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You know the story of the Princess and the Pea. What about the space probe and the pebble?
也許你知道豌豆公主的故事，但你知道航天探測器和鵝卵石的故事嗎？
In 2005 the European Huygens probe landed on Saturn's moon Titan and provided an unprecedented look at the surface. But what happened in the first seconds after touchdown wasn't clear.
2005年，歐洲的惠更斯號探測器在土星的衛星泰坦上登陸，讓人們看到前所未見的土星表面的景象。但著陸后幾秒內發生了什么卻不清楚。
Now a re-analysis of Huygens sensor data has reconstructed the bouncing, skidding moments before the probe came to rest on Titan—apparently on top of a small rock. The report is in the journal Planetary and Space Science.
現在，科學家們再次分析了惠更斯傳感器的數據，重組了探測器停下之前的跳躍，滑移等動作。很顯然，探測器停在泰坦表面一小塊巖石的頂端。這項報告刊登在《行星和空間科學》雜志上。
The parachuting probe hit the surface of Titan at about 10 miles per hour. According to the new study, the impact created a hole in the ground a few inches deep. But Huygens bounced out and slid across the surface before coming to rest with a wobble. The sliding motion implies that Titan's surface was a bit like damp sand. And the speed of the probe's wobble suggests that Huygens bumped against a rock less than an inch across.
這個降落傘式探測器以每小時10英里的速度擊中泰坦表面。根據這項新研究，沖擊力在泰坦表面形成了一個幾英尺深的大洞。但是惠更斯號反彈了出來，滑到地面，搖擺一會之后便停了下來。這套滑移動作表明泰坦表面有點像濕砂。以探測器搖擺的速度可以看出惠更斯號碰到的巖石不到一英尺長。
Again, that's a reconstruction based on sensor data, but the researchers contend it's a likely scenario. Regardless, it makes a nice story. Like the Princess and the Pea.
雖然那次重組以傳感器數據為基礎，然而研究人員卻堅信那只是其中一種可能出現的情景。不管怎樣，這是一個不錯的故事，就像豌豆公主一樣。
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