we landed a two-ton SUV

我們將一臺兩噸的 SUV （譯註：Sport Utility Vehecle：多功能越野車。）

on the surface of another planet,

降落在另一顆星球的表面上，

on the surface of Mars.

在火星的表面上。

This is one of the first pictures we took there with our rover.

這是探測車照的首批照片其中之一。

It's looking out at Mount Sharp.

它正遠望著夏普山（Mount Sharp）。

To me, it's, I kind of cry a little bit,

對我來說，在我看到這照片的時候，

choke up, when I see this picture.

我有點哽咽、快哭出來了。

Why Mars and why do we look at these other planets?

為什麼我們要看看其它星球呢？ 為什麼是火星呢？

And part of it is to understand our own planet,

一部份是想了解我們自己的星球，

what's the context for us?

我們周遭的環境是怎樣的？

We live on this amazing planet,

我們居住在一個很奇妙的星球上，

but Mars is a lot like Earth.

而火星和地球有許多相像。

It's similar in size.

大小差不多。

During the day time,

白天的時候，

it can get up to 70 degrees in the, uh, Fahrenheit.

大約是 70 度， 嗯，華氏。

So, it's so like Earth, but at the same time,

所以，它跟地球很像， 但同時地，

you know, this is a barren landscape,

這也是個荒蕪的景象，

you don't see any trees,

你看不到任何樹木、

you don't see any cactuses growing

你也看不到任何仙人掌、

or anything like that.

或是任何類似的東西。

So, today I'm going to tell you

所以，今天我是要告訴你

about how we got from Earth to Mars

我們是怎麼從地球到火星的，

and why it's so cool.

還有它為什麼很酷。

So one of the things we start with is

一開始我們從

a blank sheet of paper.

一張白紙著手。

We knew from the previous missions in 2004,

我們從 2004 年的任務，

Spirit and Opportunity,

也就是精神號（Spirit）和機會號（Opportunity），

there was water on Mars in the past,

得知火星上曾經有水，

but, you know, what's the next step?

但，下一步該怎麼做呢？

We're looking for an even more fundamental level

我們在尋找讓生物存活的

of what does it take to have life survive?

基礎的條件是什麼？

And so, to have that kind of, you know,

要得到這樣的

knowledge and understanding,

知識與認知，

we have to carry a mass amount of instruments.

我們必須帶著許多儀器。

We have to carry the kind of labs

就像地球上要用上

that people actually have whole rooms devoted to on Earth

一整個實驗室的儀器

inside of essentially a small car.

全塞進一臺小車裡。

And what we did was we shrunk it all down

我們所做的是把它們全變小，

to something that weighs about as much as I do,

小到差不多跟我一樣重，

and then put it inside of this rover

接著把它放到這臺探測車上，

that weighs as much as your car does.

它跟你的車一樣重。

And that rover is now on the surface of Mars,

而現在這探測車 已經在火星上了，

but it's so heavy,

但是它真的很重，

and so it kind of takes a special challenge for us

所以我們在想辦法 組裝它

to make it all work and come together.

讓它正常運作時， 面臨一種特別的挑戰。

So we look at our tool,

我們看著我們的工具，

of like what do we have to land stuff on Mars?

想著：「有什麼東西可以讓它在火星著陸呢？」

And one of the options is airbags.

其中一個選項是氣囊。

We've done it before.

我們曾經這麼做過。

Airbags are pretty cool,

氣囊很酷，

they bounce around a lot.

它們時常到處跳躍。

You could never put a human inside of an airbag

你不可能把一個人 放在氣囊裡，

because they would get squashed.

因為他們會被壓扁。

But, the problem with airbags is,

但是，氣囊的問題在於：

the airbags that you see here,

你這裡看到的氣囊，

which landed the smaller rover,

它是用來幫較小的探測車著陸的。

it's like 400 pounds, the entire rover,

而這整部車，大約 400 磅，

were about the size of this room.

大約跟這個房間一樣大。

So you can imagine the size of airbags

所以你可以想像 如果要幫

it would take to land a two-ton rover on Mars.

兩噸的探測車在火星著陸， 這氣囊要多大。

And then they'd have to be actually made out

所以這可能要用

of materials that don't even exist today,

現今不存在的材料 才做得出來。

so it'd be some kind of exotic material

這會是某種奇異的材料，

that we have to develop and may or may not work.

我們必須開發它， 卻不知道會不會成功。

So what about rockets?

所以用火箭如何？

And this is the way we've like,

這個方法就像是，

you know, you see all the rocket ships landing

你知道的， 你在電影或其它地方

in movies and everything else,

看到所有太空船都這麼著陸，

all rockets on the bottom,

底部佈滿火箭，

it's a cool idea.

是個很棒的想法。

It works when they are pretty light still,

在它們還很輕的時候沒問題

but the problem is,

問題是這些火箭

these rockets have to be pretty strong

對火星上鬆軟的土地來說，

to actually softly land you on Mars.

有點太強大了。

And so they would be so powerful,

它們會強到

they could actually dig holes into the ground

在地面打出一個洞，

and then you would just end up inside of a hole

接著你會卡在洞裡面

and not be able to drive out of it.

然後開出不來。

So, not the best design.

不是最好的設計。

But what if I could take the rockets and move them up?

但如果我把這些火箭向上移呢？

And that's kind of what we came up with.

而這就差不多是我們的結論了。

It's actually a rocket-powered jet pack,

這其實是一組火箭噴射飛行包，

we call it the Sky Crane.

我們把它叫作天空怪手（Sky Crane）。

And basically what it does is,

它的運作方式基本上像這樣

this big rocket sits on top of our rover

這個大火箭就位在探測車的上方

and when we're ready to land,

當我們準備著陸的時候，

the rocket is going to hover in place

火箭就在空中漂浮

and we slowly lower the rover to the ground.

我們慢慢地將探測車放在地面上。

And then we touch down,

接著我們著陸，

we're actually on the wheels,

手放在方向盤上，

we're ready to drive day one.

開始它的第一天。

But in addition to that,

但除此之外，

you know, the scientists were like

你知道的，科學家會想：

well, we actually want to go somewhere interesting.

「我們真的很想去一些有趣的地方。」

The last two missions, they were really cool,

前面兩次任務，它們都很棒，

but they basically landed in what was like

但它們基本上著陸於

landing in the plains or desert,

像是平原或是沙漠的地方，

not very exciting.

不太吸引人。

We all know, like, from the exciting places on Earth,

我們都知道，一些地球上最吸引人的地方，

or like places like the Grand Canyon and things like that,

像是大峽谷的地方，之類的，

and those are, for the scientists, the most interesting

這些才是科學家們最感興趣的，

because you see that whole layer,

因為你可以看到整個地層，

you see years and years of history all in one place.

你可以在一個地方 就看到好幾年的歷史。

The same thing is true for where we landed.

對於我們要降落的地方來說 也是這樣。

We wanted to land somewhere that was unique,

我們想要在一些獨特、

that had this crater wall

有像這樣隕石坑的地方著陸，

where things had been dug up for us,

在那裡，東西都已經挖出來了，

where mountains were pushing things up.

造山活動把一切推出地面。

But, the problem is, if you landed with the older systems,

但問題是， 如果你用舊的系統來著陸，

you could have landed

你可能會登陸在

on the side of that mountain and just tumbled off,

山坡的側面因而翻覆、

could have been the side of a cliff,

可能登陸在懸崖邊、

could have been on the crater wall,

可能登陸在隕石坑側壁，

or a large boulder.

或是一塊大石頭上。

So we needed the kind of technology

所以我們需要一種科技

to help us land in a very small area,

讓我們可以登陸在很小的區域，

and that was this little guided entry from Apollo.

即是阿波羅計畫（Apollo）中的 「導引進入」技術。

We took it from the 1960s.

我們延用 1960 年代的科技。

We flew over just like the manned vehicle

我們就像一般交通工具一樣飛，

because they had to actually pick up men,

因為它真的得載人，

you can't just land all over the place,

不能只是想停哪就停哪，

and then we landed, like, spot-on in the middle.

我們得準確登陸在正中心。

And in fact, it was so spot-on

而事實上，它精準到

that when we did it,

當我們在控制時，

we were able to basically, like a quarterback,

我們基本上可以像 橄欖球的四分衛一樣

you know, launching towards Mars,

把球發到火星上，

it was like a quarterback, though,

就像是一個四分衛，

the quarterback was in Seattle

人站在西雅圖

and throwing at a receiver

然後朝著巨人體育場上

that was moving here in Giants Stadium.

正在移動的接球手丟球。

That's how accurate we were,

這就是我們精準的程度，

it's kind of awesome.

真的很厲害。

But, you only get one shot,

但是，你只有一次機會，

and so we actually have to design a system

所以我們必須設計一個系統

that we can build,

讓我們可以架設、

and test,

測試、

and operate,

以及操作，

and so it's not just about can we get it to Mars,

所以並不只是要 能帶它到火星，

but then, if it's only one chance,

而是，如果我們只有一次機會，

how do you make sure that one chance goes so well?

你要如何確定這一次機會 會一切順利？

And so there's all these processes we have

因此我們有完整的程序，

to make sure that things are built properly.

來保證所有裝置架設妥當。

And then we go out to the desert.

接著我們到外面的沙漠。

And we drive around, and we test it.

我們四處開，測試它。

We fly things in F-18s

我們在 F-18 上控制它

to make sure the radar systems work in high speeds.

來保證雷達系統在高速下可以運作。

And then, most importantly, we actually test the team

接著，最重要的，我們測試整個團隊

to make sure they know how to operate it.

來保證大家都知道要做什麼。

We don't want to accidentally miss it

我們不希望因為

because we send the wrong command,

我們下了錯誤的指令 而失去這次機會，

and now it's just going to be rebooting forever.

一切非得重新開始。

So, that guy, Fred, there, he did a lot of that.

所以這個人，Fred ， 他做了許多。

And then we launched it on this rocket to Mars.

然後我們把它用這艘火箭 發射到火星上去。

And, you know, the entire thing,

而你知道的，整套裝備，

we landed 2,000 pounds on Mars,

我們將 2,000 磅的東西 著陸在火星上，

but the entire thing actually weighed about 10,000 pounds

但我們大概帶了 10,000 磅的整套裝備

when we lifted off from Earth,

從地球出發，

all the fuel and the solar rays

這包含所有燃料 還有太陽能板

and everything else that we needed.

還有所有要用到的東西。

And again, we were so accurate

再一次地，我們精準到

that we landed in this, like, little pin-point on Mars.

登陸在這個火星上的小點。

In the meantime, though, we had to design

同時，我們必須設計

a landing system that worked.

一個可以用的登陸系統。

And I told you about the actual physics of it,

而我剛談過它的物理概念，

but here's the catch:

但這裡才是大問題：

Mars is about fourteen minutes away from Earth in lightspeed,

火星到地球用光速 大約要走十四分鐘，

which means that if I try to control it with a joy stick,

這表示如果我想要用搖捍控制它

I would be always controlling

我總是要

to fourteen minutes in advance, so it wouldn't work.

提早十四分鐘來控制， 這不可行。

So we had to give it all the smarts

所以我們必須給它 它需要的

and all the knowledge that it needed

所有的智慧、以及知識

in order to make it happen.

讓它成功登陸。

And so what we did was,

而我們所做的是，

we built in all these smarts and algorithms and everything

我們內建這所有的智能與演算法

and we told it here's what you're going to have to do,

而我們告訴它 這是你將要做的事，

and it goes from basically the speed,

接著它就從大約

five times the speed of a speeding bullet

五倍子彈的速度

to about a baby's crawl

變成嬰兒爬行的速度，

all within about seven minutes,

全都在七分鐘內，

which is called the seven minutes of terror

我們把它叫做「恐怖七分鐘」

because I was about to throw up.

因為我幾乎要吐了。

But today we are on the surface of Mars,

但今天我們已經在火星表面了，

and this was one of the panoramas that we took

而這是登陸幾天後

a couple days after we landed,

其中一張我們拍的照片，

and I think it's amazing to me

我想它對我來說很驚奇，

because look at this and you can see the Grand Canyon,

因為仔細看看你會看見大峽谷，

you can see your own planet,

你可以看見我們的星球，

you can imagine walking on the surface.

你可以想像在那表面上行走。

And so, what we're going to do

所以，我們再來要做的、

and what we're going to continue to do

還有我們要持續做的

is to understand why, what makes Mars so special,

就是了解 是什麼讓火星如此特別，

and what makes Earth even more special

而是什麼讓地球 更加特別

that we are all here together today.

以至於我們今天可以聚在一塊。

And so we'll see where Curiosity takes us,

所以，我們將看看好奇號 會帶我們到哪，

not just our rover,

不只是帶著我們的探測車，

but our sense of exploration.

還有我們的探索精神。

Thank you.

謝謝各位。