A huge lake of salt water 【
appears to
】 be buried deep in Mars, scientists reported this week.
appear to 看起来
科学家本周报道，火星深处，似乎埋藏着一个巨大的咸水湖。
The presence of water 【 raises the chances of 】 finding life on the red planet.
提高……的可能性
水的存在增加了在这颗红色行星上发现生命的可能性。
The discovery is based on observations by a European spacecraf.
这次发现是基于一架欧洲航天器的观测。
It has excited experts.
这令专家们十分兴奋。
Water is necessary for life, and scientists 【 have long hoped to 】 prove that it is present on Mars.
一直以来都希望……
水是生命所需，科学家们一直都想证明火星上是有水的。
Cassie Stuurman is a geophysicist at the University of Texas.
Cassie Stuurman是得克萨斯大学的一名地球物理学家。
In 2016. She found evidence of a huge ice deposit on Mars.
2016年啊，她发现了火星上存在巨大积冰的证据。
"If these researchers are right,
如果这些研究员们是正确的。
this is the first time we have found evidence of a large or water body on Mars, Stuurman said.
这就是我们第一次发现火星上有大片水域存在"。Stuurman说道。
Scott Hubbard, a professor of astronautics at Stanford University, is also excited about the discovery.
Scott Hubbard——斯坦福大学的一名航天学教授对此次发现也兴奋不已。
He served as NASA's first Mars program director in 2000.
从曾于2000年担任美国航空航天局首次火星任务的主管。
He said NASA has long believed in "following the water."
他说美国航空航天局一直相信要“跟着水走”。
He is pleased that the new discovery supports that idea.
他很开心，此次发现证实了那个想法。
The study was published in the Journal Science.
这项研究结果发表在《科学》杂志上。
Researchers are not yet sure how deep the area of water is.
研究员们还不确定水域有多深。
To find the water, Italian researchers examined radar signals.
为了找到水，意大利研究人们检测了雷达信号。
The signals were collected over three years by the European space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft.
这些信号是欧洲航天局火星快车号航天器在过去三年内收集的。
Researchers spend at least two years examining the data
研究员们花了至少两年时间研究这些数据，
to make sure they had found water-and not ice or another substance.
来确定他们找到的是水，而不是冰或其他物质。
Mars is very cold, but salt in the water may have kept it from freezing.
火星非常寒冷，但是水中的盐可能防止水结冰。
It's the same as when you put salt on the road to 【 prevent ice from forming 】, said Kristen Siebach.
prevent sth. from doing sth. 防止……的发生
这就跟你在路面撒盐以防结冰一样，Kristen Siebach说道。
She is a planetary geologist at Rice University.
他是莱斯大学的一名行星地质学家。
Siebach added that such conditions 【 are not ideal for 】 life to for.
be ideal for sth. 对……很理想
Siebach补充说，这样的条件不适合生命体的形成。
But she said there are bacteria on Earth that have been able to survive in similar conditions.
她说，但是在相似的条件下，地球上也有能够存活的细菌。
Mars has been a popular planet for exploration,
人类总爱探索火星。
with some groups placing instruments on its surface and others examining it from space.
一些团队将仪器放置在火星表面，另一些团队会在太空探测火星。
In may, NASA launched another spacecraft, the Insight Mars lander.
五月份，美国航空航天局又发射了一驾航空器——“洞察”号火星着陆器。
It will dig under the surface after it reaches a flat area of the planet in November.
它将会在11月到达火星表面平坦区域，之后会深入挖掘地下。
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