2023考研英語閱讀迷你漫游車如何登陸火星
How to land a Mini on Mars
迷你 漫游車如何登陸火星
The biggest and fanciest Mars rover so far will soon blast off from Florida
迄今為止最大和最新奇的火星探測器即將于佛羅里達州發射升空
EARTH excepted, the most probed and prodded planet in the solar system is Mars. Besidesthe assortment of craft that have flown by it or gone into orbit around it, three roboticbuggies equipped with cameras and scientific instruments have roamed the Martian surfaceon behalf of NASA, America s space agency, since 1997.
在地球以外的太陽系內，人類探測和接觸次數最多的星球要算火星了。除了飛越火星或進入其軌道運行的花樣繁多的航天器之外，美國宇航局自1997年以來已有三輛機器人漫游車登陸火星，它們搭載著照相機及各種科學儀器，一直在火星上行駛漫游。
If all goes according to plan, they will soon be joined by a fourth. On November 26th a newrover, Curiosity, will ascend from Cape Canaveral. If it gets there in one piece, it willexamine the climate and geology of Mars and look for any signs of life that might have arisen.
如果一切按計劃進行，火星將很快迎來它們的第四個兄弟--- 好奇 號火星探測器，它將于11月26日在卡納維拉爾角發射升空。 好奇 號一旦安全著陸，將會對火星展開氣候及地理環境檢測，并尋找可能已經存在的生命跡象。
The first of NASA s rovers, Sojourner, which reached Mars in 1997, was 65cm long andweighed 10kg. Spirit andOpportunity, its twin successors, were larger, at 1.6 metres and 170kg. Curiosity, bycomparison, is a monster. At 3 metres and 900kg it is the size of a small car. It also usesdifferent technology. The other three rovers were powered by solar panels. Curiosity ispowered by plutonium. This brings three advantages. First, it allowsCuriosity to carry more power-hungry scientific instruments than previous rovers. Second, itpermits the rover to work through the Martian winter. Third, it avoids the problem of dustaccumulating on the solar panels, which gradually sapped the strength of its predecessors.
美國宇航局第一個火星探測器 索杰納 號于1997年到達火星，該探測器長65厘米，重10公斤。隨后到達的是 雙子 火星探測器 勇氣 號及 機遇 號，它們體積比 索杰納 號稍大，長1.6米，重170公斤。與前三者相比，身長3米，重達900公斤，小汽車般大小的 好奇 號可算是個龐然大物了，而且它采用了不同的技術。前三個探測器由太陽能電池板提供能量，而 好奇 號采用核動力 缽 供能。。采用核動力有三個好處。第一，它允許攜帶更高能耗的科學儀器;第二，它能保證 好奇 號在火星的冬季環境下工作。第三，它克服了太陽能電池板由于蒙塵而使前者漫游車電力逐漸下降的缺點。
Curiosity s size makes getting it safely onto the Martian surface tricky. Previous rovers havedeployed parachutes to slow their descents, and have then crashed into the ground usingairbags to cushion their impacts. Curiosity is too massive for that approach to work.Instead, NASA hopes to deposit it on Mars using a contraption it has dubbed a skycrane.
好奇 號體積龐大，這使其安全著陸火星的工作變得十分棘手。之前的漫游車的下落過程采用降落傘減速，并采用氣袋來緩沖撞擊地面造成的沖擊。但這種方法對于體積龐大的 好奇 號卻不適用。美國宇航局意圖采用一個設計精巧的 空中起重機 使 好奇 號安全著陸火星。
As with the other rovers, Curiosity s mother ship will rely on heat shields and air-resistance,and then on a parachute, to slow its arrival. But at an altitude of 1.6km a specially designeddescent stage bearing the rover will drop away from this vehicle. The descent stage haseight rocket motors on its corners. These will slow its fall to a relatively sedate 0.75 metresa second. When it is about 20 metres above the surface, the rover will be lowered from it onwires and deposited gently onto the Martian landscape. The cables will then be cut withexplosives, the descent stage will fly off and crash land elsewhere, and Curiosity will begin itsmission.
與其它火星漫游車相同， 好奇 號運載船也依靠防熱罩，空氣阻力及降落傘實現減速到達。但不同的是，在到達距火星地表1600米的高空時，經過特殊設計并承載著漫游車的下降段將會脫離運載船。下降段底部四周裝有8個火箭發動機，能使下降速度達到每秒0.75米相對緩慢的速度。在距離地面20米時，下降段用線纜將漫游車向下懸吊直至緩慢放置到火星表面。然后線纜引爆切斷連接，下降段飛離漫游車在火星其它地方墜落，接下來 好奇 號就可以開始執行任務了。
That, at least, is the theory. But the skycrane has never been used before, and there is plentyelse that could go wrong. Indeed, Mars has something of a reputation for destroyingspacecraft. Around half the missions sent there since the first Soviet attempts in 1960 havefailed to arrive. A conversation on the subject in 1964, between a journalist and JohnCasani, a NASA scientist, spawned the idea of a Great Galactic Ghoul, a malevolent creaturethat prowls the space-lanes between Earth and Mars, dining on unfortunate spacecraft.
但這畢竟是從理論角度而言的。 空中起重機 從未使用過，在實際中還可能出現諸多其它差錯。事實上，火星也充當了不少航天器破壞者的角色。自1960年前蘇聯第一次向火星發射航天器以來，有半數左右的火星探測任務遭遇失敗而無法到達火星。1964年，一名記者與美國宇航局科學家約翰卡斯尼對此問題曾有過探討，他們構想出一種邪惡的生物銀河系食尸鬼，它穿梭于地球與火星之間，運氣不佳的航天器就會變成它的口中之食。
The ghoul s latest victim appears to have been Phobos-Grunt, an ambitious Russian missionthat was intended to return to Earth with a rock sample from Phobos, the larger of Mars smoons. The Russian space agency s engineers lost contact with it soon after its launch onNovember 8th. Limited contact had been re-established as The Economist went to press,but it is not clear whether the mission can be salvaged. NASA s engineers, rationalists thoughthey be, will be keeping their fingers crossed on Saturday, and hoping that the ghoul sappetite has thus been sated, and that it will leave Curiosity alone.
最近淪為食尸鬼犧牲品的可能是俄羅斯的 福布斯-土壤 號探測器。俄羅斯此項探測任務雄心勃勃，準備讓探測器從 福布斯 上取回一塊巖石樣本。該探測器于11月8日發射，但俄羅斯航天局工程師們很快便與其失去了聯系。截至本期《經濟學人》刊印之時，俄羅斯方面已與探測器重建了一些聯系，但該項任務能否挽回尚未可知。盡管美國宇航局的工程師們都是理性之人，但他們也祈禱周六的發射會給他們帶來些好運氣，希望屆時 食尸鬼 已經酒足飯飽，不會找 好奇 號的麻煩。
How to land a Mini on Mars
迷你 漫游車如何登陸火星
The biggest and fanciest Mars rover so far will soon blast off from Florida
迄今為止最大和最新奇的火星探測器即將于佛羅里達州發射升空
EARTH excepted, the most probed and prodded planet in the solar system is Mars. Besidesthe assortment of craft that have flown by it or gone into orbit around it, three roboticbuggies equipped with cameras and scientific instruments have roamed the Martian surfaceon behalf of NASA, America s space agency, since 1997.
在地球以外的太陽系內，人類探測和接觸次數最多的星球要算火星了。除了飛越火星或進入其軌道運行的花樣繁多的航天器之外，美國宇航局自1997年以來已有三輛機器人漫游車登陸火星，它們搭載著照相機及各種科學儀器，一直在火星上行駛漫游。
If all goes according to plan, they will soon be joined by a fourth. On November 26th a newrover, Curiosity, will ascend from Cape Canaveral. If it gets there in one piece, it willexamine the climate and geology of Mars and look for any signs of life that might have arisen.
如果一切按計劃進行，火星將很快迎來它們的第四個兄弟--- 好奇 號火星探測器，它將于11月26日在卡納維拉爾角發射升空。 好奇 號一旦安全著陸，將會對火星展開氣候及地理環境檢測，并尋找可能已經存在的生命跡象。
The first of NASA s rovers, Sojourner, which reached Mars in 1997, was 65cm long andweighed 10kg. Spirit andOpportunity, its twin successors, were larger, at 1.6 metres and 170kg. Curiosity, bycomparison, is a monster. At 3 metres and 900kg it is the size of a small car. It also usesdifferent technology. The other three rovers were powered by solar panels. Curiosity ispowered by plutonium. This brings three advantages. First, it allowsCuriosity to carry more power-hungry scientific instruments than previous rovers. Second, itpermits the rover to work through the Martian winter. Third, it avoids the problem of dustaccumulating on the solar panels, which gradually sapped the strength of its predecessors.
美國宇航局第一個火星探測器 索杰納 號于1997年到達火星，該探測器長65厘米，重10公斤。隨后到達的是 雙子 火星探測器 勇氣 號及 機遇 號，它們體積比 索杰納 號稍大，長1.6米，重170公斤。與前三者相比，身長3米，重達900公斤，小汽車般大小的 好奇 號可算是個龐然大物了，而且它采用了不同的技術。前三個探測器由太陽能電池板提供能量，而 好奇 號采用核動力 缽 供能。。采用核動力有三個好處。第一，它允許攜帶更高能耗的科學儀器;第二，它能保證 好奇 號在火星的冬季環境下工作。第三，它克服了太陽能電池板由于蒙塵而使前者漫游車電力逐漸下降的缺點。
Curiosity s size makes getting it safely onto the Martian surface tricky. Previous rovers havedeployed parachutes to slow their descents, and have then crashed into the ground usingairbags to cushion their impacts. Curiosity is too massive for that approach to work.Instead, NASA hopes to deposit it on Mars using a contraption it has dubbed a skycrane.
好奇 號體積龐大，這使其安全著陸火星的工作變得十分棘手。之前的漫游車的下落過程采用降落傘減速，并采用氣袋來緩沖撞擊地面造成的沖擊。但這種方法對于體積龐大的 好奇 號卻不適用。美國宇航局意圖采用一個設計精巧的 空中起重機 使 好奇 號安全著陸火星。
As with the other rovers, Curiosity s mother ship will rely on heat shields and air-resistance,and then on a parachute, to slow its arrival. But at an altitude of 1.6km a specially designeddescent stage bearing the rover will drop away from this vehicle. The descent stage haseight rocket motors on its corners. These will slow its fall to a relatively sedate 0.75 metresa second. When it is about 20 metres above the surface, the rover will be lowered from it onwires and deposited gently onto the Martian landscape. The cables will then be cut withexplosives, the descent stage will fly off and crash land elsewhere, and Curiosity will begin itsmission.
與其它火星漫游車相同， 好奇 號運載船也依靠防熱罩，空氣阻力及降落傘實現減速到達。但不同的是，在到達距火星地表1600米的高空時，經過特殊設計并承載著漫游車的下降段將會脫離運載船。下降段底部四周裝有8個火箭發動機，能使下降速度達到每秒0.75米相對緩慢的速度。在距離地面20米時，下降段用線纜將漫游車向下懸吊直至緩慢放置到火星表面。然后線纜引爆切斷連接，下降段飛離漫游車在火星其它地方墜落，接下來 好奇 號就可以開始執行任務了。
That, at least, is the theory. But the skycrane has never been used before, and there is plentyelse that could go wrong. Indeed, Mars has something of a reputation for destroyingspacecraft. Around half the missions sent there since the first Soviet attempts in 1960 havefailed to arrive. A conversation on the subject in 1964, between a journalist and JohnCasani, a NASA scientist, spawned the idea of a Great Galactic Ghoul, a malevolent creaturethat prowls the space-lanes between Earth and Mars, dining on unfortunate spacecraft.
但這畢竟是從理論角度而言的。 空中起重機 從未使用過，在實際中還可能出現諸多其它差錯。事實上，火星也充當了不少航天器破壞者的角色。自1960年前蘇聯第一次向火星發射航天器以來，有半數左右的火星探測任務遭遇失敗而無法到達火星。1964年，一名記者與美國宇航局科學家約翰卡斯尼對此問題曾有過探討，他們構想出一種邪惡的生物銀河系食尸鬼，它穿梭于地球與火星之間，運氣不佳的航天器就會變成它的口中之食。
The ghoul s latest victim appears to have been Phobos-Grunt, an ambitious Russian missionthat was intended to return to Earth with a rock sample from Phobos, the larger of Mars smoons. The Russian space agency s engineers lost contact with it soon after its launch onNovember 8th. Limited contact had been re-established as The Economist went to press,but it is not clear whether the mission can be salvaged. NASA s engineers, rationalists thoughthey be, will be keeping their fingers crossed on Saturday, and hoping that the ghoul sappetite has thus been sated, and that it will leave Curiosity alone.
最近淪為食尸鬼犧牲品的可能是俄羅斯的 福布斯-土壤 號探測器。俄羅斯此項探測任務雄心勃勃，準備讓探測器從 福布斯 上取回一塊巖石樣本。該探測器于11月8日發射，但俄羅斯航天局工程師們很快便與其失去了聯系。截至本期《經濟學人》刊印之時，俄羅斯方面已與探測器重建了一些聯系，但該項任務能否挽回尚未可知。盡管美國宇航局的工程師們都是理性之人，但他們也祈禱周六的發射會給他們帶來些好運氣，希望屆時 食尸鬼 已經酒足飯飽，不會找 好奇 號的麻煩。
