NASA查明火星直升机最终坠毁原因
📖 逐句对照翻译
The American space agency NASA says it has found the likely cause of a crash that grounded its Mars helicopter Ingenuity.
美国航天局NASA表示，它已经找到了导致其火星直升机“机智号”停飞的坠机事故的可能原因。
The finding comes after NASA said it had carried out the “first aircraft accident investigation on another world.”
这一发现是在美国宇航局表示已进行“另一个世界上的首次飞机事故调查”之后得出的。
Ingenuity arrived on Mars along with NASA’s Perseverance explorer, or rover, in February 2021.
“机智”号于2021年2月随美国宇航局的“毅力”号探测器一同抵达火星。
The experimental helicopter took its last flight, number 72, in January.
这架实验性直升机在1月进行了它的第72次也是最后一次飞行。
That flight ended in a hard landing on the Martian surface.
那次飞行以在火星表面的硬着陆告终。
In April 2021, Ingenuity became the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
2021年4月，“机智号”成为首个在另一颗行星上完成动力控制飞行的飞行器。
The aircraft was built to test take-off, short flight and landing operations.
这架飞机的建造目的是测试起飞、短途飞行和降落操作。
The flights on Mars aimed to support NASA’s efforts to build new aircraft that can fly in the atmospheres of other planets.
火星上的飞行旨在支持美国宇航局建造能在其他行星大气层中飞行的新型飞机的努力。
Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California fully investigated Ingenuity’s last flight on Mars.
来自加州NASA喷气推进实验室的工程师们对“机智号”在火星上的最后一次飞行进行了全面调查。
They found the cause of the crash was linked to the helicopter’s navigation system.
他们发现坠机原因与直升机的导航系统有关。
That camera-based system was not able to collect dependable data on elements of the Martian surface to support a safe landing.
那个基于摄像头的系统无法收集到有关火星表面元素的可靠数据，以支持安全着陆。
A detailed, final report on the accident is to be issued in the coming weeks.
一份关于此次事故的详细最终报告将于未来几周内发布。
But the engineers have already described their main findings in a statement published online.
但工程师们已经在网上发布的一份声明中描述了他们的主要发现。
They said the helicopter’s last flight saw the aircraft climb to about 12 meters, where it stayed, or hovered, while capturing images of the Martian surface.
他们说，直升机最后一次飞行时爬升到约12米的高度，并在那里停留或悬停，同时拍摄火星表面的图像。
Data records show Ingenuity began its planned descent after about 19 seconds.
数据记录显示，“机智”号在约19秒后开始了计划中的下降。
By 32 seconds, the helicopter was back on the surface and was no longer sending communication signals.
到第32秒时，直升机已回到水面，不再发送通信信号。
The next day, Ingenuity team members reestablished communications and received images from its last flight.
第二天，Ingenuity团队成员重新建立了通信，并收到了其最后一次飞行的图像。
The images showed the aircraft suffered severe damage to its rotor blades.
这些图像显示，该飞机的旋翼叶片遭受了严重损坏。
NASA explained that Ingenuity’s navigation system plays an important part in collecting data about the surface to ensure the aircraft can complete a smooth landing.
美国国家航空航天局解释说，“机智”号的导航系统在收集地表数据方面发挥着重要作用，以确保飞行器能够顺利完成着陆。
The helicopter uses a camera that points downward, capturing information about what is below the craft.
直升机使用朝下的摄像头，捕捉飞行器下方的信息。
In past flights, the engineers said the camera was able to find smooth, suitable landing possibilities.
在过去的飞行中，工程师们表示相机能够找到平滑且合适的着陆点。
But NASA said during the final flight, the helicopter was traveling in an area with very few surface features for the camera to capture.
但NASA表示，在最后一次飞行中，直升机飞行的区域地表特征极少，相机难以捕捉。
This meant the aircraft’s navigation system could not find enough of these features to choose a good landing spot.
这意味着飞机的导航系统无法找到足够多的这些特征来选择理想的着陆点。
At the time, Ingenuity was operating together with NASA’s Perseverance rover in an area of Mars known as Jezero Crater.
当时，“机智”号正与美国航空航天局的“毅力”号火星车在火星上一个名为杰泽罗陨石坑的区域协同作业。
The images recovered from Ingenuity suggested the navigation system’s inability to pick up surface features made the helicopter descend too fast.
从“机智”号恢复的图像显示，导航系统无法捕捉地表特征，导致直升机下降过快。
The hard landing on a sand hill is believed to have caused the helicopter to turn over and roll.
据信，直升机在沙丘上的硬着陆导致了其翻转并滚动。
The engineers said images showed that all four of Ingenuity’s rotor blades broke at their weakest point.
工程师们表示，图像显示“机智号”的四片旋翼叶片都在最薄弱处断裂了。
The damaged blades also caused the aircraft to shake.
受损的叶片也导致飞机震动。
Events related to the crash led to increased power demand, which resulted in the loss of communications.
与坠机相关的事件导致电力需求增加，进而造成了通信中断。
Although the crash ended Ingenuity’s flight operations, NASA said it is still able to provide and send back weather information and other kinds of data.
尽管这次坠毁终结了“机智”号的飞行任务，但NASA表示，它仍能提供并传回天气信息及其他类型的数据。
The space agency says this information could be helpful in designing future aircraft or other explorers to be sent to Mars.
航天局表示，这些信息可能有助于设计未来派往火星的飞机或其他探测器。
Teddy Tzanetos is Ingenuity’s project manager.
泰迪·扎内托斯是“机智号”的项目经理。
He said in a statement one major thing the team learned was that future aircraft designed for space travel do not necessarily need to be large flying machines.
他在一份声明中表示，团队了解到的一个重要情况是，未来为太空旅行设计的飞行器不一定需要是大型飞行器。
Tzanetos added that Ingenuity’s longevity suggests that “not everything needs to be bigger, heavier, and radiation-hardened” to work in the Martian environment.
察内托斯补充说，Ingenuity的持久性表明，“并非所有东西都需要更大、更重、抗辐射加固”才能在火星环境中工作。
With this in mind, NASA engineers have been testing smaller, lighter flying vehicles, with limited electronics, in order to produce future helicopters that can make a large number of smaller exploration trips.
考虑到这一点，NASA的工程师们一直在测试更小、更轻、电子设备有限的飞行器，以期制造出未来能够进行大量小型探索飞行的直升机。
Tzanetos shared details about one aircraft NASA is currently developing.
察内托斯分享了NASA目前正在研发的一款飞机的细节。
It is called the Mars Chopper rotorcraft.
它被称为火星直升机旋翼机。
Tzanetos said Chopper is about 20 times heavier than Ingenuity.
察内托斯说，“直升机”号比“机智”号重约20倍。
Developers say it would be built to carry several kilograms of science equipment, while self-exploring distant areas of Mars.
开发人员表示，它的建造目的是携带几公斤的科学设备，同时自行探索火星的遥远区域。
Chopper would also have a much longer travel ability, flying up to 3 kilometers in a day.
乔巴的移动能力也会强得多，一天能飞行多达3公里。
Ingenuity’s longest flight was 704 meters.
“机智”号的最长飞行距离为704米。
Tzanetos said that overall, “Ingenuity has given us the confidence and data to envision the future of flight at Mars.”
察内托斯表示，总体而言，“‘机智号’给了我们信心和数据，让我们能够设想火星飞行的未来。”
I’m Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English based on reports from NASA.
布莱恩·林恩根据美国宇航局的报告为VOA慢速英语撰写了这篇报道。
