NASA is now celebrating its fifth successful landing on Mars. The Phoenix Mars Lander touched down in the Martian arctic after a ten-month journey through the solar system. It’s 420 million dollar mission to see if Mars has or ever had the building blocks of life. There’s no sign yet, but the pictures are spectacular. Here’s Ned Potter.
Today on Mars it was 33 degrees below zero. Today on earth it was 100 degrees warmer, and engineers were still recovering from the excitement of last night’s against-the-odds landing. “It was better than we could have possibly wished for." The little ship went tearing into the Martian atmosphere at 12,000 miles an hour, slowing itself with a heat shield, then releasing a parachute.
As the lander came down, another ship in orbit high above Mars was able to take this picture of it. one Martian visitor watching another. “Radar reliable.” Controllers said they felt helpless as they listened to signals from 170 million miles away. “Sixty meters, standing by for touchdown. Touchdown signal detected. ... sequence initiated.”
Phoenix came to rest on a desolate plain, but scientists say that plain is rich in detail. Look, they say, at the strange shapes and lines on the ground. They’re remarkably similar to these from the Canadian arctic, where those shapes are caused by water freezing and thawing.
Is the same thing happening in the Martian arctic? “It’s liquid water that we’re looking for. We know there’s ice there. Does the ice melt? That’s the real question that is driving our f… our science." And that’s one of the questions Phoenix was sent to help answer.
They hope it will operate for three months, though they really don’t know how long it can last in the Martian cold. “We’re going to operate until Mars freezes over.” Engineers said yesterday’s landing sequence was seven minutes of terror. Today, they said, begins three months of joy. Ned Potter, ABC News, New York.
※ spectacle * What a spectacle! = That's a scene! = What a scene! 정말 가관이로군! * make a spectacle of yourself : = make a scene of yourself 남의 웃음을 살 짓 [옷차림] 을 하다, 남 앞에서 창피한 꼴을 보이다 ex. You're making a spectacle(=scene) of yourself. * You're making a scene.
※ odds : 승산, 가망성, 확률 ex. The odds are three to one that we shall win the game. 우리가 시합에 이길 승산은 3 : 1 이다. ex. The odds are that he will come soon. 그는 곧 올 것이다. = (The) Chances are that ~ * long (or short) odds 전혀 일어날 것 같지 않은 (일어날 듯한) 일. ex. It's long odds against catching the train. 기차 시간에 댈 가망은 거의 없다. ex. The odds are against his returning safe. 그가 무사히 돌아올 가능성은 희박하다. ex. The odds are in favor of his returning safe. 그가 무사히 돌아올 가능성은 크다. * the cards/odds are stacked against you : used for saying that you will have difficulty doing something, often because people are being unfair ↔ the cards/odds are stacked in favor of you * against all (the) odds: 모든 역경을 무릅쓰고 ex. Against all the odds, we won the game. * be at odds with~ ~ 와 사이가 나쁘다, 와 불화하다 ex. He was at odds with his Prime Minister. ex. The two countries remain at odds.
※ drive + 목 + to do : ~를…하게 내몰다 ex. Hunger drives one to steal. 배가 고프면 도둑질을 하게 된다. ex. I was driven to resign. 사직해야 할 처지에 몰렸다.
lander : 상륙자, (달 등에의) 착륙선 arctic : [때로 A~] 북극의, 북극 지방의, [the A~] 북극 지방 [대륙] * antarctic : [때로 A~] 남극의, 남극 지방의, [the A~] 남극 지방 [대륙] solar system : [the ~] 태양계 mission : 사절 (단), (사절의) 사명, 임무, (특별 사명을 띤) 비행 작전 [대], (우주선에 의한) 특무 비행 ( flight into space) ex. the possibility of a manned mission to Mars / * on a mission to ~ : ~ 하는 임무를 띠고 있는 building block : (장난감) 집짓기 나무 토막, (복잡한 것을 구성하는) 기초 단 위 / [usually plural] one of the basic parts that something is made from and cannot exist without ex. Laws are the building blocks of an orderly society. spectacular : 구경거리의, 장관의, 장시간의 호화 (TV) 쇼, 초(超) 대작 / extremely impressive; very sudden or extreme, and therefore attracting a lot of attention ex. a television spectacular TV 호화쇼 * spectacle 광경, 볼만한 것, 장관 ex. It was a spectacle (= sight) not to be missed. ex. 94,000 people turned up for the spectacle. (a grand and impressive event or performance) against-the-odds : 불리한 여건을 무릅쓴 * against the odds: 불리한 여건을 무릅쓰고 ex. They went on and on against the odds. 그들은 불리한 상황임에도 계속 나아갔다. odds : 승산, 가망성, 확률 * even odds 반반의 확률. atmosphere: [the ~] (지구를 둘러싸고 있는) 대기, (특정한 장소 등의) 공기, 분위기 (a. atmospheric) heat shield : (우주선의) 열 차단재, 방열판 orbit : 궤도, 주위를 궤도를 그리며 돌다 * orbiter : <궤도상을> 선회하는 것, ((특히)) 인공 위성, 우주선 helpless : 스스로 어떻게 할 수가 없는, 무기력한, 의지할 곳 없 는 / not able to do anything without help detect : 탐지하다, 간파하다, 발견하다 ex. detect the smell of smoke 연기 냄새를 탐지하다 sequence : 계속하여 [잇달아] 일어나기, 연속, (연속적으로 일어나는) 순서, 차 례 ex. in sequence 잇달아, 차례로. ex. the sequence of events which led to the murder 그 살인사건의 경위 ex. a sequence of heavy storms 큰 폭풍우의 연속 initiate : 시작하다(begin), 일으키다, 창시하다 ex. The company initiated a management training program for small businesses. come to rest : 멈추다 ex. The vehicle skidded across the road before coming to rest against a wall. desolate : 황량한, 적막한, 쓸쓸한, 고독한, 외로운 ex. a desolate wilderness 사람이 없는 황야 ex. a desolate, friendless life 쓸쓸하 고 고독한 생활 plain : 명백한, 쉬운, 평이한, 평지, 평원, [pl.] 미 대초원 * a plain fact 명백한 사실 / * plain old : not at all unusual, interesting, or special ex. The recipe is nothing special - you just use plain-old hamburger and some onion powder. * in plain writing 읽기 쉬운 필적으로 rich in : ~ 이 풍부한, 많은 ex. a country rich in oil and coal 석유와 석탄이 풍부한 나라 ex. The blood of mountain people is richer in red cells. 산악 민족의 혈액 에는 적혈구가 많다. remarkable : 주목할 만한, 놀랄 만한 ex. a remarkable discovery 주목할 만한 발견 thaw : 녹다, 녹이다, <태도·감정 등을> 누그러뜨 리다