评论
打印
2,1 and lift off...
2，1，发射。
Going to Hubble is a calculated risk.
维修哈勃应该是有风险的。
Space flight is risky by any means.
太空飞行是危险的。
So in the scheme of things, this is something that I have determined and on behalf of my family, that it's worth risking my life for.
那么按情况我得做出决定，于是我代表我的家庭决定为此去冒一下生命危险。
Why is an aging telescope that's nearly reached its 20 year life expectancy worth the risk?
为什么一架如此老化的望远镜，使用都快20年了还值得冒这么大危险去维修呢？
Because Hubble continues to astound us with surprising details about our universe as it has since its 1990 launch.
因为哈勃一直让我们惊喜不已，从1990年发射升空后，它一直向我们展现我们宇宙的方方面面。
Astronomers have long wondered where stars like our sun come from.
天文学家们一直想知道像太阳一样的恒星到底来自何方。
Jeff Hester of Arizona State University knows that stars evolve from clouds of gas and dust.
亚利桑那州立大学的杰夫?海斯特知道气体云和尘埃演化出了恒星。
What he hopes to discover is how these clouds give life to stars.
他想知道的是这些星云到底是如何演化成恒星的。
Astronomers suspected that the Eagle Nebula might provide clues, but even the most powerful earth-bound telescopes couldn't get a clear view.
天文学家觉得老鹰星云也许能提供线索，但即使地面最强大的望远镜也无法拍出清晰的图。
Spring, 1995. Hester aims Hubble Space Telescope toward the Eagle Nebula.
1995年春，海斯特将哈勃太空望远镜对准老鹰星云。
As he downloads his images from Hubble, Hester can hardly believe his eyes.
等他看到从哈勃下载的图后，他几乎不能相信自己的眼睛。
This is Hubble's first picture of the Eagle Nebula, some 6,500 light-years away.
这是哈勃拍摄的第一张老鹰星云的图，距离地球6500光年。
It shows three gigantic pillars made of gas and dust.
那有3个由气体和尘埃组成的巨型柱子。
The tower on the left is about 4 light-years tall.
左边的柱子大约有4光年高。
What gives them their shape is the fact that fairly nearby there are some very, very massive, very luminous, very hot stars
让柱子拥有如此外观的是——离柱子非常近，质量极度巨大，极其明亮，也极其炙热的许多恒星；
that are dumping out huge amounts of ultraviolet radiation.
这些恒星释放出巨量的紫外辐射，
And it's sculpting the surroundings.
塑造出了它们周边的景象。
These celestial pillars have never been revealed in such stunning detail.
这些空间巨柱从来没有被披露的如此清晰。
