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Mars, the Red Planet, made from rock, iron, fable and myth. Since the ancients named it for the God of War, it has had a unique hold over the human imagination. Even before humans set foot on the moon, it was seen as the next step but why? Lift off, we have a lift off, 33 minutes. There are similarities between Mars and Earth. It has a 24-hour day and four seasons. Though its air is too thin to breathe, and its surface too cold for unsheltered life, it is far more astronaut-friendly than any of the other planets. It has huge canyons and vast volcanoes.

It's riverbeds, deltas, and dried lakes speak of a past more watery than its arid present. Yet, although it is scarce and briny, there are still some liquid water on Mars today, and water is key to life. The possibility that Mars once had life or might just possibly still have it today is one of the reasons more space probes have been sent there than to any other planet. NASA's InSight probe, which landed in November is the latest, and Europe's ExoMars rover will arrive next year. NASA talks of sending humans to Mars on a new spacecraft within the next two decades. Elon Musk's space technology company SpaceX has plans as early as 2024. Such missions with crews would be among the biggest technical challenges humans have ever undertaken. The journey can only be made when the planets are properly aligned. That only occurs roughly every 26 months, but even then, it takes around nine months to travel from one planet to the other. The challenge of a life-support system that can operate for years without resupply is daunting. The cost will be high and the hurdles immense. But the challenge is so exciting, it seems certain that some will try it, and quite likely that some will die trying. The hunt for oceans in space.

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重点词汇解析

probe n.探针；探测仪；v. 用探针；探索；侦察；

The more they probed into his background, the more inflamed their suspicions would become.

他们越调查他的背景，疑团就越多。

shelter n.避难所；遮蔽处； vt.庇护；vi.避难;

The city's bomb shelters were being prepared for possible air raids.

为防御可能发生的空袭，该城市正在建防空洞。

daunting adj.令人畏惧的；使人气馁的； v.威吓(daunt的现在分词)；使气馁；

But despite all these skills and natural advantages, his presidential candidacy faces some daunting challenges.

但尽管拥有所有这些技能和天赋优势，他的总统候选人资格仍面临着一些艰巨的挑战。

参考翻译

火星: 一颗红色星球，由滚石，生铁，寓言和神话编织而成。自从古人把他命名为战争之神之后，它对人类的想象力就有着独特的吸引。甚至在人类踏上月球之前，它被视为人类太空计划的下一步，但为什么呢？“起飞，我们可以起飞了，33分钟。”火星和地球之间有相似之处。它也有一天24小时和四季。虽然它的空气太薄而无法呼吸，并且对于没有任何遮挡的生活来说， 它的表面也太寒冷了但它比其他行星来说，对宇航员更友好。它有巨大的峡谷和巨大的火山。它的河床，三角洲和干涸的湖泊说明了它的过去比现在的干旱拥有更多水。然而，虽然火星上的水稀少而且是海水，但今天火星上还有一些液态水，水是生命的源泉。火星曾经有过生命的可能性或者今天可能还有，这是发送更多空间探测器的原因之一，而不是发送到任何其他星球。美国宇航局的InSight探测器，已经在11月最新登陆火星并且欧洲的ExoMars火星车也将于明年到达火星。美国宇航局谈到在未来二十年内的新航天器上，将人类送往火星时。伊隆马斯克的太空技术公司SpaceX早在2024年就有计划。这样载人航天的任务会是人类曾经承担过的最大技术挑战之一。实际上，火星之旅只能当行星正确对齐时才能进行。这种情况大约每26个月发生一次，但即便如此，大约需要9个月才能从一个星球旅行到另一个星球。生命支持系统的挑战是可以在没有补给的情况下运行多年，这是一项艰巨的任务。这项工程成本高，而且困难巨大。但挑战却是如此令人兴奋，似乎有些人会尝试，并且很可能有些人会死于尝试。下期预告：在太空中寻找海洋。