Horizon - Life On Mars 火星生命 - 11

One of these wavelengths² corresponds to hydrogen, another wavelength¹ would be iron. Another wavelength would be oxygen. And so you go to the part of the spectrum³ you are interested in and you see you've got a big peak there.

As Odyssey⁴ circled Mars, it started to pick up gamma rays. The strength of the signal indicated how much of any element it had found.

We were hopeful that we would see spots where water had been concentrated. We weren't sure we would see that. But it's these kind of things that we're expecting to see and actually very hopeful that we would see.

The data was radioed back from Odyssey to NASA to the University of Tucson, and finally to Boynton's desk.

Building up the picture takes a long time bacause any given spectrum that comes back is only 20 seconds worth of data. We get a new spectrum every 20 seconds, so we actually slowly build up an image in our database.

As the data came through, a picture started to build.

When I first saw the signal, I was looking through it and first trying to find the hydrogen signal. And then when I saw it, it was so big, I couldn't believe it. I actually had to do some checks to see could this be real, or somehow did we mess things up.

It could only mean one thing. There is water ice on Mars today. And there is masses of it.

Boynton and his team had discovered a vast area of ice in the southern hemisphere. A frozen ocean over 5,000 km wide.

There is plenty of water there. What we found is just in the surface. If we melted that, it would be enough to fill Lake Michigan two times over. There actually is probably a lot more 'cos we don't know how deep the ice goes. That's just in the upper metre there's that much. It could be 10 meters deep. It could be 100 meters deep. There's a lot of ice there.

The ice they have found is trapped in the ground, a permafrost just like in Antarctica. Crucially, it's located at latitudes⁶ on Mars where conditions are relatively⁷ mild, where there's a real chance of life surviving.

One of the most interesting things about this is it's not right up near the South Pole or right not near the North Pole. It actually goes down to temperate⁸ latitudes. It goes all the way down to about 45 degrees latitude⁵. This is like the equivalent of Paris France on Earth. This is really a place where it's much more likely we can find life I feel.

spectrum: Physics. The distribution of a characteristic of a physical system or phenomenon especially: 1 The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, as by an incandescent⁹ body, arranged in order of wavelengths. 2 The distribution of atomic or subatomic particles in a system, as in a magnetically resolved molecular¹⁰ beam, arranged in order of masses.

peak: Physics The highest value attained by a varying quantity

1 wavelength   

n.波长

参考例句：

• The authorities were unable to jam this wavelength.当局无法干扰这一波长。
• Radio One has broadcast on this wavelength for years.广播1台已经用这个波长广播多年了。

2 wavelengths   

n.波长( wavelength的名词复数 )；具有相同的/不同的思路；合拍；不合拍

参考例句：

• I find him difficult to talk to—we're on completely different wavelengths. 我没法和他谈话，因为我们俩完全不对路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sunlight consists of different wavelengths of radiation. 阳光由几种不同波长的射线组成。 来自辞典例句

3 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

4 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

5 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

6 latitudes   

纬度

参考例句：

• Latitudes are the lines that go from east to west. 纬线是从东到西的线。
• It was the brief Indian Summer of the high latitudes. 这是高纬度地方的那种短暂的晚秋。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

9 incandescent   

adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的

参考例句：

• The incandescent lamp we use in daily life was invented by Edison.我们日常生活中用的白炽灯，是爱迪生发明的。
• The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen.他炽热的语言点燃了他本国同胞的勇气。

10 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。