行星（2019）

“好奇”号♥的视角
并引导探测器前住火星表面
the spacecraft and guide the spacecraft to the surface.
此时 我们无法决定它是成功登陆
There's nothing you can do at that point to ensure its success
还是会坠毁
or prevent its crashing...
但我们为这个结果投入了太多
..and yet you've invested so much in the outcome.
我能做的只是蜷缩着身体 等待表示“好奇”号♥
All I could do was sort of curl up in a ball and wait for the
安全登陆火星的绿灯亮起
green light that Curiosity was safely on Mars.
耗费7年时间 和25亿美元的“好奇”号♥
Seven years and 2.5 billion in the making,
终于在2012年8月6日
Curiosity finally touched down
格林尼治标准时间6点32分成功着陆
at 6.32 Universal Time, on the 6th of August, 2012.
“好奇”号♥的视角
我坐在控制室
I was sitting in the control room watching the engineers,
看着监控“好奇”号♥信♥号♥♥的工程师们
who were actually monitoring the signals coming in from Curiosity,
他们在读收到的数据
and so they were reading out the data that they were getting
他们发现轮子已接触土壤
and they detected the wheels touching the soil.
几秒钟后 当电缆被切断
Then a few seconds went by when cables had to be cut
火箭喷气背包脱离
and the rocket jet pack had to fly away.
此时 他们才可以判断“好奇”号♥
And, only then, they understood that Curiosity was safe
已安全着陆 整个房♥间沸腾了
on the ground, and the whole room just erupted in celebration.
“好奇”号♥自着陆以来 已经对盖尔陨石坑
Since it landed, Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater
进行了6年多的探索
for more than six years.
“好奇”号♥是一个流动的实验室
Curiosity is a roving laboratory.
我们通过挖取或者钻取样本
We actually collect samples by scooping it or by drilling,
或者仅仅是采集大气中的一些气体
or just by sucking in some of the atmospheric gas.
这些数据能帮助我们剖析
And it's that type of data that allows us to pick apart
事物背后的故事
the story that those things hold.
2015年 我们对火星物质的有机分子
In 2015, we made our first identification of organic molecules
进行了首次分♥析♥鉴定
that we think were coming from the Martian materials.
这对我们来说是一个转折点
And that is a turning point for us.
我们在那些岩石中发现了
What we found in those rocks
我们期望看到的天然有机物
is what we expected of natural organic matter.
这种物质在地球上也存在
It's what you would expect to find on Earth.
寻找有机物是寻找生命的线索
Finding the organic matter is the clue to searching for life.
大家都想知道火星是否出现过生命
What everybody wants to know is whether or not Mars
目前的答案是我们不知道
once had life, and the short answer is - we don't know.
从长远看
The somewhat longer answer is -
我们发现了可能支持生命存在的物质的痕迹
we see all the signs of materials that could have supported life.
我们有证据证明火星早期存在大量的水
We have evidence for lots of water early on.
我们发现了营养元素 我们发现了碳 我们发现了氧气
We see the nutrients, we see carbon, we see oxygen,
我们发现了氮 我们发现了磷
we see nitrogen, we see phosphorus,
我们看到了简单微生物
we see all the stuff that life needs
繁衍和生存所需的所有要素
in order to reproduce and survive as simple microorganisms.
在我看来 如果我们从未发现
For me personally, I find it might actually
火星上曾存在生命的证据 这其实更令人惊讶
be more surprising if we never found evidence of life on Mars.
我们的发现表明早期的火星
Everything we've found suggests that Mars was such a friendly,
适合生命存在
supportive place for life in its early history,
在其它恒星周围应该也存在很多这样的行星
and there should be a lot of planets like that around other stars,
宇宙中应该还存在大量生命
and lots of life in the universe.
因此如果我们无法找到其它生命
So, maybe we're getting to the point where it'll be more surprising
这会令人感到更加惊讶
if we never find other life.
因为有了“好奇”号♥的发现 最新的探测器
And so, thanks to Curiosity's discoveries, the latest wave
也许将最终回答这个问题
of spacecraft might finally answer the question -
火星是否曾存在生命
has there ever been life on Mars?
下集预告
Next time...
我们进入了气态巨行星的领域
..we enter the realm of the gas giants...
去揭开这些最大和最古老的行星是如何
..to discover how the largest and oldest of the planets
塑造整个太阳系的
sculpted the entire solar system.
朱庇特(木星） 众神之王
Jupiter, the godfather.