纪录片《火星任务》 第24期:地球孤独吗（在线收听）

When the Viking space probe

当海盗号火星探测器

beamed back the first-ever images from the surface of Mars,

第一次从火星表面传回图像资料时

it inspired a whole generation of space scientists.

整整一代的空间科学家都为之振奋

This image is an image taken by the Viking lander in 1976,

这是海盗号1976年在火星拍摄的图像

and it kind of is a special image for me,

这张图对我来说很特别

because I saw this image

因为这是我小时候

in a book I was reading as a young kid.

读一本书时看到的图像

And it's the first time I really noticed that

那也是我第一次真正认识到

planets were other worlds.

其他行星完全是另一个世界

You could stand on a planet, you could look out and see rocks

你能够站在上面 观察周围的岩石

and you could walk off the horizon of the image you're looking at,

你能走出眼前这幅图像的范围

and you wonder what's across that hill.

你会好奇山的那边是什么

It just blew me away,

我完全被迷住了

and maybe it's the moment I became a planetary scientist.

或许那时我就成了一名行星学家

The Viking mission tapped

海盗号任务

into the public's fascination with Mars.

激发了人们对火星的浓厚兴趣

It was inspired

科学界中

by one of the most intriguing questions in science--

最具吸引力的一个问题激发了他们的兴趣

Are we alone?

我们是孤独的吗