Was there life on Mars? 火星上曾有生命存在嗎？

（本節目所用的音頻資源於2022年5月發表。）

美國國傢航空航天局（NASA）的 “毅力號”（Perseverance）漫遊探測器在火星的任務迎來瞭一個重要時刻。

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 terrain.

這是美國國傢航空航天局的 “毅力號” 漫遊探測器在火星表面努力工作時的聲音。它在15個月前登陸火星。自那以後，它爭分奪秒地進行探測任務，已經在幹燥多塵的地表上行駛瞭七英裡多。

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

現在它到達瞭目的地：一個三角洲，數十億年前一條河流曾在這裡流入一個大湖。科學傢認為，那裡的沉積物可能含有古代生命的跡象，有可能是曾經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 promising 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 retrieve them.

探測器將爬上三角洲的前端，尋找可能與微生物有過接觸或被微生物改變的巖石，在它們上面鉆孔收集樣本。“毅力號” 采集的一些樣本可能會被送到地球，目前正在計劃一個未來的任務將樣本一一取回。