第2991期:NASA Probe Searches for Life on Mars

The United States and China recently dispatched rovers to Mars, while the United Arab Emirates sent an orbiter to the red planet, where it is hoped humans one day will tread.美国和中国最近向火星发射了探测器，同时阿联酋航空公司也向这颗红色星球发射了一颗人造卫星，希望有一天人类会踏上这片土地。For man and machine alike, experts say landing on Mars is the hardest part of the trip.专家表示，对于人和机器来说，登陆火星是旅程中最困难的部分。The period from hitting the atmosphere to getting to the surface has been characterized depending on the mission as either the six minutes of terror or the seven minutes of terror.从进入大气层到抵达表面的这段时间，根据不同的任务，被描述为“恐怖六分钟”或“恐怖七分钟”。Mars has a thinner atmosphere than earth which complicates setting down safely on the surface.火星的大气层比地球稀薄，这使得在火星表面安全降落变得困难。Stanford University professor Scott Hubbard says, those six or seven minutes it takes to go from more than 19,000 kilometers per hour to zero are the riskiest.斯坦福大学教授斯科特·哈伯德(Scott Hubbard)说，从每小时超过19000公里的速度降到零所需的六七分钟是最危险的。In terms of where the risk factors are where you could lose this mission, that is an area that is of all the risk factors the one that you look at the most closely, because it's the one that has failed missions in the past.就可能导致任务失败的风险因素而言，这是你最需要密切关注的一个方面，因为过去失败的任务都与此有关。The casualty rate for Mars missions tops 50 percent. The US so far has successfully put a craft on the Martian surface, beginning with the Twin Vikings in 1976.火星任务的伤亡率高达50%。到目前为止，美国至今已成功将航天器送上火星表面，最早可追溯到1976年发射的“海盗号”双子探测器。NASA chose the red planet's Jezero crater over 60 other potential landing sites for its Perseverance rover. Dr. Bethany Ehlmann explains why.美国宇航局选择了火星的杰泽罗陨石坑作为其“毅力号”探测器的着陆点。Bethany Ehlmann博士解释了其中的原因。This is a great place to explore ancient habitats, the great place to look for life.这是探索古代栖息地的绝佳地点，也是寻找生命的理想之地。And as added bonus, just outside the rim of Jezreo crater are some of the oldest best exposed rocks on Mars from a time period even one billion years earlier.另外的惊喜是，杰泽罗陨石坑边缘之外，有一些火星上最古老、暴露得最完好的岩石，其形成时间甚至比现在还要早10亿年。The craft should reach Mars in February, along with the Chinese and UA emissions after seven months in transit over 480 million kilometers.该飞船将于明年2月抵达火星，连同中国和阿联酋发射的一起，要经过7个月的时间，跨越4.8亿公里。In spring 2021 French astronaut Thomas Pesquet become the first European to ride a SpaceX capsule to what will be his second stay aboard the international space station.2021年春天，法国宇航员托马斯·佩斯凯成为首位乘坐SpaceX太空舱的欧洲人，这将是他在国际空间站的第二次逗留。People from all over the world, different countries have put together the resources for peaceful purposes, for science, for research, for progress.来自世界各地、不同国家的人们为了和平的目的、为了科学、为了研究、为了进步而汇聚资源。And it's been going on for 20 years and it's an amazing success.它已经持续了20年，取得了惊人的成功。Finally this week Virgin Galactic unveiled the cabin of its spaceship II commercial craft.本周维珍银河公司终于揭开了其太空船二号商业飞行器的舱内设计。It has 12 windows, Virgin says, they designed the cabin for an out-of-seat weightlessness experience. The company says final tests are ongoing.维珍银河公司表示，该舱体设有12扇舷窗，专为乘客离座体验失重状态而设计。公司称最终测试目前仍在进行中。