2006年VOA标准英语-Space Enthusiasts Send Digital Greeting to Mars

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
20 December 2006

The Planetary Society, an organization that promotes space exploration, has teamed up with NASA to send a digital greeting card to Mars aboard the Phoenix¹ lander, an unmanned space probe, on a mission scheduled for launch next August.  From Los Angeles, VOA's Mike O'Sullivan has more on the message from Earth to Mars.

 
A screenshot from Planetary.org
Space scientist Bruce Betts says it is the perfect gift for the holidays.

"People can give the gift of sending people's names to Mars," he said.  "The Planetary Society is providing a mini-DVD for the Phoenix mission that is going to Mars, launching in 2007, and on that DVD, we will carry names of people or dogs or whatever you want, that want to send their names off to Mars."

At the organization's web site, planetary.org, people can also print a certificate showing that their name is going to the red planet.

The society's Lu Coffing says response has been good.

"We have over 50,000 people that have signed up, and they're from all over the world," he said.  "We don't know exactly where, but we do know they're from everyplace."

It is all part of an educational campaign to alert the public to the Phoenix mission, a space project that should expand our understanding of Mars. 

 
Bruce Betts 
There are already DVDs on Mars with the names of four million space enthusiasts², carried aboard the Mars rover missions.  Betts says this disk will have fewer names, but will contain additional information on how Mars has inspired humans here on earth.

"We're actually carrying content we call Visions of Mars, which are from some of the great literature and art about Mars that have been produced over the years, from people like Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury and Carl Sagan," he said.

Those writers of science and science fiction have kept Mars alive in the public imagination as researchers develop a better understanding of the planet.

The Phoenix mission will be the first to visit the polar regions of Mars.  An earlier spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander, was lost as is descended³ to the south pole of Mars in 1999.  Phoenix will land in the northern polar region, which shows evidence of ice just beneath the surface.  The lander has a robotic arm that can dig trenches⁴ half a meter deep.  It will analyze⁵ samples of soil and ice in a portable laboratory, then radio the data back to earth.

Scientists believe water existed in liquid form on the Martian surface some time in the distant past, and recent images suggest a tantalizing⁶ possibility.  Pictures taken by the Mars Global Surveyor show a change in the planet's surface that suggest water could have flowed there recently.

Betts says the presence of water, while unproven, could mean the presence of life.

"It further opens the possibility that not only may there have been life in Mars' past, but there may be now," he noted⁷.  "Now, we're talking little microbes, not little green men, but still interesting."

He says Mars is very different from earth, yet it is the planet most similar to our own in the solar system.

"And if there ever was the possibility of life evolving, it's certainly one of the most probable in our solar system besides earth," he added.  "And yet while being similar to earth, it also has the largest mountain in the solar system, the largest canyon⁸, and it has clouds.  A lot of things are very familiar, but yet different."

If the U.S. space agency NASA keeps to its current timetable, humans should return to the moon by 2020, and use the moon as a base for a human mission to Mars.  When they arrive, the digital greeting from earth should be waiting there for them.

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

3 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

4 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。