美國東部時(shí)間2月18日，美國“毅力”號(hào)火星車在火星成功著陸，將尋找火星上可能存在過的生命跡象。此次登陸是為2030年后人類探索火星做準(zhǔn)備。

NASA has unveiled the first pictures from its fifth Mars rover, Perseverance, after a successful landing on the red planet's Jezero crater at approximately 3:55 pm Thursday.

“毅力”號(hào)火星車于本周四（2月18日）下午3點(diǎn)55分左右在火星的耶澤羅隕石坑成功著陸后，美國宇航局發(fā)布了第一批由其傳回的照片?！耙懔Α碧?hào)是美國宇航局的第五輛火星巡游車。

"This landing is one of those pivotal moments for NASA, the United States, and space exploration globally – when we know we are on the cusp of discovery and sharpening our pencils, so to speak, to rewrite the textbooks," acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a press release. "The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission embodies our nation’s spirit of persevering even in the most challenging of situations, inspiring, and advancing science and exploration."

美國宇航局代理局長史蒂夫·尤爾奇克在一份新聞發(fā)布稿中稱：“此次著陸是美國宇航局、美利堅(jiān)合眾國和全球太空探索的關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻之一。我們正處于發(fā)現(xiàn)和磨練的時(shí)期，而這次著陸改寫了教科書?；鹦?020“毅力”號(hào)任務(wù)代表了美國在最具挑戰(zhàn)性的形勢(shì)下堅(jiān)忍不拔的精神，啟發(fā)和推動(dòng)了科學(xué)與探索?！?/p>

on the cusp: 介于兩個(gè)狀態(tài)之間；將要進(jìn)入特定狀態(tài)

Perseverance, the most technologically advanced robot NASA has sent to date, traveled 293 million miles to reach Mars over the course of more than six months after launching on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Station on July 30. It will remain on Mars for nearly two years, searching for signs of ancient life and exploring the planet's surface.

“毅力”號(hào)是美國宇航局迄今為止發(fā)射的技術(shù)最先進(jìn)的遙控設(shè)備。去年7月30日從卡納維拉爾角空間站搭載聯(lián)合發(fā)射聯(lián)盟的阿特拉斯5號(hào)火箭發(fā)射升空后，“毅力”號(hào)在6個(gè)多月的時(shí)間里飛行了2.93億英里（4.7億千米）才到達(dá)了火星?！耙懔Α碧?hào)將在火星上停留近兩年，尋找遠(yuǎn)古生命跡象，探索火星表面。

The mission will help prepare the agency for future human exploration on Mars in the 2030s.

該任務(wù)將有助于美國宇航局為2030年后人類探索火星做好準(zhǔn)備。

The $2.7 billion rover, built in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is about 10 feet long, 9 feet wide, seven feet tall and about 2,260 pounds, roughly 278 pounds heavier than its predecessor, Curiosity.

這個(gè)耗資27億美元（約合人民幣175億元）的火星車是在美國宇航局位于加州帕薩迪納市的噴氣推進(jìn)實(shí)驗(yàn)室制造的，車體長10英尺（約3米），寬9英尺，高7英尺，重2260磅（約1025千克），比它的前任“好奇”號(hào)火星車大約重278磅。

Perserverance is designed to drive an average of 650 feet per Martian day and features seven scientific instruments, a robotic arm that reaches about seven feet long, a rock drill. It is nuclear powered, using a plutonium generator provided by the US Department of Energy.

按照性能要求，“毅力”號(hào)平均每個(gè)火星日可以行駛650英尺，包含7個(gè)科學(xué)設(shè)備、一個(gè)能伸到7英尺長的機(jī)器手臂，還有一個(gè)鑿巖機(jī)。這個(gè)核動(dòng)力火星車使用的是美國能源部提供的钚發(fā)電機(jī)。

The scientific instruments on the rover include a camera designed to take high-definition video, panoramic color and 3D images of the Martian surface and features in the atmosphere with a zoom lens to magnify distant targets, a group of sensors to measure weather and monitor dust on the planet's surface, a system that will be used to produce oxygen from the Martian carbon-dioxide atmosphere, an x-ray and camera system that can measure the chemical makeup of rocks and analyze features as small as a grain of salt, a ground-penetrating radar system to analyze geologic features under Mars' surface, a group of cameras, spectrometers, and a laser to search for organics and minerals as well as take close up images of rock grains and surface textures, and a camera to identify the chemical composition of rocks and soils, including their atomic and molecular makeup.

火星車上的科研設(shè)備包括一臺(tái)可拍攝火星表面和大氣特征的高清視頻、全景全色三維影像并配備放大遠(yuǎn)處目標(biāo)物體的變焦鏡頭攝像機(jī)，一組可以觀測(cè)天氣和監(jiān)控火星表面塵土的傳感器，一個(gè)能用火星大氣中的二氧化碳制造氧氣的系統(tǒng)，一個(gè)可以測(cè)定巖石化學(xué)成分和分析細(xì)微特征的X光攝像系統(tǒng)，一個(gè)分析火星表面下的地質(zhì)特征的地面穿透雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)，一組搜尋有機(jī)物、礦物質(zhì)并給巖石顆粒和表面紋理近距離拍照的攝像機(jī)、光譜分析儀和激光器，以及一臺(tái)識(shí)別包括原子和分子成分在內(nèi)的巖石泥土化學(xué)成分的攝像機(jī)。

In addition, the rover carries a commemorative plate to honor COVID-19 healthcare workers and has the names of 10.9 million people stenciled into three of its silicon chips with the words "Explore as one" written in Morse code.

此外，這輛火星車還攜帶了一塊致敬新冠肺炎醫(yī)護(hù)人員的紀(jì)念牌，把1090萬人的名字刻在了紀(jì)念牌的三塊硅晶片上，并用摩爾斯電報(bào)編碼寫上了“齊心探索”。

Scientists hope to find biosignatures embedded in samples of ancient sediments that Perseverance is designed to extract from Martian rock for future analysis back on Earth – the first such specimens ever collected by humankind from another planet.

科學(xué)家希望能在“毅力”號(hào)從火星巖石提取以供未來地球分析的古老沉積物樣本中找到生命信號(hào)，這是人類首次從其他星球采集到這種樣本。

Two subsequent Mars missions are planned to retrieve the samples and return them to Nasa in the next decade.

下一個(gè)十年計(jì)劃開展兩次火星任務(wù)，從火星取回樣本送到美國宇航局。

Apart from Nasa, missions from the UAE and China to Mars also kicked off last year. In 2023 the European Space Agency is expected to land on Mars its Rosalind Franklin rover, which will carry a drill capable of reaching metres below the surface, where biomolecules may survive protected from the harsh conditions above.

除了美國宇航局外，去年阿聯(lián)酋和中國也執(zhí)行了太空任務(wù)。2023年歐洲航天局的羅莎琳·富蘭克林漫游車將在火星著陸，這輛火星車上將搭載一個(gè)可鉆入地下數(shù)米的鉆孔機(jī)，那里可能存活著遠(yuǎn)離地表惡劣環(huán)境的生物分子。

英文來源：?？怂剐侣劸W(wǎng)、衛(wèi)報(bào)

翻譯&編輯：丹妮