中国和阿联酋这两个国家本周将他们各自的首个探测器送到了火星。
A Chinese spacecraft went into orbit around Mars on Wednesday. It followed a United Arab Emirates spacecraft that successfully entered orbit on Tuesday.
中国的探测器于周三进入了火星轨道。在此之前，阿联酋的探测器于周二成功进入了轨道。
Success
成功
Both countries celebrated successfully reaching Martian orbit. "Entering orbit has been successful...making it our country's first artificial Mars satellite," the Chinese space agency announced. China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft spent seven months on the trip to Mars and traveled nearly 475 million kilometers. Tianwen, the name of an ancient poem, means "Quest for Heavenly Truth."
两国庆祝了探测器成功进入火星轨道。中国国家航天局宣布：“（天问一号）非常成功地进入了轨道，成为我国第一颗人造火星卫星。”中国的“天问一号”探测器花费了7个月时间前往火星，行程近4.75亿公里。“天问”是一首古诗的名称，意思是“追求真理。”
The UAE's spacecraft is called Amal. Amal is the Arabic word for Hope. Messages on the Hope Mars Mission's Twitter page announced the news in Arabic and English on Tuesday. "204 days and more than 480 million kms later, the #HopeProbe is now in the Capture Orbit of #Mars," one post said.
阿联酋的探测器被称为阿马尔。阿马尔在阿拉伯语中意思是希望。希望号火星任务的推特主页周二以阿拉伯语和英语宣布了这一消息。其中一条推文写道：“经过204天，行程超过4.8亿公里，希望号探测器现在进入了火星的捕获轨道。”
Quick progress
快速进步
The trips to Mars come at a time when both countries have made quick progress in their space programs. China's secretive, military-linked space program brought moon rocks back to Earth in December. That is the first time a country has returned moon rocks back to Earth since the 1970s. China was also the first country to successfully land a spacecraft on the little-explored far side of the moon in 2019.
这次火星之行正值两国航天计划取得快速进展之际。中国的太空计划于12月将月球岩石带回了地球。自上世纪70年代以来，这是首次有国家将月球岩石带回地球。中国还是2019年首个将航天器降落在很少被人类探索的月球背面的国家。
The UAE first announced its planned mission in 2014 and launched a National Space Program in 2017 to develop local experts. In 2019, Hazza al-Mansouri became the first Emirati in space when he flew to the International Space Station.
阿联酋于2014年首次宣布其计划任务，并于2017年启动国家太空项目以培养当地专家。2019年，哈扎·曼苏里飞往了国际空间站，成为第一位进入太空的阿联酋人。
Both countries succeeded at something that has been difficult to do in the past. About 60 percent of all Mars missions have ended in failure, crashing, burning up or failing to reach orbit.
两国成功完成了过去很难做到的一些事情。所有火星任务中有大约60%以失败、坠毁、燃烧或未能进入轨道而告终。
China's spacecraft will send a vehicle, called a rover, to land on the Martian surface. The goal is to search for signs of life in the area called Utopia Planitia, where the U.S. Viking 2 lander touched down in 1976.
中国的探测器将放出一辆漫游者火星车登陆火星表面。目标是在乌托邦平原寻找生命迹象，美国的维京2号登陆器曾于1976年降落在该地区。
The UAE's spacecraft will remain in a very high Martian orbit. From that orbit, the spacecraft will be able to observe the Martian atmosphere at all times.
阿联酋的探测器将保持在火星一处高轨道上。该探测器在该轨道上将能够随时观测火星大气层。
Along with Tianwen-1, Amal will join six other spacecraft already operating around Mars. Three are from the United States, two are European and one is from India.
希望号与天问一号一起，加入了已经在火星附近运行的6个探测器的行列。其中有3个来自美国，2个来自欧洲，还有1个来自印度。
US rover to come soon
美国火星车即将抵达
A NASA rover called Perseverance is aiming for a February 18 landing on Mars. It, too, will search for signs of ancient life, collecting rocks that will be returned to Earth in about 10 years.
美国宇航局的毅力号火星车将于2月18日登陆火星。它也将寻找远古生命的迹象，收集将在大约10年后带回地球的岩石。
All three of the latest missions were launched in July to take advantage of the closer distance between Earth and Mars at that time. Such an event happens only once every two years.
所有这三项太空任务都是在去年7月发射的，目的是利用当时地球与火星之间更近的距离。此类事件每两年仅发生一次。
The U.S. first successfully landed on Mars with two NASA Viking missions in the 1970s. An American lander and rover are in operation there today.
美国于上世纪70年代首次凭借美国宇航局的维京任务成功登陆火星。今天，美国有一架登陆器和火星车在火星运行。
I'm John Russell.
我是约翰·罗素。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)