中文翻譯:
在1997年7月4日，火星探路者（Mars Pathfinder）太空船使用自己特製的煙火、降落傘和空氣氣墊，像一個巨大的海灘球一樣彈跳了至少15次，最終安穩降落在火星表面，時間是美國太平洋夏令時間上午10:07. 完成新穎的氣墊助力降落程序後，探路者向地球的任務操作員發送了一幅彩色馬賽克圖片。在這幅來自另一個世界的畫面中，火星索久納（Sojourner）機器人巡器正蹲伏在展開的火星探路者上，畫面前方的索久納差不多有一隻大貓那麼大，這台有六個輪子的太陽能巡器成為了第一個成功的火星巡器。周圍是一堆摺疊的氣墊和滿地的岩石，這裡是阿瑞斯河谷（Ares Vallis）洪泛平原。遠處，火星的山丘在帶有灰棕色天空的背景下若隱若現。火星探路者之後被重新命名為卡爾·薩根紀念站（Carl Sagan Memorial Station）。
原文:
On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
來源:NASA每日圖片
