2010年七大太空新闻 (上)

    In the year 2010, humanity made first contact with extraterrestrials* — at least according to the sequel* to the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Nothing quite so earth-shattering happened in the real world this year. But space-science researchers did make a number of big discoveries in 2010, including finding what may or may not be the first habitable* alien* world and uncovering clues to the nature of dark matter.                                  

    1. The first habitable

    exoplanet?

    In September, astronomers announced that they had discovered an alien world in the habitable zone of its star. The roughly Earth-size planet, called Gliese 581g, nestles* in an orbit comfortable enough for liquid water, and thus perhaps life, to exist.

    One of the planet’s discoverers, Steven Vogt of the University of California, Santa Cruz, said, “My own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent.”

    However, doubts soon popped up over whether Gliese 581g even exists. Astronomer Francesco Pepe of the Geneva Observatory and his team suggested that what the other researchers saw was just a little noise in their readings. Time will tell whether this world is real or not.

    2. Asteroid dust returned to Earth

    The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa set a record — it returned the first-ever samples from the surface of an asteroid*.

    The 2-billion-kilometer voyage the spacecraft made to the silicon-rich asteroid Itokawa took seven years to complete. Hayabusa (Japanese for “Falcon*”) was supposed to drop a lander on the asteroid, but the lander missed the space rock’s surface. In the end, Hayabusa itself landed twice on Itokawa to force samples into its return capsule.

    The probe made a fiery return to Earth on June 13, with most of it burning up in the atmosphere during re-entry as planned. Its return capsule landed in the Australian outback, and researchers confirmed that Hayabusa had brought back some 1,500 dust grains from the asteroid.

    3. Arsenic-devouring life?

    The news that NASA would hold a news conference “to discuss an astrobiology* finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life” triggered wild speculation from bloggers and journalists.

    One of the most popular rumors in the blogosphere posited that scientists had discovered alien life on Saturn’s moon Titan that lived off arsenic*.

    The reality was less extraordinary but still appeared interesting. Researchers claimed to have discovered a microbe* on Earth that can eat arsenic, a germ named GFAJ-1 that can incorporate the poison into its DNA and other vital molecules in place of the usual phosphorus*.

    The find suggested life can take on more varied forms than once thought, and researchers may look for signs of life beyond Earth. (SD-Agencies)