VOA慢速英语:志愿者在夏威夷进行模拟火星基地训练

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.

随着人类一代又一代的发展，人们一直梦想着有机会前往地球的近邻——火星，去火星上面探索一番。NASA和其他太空机构已经宣布计划将人类送往这颗红色星球。但是这样的载人任务仍需要花费数年时间来实现。

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

在美国，一些志愿者正在忙于学习如何在没有人类存在的火星基地长达数月时间的生存措施。

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样一番情景呢?志愿者们在看似跟火星环境非常相似的地方正在接受长达八个月的体验生活。但实际上他们是在夏威夷生活。

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.

六名志愿者被隔离在夏威夷大岛的莫纳罗亚火山的最高处。他们生活在一种模拟或者说看似火星基地的环境中。美国宇航局NASA为此次模拟实验提供了资金支持，这一试验被称为HI-SEAS，或者说是夏威夷模拟和仿真太空探索。

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

夏威夷大学的Kim Binsted是这一项目的负责人。

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.

她围绕距离海平面2500米高的火山红色熔岩来回走动，因为这里海拔高，所以地面并不像夏威夷其他地区具备种植植物的温度和养分。Binsted女士说这是地球上能够找到的与火星环境荒凉环境最接近的地方。

"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."

从视觉上来说，这里与大家所看到的火星环境非常相似，你可以看到这里真的没有植物和动物的生命迹象，在这里到处都是这种神奇的火山物质。我们现在在莫纳罗亚火山的火山灰锥上。莫纳罗亚火山从地理上来讲就相当于火星上的奥林匹斯山。

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.

莫纳罗亚火山几乎和火星山一样高，当在基地测量时，莫纳罗亚火山从最高处到地平面以下最低处是我们太阳系中的第二大高山，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.

这六名来自HI-SEAS的成员几乎是完全自给自足的，他们需要自己照顾自己，我们会向他们提供食物和物资。但是供应人员不允许与基地内部志愿者进行交流。

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

Kim Binsted说此次试验是为了测试宇航员的反映或者与同伴之间的沟通。

"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."

“我们研究他们共同工作时的状态，怎样才能让他们保持积极的状态，不是想让他们在这次漫长的任务中想要杀死对方。”

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:

目前这些人员自从十月份就开始入住基地隔离区，并且要一直住到六月份。之前有两名志愿者曾在这里居住。他们通过邮件和博客与外界进行接触。他们还向YouTube上发布视频，像这次任务的指挥官Martha Lenio：

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

“嘿提供商，我是HI-SEAS指挥官……”

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.

志愿者们还可以使用智能手机软件或者应用程序来进行通话，不过时间上会有20分钟的延迟，因为这样看起来就像和火星上通话一样。

"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."

“我很高兴能有这样的机会在基地居住并假装自己在火星上居住，还可以学会各种新的技能。”

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.

这不是火星上唯一的志愿者组织。一支名为火星一号的团队已经向全世界征求想要登上火星的宇航员，这是团队总部设在荷兰，并且是一支私人非政府项目。

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

还有些人认为美国或者欧洲航天局很可能会在2030年或者往后将人类送上火星。

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

Kim Binsted说，无论是谁先到达火星，这趟旅途并不容易。

"It is going to be challenging."

“这将面临非常大的挑战性。”

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

现在，在夏威夷一个山顶上，志愿者们正在进行未来火星基地的生活体验。

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