2020年中国将首探火星！

上周日，中国科学家宣布，我国将于2020年探测火星，而且目前火星探测车已经建造好了！

 

The mission includes orbiting, landing and roving the Martian surface, an unprecedented achievement that shows China’s innovative spirit in space exploration and courage to face great challenges, according to Chinese space experts.

据专家介绍，中国计划在一次火星任务中完成“绕”“落”“巡”三大任务，在航天史上史无前例，也展现出我国进行太空探索的创新精神和面对挑战的勇气。

 

 

 

The probe’s primary mission is to detect signs of life on Mars, Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China’s lunar exploration plan, said at a conference on satellite and space, held in Rizhao, East China’s Shandong Province from July 5 to 8. The mission will also examine whether the planet has the potential to be transformed in some way in the future to make it livable for humans.

7与5日-8日，2019软件定义卫星高峰论坛在山东日照举办，中国月球探测工程首席科学家欧阳自远在活动现场表示，探测生命信息成为首要任务。同时，任务还将探讨火星的长期改造与今后建立人类第二个栖息地的前景。

 

 

The Chinese rover will examine the Red Planet’s atmosphere, landscape, geological and magnetic characteristics, which could provide clues to the origin and evolution of Mars and the solar system.

同时，探测任务还将检测火星的大气、地形地貌以及火星磁层等，这些将提供火星和太阳系的起源与演化。

 

 

The launch is being timed for when the orbits of Mars and Earth are closest to each other, “which occurs every 26 months and lasts about one month,” Pang Zhihao, an expert in space exploration technology in Beijing said. 

而火星探测的时机也很讲究。航天专家庞之浩表示，只有当地球和火星轨道最接近时才是最佳时机，而这样的窗口期“每26月出现一次，持续时间也就一个月左右。”

Of the 45 previous missions to Mars only 18 have succeeded.

此前，人类探测火星已有45次，但成功的只有18次，成功率只有40%。

 

 

 

Among the 18 successful missions, some were designed to send orbiting satellites around the planet and some were merely flyby missions, according to records kept by NASA. 

根据美国国家航空航天局的记录，在这18次成功经验中，有的任务是发射环绕火星的卫星，有的只是火星飞越任务 。

Transmissions from Earth take almost 10 minutes to reach the orbiter, so landing commands must be issued before the lander is released and many unpredictable situations can occur during the descent nicknamed “seven minutes of terror,” Pang said. Without real-time monitoring, the probe will need to “make its own decision,” Pang noted.

地球和火星之间的距离，带来至少10分钟的信号延时，所以登陆指令要在登陆器释放前发出，而这一期间会出现很多不可预知的情况，庞之浩说，航天器着陆7分钟被称为“恐怖7分钟”。探测器进入火星轨道和着陆的那段关键时间，没有实时监控，将由探测器进行自主判断。

 

A successful landing is only the beginning of the rover’s mission in a hostile environment. Another challenge comes from the devastating dust storms on Mars, the worst of which is comparable to a force 12 typhoon on Earth.

而面对复杂恶劣的火星环境，成功的着陆仅仅是开始。另一大挑战则是火星上具有毁灭性的沙暴，可以与地球上的12级台风相当。

 

 

 

“Although China’s Mars mission has started late, we have a high starting point with the three-in-one design. And we are prepared to face the challenges,” Pang noted.

“中国火星探测起步晚，但起点高，所以效率也会比较高。虽然很难，还是有信心的。”庞之浩说。