嫦娥四号登月介绍英文：美国宇航局的索非亚号在月球阳光照射的表面发现水

嫦娥四号登月介绍英文：美国宇航局的索非亚号在月球阳光照射的表面发现水索非亚在克拉维乌斯环形山发现了水分子(H2O)，克拉维乌斯环形山是地球上可见的最大环形山之一，位于月球的南半球。先前对月球表面的观察发现了某种形式的氢，但无法区分水和它的化学近亲羟基(OH)。来自这个地方的数据显示，在月球表面，一立方米的土壤中存在着浓度为百万分之100到百万分之412的水，大致相当于一瓶12盎司的水。研究结果发表在最新一期的《自然天文学》上。SOFIA has detected (vt.察觉;探测)water molecules(n.化学分子;微粒)(H2O) in Clavius Crater(n.火山口/vt.毁坏) one of the largest craters visible from Earth located in the Moon's southern hemisphere(n.半球). Previous observations of t

Moon (stock image).

Date:October 26 2020

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Summary:

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory(n.天文台;气象台) for Infrared (a.红外线的/n.红外辐射)Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed for the first time water on the sunlit(a.被日光照射了的) surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates(v.表明;预示) that water may be distributed (v.分配;散布)across the lunar surface and not limited to(不局限于) cold shadowed places.

简介:

美国宇航局的同温层红外天文观测台(SOFIA)首次证实，月球受阳光照射的表面上有水。这一发现表明，水可能分布在月球表面，而不仅限于寒冷、阴影笼罩的地方。

SOFIA has detected (vt.察觉;探测)water molecules(n.化学分子;微粒)(H2O) in Clavius Crater(n.火山口/vt.毁坏) one of the largest craters visible from Earth located in the Moon's southern hemisphere(n.半球). Previous observations of the Moon's surface detected some form of hydrogen(n.氢) but were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative hydroxyl (n. 羟基，氢氧基)(OH). Data from this location reveal water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million -- roughly equivalent to (等同于)a 12-ounce(n.盎司) bottle of water -- trapped(使..陷入险境或困境) in a cubic meter(立方米) of soil spread across the lunar surface. The results are published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy.

索非亚在克拉维乌斯环形山发现了水分子(H2O)，克拉维乌斯环形山是地球上可见的最大环形山之一，位于月球的南半球。先前对月球表面的观察发现了某种形式的氢，但无法区分水和它的化学近亲羟基(OH)。来自这个地方的数据显示，在月球表面，一立方米的土壤中存在着浓度为百万分之100到百万分之412的水，大致相当于一瓶12盎司的水。研究结果发表在最新一期的《自然天文学》上。

"We had indications that H2O -- the familiar water we know -- might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon " said Paul Hertz director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface and raises intriguing (a.有趣的/v.引起..的兴趣)questions about resources relevant for deep space exploration.

"我们有迹象表明，我们熟悉的水可能存在于月球有阳光照射的那一面，”美国宇航局科学任务理事会/天体物理/部门主任/保罗·赫兹(Paul Hertz)说“现在我们知道它就在那里。这一发现挑战了我们对月球表面的理解，并提出了有关外太空探索资源的有趣问题。”

As a comparison the Sahara desert has 100 times the amount of water than what SOFIA detected in the lunar soil. Despite the small amounts the discovery raises new questions about how water is created and how it persists on the harsh airless lunar surface.

作为对比，撒哈拉沙漠的含水量是索菲亚在月球土壤中检测到的100倍。尽管数量很少，但这一发现提出了新的问题，即水是如何产生的，以及它是如何在严酷、无空气的月球表面持续存在的。

Water is a precious resource in deep space and a key ingredient of life as we know it. Whether the water SOFIA found is easily accessible for use as a resource remains to be determined. Under NASA's Artemis program the agency is eager to learn all it can about the presence of water on the Moon in advance of sending the first woman and next man to the lunar surface in 2024 and establishing a sustainablehuman presence there by the end of the decade.

正如我们所知，水是外太空的宝贵资源，也是生命的关键成分。索非亚发现的水是否很容易获得，作为一种资源仍有待确定。根据美国宇航局的阿尔特弥斯(Artemis)项目，该机构急于在2024年将第一个女性和下一个男性送上月球表面之前，尽可能了解月球上是否存在水，并在这十年结束前在那里建立起可持续的人类存在。

SOFIA's results build on years of previous research examining the presence of water on the Moon. When the Apollo astronauts(宇航员) first returned from the Moon in 1969 it was thought to be completely dry. Orbital(a.轨道的/n.环形高速公路) and impactor(n.悬浮微粒的取样器) missions over the past 20 years such as NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite(遥感卫星) confirmed ice in permanently (a.永恒的)shadowed craters around the Moon's poles. Meanwhile several spacecraft -- including the Cassini mission and Deep Impact comet(n.彗星) mission as well as the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 mission -- and NASA's ground-based(陆基的) Infrared Telescope Facility looked broadly across the lunar surface and found evidence of hydration(n.水合作用) in sunnier(a.阳光充足的) regions. Yet those missions were unable to definitively distinguish the form in which it was present -- either H2O or OH.

索非亚的研究结果建立在多年前对月球上是否存在水的研究的基础上。当阿波罗号宇航员在1969年首次从月球返回时，月球被认为是完全干燥的。在过去的20年里，轨道和撞击器的任务，如美国宇航局的月球环形山观测和遥感卫星，证实了月球两极周围的永久阴影环形山中有冰。与此同时，包括卡西尼号任务、深度撞击彗星任务、印度空间研究组织(Indian Space Research Organization)的“月船一号”(Chandrayaan-1)任务在内的几艘航天器，以及美国宇航局(NASA)的地面红外望远镜，对月球表面进行了广泛的观察，发现阳光较充足的地区存在水合作用的证据。然而，这些任务无法明确区分其存在的形式——水或羟基。

"Prior to(在..之前) the SOFIA observations we knew there was some kind of hydration " said Casey Honniball the lead author who published the results from her graduate thesis work at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in Honolulu. "But we didn't know how much if any was actually water molecules -- like we drink every day -- or something more like drain cleaner(n.清洁剂;干洗店)."

“索菲亚观测前 我们知道有一些水合作用 ”凯西Honniball说 在火奴鲁鲁地区夏威夷大学Mānoa工作的首席作者公布了她的毕业论文结果。“但我们不知道到底有多少水分子——就像我们每天喝的那样——或者更像是排水管清洁剂样的东西。”

SOFIA offered a new means of looking at the Moon. Flying at altitudes of up to 45 000 feet this modified Boeing 747SP jetliner(n.喷气客机) with a 106-inch diameter(n.直径)telescope reaches above 99% of the water vapor(水蒸气) in Earth's atmosphere to get a clearer view of the infrared universe. Using its Faint(a.模糊的/vi.昏倒) Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) SOFIA was able to pick up the specific wavelength(波长) unique to water molecules at 6.1 microns and discovered a relatively surprising concentration in sunny Clavius Crater.

索菲亚提供了一种观看月亮的新方法。这架改装过的波音747SP喷气式飞机搭载着直径106英寸的望远镜，飞行高度高达45000英尺，可以达到地球大气中99%以上的水蒸气，从而更清晰地看到红外宇宙。利用索菲亚望远镜(FORCAST)上的暗淡物体红外照相机，索菲亚能够捕捉到水分子特有的波长，在6.1微米，并在阳光充足的克拉维乌斯火山口发现了一个相对令人吃惊的浓度

"Without a thick atmosphere water on the sunlit lunar surface should just be lost to space " said Honniball who is now a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland. "Yet somehow we're seeing it. Something is generating(v.使形成;产生) the water and something must be trapping it there."

如果没有厚厚的大气层，阳光照射下的月球表面上的水就会流失到太空中去，”现任美国宇航局/戈达德/太空飞行中心/博士后的Honniball说。“但我们还是看到了它。一定是什么东西在产生水，一定是什么东西把水困住了。”

Several forces could be at play in the delivery or creation of this water. Micrometeorites(n.微小陨石) raining down on the lunar surface carrying small amounts of water could deposit(vt.使沉积;存放) the water on the lunar surface upon impact. Another possibility is there could be a two-step process whereby(conj.凭借) the Sun's solar wind delivers hydrogen to the lunar surface and causes a chemical reaction with oxygen-bearing (a.含氧的)minerals in the soil to create hydroxyl. Meanwhile radiation(n.辐射)from the bombardment (n.轰炸)of micrometeorites could be transforming that hydroxyl into water.

在这种水的产生或输送过程中，可能有几种力量在起作用。携带少量水的微陨石大量降落在月球表面，会在受到撞击时将水沉积在月球表面。另一种可能性是存在两个过程，太阳的太阳风将氢气输送到月球表面，并与土壤中的含氧矿物发生化学反应，产生羟基。同时，来自微陨石轰击时的辐射可能会将羟基转化为水。

How the water then gets stored -- making it possible to accumulate -- also raises some intriguing questions. The water could be trapped into tiny beadlike(珠状的) structures in the soil that form out of the high heat created by micrometeorite impacts. Another possibility is that the water could be hidden between grains of(颗粒束) lunar soil and sheltered from the sunlight -- potentially making it a bit more accessible than water trapped in beadlike structures.

然后这些水是如何被储存起来 并使蓄积成为可能的呢，这也引发了一些有趣的问题。水可能会被困在土壤中的微小珠状结构中，这些结构是由微陨石撞击时产生的高热量形成的。另一种可能性是，这些水可能隐藏在月球土壤的颗粒之间，从而避免了阳光的照射，这可能比那些被困在珠状结构中的水更容易接近月球。

For a mission designed to(为..专门设计;用于) look at distant dim (a.昏暗的;看不清的)objects such as black holes star clusters(n.群;簇) and galaxies SOFIA's spotlight on Earth's nearest and brightest neighbor was a departure from business as usual. The telescope operators typically use a guide camera to track stars keeping the telescope locked steadily on its observing target. But the Moon is so close and bright that it fills the guide camera's entire field of view. With no stars visible it was unclear if the telescope could reliably track the Moon. To determine this in August 2018 the operators decided to try a test observation.

对于一个旨在观察遥远、昏暗的物体，如黑洞、星团和星系的任务来说，索菲亚的聚光灯对准了地球最近最亮的邻居，这与往常不同。望远镜操作人员通常使用一个导向相机来跟踪恒星，使望远镜稳定地锁定在它的观测目标上。但月球是如此的临近和明亮，它填满了引导相机的整个视野。由于没有可见的星星，望远镜是否能可靠地跟踪月球尚未明确。为了确定这一点，2018年8月，操作人员决定进行一次测试观察。

"It was in fact the first time SOFIA has looked at the Moon and we weren't even completely sure if we would get reliable data but questions about the Moon's water compelled(vt.迫使;迫使发生) us to try " said Naseem Rangwala SOFIA's project scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "It's incredible that this discovery came out of what was essentially(adv.本质上地) a test and now that we know we can do this we're planning more flights to do more observations."

事实上，这是索非亚第一次观察月球，我们甚至不完全确定我们是否能得到可靠的数据，但关于月球上水的问题迫使我们进行尝试，”索非亚的项目科学家Naseem Rangwala说，他在位于加州硅谷的美国宇航局埃姆斯研究中心工作。“令人难以置信的是，这一发现来自于一次测试，现在我们知道我们可以做到这一点，我们计划进行更多的飞行来进行更多的观察。”

SOFIA's follow-up(跟踪;坚持完成) flights will look for water in additional sunlit locations and during different lunar phases((天)月相) to learn more about how the water is produced stored and moved across the Moon. The data will add to the work of future Moon missions such as NASA's Volatiles(a.挥发性的;不稳定的/n.挥发物) Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to create the first water resource maps of the Moon for future human space exploration.

索菲亚的后续飞行将在更多阳光照射的地点和不同的月相寻找水，以了解水是如何产生、储存和在月球上移动的。这些数据将增加未来月球任务的工作，比如NASA的挥发物调查极地探测车(VIPER)，为未来人类太空探索绘制第一张月球水资源地图。

In the same issue (n.问题;期号;发行物)of Nature Astronomy scientists have published a paper(n.论文) using theoretical (a.理论上的;假期的)models and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter(n.人造卫星;宇宙飞船) data pointing out that water could be trapped in small shadows where temperatures stay below freezing across more of the Moon than currently expected. The results can be found here.

在同一期的《自然天文学》(Nature Astronomy)杂志上，科学家们利用理论模型和美国宇航局(NASA)的月球勘测轨道飞行器(Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)数据发表了一篇论文，指出月球上的水可能被困在温度低于冰点的小阴影中，覆盖的月球面积比目前预期的要大。结果可以在这里找到。

"Water is a valuable resource for both scientific purposes and for use by our explorers " said Jacob Bleacher chief exploration(n.探测;勘探) scientist for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate(n.董事会;指挥部). "If we can use the resources at the Moon then we can carry less water and more equipment to help enable new scientific discoveries."

水是一种宝贵的资源，无论是用于科学目的，还是供我们的探险家使用，”美国宇航局人类探索和操作任务理事会首席探索科学家雅各布·布莱彻说。“如果我们能利用月球上的资源，那么我们就能携带更少的水和更多的设备，帮助实现新的科学发现。”

SOFIA is a joint project (联合项目)of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. Ames manages the SOFIA program science and mission operations in cooperation with (与..合作/练手)the Universities Space Research Association headquartered(v.将(组织的)总部设立在某地) in Columbia Maryland and the German SOFIA Institute (n.(尤指科学，教育的)机构;研究所;学会)(v.施行;建立;授予..职位)at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft(n.飞行器，航空器) is maintained and operated by NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale California.

索菲亚是美国国家航空航天局和德国航空航天中心的一个联合项目。Ames与总部设在马里兰州/哥伦比亚市的大学/空间研究协会/和斯图加特大学/的德国索非亚研究所/合作，管理索非亚项目、科学和任务操作。这架飞机由美国/宇航局/阿姆斯特朗/飞行研究中心位于加利福尼亚州/帕姆代尔市/的703号楼/维护和操作。

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