VOA慢速英語:志愿者在夏威夷進行模擬火星基地訓練

For generations, people have dreamed of traveling to Mars to explore Earth's closest planetary neighbor. NASA and other space agencies have announced plans to send people to the Red Planet. But such a manned mission is years away.

隨著人類一代又一代的發(fā)展，人們一直夢想著有機會前往地球的近鄰——火星，去火星上面探索一番。NASA和其他太空機構(gòu)已經(jīng)宣布計劃將人類送往這顆紅色星球。但是這樣的載人任務仍需要花費數(shù)年時間來實現(xiàn)。

In the United States, some volunteers are learning how people will react to months of separation from other humans on a Mars base.

在美國，一些志愿者正在忙于學習如何在沒有人類存在的火星基地長達數(shù)月時間的生存措施。

What would it be like to live on the planet Mars? Volunteers are spending eight months in an area that looks much like the surface of Mars. But actually, they are living in Hawaii.

那在火星上生活到底是怎樣一番情景呢?志愿者們在看似跟火星環(huán)境非常相似的地方正在接受長達八個月的體驗生活。但實際上他們是在夏威夷生活。

Six people are isolated high on top of Mauna Loa, a volcanic mountain on the Big Island of Hawaii. They are living on a simulated, or make-believe, Mars Base. The American Space Agency, NASA, has provided financial support for the work. The project is called HI-SEAS, or Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation.

六名志愿者被隔離在夏威夷大島的莫納羅亞火山的最高處。他們生活在一種模擬或者說看似火星基地的環(huán)境中。美國宇航局NASA為此次模擬實驗提供了資金支持，這一試驗被稱為HI-SEAS，或者說是夏威夷模擬和仿真太空探索。

Kim Binsted of the University of Hawaii is supervising the project.

夏威夷大學的Kim Binsted是這一項目的負責人。

She walks across red lava rock from the volcano, 2,500 meters above sea level. Because it is so high, the land is not warm or rich with plants, like the rest of Hawaii. Ms. Binsted says this stark environment is as close to Mars as you can find here on Earth.

她圍繞距離海平面2500米高的火山紅色熔巖來回走動，因為這里海拔高，所以地面并不像夏威夷其他地區(qū)具備種植植物的溫度和養(yǎng)分。Binsted女士說這是地球上能夠找到的與火星環(huán)境荒涼環(huán)境最接近的地方。

"Visually, it is very similar to what you see on Mars. You will see that there is really no visible plant life, there is no visible animal life. And you have got this wonderful volcanic material. We are on a cinder cone here on Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is geologically very similar to Olympus Mons on Mars."

從視覺上來說，這里與大家所看到的火星環(huán)境非常相似，你可以看到這里真的沒有植物和動物的生命跡象，在這里到處都是這種神奇的火山物質(zhì)。我們現(xiàn)在在莫納羅亞火山的火山灰錐上。莫納羅亞火山從地理上來講就相當于火星上的奧林匹斯山。

Mauna Loa is almost as tall as that Martian mountain. When measured from its base, deep in the ocean, Mauna Loa is the second largest mountain in our solar system, after the one on Mars.

莫納羅亞火山幾乎和火星山一樣高，當在基地測量時，莫納羅亞火山從最高處到地平面以下最低處是我們太陽系中的第二大高山，比火星上的山低一些。

The six member HI-SEAS crew is mostly self-sufficient. They take care of themselves. Food and supplies are brought to them. But the individuals bringing those supplies cannot communicate with volunteers inside the habitat, or base.

這六名來自HI-SEAS的成員幾乎是完全自給自足的，他們需要自己照顧自己，我們會向他們提供食物和物資。但是供應人員不允許與基地內(nèi)部志愿者進行交流。

Kim Binsted says this experiment looks at how the astronauts interact, or get along with each other.

Kim Binsted說此次試驗是為了測試宇航員的反映或者與同伴之間的溝通。

"We study how well they work together, how we can keep them happy and supported, and not wanting to kill each other over these long durations."

“我們研究他們共同工作時的狀態(tài)，怎樣才能讓他們保持積極的狀態(tài)，不是想讓他們在這次漫長的任務中想要殺死對方。”

The current crew has been living in the habitat since October, and will stay until June. Two earlier crews lived there before them. Crew members communicate with the outside world through e-mail and blogs. They also produce videos on the YouTube website, like this one from mission commander Martha Lenio:

目前這些人員自從十月份就開始入住基地隔離區(qū)，并且要一直住到六月份。之前有兩名志愿者曾在這里居住。他們通過郵件和博客與外界進行接觸。他們還向YouTube上發(fā)布視頻，像這次任務的指揮官Martha Lenio：

"Hi Mission Support. This is Commander Martha from the HI-SEAS Crew Three...."

“嘿提供商，我是HI-SEAS指揮官……”

Crew members also are using a smartphone app, or program, that creates a 20-minute delay for communications. That would be the same as if you were communicating from Mars.

志愿者們還可以使用智能手機軟件或者應用程序來進行通話，不過時間上會有20分鐘的延遲，因為這樣看起來就像和火星上通話一樣。

"I am really enjoying this opportunity to live in this dome and pretend that I'm on Mars and get to learn all sorts of new skills."

“我很高興能有這樣的機會在基地居住并假裝自己在火星上居住，還可以學會各種新的技能。”

This is not the only group of volunteers with sights set on Mars. A group called Mars One has appealed for would-be Mars astronauts from around the world. Mars One is a private, non-government project based in The Netherlands.

這不是火星上唯一的志愿者組織。一支名為火星一號的團隊已經(jīng)向全世界征求想要登上火星的宇航員，這是團隊總部設在荷蘭，并且是一支私人非政府項目。

Others believe the American or European space agencies are the most likely to put people on Mars, maybe in the 2030s, or later.

還有些人認為美國或者歐洲航天局很可能會在2030年或者往后將人類送上火星。

Whoever gets there first, the trip will not be easy, says Kim Binsted.

Kim Binsted說，無論是誰先到達火星，這趟旅途并不容易。

"It is going to be challenging."

“這將面臨非常大的挑戰(zhàn)性。”

For now, on a mountaintop in Hawaii, volunteers are getting a taste of life on a future Mars base.

現(xiàn)在，在夏威夷一個山頂上，志愿者們正在進行未來火星基地的生活體驗。

I'm Anne Ball.

VOA's Mike O'Sullivan prepared this report. Anne Ball wrote it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

isolated – adj. separate from others

stark – adj. something that looks very simple, and often cold or empty

solar system – n. planets in orbit around a sun or star. Earth and Mars are in the same solar system

self-sufficient – adj. being able to live or operate on your own, without help

habitat – n. the place where an animal or place normally lives