The Mars 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red Planet next year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they unveiled the vehicle.
NASA的科学家周五揭晓了2020年火星漫游车。该漫游车将在今年启航前往火星，不仅会追寻远古生命的踪迹，还会为未来人类的使命铺路。

The rover has been constructed in a large, sterile room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, where its driving equipment was given its first successful test last week.
漫游车在洛杉矶附近的帕萨迪纳喷气推进实验室的大型无菌室建造完成，漫游车的驾驶设备也于上周在此处完成了首次成功测试。

Shown to invited journalists on Friday, it is scheduled to leave Earth in July 2020 from Florida's Cape Canaveral, becoming the fifth US rover to land on Mars seven months later in February.
漫游车周五被展示给了受邀记者，该车计划于2020年7月从佛罗里达的卡纳维拉尔角离开地球，飞行七个月后在火星登陆，将成为美国第五台登陆火星的漫游车。

"It's designed to seek the signs of life, so we're carrying a number of different instruments that will help us understand the geological and chemical context on the surface of Mars," deputy mission leader Matt Wallace told AFP.
火星任务的副主管马特·华莱士告诉法新社，“漫游车旨在寻找生命迹象，因此我们要携带很多不同的仪器，这些仪器会帮助我们理解火星表面的地质和化学环境。”

图片来源：NASA

Among the devices on board the rover are 23 cameras, two "ears" that will allow it to listen to Martian winds, and lasers used for chemical analysis.
漫游车上的设备包括23个摄像头、两只能听见火星风的“耳朵”，以及用于化学分析的激光器。

Approximately the size of a car, the rover is equipped with six wheels like its predecessor Curiosity, allowing it to traverse rocky terrain.
漫游车的尺寸和汽车差不多，和其前辈“好奇号”一样装备了六个轮子，这样就能在岩石地带上行进。

Speed is not a priority for the vehicle, which only has to cover around 200 yards (180 metres) per Martian day - approximately the same as a day on Earth.
漫游车的速度不是最重要的，它每个火星日（约等于一个地球日）只能行进大约200码（180米）。

Fuelled by a miniature nuclear reactor, Mars 2020 has seven-foot-long (two metre) articulated arms and a drill to crack open rock samples in locations scientists identify as potentially suitable for life.
火星2020年漫游车的燃料由一个小型核反应堆提供，它拥有7英尺长（2米）的铰接手臂以及一个钻头。钻头可以钻开科学家们认为可能适合生命生存的地点的岩石样本。

 

翻译：李然