美国总统贝拉克·奥巴马一直关注着夜空中的繁星——或者更准确的说，是其中一颗行星。

　　In an op-ed published last Tuesday on CNN, Obama set a "clear goal" to send humans to Mars by the 2030s and to have them return to Earth safely, "with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time."

　　在上周二发表于CNN的一篇社论中，奥巴马公布了他设定的“清晰目标”：在2030年把人类送上火星，然后再让他们安然无恙地返回地球，同时还要抱有更大的雄心壮志，有朝一日让宇航员在火星上停留更长时间。

　　"Someday, I hope to hoist my own grandchildren onto my shoulders. We'll still look to the stars in wonder, as humans have since the beginning of time," Obama wrote.

　　“有朝一日，我希望也能让自己的孙辈坐在我的肩头上。我们仍会满怀好奇地凝视夜空中的繁星，就像人类自古以来做的那样。”奥巴马写道。

　　"But instead of eagerly awaiting the return of our intrepid explorers, we'll know that because of the choices we make now, they've gone to space not just to visit, but to stay -- and in doing so, to make our lives better here on Earth."

　　“但到那时，我们将不是满怀渴望的等待勇敢的探险者从太空中归来，因为我们知道，由于我们现在所做的决定，他们前往太空并不是进行短期拜访，而是长期地停留——并通过这种做法，让地球上的生活更加美好。”

　　Achieving the goal, Obama added, will "require continued cooperation between government and private innovators" -- a collaboration that will begin in the coming years when companies send astronauts to the International Space Station.

　　奥巴马补充说道，要想实现火星之旅，“需要政府和私营创新企业的共同努力”--一种将在未来几年开启的合作：私营企业的宇航员将被送上国际空间站。

　　To that end, Obama announced that the government is "working with our commercial partners to build new habitats that can sustain and transport astronauts on long-duration missions in deep space."

　　为了这个目标，奥巴马宣布，政府“正在与商业领域的合作伙伴联手，共同打造新的太空居所，供宇航员在深层太空中执行长期任务时生活和运输之用”。

　　It isn't the first time Obama has rhapsodized about traveling to Mars in his lifetime.

　　这并非是奥巴马首次提出登陆火星计划。

　　In a 2010 speech at the Kennedy Space Center, the President outlined an ambitious program that will eventually include human travel to Mars.

　　早在2010在，他在肯尼迪航天中心时就曾勾画了一幅雄心勃勃的蓝图，其中就包括登陆火星。

　　He said then that he believed people could be sent to orbit Mars by the "mid-2030s."

　　当时他表示，他坚信人类在本世纪30代中期能被送到火星。

　　"I expect to be around to see it," Obama said in the speech.

　　他在演讲中说道：“我期待看到它的真面目。”