VOA慢速英语2021 美国宇航局毅力号火星车成功登陆火星（在线收听）

The American space agency’s Mars explorer, Perseverance, landed successfully on the Red Planet Thursday after a seven-month trip.

在经历了7个月的旅行之后，美国宇航局的毅力号火星探测器成功降落在这颗红色星球上。

The six-wheeled explorer, or rover, is on a NASA mission to collect Martian soil and rocks as part of the search for signs of ancient life.

这辆6轮的火星车正在执行美国宇航局的任务，它将收集火星土壤及岩石以寻找古代生命的迹象。

Ground controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California cheered after receiving confirmation of the landing on Mars. It took 11-and-one-half minutes for the confirmation signal to reach Earth.

收到确认登陆火星的消息后，美国宇航局加州喷气推进实验室的地面控制人员一片欢腾。确认信号花了11分半钟时间抵达地球。

Moments later, controllers received the rover’s first pictures of Mars.

片刻之后，控制人员收到了火星车拍下的第一张火星照片。

Perseverance landed in an area of Mars called Jezero Crater, just north of the planet’s equator. The area contains a large ancient lakebed.

毅力号降落在火星上一片名为耶泽洛陨石坑的区域，它刚好位于火星的赤道以北。该区域包含了一个大型的古代湖床。

NASA considers the area a promising place to find possible signs of microbial life. Scientists believe if life ever existed on Mars, it would have been present 3 to 4 billion years ago, when water flowed on the planet.

美国宇航局认为该地区是最有希望找到微生物生命可能迹象的地方。科学家们认为，如果火星上曾经存在生命，那它可能存在于大约3到40亿年前，当时火星上有水流动。

However, rough ground around Jezero Crater presented possible landing dangers for the Perseverance spacecraft. Al Chen is a member of JPL’s landing team. He told reporters that while the area was full of things scientists want to study, it did not offer the most favorable landing conditions.

但是，耶泽洛陨石坑周围的崎岖地面对毅力号火星车的着陆可能存在风险。陈是喷气推进实验室着陆团队的成员。他告诉记者，尽管该地区到处是科学家们想要研究的东西，但是它并未提供最有利的着陆条件。

The successful landing marked the third recent visit to Mars. Last week, spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates and China entered the planet’s orbit. All three of the missions launched in July to take advantage of the shorter distance between Earth and Mars at the time. This closeness between the planets happens every two years.

这次成功登陆标志着人类最近第3次访问火星。上周，来自阿联酋和中国的火星探测器进入了火星轨道。所有这三项任务都是去年7月发射升空的，目的是利用当时地球和火星之间较短的距离。这两颗行星之间的这种接近每两年发生一次。

Perseverance is NASA’s fifth rover to explore Mars. The first, named Sojourner, was sent in 1997. Then came Spirit and Opportunity, which landed in 2004. The fourth rover, Curiosity, has been exploring the planet since 2012.

毅力号是美国宇航局的第5架火星车。第一架名为索杰纳号，于1997年发射升空。然后是2004年登陆的勇气号与机遇号。第4架好奇号火星车自2012年以来一直在探索这颗星球。

Those missions all resulted in valuable information about the Red Planet. NASA says Perseverance “aims to take the next step” in searching for signs of ancient microbial life.

这些任务都带回了有关这颗红色星球的宝贵信息。美国宇航局表示，毅力号旨在迈出寻找古代微生物生命迹象的下一步。

It is NASA’s largest, heaviest and most technology-loaded vehicle ever sent to Mars. It has 19 cameras, two microphones and a two-meter-long robotic arm. A machine connected to the arm will dig into the ground to gather rock and soil.

这是美国宇航局有史以来送往火星的最大、最重和技术含量最高的火星车。它有19个摄像头、两个麦克风以及一个两米长的机械臂。连接到该机械臂上的机器将掘入地下收集岩石和土壤。

The rover is equipped with X-ray and imaging systems to study Martian chemistry and to identify possible organic compounds.

该火星车还配备了X光和成像系统，以研究火星物质的化学组成以及识别可能存在的有机化合物。

Perseverance is also carrying a small experimental flyer called Ingenuity. NASA says the 1.8 kilogram vehicle will attempt its first flight in the coming months. NASA officials hope it will be the first vehicle to fly on a planet other than Earth.

毅力号还携带了一台名为机智号的实验性无人机。美国宇航局表示，这台1.8公斤重的无人机将在未来几个月内尝试首次飞行。美国宇航局希望它能成为第一台在地球以外星球上飞行的无人机。