Horizon - Life On Mars 火星生命 - 1

In 2001 a new NASA probe was launched. Called Odyssey¹, it was sent to Mars to carry out the most detailed² analysis ever of the planet’s surface. What it has discovered may be about to answer one of the great questions and solve one of astronomy’s biggest mysteries.

Are we alone in the universe? Or is there life on Mars?

Ever since people first looked up into the night sky, there’s been a question that has bothered us all. From the smallest children to the world’s greatest astronomers³, all have wondered "Are we alone in the universe?”.

The question of life beyond comes to me strongest at night, looking up at the stars and looking at all those little points of light and wondering "This is a galaxy⁴ full of life, or is this it?"

It’s the question that societies often have been asking over the ages. We really just wanna know how did we get here? Why do we exist? Are we the only people in the universe? Are we the only signs of life?

This search for life elsewhere in the universe is perhaps the greatest scientific quest of all. But so far most efforts have concentrated on just one planet.

Searching for life is, is a difficult job. You know, what we'd like to be able to do is travel to all these distant worlds and scoop⁵ up samples. Unfortunately the worlds that we can/ travel to, or the other planets in our solar system and none of them are very good in terms of prospecting⁶ for biology. The best one is probably Mars.

Mars, one of our nearest neighbors, just 60 million kilometers away.

The reason Mars is important because it’s close by. It's our nearest neighbor to earth. And we’d like to see if life is there because if we can find life in 2 places in our solar system we know that life isn’t unique here just on Earth. It’s much more likely that life fully⁷ exists elsewhere, perhaps elsewhere in our solar system, perhaps in other solar systems, other parts of the universe.

1 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

5 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

6 prospecting   

n.探矿

参考例句：

• The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
• The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。