美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的“毅力号”（Perseverance¹）漫游探测器在火星的任务迎来了一个重要时刻。

 

This is the sound of Nasa's Perseverance rover hard at work on the surface of the Red Planet. It landed on Mars 15 months ago. Since then, it's been on the move, trundling more than seven miles across the dry and dusty terrain².

这是美国国家航空航天局的 “毅力号” 漫游探测器在火星表面努力工作时的声音。它在15个月前登陆火星。自那以后，它争分夺秒地进行探测任务，已经在干燥多尘的地表上行驶了七英里多。

 

Now it's reached its target: a delta³ where a river once flowed into a huge lake billions of years ago. Scientists think the sediments⁴ there could contain signs of ancient life, possibly microbes that once lived in the Martian waters.

现在它到达了目的地：一个三角洲，数十亿年前一条河流曾在这里流入一个大湖。科学家认为，那里的沉积物可能含有古代生命的迹象，有可能是曾经生活在火星水域的微生物。

 

The rover will climb up the front of the delta and search for the most promising⁵ rocks, drilling into them to collect samples. And some of these could be heading back to Earth – a future mission is currently being planned to retrieve⁶ them.

探测器将爬上三角洲的前端，寻找可能与微生物有过接触或被微生物改变的岩石，在它们上面钻孔收集样本。“毅力号” 采集的一些样本可能会被送到地球，目前正在计划一个未来的任务将样本一一取回。

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