Episode Details

The American space agency NASA has cleared a spacecraft to launch next month to look for possible signs of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa. 

美国宇航局已批准下个月发射一艘宇宙飞船，在木星的卫星欧罗巴上寻找可能的生命迹象。 

Agency officials announced plans for the Europa Clipper spacecraft at a press briefing last week. The launch window for the mission will open October 10. The spacecraft is to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be carried to space aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket built by SpaceX. 

该机构官员在上周的新闻发布会上宣布了欧罗巴快船飞船的计划。该任务的发射窗口将于 10 月 10 日开放。该航天器将从美国宇航局位于佛罗里达州的肯尼迪航天中心发射。它将由 SpaceX 制造的猎鹰重型火箭运送到太空。 

The main goal of the mission is for the spacecraft to collect data on whether Jupiter’s icy moon could possibly support life. Scientists have identified Europa as a good candidate for holding the right conditions to support life. Several studies have suggested it likely contains a very large ocean beneath its icy surface. 

该任务的主要目标是让航天器收集有关木星冰冷的卫星是否可能支持生命的数据。科学家们认为木卫二是拥有支持生命的适当条件的良好候选者。几项研究表明，它的冰冷表面下可能有一个非常大的海洋。 

In an online description, NASA says liquid water is necessary for planets or moons to support the “complex chemistry” processes that can make life possible. A huge, salty ocean likely lies beneath Europa’s surface and could hold “more water than Earth’s oceans combined,” the space agency added. 

美国宇航局在网上的描述中表示，液态水对于行星或卫星来说是必要的，以支持使生命成为可能的“复杂化学”过程。该航天局补充说，木卫二表面下方可能存在一个巨大的咸水海洋，其容纳的水量“比地球海洋的总和还要多”。 

Scientists have also discovered evidence of chemical compounds and energy forces – including very strong gravity – that could provide the right conditions to support life. 

科学家还发现了化合物和能量力量（包括非常强的重力）的证据，可以为支持生命提供合适的条件。 

Europa is a little smaller than Earth’s moon but is still one of the largest moons in our solar system. It is one of many moons orbiting Jupiter. Astronomers announced in 2023 they had discovered 12 additional moons orbiting Jupiter. NASA says the planet now has a total of 95 confirm