寻找火星探测器-科技时代-休闲区-轻松英语-洪恩在线

NASA to scan Mars for lost probe

lost probe NASA[1] scientists will continue the hunt for their missing spacecraft, Mars Polar Lander (MPL)[3].

They will use a powerful camera on board another Mars probe, which is orbiting the red planet[4], to try and locate the lost lander.

Contact with the $165m MPL was severed two weeks ago, just as it entered the Martian atmosphere. So far there have been no clues as to why it suddenly disappeared.

"We believe it is on the surface of Mars," said project scientist Richard Zurek, speaking at the American Geophysical Union[5] at which the first MPL results should have been announced.

"We're really putting some hope into seeing something on the surface itself."

MPL should have landed[6] at the Martian south pole on 3 December to look for signs of water, and even life. But there has been total silence ever since the final approach.

A number of things could have happened to the probe; it might have burnt up as it entered the Martian atmosphere; it may have landed on a large rock and fallen over; or its antennae may have been damaged preventing it from making radio contact.

MPL is too small to be seen from the orbiting probe so the search will focus on finding the lander's 20-metre-long (65-feet) parachute in a specific area a few square kilometres.

Mars Missions
1960. USSR. First Mars missions fail.
1964. US. First image from Mariner 4 fly by.
1971. USSR. First touch down on the planet but no images.
1976. US. Viking spacecraft touch down, take pictures and sift soil.
1986. USSR. Probe to a Martian moon fails.
1993. US. Mars Observer spacecraft is lost.
1997. US. Very successful Mars Pathfinder mission.
1998. US. Mars Global Surveyor begins amassing pictures.
1998. Japan launches a tiny Mars probe.
1999. US. Mars Climate Observer and, probably, Mars Polar Lander lost.

注释：

[1]为了简单明了地点出新闻的主题，我们可以在它的标题中用不定式表示一般将来时态，这篇新闻的标题意思就是"NASA 将寻找在火星上失踪的探测器"。

[2]NASA：是National Aeronautics and Space Administration (美国)国家航空和宇宙航行局的简称，我们一般也把它叫作美国航空航天局。

[3]Mars Polar Lander (MPL)：
火星极地登陆者。此前，美国曾于98年成功发射过"火星探测者"。它传回来的照片为科学家研究火星带来了极大的突破。

[4]the red planet：
指的就是火星。火星是太阳系第四颗行星，其名字（Mars)代表战神,火星的火红色光芒在茫茫的太阳系中显得十分独特。

[5]the American Geophysical Unio：
n美国地球物理联合会

[6]should have landed：
在这儿说明MPL按原计划是应该已经顺利在火星的南极着陆的，可是科学家和它失去了联系，所以用虚拟语气表示一种不可知的情况。当然，这种结构也可以表示对客观事实的虚拟，例如：I should have finished my homework yesterday. 事实上"我"并未完成。

前苏联于1960年率先发射了火星探索器。虽然那次行动以失败告终，但标志着人类向广袤无垠的宇宙空间又迈出了里程碑似的一步。之后科学家又对火星进行了多次探索尝试，或成功或失败，但人类已经逐渐了解这个近邻了。目前，美国科学家还在尽可能寻找"火星极地登陆者"号，也许找到的可能性不大，但这并不能阻挡我们探索宇宙的脚步，不是吗？