About every two years, Earth and Mars wind up on opposite sides of the sun.

大約每兩年，地球和火星會運行到太陽相反的兩側

That's called 'solar conjunction.'

這稱為「火星合日」（由地球看出去，火星在太陽的背面）

It's like being on either side of a huge bonfire:

就好像在大營火的兩側

we can't see Mars, and our landers, rovers, and orbiters can't see us.

我們看不到火星，而且我們的登陸器、火星車、以及軌道器也看不到我們

If our spacecraft send back signals, charged particles from the sun could interfere,

如果太空船傳回信號，那些來自太陽的帶電粒子會產生干擾

causing gaps in the data that reach us.

中斷原本要傳送給我們的信息

That's not a big deal: if something's missing, it can always be resent later.

這沒什麼大不了：如果遺漏了什麼信息，太空船總是能重新發送信號

But, no way do we want to lose data when we send up commands.

但是，當我們發送指令時，我們絕對不想錯過任何數據

Receiving a partial command could confuse the spacecraft, putting them in grave danger!

如果太空船僅收到一部份指令，這會讓太空船混淆並陷入危險

So, mission controllers plan ahead by sending up simple to-do lists, including regular health check-ups.

所以任務管理者傳送事先擬好的簡易待辦清單，包含定期健康檢查

Back home, this break in communications lets team members catch up on other work...

在任務控制中心裏，這種通訊中斷讓小組成員得以趕上其他的工作進度

or take a well-deserved vacation!

或者享受一段應得的假期

Solar conjunction lasts just a few weeks.

火星合日僅持續幾個星期

Then it's back to the grindstone... on Earth and on Mars.

然後地球和火星上的一切又回到各自軌道上