美国有线新闻 CNN NASA“旅行者”号携带镀金唱片刻录地球声音图像

Which of these NASA missions was launched in 1977? Skylab, Galileo, Voyager or Viking? Two unmanned spacecrafts were launched as part of the Voyager missions in 1977.

美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）的哪项任务是在1977年发射的？天空实验室、伽利略、旅行者还是海盗？作为“旅行者”号任务的一部分，NASA在1977年发射了两艘无人驾驶宇宙飞船。

And both of them are still out there, farther away from the Earth than Pluto¹, still gathering² info about the universe more than 40 years after they launched. The cost of the mission when converted to today's dollars is roughly $2 billion.

这两艘飞船仍在宇宙中，比冥王星离地球更远，在发射40多年后仍在收集有关宇宙的信息。如果按今天美元的价值换算，那这个任务的成本大约是20亿美元。

And it's not just sending data back. The two spacecraft are also carrying info about Earth. Gold plated copper³ discs with instructions on how to play them are also onboard Voyager i?n case they're picked up by anything that wants to know about human life. Researchers say that's very unlikely.

而且这两个航天器不仅仅将数据传回地球。它们还携带着有关地球的信息。“旅行者”号携带有镀金铜质唱片，上面对如何播放进行了说明，以防它们被任何想了解人类生活的任何生物捡到。研究人员称这不太可能发生。

They compare the discs to a tiny message in a bottle thrown into the greatest expanse of oceans. But they include greetings in 55 languages, music, natural and manmade sounds. They also have pictures —— snapshots of human life in the 1970s including this one from the 1972 Olympics, a depiction⁴ of human sport through a footrace.

他们把这些光盘比作扔进广袤海洋的瓶子里的一条小信息。但其中包括55种语言的问候语、音乐、自然和人造声音。里面还有照片——20世纪70年代人类生活的快照，其中包括1972年奥运会的照片，这张照片描述了人类的赛跑运动。

1 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

4 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。