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At the time,
當時
the Church insisted that all heavenly bodies were perfect,
教會堅稱所有天體都是完美無瑕的圓形
unblemished spheres, and that the earth
地球是宇宙間
was the only body in the universe that was flawed.
唯一有缺陷的星體
But Galileo's close up view of the moon's surface
但伽利略看到的月球表面
revealed a world that was far from perfect.
是個與“完美”二字沾不上邊的世界
He described it as
他說
"rough and uneven just like the surface of earth itself."
月球表面“崎嶇不平和地球表面相差無幾”
Perhaps it was a living world, like our own?
也許月球果真和地球一樣是個充滿生機的世界
Hundreds of years later our knowledge
幾百年之后
of the moon had barely improved.
我們對月球的了解幾乎毫無長進
Just how ignorant we were was revealed in 1835.
人類的無知在1835年顯露無遺
An American newspaper published a front-page story announcing
美國一份報紙的頭條新聞是
that herds of bison had been observed
有人看到一群野牛
tramping across the lunar surface.
飛奔過月球表面
Readers were entranced by this vision.
此情此景讓讀者神往不已
A few days later it was revealed to be an elaborate hoax.
幾天后就被人踢爆為騙局
The only way to find out what was really on the moon
想知道月球上有什么東西
was to go there and take a look.
唯有跑一趟親眼目睹
But over a hundred years later it still seemed
時間又過了一百多年
an impossible dream.
登月仍然是個遙不可及的夢想
All that finally changed in the early 1960's.
這一切終于在1960年代初期有了轉機
I believe that this nation should commit itself
我認為美國
to achieving the goal before this decade
應該在十年間達成
is out of landing a man on the moon
讓人類登陸月球
and returning him safely to the earth.
并安全返回地球的目標
Kennedy's bid for the moon came out of a Cold War
甘迺迪的登月計劃
battle to win over peoples'hearts and minds.
是一場爭奪人心的冷戰的產物
It was an inspired move, tapping into an ancient dream.
這個利用人類古老夢想的舉動，堪稱神來之筆
Finally we would find the answers to the moon's great mysteries;
人類長久以來的疑問終于可以得到解答：
how was it formed, what was it made of,
月亮是怎么形成的？其成分為何？
and was it a home for some form of life?
上面有沒有生物？
The moon had sort of always been the symbol of the,
自古以來，月亮就象征著
the remote and the unreachable and here people
遙不可及的事物
are going to leave earth and go to the moon!
現在人類居然要離開地球，前往月球
But if they wanted to lay claim to the moon,
但美國人想拔得登月頭籌
the Americans had a lot of catching up to do.
還得奮起直追才行
Their cold war rival
因為他們在冷戰中的對手
the Soviet Union was way ahead.
蘇聯早就遙遙領先
The Russian's ambitious space programme
蘇聯人企圖心十足的太空計劃
produced a string of firsts
產生了許多第一名：
including the first satellite in orbit and the first man in space.
包括第一顆進入軌道的人造衛星和第一個進入太空的人
And in 1959 they'd set out to solve
他們在1959年
one of the moon's greatest mysteries,
著手解開月球最大的謎團
something that had kept humans guessing for centuries.
這個問題讓人類猜測了好幾百年
What was on the far side of the moon
月球的彼端究竟有什么？
the side that always faces away from us?
也就是永遠背對著我們的那一面
To find out the Russian mission
為了找出答案
would have to circle the moon for the first time.
蘇聯人必須展開史上第一趟繞月任務
On the 7th of October the probe disappeared
10月7日探測器消失在月球的彼端
behind the far side of the moon, and its cameras leapt into action.
船上的攝影機開始拍攝
For 40 minutes it snapped away
并在科學家的屏息等待下
whilst scientists waited on tenterhooks.
拍攝了40分鐘
