时差N小时 火星探测车任务届满五周年

Five years after the NASA rover Spirit landed on Mars, the six-wheeled robotic geologist¹ and its twin Opportunity are still on the job. Expectations were far lower when Spirit made a bouncing landing in a cocoon² of air bags on Jan. 3, 2004, followed 21 days later by Opportunity: The goal was to try to operate each solar-powered rover for at least three months.

美国航空航天局“勇气号”探测器登陆火星已有五年，这个六轮的地质探测机器人还有他的好兄弟“机会号”仍在继续工作。当2004年1月3日“勇气号”在茧形的气袋上跳跃着着陆，21天后“机会号”也尾随而来，这远比预期要好，因为原本只计划让这两个太阳能漫游者执行3个月任务。

"That's an extraordinary return of investment in these challenging budgetary times," Ed Weiler, associate administrator³ for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a December statement.

美国航天航空局科学使命执行官埃德·维勒尔在12月的声明中说道：在如此富有挑战性的财政预算年代里，这次投资的回报实在太丰厚了。

Combined, the rovers have made more than 13 miles of tracks on Mars' dusty surface and sent a quarter-million images back to Earth. Their instruments have uncovered evidence that Mars was once a far wetter and warmer place than the frigid⁴, dusty world it is now.

综合起来，探测器已经在火星满是尘土的表面行驶了13英里，并向地球传回25万张图片。机器人自带的仪器给出证据，证明火星表面曾经非常湿润，温暖，不像现在那样严寒，尘土飞扬。

Mission managers are pressing ahead with plans for more exploration even though NASA says either rover could fail without warning.

尽管美航局表示探测器可能会毫无征兆地失灵，但任务管理人员仍在推行更多探测计划。

1 geologist   

n.地质学家

参考例句：

• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley.在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。
• He was a geologist,rated by his cronies as the best in the business.他是一位地质学家，被他的老朋友们看做是这门行当中最好的一位。

2 cocoon   

n.茧

参考例句：

• A cocoon is a kind of silk covering made by an insect.蚕茧是由昆虫制造的一种由丝组成的外包层。
• The beautiful butterfly emerged from the cocoon.美丽的蝴蝶自茧中出现。

3 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

4 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。