纪录片《火星任务》 第27期 百万年前的火星（在线收听）

They have revealed just how hard it would be

数据显示出 这颗行星环境十分恶劣

for life to survive

生命想在这里存活

in the planet's extreme environment.

非常困难

The surface of Mars today is a very harsh place to life.

在现在的火星表面 生命很难存活

There's a lot of things that are hazards to life.

有许多物质都对生命有害

Now we're interested in knowing

现在我们感兴趣的是

whether those same hazards were there in the past

过去的火星是否也存在这样的有害物质

and maybe early Mars as opposed to present Mars

早期的火星或许不同于现在的火星

was the place to look for life.

能够允许生命存在

Today, Mars is an inhospitable desert.

今天 火星是一片毫无生命迹象的沙漠

Its thin atmosphere leaves its surface exposed

稀薄的大气使得地表完全暴露在

to lethal solar and cosmic radiation.

致命的太阳辐射和宇宙辐射下

Average temperatures of minus 55 degrees Celsius

地表平均温度为零下55摄氏度

would make it very hard for life as we know it to survive.

我们已知的生命在这种环境下极难生存

That's why Curiosity is not expecting

因此好奇号并不打算

to find life here and now.

能在现在的火星找到生命

Instead, it will try to discover

相反 它将试图发现

if life could have survived there

百万年前的火星

millions of years ago.

是否有生命存活