VOA慢速英语2021 美国宇航局的火星探测车和无人机取得新进展（在线收听）

The U.S. space agency NASA is reporting new progress on Mars for its experimental helicopter and Perseverance explorer. The helicopter, called Ingenuity, completed its ninth flight on the Red Planet on July 5.

美国宇航局报告了其实验性直升机和毅力号探测器（火星车）在火星上的最新进展。这架名为机智号的直升机于7月5日在火星上完成了第9次飞行。

NASA described the flight as the most successful so far. This is because Ingenuity broke several new records: for length of flight, speed and distance.

美国宇航局称这次飞行是迄今为止最为成功的一次。这是因为机智号打破了飞行时长、速度和距离的多项新记录。

The helicopter's movements are controlled by a team operating from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. The team said in the ninth flight, Ingenuity traveled for the first time across what it described as "unfriendly terrain." The previous flights involved shorter trips over mostly flat terrain.

该直升机的运动由位于加州的美国宇航局喷气推进实验室的一个团队控制。该团队表示，在第9次飞行中，机智号首次穿越了它所谓的“不友好地形。”以前的飞行都是在基本平坦地形上的短途旅程。

The helicopter is working together with NASA's Perseverance explorer, or rover. Currently, both are in an area of Mars known as "Séítah." The area contains rocks, sandy hills and craters.

这架直升机同美国宇航局的毅力号探测器协同工作。目前两者都位于火星上的塞塔地区。该地区包含了岩石、沙丘和火山口。

This kind of terrain can present challenges for Ingenuity, raising the possibility the aircraft could crash during flight or upon landing. The team says one reason for this is that Ingenuity was built to guide itself with an algorithm designed to fly it across mainly flat ground.

这类地形会给机智号带来挑战，增加飞机在飞行或着陆过程中坠毁的可能性。该团队表示，造成这种情况的另一原因是机智号的建造是使用算法自行导航，而这种算法旨在让其飞跃平坦地形（而不是沙丘）。

The main goal of the Ingenuity experiment was to demonstrate that a helicopter could successfully take off, fly and land on Mars. The aircraft was not built to perform detailed searches and other complex operations. But since Ingenuity has progressed so well in previous tests, NASA controllers decided to push its limits even further.

机智号实验的主要目标是证实直升机可以在火星上成功起飞、飞行和着陆。这架飞机不是为了执行仔细搜索和其它复杂操作而建造的。但是由于机智号在之前的测试中进展如此良好，美国宇航局控制人员决定进一步提升其极限。

The team described the latest flight as a "nail-biter." But in the end, it reported Ingenuity was "alive and well" after completing a trip of 625 meters through "challenging terrain." The flight lasted 2 minutes and 46 seconds. The aircraft reached a speed of 5 meters per second.

该团队称这次最新的飞行“紧张刺激。”但是该团队最终报告称，机智号在完成了625米穿越“有挑战地形”的行程后还“活蹦乱跳。”这次飞行持续了2分46秒。飞行速度达到了每秒5米。

As it flies, Ingenuity captures detailed images of the surface of Mars. NASA says the helicopter's ninth flight was designed to provide "the first close view of major science targets that (Perseverance) will not reach for quite some time."

机智号在飞行过程中拍摄了火星表面的详细图像。美国宇航局表示，这架直升机的第9次飞行旨在提供“对毅力号在相当长一段时间内无法实现的重大科学目标的第一次近距离观察。”

The latest images will be studied by the Perseverance team, which will then decide which areas may be most valuable for the rover to visit. Ingenuity is supporting Perseverance's goal to collect Martian soil and rocks to help scientists search for signs of ancient life on the planet.

毅力号团队将会研究这些最新的图像，然后决定哪些区域可能最值得火星车前往。机智号将支持毅力号收集火星土壤和岩石的目标，从而帮助科学家寻找火星上古代生命的迹象。

Self-navigation system

自主导航系统

NASA also recently announced that Perseverance has started using an improved self-navigation system as it expands its exploration activities across Mars.

美国宇航局最近还宣布毅力号已经开始使用一种改进的自导航系统，以扩大其在火星上的探索活动。

So far, the rover's team at JPL has been planning the navigation paths and sending the travel instructions to Perseverance. But now, NASA says the rover will increasingly "take charge of the drive by itself -- using a powerful auto-navigation system."

到目前为止，喷气推进实验室的火星车团队一直在规划导航路径并将这些行进指示发送给毅力号。但是现在，美国宇航局称火星车将越来越多地“利用强大的自动导航系统自主驾驶。”

The system, called AutoNav, first creates a three-dimensional, or 3D, map of the terrain ahead. It then identifies any objects in the path and maps the best way to avoid them. JPL controllers say AutoNav can complete this process without any additional direction from them.

这个被称为AutoNav的系统首先创建一个前方地形的三维地图。然后它会识别路径中的任何物体并标识出躲避它们的最佳路线。喷气推进实验室控制人员表示，AutoNav可以在没有任何额额外指示的情况下完成这个过程。

Vandi Verma is a senior engineer, rover planner and driver at JPL. She said in a statement the system gives the rover the ability to "think while driving." She added: "The rover is thinking about the autonomous drive while its wheels are turning."

Vandi Verma 是喷气推进实验室的一名高级工程师、火星车规划师和驾驶员。她在一份声明中表示，该系统给火星车提供了“边驾驶边思考”的能力。她还表示：“火星车车轮转动的同时也在思索自动驾驶。”

NASA says that ability, combined with other improvements, might enable Perseverance to hit a top speed of 120 meters per hour. Another NASA rover on Mars, Curiosity, is equipped with an earlier version of AutoNav. On average, it moves about 30 meters per hour.

美国宇航局表示，这种能力与其它改进相结合，可能会使毅力号达到每小时120米的最高速度。火星上的另一台好奇号火星车也配备了早期版本的AutoNav。它平均每小时可以移动30米左右。