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So in 1994 a small unmanned orbiter Clementine
于是柯蕾曼堤號無人太空船
was sent back to the moon,
在1994年再度前往月球
the first spacecraft to make the journey in more than 20 years.
這是20多年來首度展開這趟旅程的太空載具
And this mission would go somewhere new.
而這次的任務也不同于以往
Technology had moved on since the 70s,
科技自70年代后有了長足進步
and so Clementine would be able to reach an area
所以柯蕾曼堤號可以抵達
of the moon that had never been seen in detail before.
月球從未被詳仔觀察過的區域
The lunar poles.
那就是月球的兩極地帶
Clementine spent 2 months bombarding
柯蕾曼堤號花了兩個月
the moon with radio waves,
對地球放送無線電波
and in doing so,
因此
it made a discovery that scientists had never dreamt of.
有了科學家做夢也想不到的重大發現
They found what appeared to be patches of ice.
他們發現了像冰層的地方
Its radar was getting signals being bounced back
太空船的雷達
from the surface very strongly in a way
收到了強大的回傳訊號
that was consistent with their being patches of ice down there.
讓人覺得下方應該是有冰層
And er it's not a lot of ice- it could er, could fill er,
那些冰層并不大，融解的話
could fill plenty of Olympic sized swimming pools,
可以裝滿很多座標準游泳池
but if you were to melt it and spread,
但若將融化的水量
spread it out over the lunar surface it
均勻分布在月球表面
would be I don't know a millimetre thick or something.
水的深度大概只有一公厘左右
But you're not going to produce oceans
所以這些冰層
on the moon from this ice.
不可能形成海洋
But enough there for humans to exploit.
但是讓人類利用綽綽有余
The existence of water on the moon even if it was frozen
月球上有冰層的事實
changed everything.
改變了一切
The bleak and barren landscape wasn't so inhospitable after all.
看來荒蕪貧瘠的月球，畢竟沒有那么不適合人類居住
Suddenly the possibilities seemed endless.
突然間出現了無窮無盡的可能性
With life-sustaining water,
有了能維持生命的水
the moon could one day be a base in space,
月球未來很可能成為太空中的基地
a stepping stone to the rest of the universe.
征服宇宙的踏腳石
Humans might even live there one day.
有朝一日甚至可以讓人類居住
The love affair was back on.
熄滅的愛火重新燃起
As if to drive home the renewed fascination,
仿佛為了進一步撮合人類與月球的情緣
45 years after President Kennedy's famous pledge
在肯尼迪總統承諾
to take us to the moon,
要讓人類征服月球的45年之后
another US President launched a new mission.
另一位美國總統推動了一項新任務
Returning to the moon is an important step
重返月球是我們太空計劃中
for our space programme.
很重要的一步
Establishing and extending human presence
進駐月球
on the moon could vastly reduce
可大幅降低
the cost of further space exploration.
未來探索太空的成本
Making possible very more ambitious missions.
讓我們得以推動更具企圖心的任務
The moon is a logical step toward further progress and achievement.
追求未來的進步與成就，月球是順理成章的下一步
Human beings are headed into the cosmos.
人類即將征服宇宙
It may have lacked some of his predecessor's rhetorical flourish,
布希總統的演講也許少了甘迺迪總統的華麗辭藻
but 35 years after the last man stepped off the moon,
但在最后一名太空人登陸月球的35年之后
we are finally going back.
我們終于要回去了
NASA has already started planning the new lunar mission.
航太總署已經開始規劃新的登月任務
And it's going to be big.
這次的規模將不同凡響
We are planning to go to the moon in a particular,
我們打算以不同于
different way than what we did with Apollo Apollo was short,
阿波羅計劃的方式前往月球
sortie missions,
阿波羅計劃都是短期任務
and we're planning to go to the moon to stay.
這次我們打算長期停留
