美國宇航局的好奇號(hào)探測(cè)器近日拍到了一張有趣的照片，照片上是一塊狀似花朵和珊瑚的小石頭。美國宇航局指出，這朵“花”可能是水中礦物凝結(jié)而成的。

During its ongoing investigation of Martian rocks in Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover stumbled on a tiny surprise. The rock artifact, which resembles a piece of coral or a flower, is smaller than a penny.

好奇號(hào)探測(cè)器日前在火星蓋爾隕石坑內(nèi)的巖石上探查時(shí)，無意中遇到了一個(gè)小驚喜,發(fā)現(xiàn)了一塊狀似珊瑚或花朵的石頭，體積比一美分硬幣還要小。

The Martian "flower" and the spherical pieces next to it were likely "made in the ancient past when minerals carried by water cemented the rock," according to NASA.

美國宇航局稱，這朵火星上的“花朵”和附近的幾塊球狀石頭可能是“遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)期水中礦物凝結(jié)成的石頭”。

Curiosity took an image of the little rock arrangement on February 24 using the Mars Hand Lens Imager, a camera located on the end of its robotic arm.

2月24日，好奇號(hào)用機(jī)器手臂末端的火星手持透鏡成像儀拍下了這幾塊小石頭。

Previously, the Opportunity rover also spotted Martian "blueberries," little mineral spherules indicative of once watery soil on the red planet.

先前，機(jī)遇號(hào)探測(cè)器還曾在火星上發(fā)現(xiàn)過“藍(lán)莓”，那塊球狀小礦石表明火星上曾有過潮濕的土壤。

Early on, Curiosity discovered the chemical and mineral evidence affirming the planet's habitability sometime in its distant past. Ever since, Curiosity has been investigating the geologic record to understand when Mars might have been most suitable to host life.

早些時(shí)候，好奇號(hào)在火星上發(fā)現(xiàn)的化學(xué)和礦物證據(jù)證實(shí)了在遙遠(yuǎn)的過去,火星曾經(jīng)是宜居星球。自那以后，好奇號(hào)就一直在調(diào)查地質(zhì)記錄，以弄清火星何時(shí)最宜居。

The car-size rover paved the way for the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, which are currently exploring Jezero Crater, located 3,700 kilometers away and will eventually return the first Martian samples to Earth through future missions. The combined efforts of these rovers could help answer the ultimate question of whether life ever existed on Mars.

大小和汽車相當(dāng)?shù)暮闷嫣?hào)探測(cè)器為毅力號(hào)探測(cè)器和機(jī)智號(hào)直升機(jī)鋪平了道路。毅力號(hào)和機(jī)智號(hào)目前正在3700公里開外的耶澤羅隕石坑開展探索工作，并將在未來的任務(wù)中把第一份火星樣本送回地球。這些探測(cè)器的協(xié)作將有助于回答火星上是否曾存在生命這一終極問題。

英文來源：美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)

翻譯&編輯：丹妮