Pandora, NASA’s newest exoplanet mission and the first satellite to launch through the agency’s Astrophysics Pioneers program, is now making unique observations of worlds beyond our solar system and the stars they orbit. The mission will determine the atmospheric make-up of at least 20 exoplanets, including the presence of hazes, clouds, and water.
潘多拉是美国宇航局最新的系外行星任务，也是通过该机构天体物理学先锋计划发射的第一颗卫星，目前正在对太阳系以外的世界及其绕轨道运行的恒星进行独特的观测。该任务将确定至少 20 颗系外行星的大气构成，包括雾霾、云和水的存在。
“Pandora’s data will help close a major gap in our knowledge about planets and their host stars because, right now, we can’t be entirely sure how the star’s light affects measurements of what makes up exoplanet atmospheres,” said Elisa Quintana, Pandora’s principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We designed the Pandora spacecraft and its in-depth observing program to better understand this vexing issue.”
马里兰州格林贝尔特美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心的潘多拉首席研究员埃莉莎·金塔纳（Elisa Quintana）表示：“潘多拉的数据将有助于缩小我们对行星及其主恒星的了解中的一个重大差距，因为目前我们还不能完全确定恒星的光如何影响系外行星大气层的测量。” “我们设计了潘多拉宇宙飞船及其深度观测计划，以更好地理解这个棘手的问题。”
The results of the mission will lay a firm foundation for interpreting measurements by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, as well as future observatories focused on finding habitable worlds. In fact, Pandora’s near-infrared detector is a spare originally developed for Webb.
此次任务的结果将为解释美国宇航局詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜的测量结果以及未来致力于寻找宜居世界的天文台奠定坚实的基础。事实上，潘多拉的近红外探测器是最初为韦伯开发的备用探测器。
“The spacecraft is healthy and all of the instruments are performing as well as we could have hoped,” said Jordan Karburn, Pandora’s deputy project manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. “Our team’s hard work throughout the commissioning process has paid off, and we can now confidently start science.”
加利福尼亚州劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室潘多拉项目副经理乔丹·卡伯恩 (Jordan Karburn) 表示：“航天器运行状况良好，所有仪器的性能都符合我们的预期。” “我们团队在整个调试过程中的辛勤工作得到了回报，我们现在可以自信地开始科学研究。”
Launched into low Earth orbit on Jan. 11, Pandora is an ambitious small satellite (SmallSat) funded by NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers program. Pioneers are designed to explore compelling questions about the universe with fast-paced, low-cost missions that require a higher-than-usual tolerance for failure.
潘多拉 (Pandora) 是一颗雄心勃勃的小型卫星 (SmallSat)，于 1 月 11 日发射进入近地轨道，由 NASA 天体物理学先锋计划资助。先驱者旨在通过快节奏、低成本的任务探索有关宇宙的引人注目的问题，这些任务需要比平常更高的失败容忍度。
Three factors make Pandora unique. It carries a novel all-aluminum telescope about 18 inches (45 centimeters) in diameter, it will study planets and their host stars simultaneously in both visible and infrared light, and it will observe targets for a much longer time than flagship observatories like Webb are able to.
三个因素使潘多拉独一无二。它携带一台直径约 18 英寸（45 厘米）的新型全铝望远镜，它将在可见光和红外光下同时研究行星及其主恒星，并且观察目标的时间比韦伯等旗舰天文台要长得多。
Telescopes can sample a planet’s atmosphere in systems where the planet passes in front of its star as seen from our perspective. During this event, called a transit, some starlight skims the planet’s atmosphere before making its way to us. As this light interacts with atmospheric molecules, their chemical fingerprints become embedded in it. For each molecule, astronomers see brightness dips at characteristic wavelengths.
从我们的角度来看，望远镜可以在行星经过其恒星前方的系统中对行星的大气层进行采样。在这个被称为凌日的事件中，一些星光掠过地球的大气层，然后到达我们这里。当这种光与大气分子相互作用时，它们的化学指纹就会嵌入其中。对于每个分子，天文学家都会在特征波长处看到亮度下降。
But our instruments also see light from the whole star, not just what grazes the planet. Stellar surfaces aren’t uniform. They sport hotter, brighter areas called faculae and cooler, darker regions similar to sunspots. Both can grow, shrink, and change position as the star rotates.
但我们的仪器还可以看到来自整个恒星的光，而不仅仅是掠过行星的光。恒星表面并不均匀。它们具有更热、更亮的区域（称为光斑）和更冷、更暗的区域（类似于太阳黑子）。随着恒星的旋转，两者都会增大、缩小和改变位置。
“Water is one of the most important molecules we can measure to understand the composition and physical conditions of an exoplanet atmosphere,” said Benjamin Rackham, a team member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. “But features on the star can distort the water signal we’re searching for. Pandora is designed to disentangle the signals from the planet and the star, helping us to understand the planets more accurately and laying the groundwork for the eventual study of planets that could harbor life.”
“水是我们可以测量的最重要的分子之一，以了解系外行星大气的成分和物理条件，”剑桥麻省理工学院的团队成员本杰明·拉克姆说。 “但是恒星上的特征可能会扭曲我们正在寻找的水信号。潘多拉的目的是解开来自行星和恒星的信号，帮助我们更准确地了解行星，并为最终研究可能孕育生命的行星奠定基础。”
Pandora’s telescope, jointly developed by Livermore and Corning Incorporated, and its detectors make up the mission’s heart. The detectors will capture the star’s brightness in visible light and its near-infrared spectrum at the same time, while also obtaining a near-infrared spectrum from the planet when it transits the star. Over the course of its year-long primary mission, Pandora will observe at least 20 exoplanets 10 times with a long-duration stare covering 24 hours, with a transit included in each observation.
由利弗莫尔和康宁公司联合开发的潘多拉望远镜及其探测器构成了此次任务的核心。探测器将同时捕获恒星的可见光亮度及其近红外光谱，同时还获得行星经过恒星时的近红外光谱。在为期一年的主要任务中，潘多拉将观测至少 20 颗系外行星 10 次，进行 24 小时的长时间凝视，每次观测中都会包含凌日现象。
“Pandora’s advantage is its ability to observe targets for extended periods at multiple wavelengths, something high-demand flagship missions like Webb cannot regularly do,” said Knicole Colón, the mission’s project scientist at NASA Goddard. “Combining Pandora and Webb data will uniquely enable scientists to determine the properties of stellar surfaces and cleanly separate star and planetary signals.”
美国宇航局戈达德中心该任务的项目科学家 Knicole Colón 表示：“潘多拉的优势在于它能够在多个波长下长时间观察目标，而像韦伯这样的高要求旗舰任务无法定期做到这一点。” “结合潘多拉和韦伯数据将使科学家能够确定恒星表面的特性并清晰地分离恒星和行星信号。”
Pandora is led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides the mission’s project management and engineering. Pandora’s telescope was manufactured by Corning and developed collaboratively with Livermore, which also developed the imaging detector assemblies, the mission’s control electronics, and all supporting thermal and mechanical subsystems. The infrared sensor was provided by NASA Goddard. Blue Canyon Technologies provided the bus, performed spacecraft assembly, integration and environmental testing, and is providing mission operations support. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley performs the mission’s data processing. Pandora’s science data is available at the NASA Exoplanet Archive , which is operated by IPAC at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The University of Arizona leads mission operations for Pandora and contributes to its science program. Many additional universities also support the science team.
潘多拉由美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心领导。劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室负责该任务的项目管理和工程设计。潘多拉望远镜由康宁制造，与利弗莫尔合作开发，利弗莫尔还开发了成像探测器组件、任务控制电子设备以及所有支持的热和机械子系统。红外传感器由美国宇航局戈达德航天中心提供。蓝峡谷技术公司提供了巴士，进行了航天器组装、集成和环境测试，并提供任务运营支持。美国宇航局位于加利福尼亚州硅谷的艾姆斯研究中心负责执行该任务的数据处理。潘多拉的科学数据可在 NASA 系外行星档案馆中找到，该档案馆由位于帕萨迪纳的加州理工学院的 IPAC 运营。亚利桑那大学领导潘多拉星球的任务运作并为其科学项目做出贡献。许多其他大学也支持科学团队。
To learn more about the Pandora mission, please visit:
要了解有关潘多拉任务的更多信息，请访问：