Alien Neighbors 寻访外星人 3

Launched in 1977, Voyager II explored the outer planets and their weird¹ moons, moving ever deeper into space, into regions completely mysterious to us earthlings. On board is a gold-coated phonograph record, containing 116 images of earth and its inhabitants, ninety minutes of music and an audio essay of earth's sounds. The pace of technology has been so rapid that Voyager's computing² capabilities³ are outdated⁴ ,equal to just a fraction of a domestic PC. The computer subsystems on Voyager contain a total of only 63,000 words of memory storage.

In 1976, the search for life and the exploration of the solar system continued with the Viking mission. Its destination: Mars, the mission: to land robot explorers on the red planet.

On board were cameras and instruments designed to sample the Martian atmosphere and analyse the planet's dry soil for signs of life. But, no life was found.

...exciting, how they compare to the Viking land site....well, as you can see...

At NASA, Michael Meyer runs the administration's exobiology program, the search for life beyond earth. For him, the Viking mission was not at all disappointing.

'Viking was very successful and that it sent two spacecrafts that landed on the surface, and a part of their purpose was to measure whether or not there is life on Mars. And the experiments were very successful, in that they went through, they did the measurements, and, but, the reactions that they found were not consistent with life.'

But just because the Viking landers didn't conclusively⁵ find life on Mars, doesn't mean life isn't there. It may nestle on the surface or underground. Mars more than any other planet has tantalized⁶ us with the notion of extraterrestrial life, intelligent or otherwise. Since Viking took the first pictures, one strange surface feature, called The Face on Mars, has attracted much attention. Some believe it's an attempt by another civilization to contact us.

The Martian craze really took off about one hundred years ago. The Clark telescope at the Lowell observatory⁷, Flagstaff Arizona. This great instrument was used to produce some of the most famous drawings of the red planet. The artist was the observatory's founder⁸, Percival Lowell. Lowell thought the aliens were trying to make the best use of the available precious water supplies, building a network of canals to transfer water from the polar to the equatorial regions, a sort of planet-wide irrigation system. He wrote extensively about these ideas.

A few yards from the building housing his beloved telescope, Lowell's tomb is a monument to Mars. his theories were at first embraced, then denounced. Lowell was ridiculed by the scientific world, but he never stopped believing in the Martian canals. Ironically, both Lowell Observatory and life on Mars theories are legitimate¹⁰ and respected today."He built up interest in Mars .."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
phonograph:US OLD USE FOR record player留声机，唱机

in that:because

conclusively:without any doubt 毫无疑问地,令人信服的

craze:an activity, object or idea that is extremely popular, usually for a short time狂热，时尚；流行；风行一时的东西

ridicule:to laugh at someone in an unkind way嘲笑，奚落

1 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

2 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

3 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

5 conclusively   

adv.令人信服地，确凿地

参考例句：

• All this proves conclusively that she couldn't have known the truth. 这一切无可置疑地证明她不可能知道真相。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• From the facts,he was able to determine conclusively that the death was not a suicide. 根据这些事实他断定这起死亡事件并非自杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 tantalized   

v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The delicious smell tantalized us. 香味逗引我们。 来自辞典例句
• It tantalized him that she should have such a loathing for him. 她竟会这么厌恶他，这倒使他心里直纳闷。 来自辞典例句

7 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。