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A Mars explorer operated by the American space agency NASA has captured a rock that scientists say shows possible signs of ancient microbial life.
美国宇航局运行的火星探测器捕获了一块岩石，科学家称这块岩石可能显示了古代微生物生命的迹象。
NASA said in a recent statement that the Perseverance explorer, or rover, collected the rock on July 21.
美国国家航空航天局在最近的一份声明中说，"毅力号 "探测器（即漫游车）于7月21日采集到了这块岩石。
Scientists working on the Perseverance team nicknamed the rock “Cheyava Falls,” after the tallest waterfall in the Grand Canyon.
毅力团队的科学家们给这块岩石起了个绰号叫“奇亚瓦瀑布”，以纪念大峡谷中最高的瀑布。
The rover’s exploration area is believed to include a former river valley measuring about 400 meters wide.
据信，火星车的探测区域包括一个宽约400米的前河谷。
The valley is thought to have formed by water rushing into Jezero Crater billions of years ago.
这个山谷被认为是数十亿年前水涌入杰泽罗陨石坑形成的。
Scientists believe the area around Jezero Crater contained large bodies of water in the distant past.
科学家们认为，杰泽罗陨石坑周围的区域在遥远的过去曾有大量的水体。
NASA’s statement says the rock shows signs of “chemical signatures and structures that could possibly have been formed by life billions of years ago…” NASA team members based their findings on examinations of the rock with imaging equipment and multiple scientific instruments.
美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的声明称，这块岩石显示了 "可能是数十亿年前生命形成的化学特征和结构...... "的迹象。 NASA团队成员根据成像设备和多种科学仪器对岩石的检测结果得出结论。
But they noted that additional research is needed to confirm a history of microbial life.
但他们指出，还需要更多的研究来证实微生物生命的历史。
The examinations did suggest the rock contains “organic compounds,” NASA said.
NASA表示，检查确实表明这块岩石含有“有机化合物”。
But the statement added, “While such carbon-based molecules are considered the building blocks of life, they also can be formed by non-biological processes.”
但声明补充说，“虽然这种碳基分子被认为是生命的基石，但它们也可以由非生物过程形成。
Perseverance uses its robotic arm and drilling equipment to capture rock and soil samples from the Martian surface. So far, it has collected 22 samples.
毅力号使用机械臂和钻探设备从火星表面捕获岩石和土壤样本。到目前为止，它已经收集了22个样本。
The rover has secured the samples in special containers and they are to be picked up and returned to Earth during a future mission.
火星车已经将样本保存在特殊的容器中，它们将在未来的一次任务中被取走并送回地球。
Ken Farley is a project scientist with the Perseverance team at Caltech in Pasadena, California.
肯·法利是加州帕萨迪纳市加州理工学院毅力团队的项目科学家。
He said, “Cheyava Falls is the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance.”
他说：“切亚瓦瀑布是毅力研究过的最令人费解、最复杂、也可能是最重要的岩石。
Farley said unusual color spots and other structural elements in the samples suggest “chemical reactions” that might have given energy to ancient microbial life.
法利说，样本中不寻常的色斑和其他结构元素表明，"化学反应 "可能为远古微生物生命提供了能量。
But he noted that so far, scientists have not been able to identify exactly how the rock formed.
但他指出，到目前为止，科学家们还无法确定这块岩石到底是如何形成的。
The team described the rock as containing white veins that may have been created by the substance calcium sulfate.
研究小组描述说，这块岩石含有白色纹理，可能是由物质硫酸钙造成的。
Between the veins, examiners found lines of material with a reddish color.
在纹理之间，检查人员发现了略带红色的物质线。
These lines suggest the presence of hematite, a common substance found in many rocks on Earth.
这些线条表明了赤铁矿的存在，赤铁矿是地球上许多岩石中的一种常见物质。
David Flannery is an astrobiologist and member of the Perseverance science team from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia.
大卫·弗兰纳里是一名天体生物学家，也是澳大利亚昆士兰理工大学毅力科学团队的成员。
He said that on Earth, these kinds of rock elements are often linked “with the fossilized record of microbes living in the subsurface."
他说，在地球上，这类岩石元素经常被认为是“与地下微生物的化石记录有关的”。
The scientists said the new findings strengthen existing evidence that such rocks may have been created or were changed by flowing water on Mars billions of years ago.
科学家们说，新的发现加强了现有证据，即这些岩石可能是数十亿年前火星上的流水创造或改变的。
Caltech’s Farley said the rock sample had already been imaged and examined with lasers, X-ray equipment and other instruments as much as possible in recent weeks.
加州理工学院的法利说，最近几周，已经尽可能多地用激光、X射线设备和其他仪器对岩石样本进行了成像和检查。
He noted that Perseverance has done as much as it can to examine the newly discovered samples.
他指出，毅力号已经尽其所能对新发现的样本进行了检查
Farley added, “To fully understand what really happened in that Martian river valley at Jezero Crater billions of years ago, we’d want to bring the Cheyava Falls sample back to Earth.”
法利补充说："要想完全了解数十亿年前杰泽罗陨石坑的火星河谷中到底发生了什么，我们就必须将切亚瓦瀑布样本带回地球。
That way, he said, “it can be studied with the powerful instruments available in laboratories. ”
这样一来，他说，“就可以用实验室里强大的仪器来研究它。”
I’m Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。
