宇宙（2007）

The Universe S01E02

Part 3 April 22, 2021, 8:10 p.m.

NASA向红色星球发射了另一艘飞船:水手9号♥.
But this time, rather than just making a single pass by Mars
但是这时,舍弃了仅仅经过火星,
Mariner 9 was engineered to orbit the planet for weeks
水手9号♥被制♥造♥成围绕火星几个星期,
and do a complete mapping.
做一个完整的扫描.
The effort paid off.
努力得到了回报.
After waiting out a planet wide dust storm,
在等待了一个火星大范围的沙尘暴后,
Mariner 9 started returning spectacular images.
水手9号♥开始发回壮观的图象.
It discovered the Tharsis bulge,
它发现了塔尔西斯高地,
The source of potbelly of the planet, near the equator.
火星大肚皮的地方,靠近赤道.
The bulge is a result of concentrated and massive volcanic activity.
它的隆起是由于集中了大规模的火山.
The dominant feature of the Tharsis bulge
塔尔西斯高地显示出来的特写,
is the monster volcano: Olympus mons.
是最高的火山:奥林匹斯山.
Olympus mons is about the size of Missouri. If you put it in the middle of the US,
奥林匹斯山的大小相当于密苏里州.如果把它放到美国中部,
it would dominate that picture.
它将占据那张地图.
If it had a major eruption, a volcano of that size
如果它重大爆发,火山的大小
would probably full up one state on every side of Missouri
或许会吞没密苏里州的每一个地方.
so, uh, my home town in Iowa would be under lava.
所以,嗯,我的家乡在衣阿华州,将会被熔岩覆盖.
Interestingly it's composed of we think three separate volcanos
有趣的是,我们认为它是由叁座火山组成的,
or at least it's erupted in three different ways, if you...
或至少以叁种不同的方式喷发,如果你...
fly over the top you see three separate calderas.
在它顶上飞过,你会看到叁个分开的火山口.
So it isn't just three times larger, this is a monster geological event.
所以不仅仅是叁倍大,而且还是地质上的怪物.
When infact if you're on the edge, the slope is so gradual
事实上你站在它的边缘,它的斜坡是如此的平缓,
and the peak is more than a hundred miles away
山顶在100英里以外,
and that you wouldn't know that it was a volcano. And it's that massive.
你不会知道那就是火山.它是巨大的.
And Olympus mons is not alone.
奥林匹斯山并不孤单.
A few hundreds miles South-East of the mountains
数百英里的东南向的山脉,
stands a diagonal row of three other, evenly spaced enormous volcanos.
叁个其它的火山斜排成一列与庞大的火山保持着等距离.
Each larger than any of its type on Earth.
每一个都比地球上的同类大.
Yet as magnificent as it is,
然而,作为宏伟的,
The Tharsis region isn't the only spectacular
塔尔西斯地区并不是水手9号♥
geological feature discovered by Mariner 9.
发现的唯一壮观的地址面貌.
At the Eastern edge of the bulge is a colossal
在高地的东部边缘是个
tear in the crust of the red planet.
红色行星外壳上的巨大裂口.
It's called "Valles Marineris", Mariner Valleys,
它被阵为"水手谷",水手谷,
in honour of the Mariner 9 orbiter itself.
是水手9号♥给自己的荣誉.
You look at this thing, it's like the width of the United States.
你瞧这,它有美国这么宽.
It's this cleaved valley
它是劈开的峡谷.
You know the Grand Canyon in the United States?
你知道美国的大峡谷吗?
Pump it up, put it on steroids, make it the size of the United States itself
把它拿起来,放大胆,把它弄得象美国一样大小,
and you got Mariner Valleys.
你就得到了水手谷.
The geological mechanism that causes this immense rupture in the martian surface
导致这巨大的裂口在火星表面的地质构造
is yet a mistery. Scientists can only speculate.
至今仍然是个谜.科学家只能进行猜测.
One mechanism which I like
我喜欢的一个构造
is that there's a place called Tharsis bulge not far away.
在那个叫做塔尔西斯高地不远.
And it's so much lava and other things have accumulated,
它是许多熔岩和其他东西堆积起来的,
that it's filled and could put a giant torque on the surface of Mars.
充满了熔岩并能把一个巨大的环放在火星表面.
And pulled this apart like a zip.
象拉链那样扯开.
Well, who knows if that's true...
好啦,谁知道那是真实的...
but one needs a mechanism dfferent from many things we know
需要一个不同于我们了解的任何事情的构造
to explain the existence of that.
去解释它的存在.
With the stunning success of Mariner 9
由于水手9号♥的极其成功,
NASA下一个采取的步骤
the next logical step for NASA
was to land a spacecraft on the actual surface of Mars.
是用太空船登陆火星表面.
Scientists were eager to test rock and soil samples for sign of life.
科学家渴望测试岩石和土壤样本,寻找生命的踪迹.
1976年,海盗号♥到达火星,完成这个使命.
In 1976 the Viking mission reached the planet to do just that.
It had both an orbiter and a landing component.
它有卫星和登陆平台组成,
equipped with robotic test instruments.
装备有机器人测试仪器.
And we get right down on the surface and scoop up some soil and...
我们已经降落在地面上了,铲起土壤和...
we don't find a thing.
没有发现什么.
Mars looks like a cold, dry, dead place.
火星看上去象是个寒冷,干燥,荒漠之地.
But while the Viking lander toiled the way underground failing to make headlines,
不过虽然海盗登陆车在地下劳而无功,没造成轰动效应,
high above the martian surface
但是在火星高处,
the Viking orbiter managed to capture a mystifying image.
海盗登陆车还是设法捕捉到了迷人的图象.
While flying over a region of Mars called Cydonia,
在飞越火星名叫基多尼亚的区域时,
the orbiter snapped an image of a land formation under cross lighting.
卫星拍摄到了一幅在交叉照亮下的地表造型.
Startingly the formation resembled a human face.
初一看造型象张人脸.
As a joke NASA scientists showed the photos to the press
作为一个笑话,NASA的科学家把图片作为新闻发表,
remarking about the face they'd found on Mars.
说是他们在火星上发现的面孔.
Under more even lighting conditions, of course
在更加均匀的照明下,当然
the martian terrain feature doesn't look like a face at all
那个火星地貌怎么看都不象一张脸,
Just a jumble of hills.
只是一群山丘.
But in certain circles the story of the face on Mars
但在火星上的脸的故事到处流传时,
and its NASA cover up persisted for several years.
NASA坚持掩盖了几年.
True Mars enthusiasts on the other hand face a more sober reality
其他方面的火星爱好者跟随海盗号♥
following the Viking mission.
面临着一个更加清醒的现实.
With no definitive evidence of biology resulting from the Viking experiments,
随着海盗号♥探险传来的没有生物现象的确切证据,
interest in returning to the red planed quieted for several years.
对红色星球的兴趣平静了数年.
Then, in 1984,
接着,在1984年,
a young scientist on an expedition in Antarctica,
一位在南极远征的年轻科学家,
made a discovery that ultimately infused new energy
得到了注入新的活力的发现,
and hope into the quest to uncover life on Mars.
唤起了揭示火星上生命的希望.
In December 1984
在1984年12月,
NASA geologist, on a meteorite gathering expedition in Antarctica,
NASA地质学家在南极收集陨石时,
found an odd specimen.
找到了一个古老的样本.
A meteorite with an unusual colour.
陨石有着不一样的颜色.
A sort of green hue.
有点绿色.
Most are grey or brown.
大部分是灰色或褐色.
Back at NASA's Johnsons space center in Houston,
回到NASA在休斯敦的约翰逊太空中心,
where such rocks are stored,
那里储存着大量的石头,,
it was labeled ALH84001.
它的编号♥是ALH84001.
Despite its odd colour,
不管它古老的颜色,
the scientists assumed that it was a piece of an asteroid.
科学家设想它是小行星的碎片.
So the rock was pigeonholed into a group of meteorites,
所以石头被归类在陨石组,
and it stayed there for six or eight years.
被放置了6或者8年.
Misclassified.
错误的分类.
Then, in the early 1990s,
接着在90年代初期,
an analyst, researching asteroids,
一个分♥析♥员,研究小行星,
placed a piece of ALH84001,
拿起这片ALH84001,
under an electron microscope.
放到电子显微镜下.
He soon realized that he was not looking at a normal meteorite.
他很快意识到看到的不是块普通的陨石.
He was looking at a piece of Mars.
看上去是块火星的碎片.
The rock had characteristics that matched another Martian meteorite found in 1979.
石头有着和1979年找到的火星陨石匹配的特征.
More scientist began studying that sample,
更多的科学家开始研究那个样本,
and they were astonished,
他们感到惊讶,
when they eventually found,
他们最后终于发现,
what looked like carbon globules.
有看上去象碳球的东西.
Carbon, at least on Earth,
碳,至少在地球上,
is the primary building block of life.
是构成生命的主要元素.
Senior scientist David McKay,
老资格的科学家David McKay,
headed up the research group.
领军研究小组.
My imagination was signated by the carbonates.
我的想象被碳酸盐印证了.
And I said? "Hey, these carbonates are a really strange welkin.
我说"嘿,这些碳酸盐真是个奇怪的天体.
How do they form? Let's look at those?"
它们从哪来?让我们来瞧一下."
Closures groups near the rock sample,
小组全力投入在岩石样本旁,
brought even more sterling discoveries.
但也带来了更纯正的发现.
The kind of chemistry that went on in those globules,
那些小珠里存在的化学成分,
is associated with life on Earth.
是与地球上的生命相关联的.
At least one, scanning electron microscope image,
至少在电子显微镜扫描图像里,
revealed the structure that looked suspiciously organic.
显示出疑似存在有机物.
Almost like a worm.
似乎象条虫子.
Could it be a trace of primitive Martian biology?
会是原始的火星生物吗?
I think that worm is... Is... biologic.
我认为那个虫子是...是...生物.
Whether is a complete fossil of bacterium is problematical,
不论细菌的化石有没有疑问,
it could be a part of that bacterium,
它可能是细菌的一部分,
it could be a section of one,
它可能是某种切片,
but it's biologic in my view.
但是它在我眼里是个生物.
"I'd like to welcome everybody here today.
"欢迎各位,
It's an unbelievable day.
这是个难忘的日子,
It's very very exciting for me".
今天对我来说是非常非常激动".
Finally in 1996, after more than two years of study,
终于在1996年,在长达两年的研究后,
in which they have built four independent lines of evidence,