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.
人们世世代代梦想前往火星，去探索距离地球最近的行星邻居。美国宇航局和其它航天机构已经宣布计划把人送到这颗红色星球。但这样的载人航天任务还需要多年时间。
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，一些志愿者正在学习人们在火星基地同他人分开几个月将会如何反应。
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.
在火星上生活将会是怎么样的呢？志愿者们将在看上去像火星表面的某个地区生活8个月时间。但实际上他们生活在夏威夷。
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.
六个人被隔离在莫纳罗亚山的山顶之上，这是夏威夷大岛上的一座火山。他们生活在一个模型火星基地。美国宇航局为这项工作提供了资金支持。该项目被称之为HI-SEAS，即夏威夷太空探索仿真模拟项目。
Kim Binsted of the University of Hawaii is supervising the project.
夏威夷大学的金·宾斯泰德（Kim Binsted）负责管理该项目。
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.
她穿过来自这座海拔2500米的火山的红色熔岩。因为这座山是如此之高，这片土地就像夏威夷其它地方一样没有丰富植被。宾斯泰德女士表示，这种鲜明环境是地球上可以找到的最接近火星的地方。
"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."
“从视觉上看它与火星上所看到的景象非常类似。你可以看到这里确实没有任何可见的动植物生命。而且这里有奇妙的火山灰。我们正处于莫纳罗亚山的火山灰锥上。莫纳罗亚山同火星上的奥林帕斯山在地质上非常类似。”
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.
莫纳罗亚山几乎和那座火星上的山峰一样高。当从它深入海地的底部量起，莫纳罗亚山是太阳系第二大山峰，仅次于火星上的这座山。
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.
夏威夷太空探索仿真模拟项目的六位成员主要是自给自足。他们自己照顾自己。人们会给他们提供食品和供应品，但是提供补给的人不能同基地里的志愿者沟通。
Kim Binsted says this experiment looks at how the astronauts interact, or get along with each other.
宾斯泰德表示，这种环境考察了宇航员彼此如何相处。
"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."
“我们研究他们如何一起工作，我们如何让他们感到快乐和支撑，并且让他们在这么长时间内不会想要杀死对方。”
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:
目前这组成员自去年10月开始就住在这个基地，并且会一直呆到六月份。在他们之前有两组先期成员住在这里。成员们通过电子邮件和博客与外界沟通。他们还在YouTube网站上制作了视频，就像这则来自任务指挥官玛莎·雷尼奥（Martha Lenio）的视频：
"Hi Mission Support. This is Commander Martha from the HI-SEAS Crew Three...."
“大家好，我是来自夏威夷太空探索仿真模拟项目第三组成员的玛莎。”
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.
成员们还使用了一种沟通延时20分钟的智能手机应用程序。因为如果你从火星上来沟通就是这样的。
"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."
“我真的非常享受这次机会，我生活在这种圆顶基地里，假装我在火星上，并且学到了各种新技能。”
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.
这并非唯一一组将目光投向火星的志愿者。一家名为火星一号的组织已经引起了世界各地想成为火星宇航员的人们的兴趣。火星一号是一家总部设在荷兰的私营非政府组织。
Others believe the American or European space agencies are the most likely to put people on Mars, maybe in the 2030s, or later.
还有人认为美国或欧洲航天局最可能把人送上火星，可能是在本世纪30年代或稍晚。
Whoever gets there first, the trip will not be easy, says Kim Binsted.
宾斯泰德表示，无论谁抢先，这趟行程都不会容易。
"It is going to be challenging."
“这将会充满挑战。”
For now, on a mountaintop in Hawaii, volunteers are getting a taste of life on a future Mars base.
目前在夏威夷的某个山顶，志愿者们正在体验生活在未来火星基地的滋味。
I'm Anne Ball.
我是安妮·波尔（Anne Ball）。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)