2019年经济学人 “机遇号”火星探测器失联(2)（在线收听）

For the first 56 sols, Opportunity never strayed more than ten metres from that propitious landing site. It took pictures with its various cameras, ground holes with its little rasping drill, dug a trench by spinning one wheel while it kept the others locked, measured the spectra of various minerals. The scientists concluded that the sediments they saw had been laid down in a salty dying sea. If that had been all Opportunity had ever told them, the mission would have been counted a great success.

前56个火星日，机遇号从未偏离过那个幸运的着陆点十米以上。它用各种各样的照相机拍照，用小锉刀钻地洞，一边转动一个轮子，一边将另一个轮子锁住，挖出一条沟渠，测量各种矿物的光谱。科学家们得出结论，他们所看到的沉积物是沉积在含盐量很高的濒死海域。如果这一切都是通过机遇号得知的，那么这次任务就算得上是一次巨大的成功。

But on Sol 57, it ventured out into the wider world.

但是到了第57个太阳日，机遇号冒险进入更广阔的世界。

Guided by pictures from satellites above, Opportunity headed for a deeper crater, Endurance, a kilometre or so away. It drove down into it and looked around further, poking and prodding for the rest of the year. A human geologist might have accomplished as much or more by way of assessment in a leisurely afternoon. But the nearest human geologists were on another planet, and likely to remain there for some decades to come.

在卫星回传图像的指引下，“机遇号”向一公里外的一个更深的陨石坑进发。它开进洞里，四处张望，在这一年剩下的时间里不断挖刨。一个人类地质学家在一个悠闲的下午可能已经完成了或多或少的评估。但这位最接近人类的地质学家曾在另一颗星球上，而且很可能在未来几十年里继续留在那里。

After climbing back out of Endurance—no one had known whether it would be able to—Opportunity was sent off to inspect the jettisoned heat-shield that had protected it as it burned down through the Martian atmosphere, now a glinting monument on the pockmarked plain. It was not the only thing that had fallen from the sky. As it rolled on, Opportunity came across a meteorite, its lithology distinctively un-Martian. Later it took a little video of Phobos, the larger of Mars’s small moons, passing as a shadow across the face of the Sun.

在耐力恢复后——无人能知道它是否能做到——“机遇号”被派去检查被丢弃的隔热罩，它在火星大气层中被烧毁时，隔热罩保护着它，现在它是火星坑洼平原上闪闪发光的纪念碑。而隔热罩不是唯一从天上掉下来的东西。随着“机遇号”继续前进，它遇到了一颗陨石，其岩性与火星截然不同。后来，它拍摄了一小段关于火卫一的视频，火卫一是火星上较小的卫星中较大的一个，它以阴影的形式掠过太阳表面。

On Sol 946, in September 2006, Opportunity reached Victoria Crater, seven kilometres from its landing site, 800 metres across. Its makers knew that the 90-sol lifetime they had promised for Opportunity and Spirit was conservative, a low bar to ensure some kudos for “mission accomplished”. But none had expected it to be surpassed by a factor of ten.

在第946个火星日，即2006年9月，机遇号到达维多利亚陨石坑，距离着陆点7公里，直径800米。其制造商明白所承诺的“机遇号”和“勇气号”90个太阳日的使用寿命较为保守，目的是先设一个低门槛以确保“任务完成”的荣誉。但没有人预料到它的使用期限竟然超预期十倍。