奧巴馬發文章：2030年前送人類上火星並安然無恙返回地球

美國總統奧巴馬近日在cnn網站發佈文章稱，美國政府將在本世紀30年代到來之前將人類送上火星並安全返回。在文章中奧巴馬提到，除了各領域的頂尖專家，美國還有上千個商業公司在從事航天研發業務。接下來兩年中會首次有私人企業送宇航員去國際太空站。在爲cnn撰寫的一篇文章中，奧巴馬公佈了他爲太空探索設立的短期目標：執行前往火星的載人航天任務、讓宇航員安然無恙地返回地球，以及實現長期居留的“雄心壯志”。

One of my earliest memories is sitting on my grandfather's shoulders, waving a flag as our astronauts returned to Hawaii. This was years before we'd set foot on the moon. Decades before we'd land a rover on Mars. A generation before photos from the International Space Station would show up in our social media feeds.
我最早的回憶之一，就是我坐在祖父的肩頭上，揮舞着小旗子，迎接宇航員們返回夏威夷。在那之後，又過了幾年，我們才成功登月；又過了幾十年，我們才向火星上發射了一臺登陸器；又過了一代人的時間，國際空間站拍攝的照片才得以出現在社交媒體上。

I still have the same sense of wonder about our space program that I did as a child. It represents an essential part of our character -- curiosity and exploration, innovation and ingenuity, pushing the boundaries of what's possible and doing it before anybody else. The space race we won not only contributed immeasurably important technological and medical advances, but it also inspired a new generation of scientists and engineers with the right stuff to keep America on the cutting edge.
而時至今日，我對太空項目的驚奇之心仍與童年時無異。它代表了人類性格中至關重要的一部分——好奇心和探索精神，創新精神和巧妙的技藝，不斷挑戰可能性的極限，並爭先恐後地去實現它。我們贏得了這場太空競賽，不僅對科技和醫學的進步做出了巨大貢獻，還激勵了新一代的科學家和工程師，讓美國始終走在時代前列。

That's one of the reasons why, in my first address as President to the American people, I vowed to return science to its rightful place. In our first few months, my administration made the largest single investment in basic research in our history, and I went to the Kennedy Space Center to call for reimagining and reinvigorating our space program to explore more of our solar system and look deeper into the universe than ever.
因此，在我首次以總統身份向美國人民發表致辭時，我曾發誓說，要讓科學發揮其應有的作用。在我任期的頭幾個月中，我們做出了迄今爲止在基礎研究上給出的最大一筆單項投資，我還來到了肯尼迪航天中心，呼籲大家一起使太空項目重新煥發生機，進一步探索我們的太陽系，並更加深入地研究宇宙。

In the years since, we've revitalized technology innovation at NASA, extended the life of the International Space Station, and helped American companies create private-sector jobs by capitalizing on the untapped potential of the space industry.
在那之後的幾年間，我們重振了NASA的科技創新精神，延長了國際空間站的工作壽命，並向未開發領域的太空企業投資，幫助美國私營企業創造出了更多的工作機會。

Last year alone, NASA discovered flowing water on Mars and evidence of ice on one of Jupiter's moons, and we mapped Pluto -- more than 3 billion miles away -- in high-resolution. Our space telescopes revealed additional Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars, and we're pursuing new missions to interact with asteroids, which will help us learn how to protect the Earth from the threat of colliding with one while also teaching us about the origins of life on Earth. We've flown by every planet in the solar system -- something no other nation can say. And we continue to drive down the cost of space exploration for taxpayers.
僅僅在去年一年當中，NASA就實現了幾大壯舉：在火星上發現了液態水、在木星其中一顆衛星上發現了冰的跡象、還給距地球30億英里（約合48億公里）之遙的冥王星拍攝了高分辨率照片。我們的太空望遠鏡成功找到了一些圍繞着遙遠的星球運轉的類地行星，我們還開展了一些與小行星有關的新任務，這將幫助我們更好地瞭解該如何保護地球、免遭小行星碰撞的威脅，其中一項研究還讓我們對地球上的生命起源有了更好的瞭解。我們已經飛掠了太陽系中的每一顆行星，別的國家都不曾做到過這一點。此外，我們還在不斷降低太空探索的成本，減輕納稅人的負擔。

This week, we'll convene some of America's leading scientists, engineers, innovators and students in Pittsburgh to dream up ways to build on our progress and find the next frontiers. Just five years ago, US companies were shut out of the global commercial launch market. Today, thanks to groundwork laid by the men and women of NASA, they own more than a third of it. More than 1,000 companies across nearly all 50 states are working on private space initiatives.
本週，我們將在匹茲堡召集一些美國頂尖的科學家、工程師、創新人士和學生，一起設想我們該如何繼續進步下去，並找到下一個挑戰的目標。僅僅五年以前，在全球商業火箭發射市場上，美國企業還被人拒之門外。而如今，多謝NASA工作人員的兢兢業業，我們已經佔領了全球市場的三分之一。在全美將近50個州里，已經有超過1000家企業正在開展私人太空探索工作。

We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America's story in space: sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time. Getting to Mars will require continued cooperation between government and private innovators, and we're already well on our way. Within the next two years, private companies will for the first time send astronauts to the International Space Station.
爲了翻開美國太空探索的新篇章，我們已經設立了一個清晰的目標：在本世紀30年代之前，把人類送上火星，然後再讓他們安然無恙地返回地球；同時還要抱有更大的雄心壯志，有朝一日讓宇航員在火星上停留更長時間。要想實現火星之旅，政府和私營創新企業之間需要展開進一步合作，而我們已經在這方面着手努力了。在接下來兩年內，私營企業將首次把宇航員送上國際空間站。

The next step is to reach beyond the bounds of Earth's orbit. I'm excited to announce that we are working with our commercial partners to build new habitats that can sustain and transport astronauts on long-duration missions in deep space. These missions will teach us how humans can live far from Earth -- something we'll need for the long journey to Mars.
而下一步便是飛出地球的軌道。我在此懷着激動的心情宣佈，我們正在與商業領域的合作伙伴聯手，共同打造新的太空居所，供宇航員在深空中執行長期任務時維持生活和進行運輸。這些任務可以幫助我們瞭解，人類能在距離地球多遠的地方生活——如果我們要開展前往火星的長途旅行，這些信息都是我們需要去了解的。

The reporter who covered the moon landing for The New York Times, John Noble Wilford, later wrote that Mars tugs at our imagination "with a force mightier than gravity." Getting there will take a giant leap. But the first, small steps happen when our students -- the Mars generation -- walk into their classrooms each day. Scientific discovery doesn't happen with the flip of a switch; it takes years of testing, patience and a national commitment to education.
爲《紐約時報》撰寫了登月報告的記者約翰•諾伯•威爾福德後來寫道，火星對我們的吸引力“比地心引力還大”。如果能到達火星，那將是一次巨大的飛躍。但在此之前，我們需要一步步地來。我們的學生每次邁進教室、學習知識，都是一次微小的進步，他們是“火星一代”。科學發現得來不易，它需要經歷長年累月的測試和耐心、還需要整個國家對教育的重視。

President Eisenhower knew this: In 1958, he devoted great resources to science and math education around the same time he created NASA. And it's why I'm proud that we've passed important milestones in STEM education. For the first time, more than 100,000 engineers are graduating from American schools every year, and we're on track to accomplish my goal of training 100,000 excellent new STEM teachers in a decade.
艾森豪威爾總統就清楚地認識到了這一點。1958年，差不多就在他創立NASA的那段時間，他還向科學和數學教育領域投入了大量資源。正因爲如此，我才因爲我們在STEM教育（即科學、技術、工程、數學）中取得的成就而自豪。有史以來第一次，每年都有10萬名工程師從美國的學校中畢業，而我們也正在實現我設定的、在十年內訓練出10萬名卓越的STEM教師這一目標。

When our Apollo astronauts looked back from space, they realized that while their mission was to explore the moon, they had "in fact discovered the Earth." If we make our leadership in space even stronger in this century than it was in the last, we won't just benefit from related advances in energy, medicine, agriculture and artificial intelligence, we'll benefit from a better understanding of our environment and ourselves.
當阿波羅號上的宇航員在太空中回望地球時，他們意識到，雖然他們的任務是探索月球，但他們“實際上也發現了地球”。如果我們本世紀能進一步確立太空探索在這個國家的領先地位，我們不僅能從相關領域、如能源、醫學、農業和人工智能中大大受益，還能更好地理解我們的環境、以及我們自身，並從中受益無窮。

Someday, I hope to hoist my own grandchildren onto my shoulders. We'll still look to the stars in wonder, as humans have since the beginning of time. But instead of eagerly awaiting the return of our intrepid explorers, we'll know that because of the choices we make now, they've gone to space not just to visit, but to stay -- and in doing so, to make our lives better here on Earth.
有朝一日，我希望也能讓自己的孫輩坐在我的肩頭上。我們仍會滿懷好奇地凝視夜空中的繁星，就像人類自古以來做的那樣。但到那時，我們將不是等待勇敢的探險者從太空中歸來，因爲我們知道，由於我們現在所做的決定，他們前往太空並不是進行短期拜訪，而是長期地停留——並通過這種做法，讓地球上的生活更加美好。