to the red rusty planet. Right now, there are six active satellites orbiting the planet,

到紅色鏽跡斑斑的星球。現在，有六顆活躍的衛星圍繞著這顆星球運行。

and down on the surface, the InSight lander and Curiosity rover are still going about

在地面上，InSight著陸器和 "好奇 "號漫遊車仍在進行著工作

their missions. They may have some company soon, as we've set our sights on Mars again

他們的任務。他們可能很快就有伴了，因為我們又把目光投向了火星。

with NASA's Perseverance rover due to launch later in the summer of 2020. So with so many

與美國宇航局的 "毅力 "號探測器將於2020年夏季晚些時候發射。所以，有了這麼多

missions to Mars already, what will Perseverance do that the previous 56 missions didn't?

已經在火星上執行任務了，"鍥而不捨 "會做什麼，而之前的56次任務沒有做？

Well, hopefully get to Mars safely, of course. That's kind of step one for any extra-planetary

當然，希望能安全到達火星。這是任何行星外太空的第一步

excursion, but plenty of past missions failed by missing the planet, crashing into the planet,

郊遊，但過去大量的任務都因為錯過了星球，墜入星球而失敗。

or just didn't get off our own planet entirely. Remember those 56 missions? Well fewer than

或者只是沒有完全離開我們自己的星球。還記得那56次任務嗎？還不到

half were successful. And of course, once Perseverance gets there, it has to land. Perseverance

一半是成功的。當然，"毅力 "一旦到了那裡，就必須落地。鍥而不捨

is very similar to Curiosity, so the famous seven-minutes-of-terror landing technique

與 "好奇號 "非常相似，所以著名的 "七分鐘恐怖登陸術"。

from 2012, including the sky crane final stage, will see action a second time. Reusing successful

從2012年開始，包括天車決賽階段在內，將迎來第二次行動。重複使用成功的

designs and spare hardware helps save money, time, and reduces risk. This time, though,

設計和備用硬件有助於節省資金、時間和降低風險。不過，這次。

some upgraded tech will make the landing more accurate than ever. The first is a range trigger,

一些升級後的技術會讓落地比以往更準確。首先是一個範圍觸發器。

also known as a “smart chute.” Curiosity opened its parachute as soon as the heat shield

也就是所謂的 "智能降落傘"。好奇號一打開隔熱罩就打開了降落傘

slowed the craft to a desired speed, but Perseverance will deploy its chute earlier or later depending

減慢了飛行器的速度，但 "鍥而不捨 "會提前或延後展開降落傘，這取決於

on how far it is from its landing target. The second improvement to Perseverance's

在它離登陸目標有多遠的時候。對Perseverance的第二個改進是

landing is terrain-relative navigation. Using a bevy of onboard cameras to study the rapidly

降落是與地形相關的導航。使用大量的機載攝影機研究快速的。

approaching surface and comparing it to maps of the landing site, the rover can divert

在接近地表時，將其與著陸點的地圖進行比較，漫遊車就可以改變方向。

itself from hazards and land in a safer area. All the additional cameras and a microphone

自己的危險，並降落在一個更安全的區域。所有額外的攝像頭和一個麥克風

onboard the rover mean engineers will get a better understanding of what's happening

這意味著工程師們將更好地瞭解發生了什麼。

during a risky and crucial part of the mission, but they also mean that we, the general public,

在任務的風險和關鍵部分，但它們也意味著我們廣大市民。

can be right there along for the ride. We are going to get to virtually strap in for

可以在那裡一起乘坐。我們將得到幾乎綁在為

the seven minutes of terror and I, for one, cannot wait! These improvements will shrink

恐怖的七分鐘，而我，已經等不及了!這些改進將縮小

the target area the rover will land in by over 50%, down to an ellipse about 10 kilometers

探測器將降落的目標區域減少50%以上，降至約10公里的橢圓。

in diameter. With a shrunken landing area, the rover can land a couple of kilometers

的直徑。隨著著陸面積的縮小，探測器可以在幾公里外的地方著陸。

closer to its prime work site. That may not sound like much, but considering the slow

更接近其主要工作地點。這可能聽起來不多，但考慮到緩慢的。

and careful pace the rover has to traverse the planet, it could save as much as a year

和小心翼翼的步伐，漫遊車必須穿越地球，它可以節省多達一年的時間。

in commute time, effectively getting more useful time out of the mission's limited

在通勤時間內，有效地從特派團有限的時間中獲得更多有用的時間。

lifespan. The new rover will also feature updated software that allows for more autonomous

壽命。新的漫遊車還將採用更新的軟件，可以更自主地進行。

driving and resource management, as well as improved wheels after Curiosity's deteriorated

駕駛和資源管理，以及好奇號惡化後的改進車輪

faster than expected. Hopefully “Perseverance” turns out to be a fitting name. There's

比預期的要快。希望 "毅力 "變成一個合適的名字。有

another benefit to the precision landing, and it is a game-changer for Mars missions.

精確著陸的另一個好處，它是火星任務的一個遊戲規則。

Perseverance can finally study more interesting parts of Mars that were previously off limits

鍥而不捨，終於可以研究火星上更多有趣的地方，而這些地方以前是不允許的

because of perilous terrain. Places that, because of that terrain, may still harbor

因為地勢險要。的地方，因為這種地形，可能還藏有。

evidence of ancient microbial life. The mission's chosen landing site is Jezero Crater. While

古代微生物生命的證據任務選擇的著陸點是傑澤羅隕石坑。雖然

it's dry today, scientists believe it was once an ancient river delta, and thus could

科學家們認為，這裡曾經是一個古老的河流三角洲，是以可能是

have supported life. Sniffing out biosignatures is Perseverance's main mission, and its

一直支持著生命。嗅出生物信號是Perseverance的主要任務，而它的主要任務是：

onboard suite of tools reflects that. It has a larger turret on the end of its robotic

機載工具套件反映了這一點。它的機器人尾部有一個較大的炮塔。

arm, that houses a camera, two science instruments, and a drill to collect rock cores. And of

臂，裡面有一臺攝影機，兩臺科學儀器，還有一個收集巖芯的鑽頭。還有...

course, scientists took this opportunity to give the instruments amusing acronyms, like

當然，科學家們藉此機會給這些儀器取了一些有趣的縮寫，如

MOXIE, the experiment for producing oxygen, and the SHERLOC UV laser that can detect organic

MOXIE，生產氧氣的實驗，以及可以檢測有機物的SHERLOC紫外脈衝光。

compounds. Inside the rover's body is a workspace dedicated to caching those core

的化合物。漫遊車的車體內部有一個工作空間，專門用來緩存這些核心的東西。

samples in tubes, that the rover will then leave on the surface of Mars. “Why would

樣品裝在管子裡，然後探測器將留在火星表面。"為什麼要

it leave them behind?!” I hear you ask. Because Perseverance is actually the first

它把他們留在了後面？"!我聽到你問。因為堅持不懈其實是第一個

of a new type of mission. Thanks to the landing techniques it will pioneer, future missions

的新型任務。由於它將開創的著陸技術，未來的飛行任務

will be able to land close to this precious cache of samples, collect them, and return

將能夠降落在這個珍貴的樣本緩存附近，收集它們，並返回。

them to Earth where they can be studied in labs.  Everything has been building to this.

他們在地球上可以在實驗室裡被研究。 一切都是為了這個。

The lessons learned from failures, misses, crashes, the data from orbiters, the experience

從失敗、失誤、墜毀中吸取的教訓，來自軌道器的數據、經驗。

from past successful landings, all of it brings us to Perseverance. After 60 years of launches,

從過去的成功著陸，都讓我們看到了堅持不懈。經過60年的發射。

humans may be just two more steps away from laying our hands on Martian soil, and knowing

人類可能只需再走兩步，就能親手觸摸火星的土壤，並瞭解到

that we're not alone.

我們並不孤單

Hey, remember Curiosity's wheels, and how they had that odd cutout pattern? It has a

還記得 "好奇號 "的輪子嗎？ 它們有一個奇怪的切口圖案？它有一個

useful purpose, but it also spells out JPL in morse code. Yeah, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

但它也用摩斯電碼寫出了JPL的名字是啊，噴氣推進實驗室

has been stamping its name all over Mars for the last eight years.

在過去的8年裡，已經把自己的名字印滿了火星。

If you want to check out more on how Perseverance will try and make oxygen on Mars, check out

如果你想了解更多關於Perseverance將如何嘗試在火星上製造氧氣的資訊，請查看。

this Focal Point episode on MOXIE. Be sure to subscribe to Seeker and thanks for watching.

本期焦點訪談MOXIE。請一定要訂閱《求索者》，謝謝觀看。