伸手摘星，等待人类登陆火星的那一天

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美国“毅力”号火星探测器于2020年7月30日发射升空，2021年2月18日成功着陆火星。“毅力”号的使命是在火星上收集地质样品，寻找生命的迹象。在疫情之下，这些科学家们精诚合作，在人类探索宇宙的漫漫征途上又向前迈进了一步，难能可贵。当我们仰望星空之时，感觉火星真的并不遥远了。本篇以中英文写成，希望启发学生们对火星世界的好奇。

Mars is a familiar sight to observers of the night sky. Not as bright as Venus or Jupiter, its distinctive red glow makes it noticeable. Scientists have long known that Mars is the only other planet in the solar system whose conditions would make it possible for humans to visit. As a result, Mars has been the destination of many missions through the years.

璀璨的夜空中，火星是星空仰望者熟悉的景象。它虽不如金星或木星那么明亮，但它独一无二的红色荧光使它格外引人注目。科学家们早就知道，火星是太阳系中唯一能使人类得以探访的行星。因此，许多年来，火星一直是许多使命的目的地。

（图片来源NASA）

The Soviet Union was the first country to attempt to send a spacecraft to Mars, with five launches between 1960 and 1962. The most successful of these was on its way to a flyby of Mars when communication was lost. The United States began launching missions to Mars in 1964. The Mariner 4 mission conducted a successful flyby of the red planet in July, 1965, almost eight months after launch. It was the first space probe ever to send pictures from another planet.

苏联是第一个尝试向火星发射航天器的国家，在1960年至1962年之间进行了五次发射，其中最成功的一次是在通讯中断的情况下掠过火星。美国于1964年开始了向火星的发射任务。1965年7月，美国“水手4”号探测器成功发射升空，距发射大约8个月，掠过火星上空。这是有史以来第一枚从另一个星球发回照片的太空探测器。

探索火星全家福 The Mars Exploration Family Portrait shows every dedicated spacecraft mission to Mars. Image: planetary.org

The Soviets were first to land a craft on Mars, in 1971, but communication was lost too quickly to allow an opportunity to deploy the intended rover.  The United States' Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers were much more successful after their arrival in 1976. Viking 1 was operational for more than six years, conducting chemical analysis of Martian soil. In 2006, the lander was photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

1971年，苏联于首次在火星上软着陆了一艘飞船，但由于通讯中断太快，因此没有机会部署预定的火星车。1976年，美国的“海盗1”号和“海盗2”号着陆器更为成功。“海盗1”号运行超过了六年，对火星土壤进行了化学分析。2006年，火星勘测轨道飞行器拍摄到了该着陆器的照片。

1976年8月20日 火星日落 Sunset on Mars （图片来源NASA）

Most missions over the next twenty years ended in failure, but Phobos 2, the last space probe designed by the Soviet Union, was able to orbit the moon Phobos for a short time.  The biggest success of the 1990's was the United States' Mars Pathfinder mission, which landed on the planet on July 4, 1997. A rover named Sojourner was deployed, the first successful use of a rover on another planet. Sojourner analyzed rocks near the landing site and determined that some were volcanic in origin. The goal for the mission duration was one month, but the rover operated for three months before communication was lost. Pathfinder was lost, but not forgotten. The lander was spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2007, and made an appearance in the novel and movie The Martian, in which the stranded main character travels to the site in an attempt to communicate with earth.

在接下来的20年中，大多数飞行任务都以失败告终，但是由苏联设计的最后一个太空探测器 “火卫一2” 号能够在短时间内围绕着火卫飞行。1990年代最大的成功是美国的“火星探路者”任务，飞行器于1997年7月4日降落在火星上，并部署了名为“旅居者” 的火星漫游车，这是首次在另一个星球上成功使用漫游车。“旅居者” 分析了着陆点附近的岩石，并确定其中一些是火山爆发的。任务时间原为一个月，但漫游车持续运行了三个月之后，通讯才中断。探路者迷路了，但未被忘记。该着陆器于2007年被火星勘测轨道飞行器发现，并在小说和电影《火星人》中露了面，其中被困在火星上的主角前往该地点试图与地球联系。

The 21st century brought visits from a series of orbiters, some of which are still operational. NASA's Mars Odyssey and the European Space Agency's Mars Express have both been orbiting the planet since 2001. The U.S. added the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2006 and MAVEN in 2013. Other countries have also added craft to the Martian skies. India's Mangalyaan mission arrived in 2014. This was followed by the ExoMars 2016 orbiter, a joint venture of the European Space Agency and the Russian Roscosmos agency. And just this month, the United Arab Emirates added their Hope orbiter and China's Tianwen-1 craft arrived. The near-simultaneous arrival of these orbiters this month, along with the landing of NASA's Perseverance rover, is not a coincidence. The timing is due to a launch window in July 2020, a period that occurs approximately every two years and two months when the relative positions of earth and Mars make launches to the red planet most efficient.

21世纪带来了一系列轨道飞行器对火星的访问，其中一些仍在运行。自2001年以来，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的火星“奥德赛”号和欧洲航天局的 “火星快车” 号都在围绕着火星轨道飞行。美国在2006年增加了火星勘测轨道飞行器，在2013年增加了火星侦察器。其他国家也为火星上空添加了飞行器。印度的“火星飞船”计划已于2014年实施。紧随其后的是2016年ExoMars轨道飞行器，这是欧洲航天局和俄罗斯Roscosmos机构的合资计划。就在本月，阿拉伯联合酋长国增加了他们的“希望”轨道飞行器，中国的“天问一号”飞船也到达了。这些来自地球的轨道器几乎同时到达，再加上NASA的“毅力”号漫游器降落，并不是巧合。该时间是由2020年7月的发射窗口而定，大约每两年零两个月发生一次，这期间地球和火星的相对位置使得向红色星球的发射效率最高。

The Curiosity rover “好奇” 号漫游车

The Tianwen-1 craft contains a rover, which the CNSA expects to deploy in May or June of this year.  For now, the United States is the only country to have successfully deployed a rover on Mars. After the success of the Sojourner rover in 1997, NASA landed twins Spirit and Opportunity on opposite sides of the planet in 2004. These rovers operated far longer than planned, with Spirit communicating with earth for six years and Opportunity transmitting until 2018. Over its lifetime on Mars, Opportunity traveled more than 45 kilometers (28 miles). The Curiosity rover has been operating since 2012 and now the Perseverance rover has landed, with deployment of the Ingenuity helicopter to follow.

“天问一号”飞船上有一辆漫游车，中国国家宇航局预计将在今年5月或6月部署该车。目前，美国是唯一在火星上成功部署漫游车的国家。在1997年“旅居者” 漫游车获得成功之后，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）于2004年将双胞胎“勇气”号和“机遇”号降落在火星的相对两侧。这些漫游车的运行时间远远超过了计划，“勇气”号与地球通信长达六年之久，“机遇”号一直传送到2018年。在火星上，“机遇” 号行驶了超过45公里（28英里）。自2012年以来，“好奇”号漫游车一直在运行，现在“毅力”号漫游车已经着陆，还部署了一架名为“机智”号的无人直升机配合研究。

“毅力”号漫游车软着陆。Touch down! （图片来源NASA）

（图片来源NASA/BBC）

“机智”号无人直升机/ Ingenuity helicopter （图片来源NASA）

“毅力”号传送来第一张高像素彩色照片。（图片来源NASA)

The first high-resolution, color image to be sent back by the Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) on the underside of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover after its landing on Feb. 18, 2021.

All of this is just a prelude to future missions when some brave space traveler will be the first human to set foot on another planet. Mars is just a rocky, dusty red ball in space. It can not rival earth in beauty, but the idea of traveling to a world that at its closest approach is more than 33 million miles (54 million kilometers) from earth, where no one has ever been, is fascinating. Science fiction writers have long speculated on the nature of Mars and what it would be like for humans to visit and attempt to live there. The progress of science has enabled us to determine what plot points in fiction are invalid, but we also see that many ideas from the best books are quite plausible. Orbiters and rovers have been improving our understanding of Mars, but it will take the arrival of human explorers for us to really know what is there.

所有这些都只是未来使命的序幕，直至勇敢的太空旅行者成为首批踏上另一个星球的人类。火星在太空中只是一个多岩石的尘土飞扬的红色星球。它不能与地球媲美，但是，到最接近地球的、距离地球超过3300万英里（5400万公里）的宇宙去旅行的想法令人着迷。科幻小说家长期以来一直在猜测火星的本性以及人类旅居火星的感受。科学的进步使我们能够判断小说中哪些情节是异想天开，不过，我们也看到，来自最佳书籍中的许多想法都是合情合理的。轨道探测器和漫游火星车一直在增进我们对火星的了解，然而，人类探险家的登陆才能使我们真正地了解火星。

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