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In recent days both the unmanned Antares rocket and the Virgin Galactic space plane had catastrophic failures.
最近這些天無人駕駛的心宿二火箭和維珍銀河航天飛船都發生了災難性事故。
Because space is a very risky business—and it always has been.
這是因為太空事業是個高危行業，而且一直以來都是如此。
November 5th marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Mariner 3, America's first mission to Mars.
而11月5日是美國首個火星任務“水手3號”發射的50周年紀念日。
But don't expect any NASA celebrations.
但別期待NASA舉辦任何慶祝活動，
The mission failed completely.
因為那次任務徹底失敗了。
When Mariner 3 reached space, it was supposed to unfurl solar panels.
當“水手3號”升入太空時本應該展開太陽能電池板，
But a glitch kept the panels tucked away.
但一個小故障使得電池板最終閉合。
With only battery power, the spacecraft went dead just eight hours and 43 minutes later.
因此這艘飛船僅依靠電池的能量飛行了8小時43分鐘后便失去動力。
So Mariner 3 fell silent, although it presumably did fly past the Red Planet months later.
雖然幾個月后水手3號可能確實飛過火星，但這次任務以最終失敗告終。
Fortunately, NASA had an identical spacecraft ready for Mars.
幸運的是，NASA已經為火星計劃安排了另一架相同的飛船。
After hasty modifications to prevent the same problem, Mariner 4 blasted off on November 28th, 1964.
而為了防止同樣的事故，新飛船經過倉促修改后“水手4號”于1964年11月28號發射升空。
The following July it became the first ship to fly past our planetary neighbor—that we're sure of.
第二年的7月它成為首個飛過我們目前可確定的鄰居行星的飛船。
But this successful mission shocked researchers.
但此次任務的成功使得研究人員大為震驚。
Back in 1964 even some respected scientists thought Mars was home to primitive life,
回首1964年，即使是一些權威科學家也認為火星存在原始生命
if not the intelligent beingsthat colorful astronomers like Percival Lowell imagined.
雖然可能不像帕西瓦爾羅威爾那樣富于創想的天文學家們所想象的存在智慧生物。
And the cameras on Mariner 4 sent back pictures of a barren, cratered world, devoid of any obvious Martians.
而“水手4號”發回的照片里帶給人們的卻是一個貧瘠坑洼的世界，一個沒有任何火星人跡象的世界。
