hàipà. 華華:怕也沒用,該來的總會來的。看看嫦娥得有多老了,還不是代代相傳,直到今天我們還在「慶祝」她奔月去了呢! Huáhua: Pà yě méiyòng, gāi lái de zǒng huì lái de. Kànkan Cháng’é děi yǒu duō lǎo le, hái búshì dàidài xiāngchuán, zhídào jīntiān