VOA常速英语2019--机遇号光荣退役（在线收听）

No one at NASA would have ever hoped that the Martian rover Opportunity onboard this Delta rocket launched in 2004 for a three-month mission would end up trundling across the Martian surface for more than a decade. You know, this was a 90-day mission, and we were so excited by just having three months to explore the planet with just a kilometer of capability. But fourteen and a half years later and 45 kilometers of a geometry, we’ve done phenomenal things. We’ve greatly expanded our understanding of the red planet, like finding these blue hematite spheres proved that Mars once had liquid water on its surface.

美国宇航局（NASA）之中没有任何人曾料想过飞往火星的机遇号探测器，也就是2004年搭载这枚德尔塔火箭发射的探测器能超出3个月的任务期限，最后在火星表面运行了10年多的时间。这是任务期限是90天，我们都很高兴能有3个月时间探索火星，哪怕1公里也好。但14年半过去了，探索历程达到了45公里，我们实现了惊人的发现，我们极大地扩充了对火星这颗红色星体的了解——比如找到这些蓝色赤铁矿球体，以及证明火星表面曾经有液态水。

And it might have gone for another 14 years if not for a run-in with a massive Martian storm. Well, back in June, we were afflicted by a historic global dust storm on Mars had just blackened the skies over the rover and starved the rover for energy and the rover went silent. And we tried valiantly over these last eight months to try to recover the rover to get some signal from it. But no signal came, so after 14 years and a meandering 45 kilometer route across the Martian surface, NASA finally decided Opportunity was gone. It is therefore that I’m standing here with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude that I declare the Opportunity mission as complete.

而且机遇号或许可以再运行另一个14年，只是它遭遇了火星的大型尘暴。6月的时候，我们受到了火星上一次历史性的全球尘暴，这次尘暴遮天蔽日，让机遇号无法获得能量，所以停止了工作。过去8个月间，我们积极尝试，想要恢复机遇号的运作，想要重新获得机遇号发出的信号。但最终也没有信号传来，所以，在历时14年，在火星表面运行了45公里后，NASA最终判定机遇号退役了。因此，我现在站在这里，带着深沉的感谢和感激之情地宣布，机遇号探测器任务已完成。

And with it, the Mars exploration rover mission has complete. I stand here surrounded by the team and I have to tell you that’s an emotional time. So long opportunity gone, but not forgotten. Someday perhaps, if humans ever find their way to Mars, they’ll go looking for the little rover that could and did for nearly 15 years.

这句话标志着机遇号任务的结束。我周围站着我们的研究组，我必须要告诉大家，这是让人动情的一刻。机遇号运行了这么久，但我们未曾将它忘怀。或许有朝一日，如果人类能找到方法去往火星的时候，他们会寻找这个小小的探测器，这个坚持了15年的探测器。