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Homes on Mars
火星上的家园
Some of the world's most important scientists think the idea of people living on Mars will come true one day.
有些世界上最重量级的科学家认为，人类到火星上生活的想法总有一天会实现。
They believe humans must move into space to survive.
他们认为人类必须进入太空才能生存。
Robert Zubrin, a rocket scientist, thinks starting with Mars makes the most sense.
火箭科学家罗伯特·祖布林认为从火星开始最有意义。
He thinks sending people to Mars will allow us to learn a lot -- for example, about the ability of humans to live in a very different environment.
他认为将人类送上火星能使我们学到很多，比如人类在一个非常不同的环境中生活的能力。
However, scientists will need to terraform Mars for people to be able to live.
不过，为了能使人们生活在火星上，科学家需要将火星地球化。
Terraforming means changing the environment on a planet so that it is similar to Earth's.
地球化意味着改变火星上的环境，使其与地球的环境相似。
One of the main goals of terraforming Mars is to warm it up because the average temperature there is about -60°C.
火星地球化的主要目标之一是使其变暖，因为那里的平均温度约为-60°C。
One idea for warming Mars is to build factories there that produce greenhouse gases. This could take many centuries.
有个让火星变暖的想法是在那里建造生产温室气体的工厂。这可能需要花几个世纪的时间。
However, it should lead to rainfall and the growth of plants, resulting in more air that people can breathe.
不过，这样做应该会导致降雨和植物生长，从而产生更多供人们呼吸的空气。
Another big concern for scientists is whether humans can move to Mars and still stay healthy in mind and body.
科学家关注的另一个大问题是，人类能否搬到火星，且仍能保持身心健康。
As a test, six people lived in a Mars-like environment in Hawaii for a year before "returning to Earth" recently.
作为一项测试，六个人在夏威夷一个仿火星的环境中生活了一年，最近才“返回地球”。
It was a 1,200-square-foot room that was on the side of a volcano and used the sun for energy.
这是一个1200平方英尺的房间，坐落在火山边，利用太阳获取能量。
Christiane Heinicke, one of the people who lived there, said that one of the biggest issues was feeling bored.
克里斯蒂安·海尼克，是曾住在那里的人，他说，最大的问题之一是感到无聊。
So humans on Mars would always need to keep themselves busy with various activities.
因此，火星上的人类总是需要忙于各种活动。
Another important finding was that the people living together should all be able to get along and work together.
另一个重要的发现是，生活在一起的人都应该能够相处并一起工作。
One particular organisation based in Europe is planning to send the first humans to Mars before 2030.
一个位于欧洲的组织计划在2030年前将第一批人类送上火星。
The organisation believes that its project is giving people worldwide the chance to be part of the first human crew ever to live on Mars for good.
该组织认为，该项目使全世界的人们有机会成为有史以来第一批永远生活在火星上的人类船员。
However, many experts think the project's cost of US$6 billion is too low for it to be successful.
然而，许多专家认为该项目60亿美元的成本太低，不可能成功。
The American space agency NASA believes that sending people to Mars would cost about US$100 billion, although this estimate is based on bringing them back to Earth, too.
美国国家航空航天局认为，将人们送上火星将花费约1000亿美元，尽管这一估计也是基于将他们带回地球。
Regardless, it seems that humans living on Mars may well happen a lot sooner than most people believe.
不管怎样，人类在火星上生活的时间似乎比大多数人认为的要早得多。
