Life-Beyond-Earth-精度第五冊(cè)第六課

LifeBeyondEarthTheVoyager1spacecraftisa722-kilogram(1,590lb)spaceprobelaunchedbytheUSspaceagency,NASA,onSeptember5,1977tostudytheouterSolarSystem.Operatingfor36years，lastThursdayNASAsaidthatitsVoyager1spacecrafthasbecomethefirsthuman-madeobjecttoventureintointerstellarspace〔星際空間〕。Thisistheepoch-makingsignicicanceforhumanbeings.Voyager1Warming-upQuastionsDoyouthinkthattherearealiencivilizationsoutthereintheuniverse?Havethealiensvisitedourplanet?ByUFO?Haveyoueverthoughtabouttheappearanceofextraterrestriallife?MillionsofpeoplebelieveinalienslikethispropintheInternationalUFOMuseumandResearchCenterinRoswell,NewMexico.ThereisnoconclusiveevidenceofanylifebeyondEarth,butthereishope:IfmicrobescanliveintheporesofrockdeepbeneaththeEarthorattherimofascaldingYellowstonespring,thentheymightfindaplacelikeMarsnotsoshabby.IntroductionoftheAuthor

HegraduatedfromPrincetonUniversityin1982withanA.B.degreeinpolitics.HeisanAmericanstaffwriterforTheWashingtonPost

,theNationalPublicRadio(NRP)commentatorandtheauthorofCapturedbyaliens;formerwriterfortheMiamiHerald.OnSeptember7,2007,TheWashington

PostnamedhimNationalEnterprisewriterforthedurationofthe2008presidentialelection.HewroteamonthlysciencecolumnforNationalGeographicmagazine.HeisalsothewriterofthreecolumnsaweekforWashingtonpost.com.Hewroteasyndicatedcolumnfor7yearscalledWhyThingsAre.InternetNewspaperPioneerAchenbachwasthefirstWashingtonPostreportertohavearegularon-linebylinedcolumn,whichdebutedAugust24,1999.Hecurrentlyhasaregularblogonwashingtonpost,attractingasmallaudienceofdevotedfansaswellasalargergroupofcasualreaders.ThesefansconsiderhimtobethebestWashingtonPoststaffwritertohaveneverwonaPulitzerPrize.ArticlesbyJoelL.AchenbachBPcost-cuttingmeasuresarefocusofU.S.inquiryintogulfspill(October9,2010)Oilspillhearingsfocusonwhowasinchargeaftertheblast(October6,2010)Freakaccidentorfrontierenterprise?Deep-waterdrillingisstillabigunknown.(September30,2010)OilspillcommissionquestionsBP'sresponseplan(September27,2010)BPreleasesreportongulfwellblowout(September8,2010)Intestimony,executivesreliveactionsonnightofDeepwaterHorizonexplosion(August30,2010)

Extraterrestriallife

ExtraterrestriallifeisdefinedaslifethatdoesnotoriginatefromEarth.Possibleformsofextraterrestrialliferangefromsimplebacteria-likeorganismstosapientbeingsfarmoreadvancedthanhumans.Itisunknownwhetheranysuchformsoflifeexistoreverexistedinthepast.Thedevelopmentandtestingoftheoriesaboutextraterrestriallifeisknownasexobiology(外空生物學(xué)〕,bioastronomy(生物天文學(xué)〕orastrobiology〔天體生物學(xué)).UFO

Unidentifiedflyingobjectisthepopulartermforanyapparentaerialphenomenonwhosecausecannotbeeasilyorimmediatelyidentifiedbytheobserver.NASA

美國(guó)國(guó)家航空和宇宙航行局

TheNationalAeronautics(航空學(xué))andSpaceAdministrationisanExecutiveBranchagencyoftheUnitedStatesgovernment,responsibleforthenation'scivilianspaceprogramandaeronauticsandaerospaceresearch.NASA

NASAhasledU.S.effortsforspaceexploration,includingtheApollomoon-landingmissions,theSkylabspacestation,andlatertheSpaceShuttle.Currently,NASAissupportingtheInternationalSpaceStationandhasbeendevelopingthemannedOrionspacecraft.Geophysics地球物理Geophysics,publishedbytheSocietyofExplorationGeophysicistssince1936,isanarchivaljournalencompassingallaspectsofresearch,exploration,andeducationinappliedgeophysics.Itsarticles,generallymorethan175peryearinsixissues,covertheentirespectrumofgeophysicalmethods,includingseismology(地震學(xué)〕,potentialfields,electromagnetics〔電磁學(xué)〕,andboreholemeasurements〔鉆孔測(cè)量〕.Geophysics,abimonthly,providestheoreticalandmathematicaltoolsneededtoreproducedepictedwork,encouragingfurtherdevelopmentandresearch.UCLATheUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles(UCLA)isapublicresearchuniversitylocatedintheWestwoodneighborhoodofLosAngeles,California,UnitedStates.Itwasfoundedin1919andisthesecondoldestofthetencampusesaffiliatedwiththeUniversityofCaliforniasystem.HubbleSpaceTelescope哈勃太空望遠(yuǎn)鏡P4L3aspacetelescopethatwascarriedintoorbitbyaspaceshuttlein1990builtbytheUnitedStatesspaceagencyNASAisnamedafterAmericanastronomerEdwinHubble

CarlSaganAmericanastronomer,astrophysicist,author,cosmologist,andhighlysuccessfulpopularizerofastronomy,astrophysicsandothernaturalsciences.FrankDrakeAmericanastronomerandastrophysicist

BenZuckermana

professorofphysicsandastronomyatUCLAYellowstonespring(P9L7)TheGrandPrismaticSpringinYellowstoneNationalParkisthelargesthotspringintheUnitedStates,andthethirdlargestintheworldSEIT(P11)SearchforExtra-TerrestrialIntelligenceisthecollectivenameforanumberofactivitiespeopleundertaketosearchforintelligentextraterrestriallife.Fermiparadox(P21L6)

Inaninformaldiscussionin1950,thephysicistquestionedwhy,ifamultitudeofadvancedextraterrestrialcivilizationsexistintheMilkyWaygalaxy,evidencesuchasspacecraftorprobesisnotseen.AmoredetailedexaminationoftheimplicationsofthetopicbeganwithapaperbyMichaelH.Hartin1975,anditissometimesreferredtoastheFermi-Hartparadox.Martiancanal(P24)

Foratimeinthelate19thandearly20thcenturies,itwaserroneouslybelievedthattherewerecanalsonMars.Bytheearly20thcentury,improvedastronomicalobservationshadrevealedthe"canals"tobeanopticalillusion,andmodernhighresolutionmappingoftheMartiansurfacebyspacecraftshowsnosuchfeatures.VikingLander

(P27)NASA'sVikingprogramconsistedofapairofspaceprobessenttoMars,Viking1(August20,1975)andViking2(September9,1975).ItwasthemostexpensiveandambitiousmissioneversenttoMars.ItwashighlysuccessfulandformedmostofthedatabaseofinformationaboutMarsuntilthelate1990sandearly2000s.Zoohypothesis

ThezoohypothesisisoneofanumberofsuggestionsthathavebeenadvancedinresponsetotheFermiparadox,regardingtheapparentabsenceofevidenceinsupportoftheexistenceofadvancedextraterrestriallife.Accordingtothishypothesis,alienswouldgenerallyavoidmakingtheirpresenceknowntohumanity,oravoidexertinganinfluenceonhumandevelopment,somewhatakintozookeepersobservinganimalsinazoo,orexperimentalscientistsobservingastudythatcloserexaminationwouldruin.MarsPathfinder

waslaunchedonDecember4,1996byNASAandlandedonMarsonJuly4,1997.wasthemostimportantonesincetheVikingslanded〔ontheredplanetin1976,andalsowasthefirstsuccessfulmissiontosendarovertoaplanet.ThemissioncarriedaseriesofscientificinstrumentstoanalyzetheMartianatmosphere,climate,geologyandthecompositionofitsrocksandsoil.wasalsoremarkableforitsextremelylowpricerelativetootherunmannedspacemissionstoMars.Originally,themissionwasconceivedasthefirstoftheMarsEnvironmentalSurvey(MESUR)program.TheSojournerroverSomeeventsTheApollomoon-landingmissions:TheApolloprogramlandedthefirsthumansonEarth'sMoon.Apollo11landedonthemoononJuly20,1969TheSpaceShut