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据CNN报道，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)计划加速其下一次登陆月球的计划，以推进其下一项任务：登陆火星。
NASA wants to accelerate its timeline for the next moon landing while keeping its eyes on a bigger prize: Mars.
美国航天局的管理人员吉姆•布里登斯廷在周二的国会听证会上表示，航天局的目标是在2033年前将宇航员送往火星。
The space agency aims to send astronauts to Mars by 2033, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said at a Tuesday congressional hearing.
“我们可以通过提前登陆月球(到2024年)，来实现未来登陆火星的计划。”布里登斯廷告会上表示，“我们需要学习如何在另一个世界生活和工作。月球是实践这些能力和技术的合适地点。我们越早能够实现月球目标，就能越早进入火星。”
"We can move up the Mars landing by moving up the moon landing (to 2024)," Bridenstine told the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. "We need to learn how to live and work in another world. The moon is the best place to prove those capabilities and technologies. The sooner we can achieve that objective, the sooner we can move on to Mars."
加速计划的预算仍待获批
The budget for the accelerated timeline still needs to be approved
最初的重返月球计划是在2028年，NASA是否能在新的计划内完成尚是一个未知数。波音公司为月球任务建造的火箭——太空发射系统(Space Launch System，SLS)——已经遭遇了延迟。
The original return to the moon was scheduled for 2028, and it's unclear if NASA will be able to meet the new deadline. The rocket that Boeing is building for the moon mission -- called the Space Launch System or SLS -- has experienced delays.
NASA已经在SLS上投入了至少119亿美元，该系统本应在2017年12月之前就能就绪。如今要实现2024年的登月目标，飞船的研发也势必需要加速推进。
NASA has already spent at least $11.9 billion on the SLS, which was supposed to be ready by December 2017. The 2024 target would require a drastic acceleration in the spacecraft's development.
委员会主席艾迪·伯妮斯·约翰逊(Eddie Bernice Johnson)表示，特朗普政府需要这样的提速计划要花多少钱，以及如何提供这部分预算支持，尤其是考虑到“它对联邦研发机构的其他预算将造成大幅削减”。
Committee chair Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson said the Trump administration needs to clarify exactly how much the ramped-up timeline will cost and how it plans to pay for it, especially given "the deep cuts it has made to the rest of the federal R&D agencies' budgets."
约翰逊在给CNN的一份声明中表示：“我希望美国继续努力，以实现让宇航员登上火星这一具有挑战性和鼓舞人心的目标，如果月球是必不可少的中间环，那么我也将支持前往火星。”但他同时表示，“然而，我不准备为了一个武断的截止日期而调拨NASA的其他项目，强迫其冒不必要的风险，或制定目光短浅的计划。”
"I would like America to continue to strive to achieve the challenging and inspiring goal of landing astronauts on Mars, and if the Moon is an essential interim step, then I would support going there too," Johnson said in a statement to CNN. "However, I am not prepared to cannibalize the rest of NASA's program or force the agency into taking foolhardy risks or making short-sighted plans simply to meet an arbitrary deadline."
大约三周前，NASA向国会提交了一份预算申请，但布里登斯廷表示，他将在4月15日之前提出一份最新的申请，以反映加速后的计划。
NASA submitted a budget request to Congress about three weeks ago, but Bridenstine said he would make an updated request, reflecting the accelerated timeline, by April 15.
前往火星的飞行至少需要两年时间
A mission to Mars would take at least two years
布里登斯廷说，一次往返火星的行程至少需要两年时间。
A round-trip voyage to the Red Planet would last at least two years, Bridenstine said.
根据它们的轨道，火星距离地球至少有3300万英里。相比之下，月球距离我们的星球只有23.9万英里，也就是几天的行程。
Depending on their orbits, Mars is at least 33 million miles from Earth. By contrast, the moon is only about 239,000 miles -- several days' journey -- from our planet.
NASA发言人谢丽尔•华纳(CherylWarner)表示，地球和火星每26个月会处在太阳的同一侧，这是最好的分离期。到火星旅行需要6到9个月，这取决于工作人员何时离开。
Earth and Mars are on the same side of the Sun about every 26 months, and these are the best windows to depart, NASA spokeswoman Cheryl Warner said. Traveling to Mars would take six to nine months, depending on when the crew leaves.
最快到达火星的方法是通过霍曼转移轨道(Hohmann Transfer orbit)，这需要最少的能量，被认为是最有效的。
The quickest way to get to Mars is via the Hohmann Transfer orbit, which requires the least energy and is considered the most efficient.
NASA机器人已身处火星数年
NASA robots have been on Mars for decades
迄今为止，美国和苏联是唯一成功地在这颗红色星球上着陆的国家。
To date, the US and the Soviet Union are the only countries to have successfully landed a spacecraft on the Red Planet.
美国已经在火星着陆了8艘宇宙飞船，其中包括备受喜爱的机遇号探测器。该探测器今年早些时候完成一项长达15年的探测任务。
The US has landed eight spacecraft on Mars, including the beloved Opportunity rover, which concluded a 15-year mission earlier this year.
NASA名为InSight的探测器已于2018年11月登陆火星。它穿越了301223981英里的太空，以探索人类最不了解的火星深层内部。
Most recently, NASA 's InSight landed on Mars in November 2018. InSight traveled 301,223,981 miles through space to explore Mars' deep interior, which we know the least about.
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