美国国家公共电台 NPR Opinion: Good Night Oppy, A Farewell To NASA's Mars Rover

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We probably should not project human traits onto machines, but if you spend a lot of time with a mechanism¹ - talk to it, wait to hear from it and worry about it - even scientists begin to see personality in machinery². When the Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover ended its mission this week after more than 5,000 Martian days, NASA scientists mourned. This is a hard day, Opportunity's project manager, John Callas, told reporters. Even though it's a machine and we're saying goodbye, it's still very hard and very poignant³.

Opportunity and its cousin rover, Spirit, both landed on Mars in January of 2004. They were supposed to carry on for just three months, scratching and scouring⁴ for less than a mile over the Martian landscape. But Spirit roamed for almost five miles and lasted six years. Oppy, as scientists began to call the Opportunity rover, rolled over Mars for 28 miles and stayed on the job for more than 14 years. It transmitted 217,594 images, including a selfie.

Spirit and Opportunity helped establish that there was once liquid water on Mars. This doesn't mean there will soon be beach resorts on Mars, but it does confirm that some of the elements of life may have once existed there on a world that now looks pretty dry, lifeless and cold. It's a reminder⁵ not to judge too much by appearance. Planets and people have histories. Oppy got stuck in a dune⁶ in 2005, but NASA scientists working over a distance of millions of miles were able to free their rover. Oppy also suffered from recurrent wheel and robotic arm problems for most of his - her - its - life but kept on rolling, searching, digging and sending back information.

A dust storm enveloped⁷ much of Mars last June. Oppy foundered⁸ in a gully on the western rim⁹ of the Endeavour Crater¹⁰ - in a gully the scientists called Perseverance¹¹ Valley. The storm robbed Oppy of the solar power to recharge its batteries. NASA scientists sent it more than 830 rescue commands. They beamed music to Oppy to try to awaken¹² their Martian explorer - David Bowie's "Life On Mars," Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," "Here Comes The Sun" by - you know. Oppy was too depleted¹³ to reply.

The rover did send a last image of a dark world cloaked in dust. Jacob Margolis, a science reporter for KPCC in Pasadena, made a poetic¹⁴ translation of the digital bursts, bytes and squeaks¹⁵ Oppy sent out before going silent - my battery is low and it's getting dark. We might all hope for such a gentle end to a useful life.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIFE ON MARS?")

DAVID BOWIE: (Singing) Take a look at the law man beating up the wrong guy. Oh, man, wonder if he'll ever know he's in the bestselling show. Is there life on Mars?

1 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

2 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

3 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

4 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

5 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

6 dune   

n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘

参考例句：

• The sand massed to form a dune.沙积集起来成了沙丘。
• Cute Jim sat on the dune eating a prune in June.可爱的吉姆在六月天坐在沙丘上吃着话梅。

7 enveloped   

v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was enveloped in a huge white towel. 她裹在一条白色大毛巾里。
• Smoke from the burning house enveloped the whole street. 燃烧着的房子冒出的浓烟笼罩了整条街。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 foundered   

v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Three ships foundered in heavy seas. 三艘船在波涛汹涌的海面上沉没了。 来自辞典例句
• The project foundered as a result of lack of finance. 该项目因缺乏资金而告吹。 来自辞典例句

9 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

10 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

11 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

12 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

13 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

14 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

15 squeaks   

n.短促的尖叫声，吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The upper-middle-classes communicate with each other in inaudible squeaks, like bats. 那些上中层社会的人交谈起来象是蚊子在哼哼，你根本听不见。 来自辞典例句
• She always squeaks out her ideas when she is excited. 她一激动总是尖声说出自己的想法。 来自互联网