Today, tomorrow, learn English naturally. 天天自然学英语
Juice’s RIME antenna breaks free
During the first attempt to extend the folded-up antenna, only the first segments of each half were deployed. Flight controllers suspected that a tiny stuck pin jammed the other segments in place.
Fortunately, the flight control teams at ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt had lots of ideas up their sleeves.
To try to shift the pin, they shook Juice using its thrusters, then they warmed Juice with sunlight. Every day the RIME antenna was showing signs of movement, but no full release.
On 12 May RIME was finally jolted into life when the flight control team fired a mechanical device called a ‘non-explosive actuator’ (NEA), located in the jammed bracket. This delivered a shock that moved the pin by a matter of millimetres and allowed the antenna to unfold.
The image below shows the mechanical shock delivered by the firing of the actuator in the mounting bracket. The actuator was fired at the moment labelled ‘NEA 6 Release’. The resulting damping oscillation indicates that the antenna is released and then wobbles back and forth before stabilising into an extended, locked position.
But a final part of the antenna remained folded. Confirmation that the RIME antenna was successfully deployed came only when the flight control team fired another actuator in the bracket, causing RIME to fully stretch itself out after months spent folded up for launch.
Once ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) arrives at Jupiter, it will use RIME to study the surface and subsurface structure of Jupiter’s icy moons down to a depth of 9 km. RIME is one of ten instruments on board Juice set to investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the formation of our Solar System.
注释：
thruster: n
表示"发动机;推进器"，means " a small rocket engine that provides the thrust needed to maneuver a spacecraft"，如：To save money, NASA simplified the mechanism for determining when to shut off the thrusters. 为了节约资金，美国航空航天局简化了探测什么时候关掉推进器的机械装置。
jolt：v
表示"颠簸；敲击；"，means " (cause to) shake or be shocked"，如：The horse jolted me terribly when he jumped. 马跳跃时,我被颠得很厉害。
actuator: n
表示" 制动器"，means "a mechanism that puts something into automatic action"，如：Sets the loop mode of the actuator. 设置制动器循环模式.
Bracket：n
表示"支架"，means "a category falling within certain defined limits"，如：The worker fixed a bracket on the wall. 工人在墙上固定了一个支架。
mounting bracket: 表示"安装托架,固定架"
oscillation: n
表示" 振动；动摇"，means "the process of oscillating between states"，如：This will avoid bad oscillation resistive performance. 为了防止因振动而导致性能恶化。
wobble: v
表示"摇晃；游移不定"，means "move unsteadily;"，如：Don't wobble the desk when I'm writing. 我写字时你不要摇动桌子。
中文简要说明：
欧洲太空局(ESA,欧空局)的木星冰月探测卫星(Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer,Juice,木冰号)终于解决了最后一个困难，经过近一个月的努力，德国的控制人员在星期五成功展开了它的16公尺长的冰月雷达天线( Radar for Icy Moons Exploration,RIME)，将来可以顺利调查木星冰卫星们的冰下世界。
欧空局报导，木冰号在发射后不久就开始伸展它的仪器设备，但是第一次尝试展开折迭天线时，仅张开了前半截的第一段，有点像伸缩伞无法张开的情况。飞行控制员认为，是收折的的一块卡销没有退出，造成部分天线卡在了原位。
如果问题无法解决，那就会像1989年发射的木星探测器加利略号(Galileo)，高增益通讯天线卡住，无法有效与地球通讯。
幸运的是，木冰号任务控制中心的飞行控制团队有很多想法。为了尝试移动卡销钉，他们用推进器摇晃木冰号，然后调整姿态，用阳光加热探测器。这些尝试似乎有一点效果， RIME天线都显示出移动的迹象，但还是没有完全释放。
5月 12日，控制小组启动支架中的一个设备「非爆炸性致动器」(NEA)时，启动造成的震动，终于松开了卡销钉，天线成功展开。
但是天线的最后一部分仍处于折迭状态，这是因为只有当控制团队还需要再启动其他设备，才能确认 RIME 天线已成功启动。
RIME之所以重要，是因为这是木冰号最重要的设备，它是一个探测雷达，发射雷达波照射木星冰卫星的表面，然后从回传的雷达波来分析冰卫星的表面与地下结构。
RIME 是 Juice 上的十种仪器之一，其他仪器则会调查气态巨行星周围宜居世界的出现，以及我们太阳系的形成细节。
留言微信公众号《自然学英语LearnNaturally》，可咨询更多！