美国有线新闻 CNN NASA火星直升机致敬莱特兄弟（在线收听）

Right now, NASA has several active missions to Mars, orbiting the planet, observing the planet, roving the planet.

目前，美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）的火星任务包括环绕火星运行、观察火星、巡视火星。

The most recent arrival is the $2.7 billion Perseverance mission. It's got a drone helicopter on board that's carrying a piece of human history.

最近抵达火星的是耗资27亿美元的“毅力”号探测器。该探测器搭载着携带人类历史的无人直升机。

First, the helicopter, it's called Ingenuity. It's about 2 1/2 feet tall, weighs four pounds and costs $23 million to develop.

这架直升机名为“独创”号。其高约2.5英尺，重4磅，开发成本为2300万美元。

It's not carrying any scientific instruments. Ingenuity's purpose is to see if powered helicopter flight is possible on the red planet.

该直升机没有携带任何科学仪器。“独创”号的任务是测试动力直升机能否在红色星球（指火星）上飞行。

And NASA says it won't do that until at least April 8th because the chopper has to undergo a series of tests before it can try to lift off.

美国国家航空航天局表示，试飞至少要到4月8日才会进行，因为直升机必须经过一系列测试才能尝试起飞。

If that works though besides making history, the drone is also carrying it.

如果直升机试飞成功，那除了创造历史外，还承载着历史。

It's got a tiny piece of the Wright Flyer aboard. This is the first powered and controlled airplane that people ever built.

直升机上有一小块莱特飞行器的碎片。莱特飞行器是人类有史以来建造的第一架可控动力飞行器。

In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright flew four separate flights on Flyer One near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1903年，奥维尔·莱特和威尔伯·莱特在北卡罗来纳州基蒂霍克附近乘坐“莱特飞行器一号”分别进行了四次飞行。

In contrast to the small Ingenuity drone, the Wright Flyer had a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a length of more than 21 feet.

与小巧的“独创”号形成对比的是，莱特飞行器的翼展超过40英尺，翼长超过21英尺。

It was built from wood, canvas, aluminum, steel and iron and it weighed 605 pounds.

该飞行器由木头、帆布、铝、钢和铁建造，重605磅。

As a sort of tribute to that flight, scientists took a bit of fabric that covered the Wright Flyer's wings, a small piece the size of a postage stamp

为了致敬那次飞行，科学家将莱特飞行器机翼上一小块、约邮票大小的布料取下，

and attached it to a cable underneath the Ingenuity drone's solar panel.

贴在“独创”号无人机太阳能电池板下面的电缆上。

It's not the first time NASA has done this for a space flight.

这不是美国国家航空航天局第一次在太空飞行中这样做。

In 1969, a piece of the Wright Flyer's wing fabric and a splinter of wood from the historic aircraft

1969年，莱特飞行器的一块机翼布料和这架历史悠久的飞机上的一块木头碎片，

was traveling aboard the Apollo 11 mission when it flew to the moon and back.

随阿波罗11号执行了往返月球的任务。